Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaja and Shahaji Raje's correct birth time

There is a difference of opinion regarding Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaja's birth date as to whether it was in 1627 and 1630. Being an amateur astrologer, I was keen to get the exact date and time of this great personality.

I read several sources, but found one in particular very useful because these particular researchers had the same aim and had painstakingly compiled every source, studied it, corroborated it and listed them down comparatively. The article name is "Birth-Date of Shivaji" and the scholars who had written this were Shri  D.V. Apte and Shri M.R.Paranjpe. This was published in 1927 by Maharashtra Publishing House Ltd. Here is a link below. I would strongly urge those who are interested to read this document. Such research scholars are really praiseworthy. Their effort ensured that it was recognized that Shivaji Maharaja was born in 1630 and not in 1627.

https://dspace.gipe.ac.in/xmlui/handle/10973/32857
https://dspace.gipe.ac.in/xmlui/bitstream/handle/10973/32857/GIPE-194424.pdf?sequence=3&isAllowed=y

But there was one small detail that they didnt verify and because of this they ended up arriving at a birth date that was 12 days off. This point is important as this is the birth date that the Maharashtra Govt recognizes currently as the official date of Shivaji Maharaja's birth. This is a wrong date and hence has to be rectified. We should respect such a great personality by recognizing the correct date of his birth and obviously to astrologers like me its absolutely important not just to arrive at the correct date but also the correct time.

As per the research of Shri Apte and Shri Paranjpe, the date which tallies best is Shaka 1551, Phalgun, Krishna tritiya (3rd tithi) and some also give additional information of the weekday as Friday. Phalgun month of Shaka Era of 1551 is Feb-Mar 1630 AD.

One of the most reliable sources where this date was found was the Jedhe Shakavali which gives accurate dates for many other events which have been independently corroborated from other sources. Also more interestingly (for me as an astrologer), this date has been found in astrological texts having horoscopes and which list down in detail the time and date of birth.

Most convincing factor for me is that this date was also mentioned in the horoscope collection of Pandit Shivram of Jodhpur who was a contemporary of Shivaji Maharaj. Interestingly in this collection this horoscope was grouped with the royal family of Udaipur i.e. the Sisodiyas. This was written down sometime between 1676 to 1681. Now we know that Shivaji was coronated as Chhatrapati in 1674. My conjecture is that Pandit Shivram, who must have been a renowned raja-jyotishi (considering the number of royal horoscopes he has) must have been consulted for the coronation muhurta and it was at that time that the connection Shivaji Maharaja's family with the royal Sisodiya Rajput line was established.

This is not all, there is a source not listed by Apte and Paranjpe which I found in my research. This is a collection of articles in honour of Shri Radha Kumud Mukherjee, a renowned historian in early 20th century. This was published in 1947. In Page 280 of this 600 page doc (Horosope no 19 and 20), you will find listed the date and time of birth details of not just Shivaji Maharaj but also of his accomplished father Shahaji Raje.

This is from a collection of leaves with horoscopes from Bikaner. It also contains more than 150 horoscopes of royal personages from Rajput and Mughal families.

The exact text of Shivaji Maharaj's details in this Bikaneri source are (I have inserted commas for easy reading) - "Samvat 1686 Varshe, Phalgun, Vadi 3, Bhrigau ratri, gat Ghati 1, Pala 1 samaye, Simhalagnamadhye, Shivaji ro janma"

This corresponds to 1st March 1630 at 6:30:40 pm (sunset is at 6:06:16 pm). His birth place, I have taken as Shivneri fort (73E51, 19N12)

https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.97524/page/n1

This gives not only the date but also exact time i.e. 1 ghati, 1 pala after sunset. This slightly differs from the Jodhpur source which gives around 4 minutes after sunset as the time, so the difference between both sources is of 21 minutes approx. Date is the same. The Lagna is still Leo, though Navamsa Lagna and many other Varga Lagnas would change.

Now the key part about the date itself, which shows where Apte and Paranjpe had gone wrong. It is very clearly established that Shivaji Maharaj was born in Shaka 1551, Phalgun Krishna Tritiya i.e. 1630 AD. Now this tithi i.e. Krishna Tritiya in 1630 AD comes on 1st March and not on 19th Feb. 19th Feb is Shukla Saptami i.e. 7th bright tithi. Secondly this Krishna tritiya is correctly a Friday, while Shukla Saptami is Tuesday. 

(I wouldnt find too much fault with Apte and Paranjpe - they had gone as per the research of Gaurishankar Oza and relied on it. In those days it was very painstaking difficult to verify old dates and one had to consult old almanacs, do lots of calculations. These days its quite easy with modern software. But what is befuddling me is that in the past 80-90 years no one has bothered to verify, especially in the last 10-15 years since astrological softwares are freely available. Just to clarify, I have used Shri Jyoti Star software and corroborated with Jagannath Hora. Readers are free to cross-check this with other reliable softwares available)

All the planetary positions, save that of Rahu are accurate. Rahu's sign position is given in the Jodhpur horoscope in Gemini or Mithuna, while as per our modern calculations its Taurus. Rahu moved from Gemini to Taurus on 17th Feb i.e. 13 days prior.

However considering that all the other planetary positions especially of a fast moving Moon in Virgo are tallying, besides the weekday, 1st March 1630 is the accurate date.

Whether the horoscope tallies with the events of his life is another matter altogether and I will probably take this up later.

But its imperative that the Maharashtra Govt independently checks what I have mentioned above and does the necessary rectification. In 11 years time we will be celebrating Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaja's 400th birth anniversary. Lets ensure we celebrate it with the right birth date.

Let me list down all the planetary sign positions and Panchanga

Phalguni Masa, Krishna Tritiya, Shukravasara, Vishti Karana, Vriddhi Yoga, Chitra (2nd Pada) Nakshatra,
Lagna - Simha 28d57m,
Chandra (Atmakaraka) - Kanya,
Shani - Tula,
Ketu - Vrschika,
Ravi and Guru in Kumbha,
Budha-Meena,
Shukra-Mesha,
Rahu-Vrsabha,
Mangala-Mithuna

While checking on the net, there is one other source who lists down planetary positions of Shivaji's horoscope - its a blog named Kal Chiron. I dont know where he got these details. I have asked him but havent got any reply. He has listed several other horoscopes including most of the Peshwas.
http://kalchiron.blogspot.com/2011/11/horoscopes-of-maratha-stalwarts.html
His positions of Shivaji's horoscope corroborate with the Jodhpur source i.e. only the position of Rahu is different. He may have got it from the Jedhe Shakavali as well as it is mentioned that the Jedhe and Jodhpur corroborate with each other.

Now for the final desserts. As I had mentioned earlier, the Bikaneri source also gives the horosope of Shahaji Raje, father of Chhatrapati Shivaji. It gives the details as follows - "Samvat 1655 varshe Phalgun Krishna 14 Gurau Ratri gat ghati 27, pala 47, samaye, Meenalagnamadhye, Shahji raja janma" This translates to 25th March 1599, 5:18 am in Meena Lagna (its an honour for me to share same Lagna as Shahaji Raje). He has exalted Venus with Sun in Lagna and Saturn in digbala in Virgo. Jupiter is well placed in 4H.

Interestingly both father and son have Atmakaraka in Virgo.

By Kartik Srinivasan

A tale of two inscriptions

This is a tale of two inscriptions in Indian history, which indirectly indicate an interesting possibility, and which give us a glimpse into the minds of our ancestors, and how history was viewed by them.

But first a bit of background to help understand this better. Sixth Century A.D. in South India was a period of major transitions. A powerful imperialistic impulse was driving through the region. Old, narrow regional chieftaincies were being swept away by a tidal wave of imperialism, conquests to unify. The two powers who were driving it soon clashed with each other to introduce an era of superpower clashes in South India - a trend which was to continue for another 1000 years till the advent of colonialism. One of the power was from the arid Deccan plateau - the northern part of the Dakshinapatha - South, while the other was from the rich fertile plains of deep South. The former were the Chalukyas, who created an empire from their capital Vatapi (modern day Badami in North Karnataka), while the latter were the Pallavas, who ruled from the ancient metropolis of Kanchi (near Chennai, Tamil Nadu).

The Chalukyas were clearly driven by imperialistic ambitions right from the accession of Pulakeshin I. But it was during the time of Pulakeshin II, his grandson (and my most favorite ruler), the most famous of all Chalukyas that the empire expanded in the north from Gujarat, Vidarbha right down to borders of modern day TN...it would roughly comprise today's southern part of Gujarat, entire Maharashtra, Telangana, coastal AP south till Krishna, parts of Rayalseema, entire Karnataka. Pulakeshi is famed in history for having defeated the great Harshavardhana who ruled over the entire North India for nearly half a century, but because of Pulakeshi couldnt venture into the south.

The Pallavas were a more ancient dynasty and their capital Kanchi had its past in hallowed antiquity of the Sangam Age. They had control of the entire southern half of the peninsula - entire TN and Kerala, most of Rayalseema, coastal AP north upto Krishna, southern parts of Karnataka and they extended their influence on Sri Lanka too.

Clearly both these superpowers were geared for a battle royale. Pulakeshin, ever aggressive, made the first move by attacking the Pallava northern territories. The Pallava king facing him was Mahendravarman, a man of great repute, both as a warrior and man of culture and letters. He is even known to have written the satirical play Mattavilasa. Mahendravarman was prompt to respond to the Chalukya aggression and several skirmishes happened between them. However Pulakeshin was able to inflict a crushing and decisive defeat on the Pallavas. Mahendravarman tried to salvage his position after the defeat and he resiliently defended himself, but he was heart broken after the defeat and soon passed away. His son Narasimhavarman swore revenge and soon enough he turned the tables on Pulakeshin. He allied himself with a Sinhala prince and defeated Pulakeshi in several engagements, before victoriously storming the capital Vatapi itself. Pulakeshi was slain in the battle, and Narasimhavarman destroyed Vatapi. Narasimhavarman recorded his victory in the capital of his enemies in an inscription in the Mallikarjuna Temple at Vatapi. And this was to remain a source of shame to the Chalukyas for all their history, which they strove to erase, but not by chiseling out that inscription, but in the way most unique to Indians as I shall narrate ahead.

The Chalukya aggression and the Pallava's violent retaliation was to spark of a rivalry of Southern Superpowers that continued in history, well after the demise of these dynasties. Successively the Deccan and Deep South rivalry was taken up by Rashtrakutas-Pallavas, Later Chalukyas-Cholas, Bahmani-Vijaynagar with its culmination with the Battle of Rakshasi-Tangadi (also known as Talikota) in 1565, almost a thousand years later.

The Chalukyas soon revived under Pulakeshi's son Vikramaditya I and his successors. Vikramaditya, Vinayaditya and Vikramaditya II took adequate revenge of the insult by defeating the Pallavas many times. The first and the last ruler, even occupied Kanchi - but it is the last ruler that we turn our attention to i.e. Vikramaditya II, the great-grandson of Vikramaditya I and great-great grandson of Pulakeshi for he was the man who caused to inscribe the second of our inscriptions.

After defeating the Pallavas and occupying Kanchi sometime between 740-743 (almost a century after Narasimhavarman had occupied Vatapi), Vikramaditya caused to inscribe on a pillar in the mandapa of the Rajasimhesvara Temple in Kanchi so as to record his victory over the Pallavas. But Vikramaditya was magnanimous for his inscription tells us that he didnt ransack or destroy the city, instead he is supposed to have made lavish gifts to the temple and Brahmanas and then left the city. But by inscribing in a temple in the capital of his enemies, he suitably took revenge upon them for the humiliation suffered by his forefathers.

Now comes the part, which for me is most interesting and significant. I have many a times, come across in Egyptian history for e.g. where a Pharaoh causes to obliterate records pertaining to some earlier Pharaoh whom he was supplanting, or was antagonistic to or with whose religious beliefs he didnt agree with. It was like erasing a person off history, erasing history itself.

And here in the Indian case, we find a scenario, where two dynasties, two lineages who were bitter rivals, with no love lost and who mercilessly take revenge, yet do not erase an inscription, a record of their enemies in their own capital city. The Chalukyas could have destroyed that inscription of Narasimhavarman, so as to leave no trace, even in memory of any subjugation by the Pallavas and the Pallavas could have done likewise - but no, they didnt do so and these records of history on slabs of stone have survived down to our times, affected only by the wear and tear of the elements but not by any human agency.

Typically in inscriptions - there are dire consequences threatened to people who seek to destroy it. So one could conjecture that the Pallavas or Chalukyas didnt destroy those embarrassing records because of superstitious beliefs, but I dont think that would be the case. These are men, who have cold-blooded political logic - they know that inscriptions are a media of propaganda and they have unhesitatingly used it to promote themselves, by exaggerating account of their victory, even claiming victory when they have been soundly defeated, by claiming descent from Gods of hoary past and concocting fanciful legends, ascribing themselves with achievements that are the height of hyperbole. They wouldnt have the slightest superstitious qualm to erase anything that is a cause of shame.

I would like to believe that it is because these rulers had great pride in their chivalry. They were not one to take an easy way out. In fact for them the pride was to erase the blot of a past defeat by taking appropriate revenge. Erasing that shameful record would have been the actions of a mean, cowardly person in their eyes. These were men, who boasted of their warrior exploits. Vikramaditya I gave himself titles like Ranarasika i.e. Enjoyer of Wars, Anivarita i.e. the Unopposed.
Erasing something on stone was not his way of settling scores, it was not the manly way!

Here are the two inscriptions. I couldnt find the exact wordings of Narasimhavarman's inscription, but was able to find a description of it in a website. Vikramaditya II 's inscription is the second one mentioned below.


First Inscription

"The earliest important epigraph in this volume is the Badami Rock Inscription (No. 1), engraved in the Pallava-Grantha characters of the 7th century A.D. The record is unfortunately mutilated owing to the effects of wind and rain to which the rock is exposed. But from what remains of it, it may be made out that Mahamalla [Nara?] simh who is described in the last 3 lines as the foremost Pallava king [Nara]-simhavishnu of the Bharadvaja-gotra occupied Vatapi and (probably seized) a pillar of victory standing in that place, in the 13th year of his reign. It is to be regretted that the next two lines which are in the Chalukyan alphabet of the period, and contained to Saka year combined with the regnal year of the king are completely damaged except the portion ‘Sakavarshe shashtyu’ i.e., Saka year . . . . . . .(increased by) sixty …. This date, to fall in the 7th century A.D. may be interpreted to range from Saka 560 to 569 in which case the lacuna may be supplied as shashty-uttara-pancha-satatame eka (up to nave)dhike. This would definitely place the occupation of Vatapi by Narasimhavarman I some time before or within the period Saka 560-69 (=A.D. 638-647), which must have corresponded to the 13th year of his reign. Since the Chinese pilgrim Hieun Tsiang visited Maharashtra when Pulakesin II was at the zenith of his power, i.e., in about A.D. 639, the above mentioned event must have taken place only after that date. Fleet has, on the strength of the non-mention of the sovereign power in the Kaira grant of Vijayavarma-raja, assigned the Pallava occupation of Vatapi to sometime before A,D. 643 and this apparently receives direct support from the expression shashty-utta[ra], etc., occurring in lines 7-8 of the present epigraph."

This is the description of the inscription attributed to the great Pallava king Narasimhavarman "Mahamalla" on a pillar in the Mallikarjuna Temple at Badami from http://www.whatisindia.com/inscriptions/south_indian_inscriptions/volume_11/introduction.html


Second Inscription:
"Hail! Vikramaditya Satyasraya, the favorite of Fortune and of the earth (Sri Prithvivallabha), the Maharajadhiraja Paramesvara Bhattara, having captured Kanchi and having inspected the riches belonging to the temple of Rajasimhesvara, gave them again to god.

Those who destroy these letters and the stability of the king's charity which was thus given shall enter teh world of those who have killed the men of the assembly of this city (i.e. those who kill good, virtuous men)

This edict was written by the blameless and illustrious Anivaritapunyavallabha (name of the minister), under the authority of Vallabhadurjaya (a title of the king)"

On a pillar of the mandapa in front of Rajasimhesvara Temple, Kanchi
Epigraphica India Vol III Pg 359-60

Thutmosis III and the Battle of Megiddo

Thutmosis III is regarded as the greatest warrior Pharaoh of Egypt, veritably an ancient Egyptian Napoleon. He is said to have undertaken 17 campaigns and not lost a single one. By the end of his reign in 1425 BC, he had turned Egypt into the first ever superpower empire with vast holdings in the Middle East and several vassal states. His greatest ever campaign came in the very first year** of his reign in 1458 BC, when all the Syrian chieftains revolted against him, led by the chief of Kadesh.
The revolting tribes gathered at the town of Megiddo, just 200 miles from the Egyptian frontier, thus threatening to invade Egypt itself. Undaunted the new Pharaoh decided to go aggressively against the rebels by not waiting for them to attack, and rather taking the campaign to Megiddo itself. In the heat of summer in May 1458 BC, he started off with 10,000 troops to attack Megiddo in a lightening fast assault.

When they were just 30 miles from Megiddo, his experienced generals advised him to take one of the two longer roundabout routes to Megiddo, which were supposed to be safe. Instead he dismissively rejected their advice and decided to take a direct route through the mountains, but which left them an easy prey to ambush. He declared that he would himself be at head of his troops, so, in effect, if anyone was to fall first to ambush, it would be himself. As it turned out even the Syrians never expected such valor and had left the direct route unmanned never expecting the Egyptians to take it. This was decisive in helping the Egyptians reach very quickly to Megiddo and take the Syrians utterly by surprise.

We know in detail of the events leading upto this battle, the battle itself and the happenings thereafter because they have been recorded by the royal scribe and transcribed in the Temple of Karnak. This is probably the first ever detailed war account and a very fascinating read. I provide below a link to the exact writing of the royal scribe Thanuny.

http://www.reshafim.org.il/ad/egypt/texts/the_battle_of_megiddo.htm

** - Thutmosis' came to throne as a minor when his father died. But for the first twenty two years his stepmother Hatshepsut ruled as the Pharaoh herself. So only after her death, did Thutmosis really become the de facto Pharaoh. The Megiddo Campaign happened immediately after Hatshepsut's death in 1458 BC. Thutmosis went on to rule Egypt for another thirty two years till 1425 BC.

I particularly like the following lines from the royal scribe's account, where Thutmosis dismisses the advice of his generals defiantly.

Since they are full of convoluted sentences, as ancient inscriptions generally are - I'll first condense them in more straightforward, intelligible terms and then give the detailed word-to-word rendition below that.

Condensed account:

Generals to Pharaoh - Your Majesty, there is a treacherous and narrow route through the mountains, which directly leads to Megiddo, but we are vulnerable to ambush as we have to go in a single file - man after man, horse after horse, so that when our advance guard may be ambushed deep into the pass, our rear is still at the base camp itself. There are two other routes, one from the north and other from the south, which are long and roundabout, but relatively safe. We request your Majesty to kindly adopt one of these two routes.

Pharaoh - We shall go by the direct route and none other. What do you want our enemy to say - that his majesty fears us? We shall take no other route but this and those who wish to take any other route may do so and those who wish to follow me, let them follow.

Generals - We shall follow your majesty, for the servants follow their master

Pharaoh - Then none shall go before me. I shall be at the head of the troops myself.


Exact Detailed Account:

[His majesty] ordered a consultation with his valiant troops, saying as follows: "That wretched enemy, the chief of Kadesh, has come and entered into Megiddo; he [is there] at this moment. He has gathered to himself the chiefs of all the countries which are on the water of Egypt, and as far as Naharin, consisting of [the countries] of the Kharu, the Kode, their horses, their troops. Thus he speaks, 'I have arisen to [fight against his majesty] in Megiddo.' Tell ye me."

They spoke in the presence of his majesty, "How is it, that we should go upon this road, which threatens to be narrow? While they [come] and say that the enemy is there waiting, [hold]ing the way against a multitude. Will not horse come behind [horse and man] behind man likewise? Shall our [advance-guard] be fighting while our [rear-guard] is yet standing yonder in Aruna not having fought? There are yet two (other) roads: one road, behold, it [will] us, for it comes forth at Taanach, the other, [behol]d, it will [bring us upon] the way north of Zefti, so that we shall come out to the north of Megiddo. Let our victorious lord proceed upon the road he desires; (but) cause us not to go by a difficult road."

Then [went (?)] messengers concerning [this] design which they had uttered, in view of what had been said [by (?)] the majesty of the Court: "I [swear], as Re loves me, as my father Amon, favors me, as my [nostrils] are rejuvenated with satisfying life, my majesty will proceed upon this road of Aruna. Let him who will among you, go upon those roads ye have mentioned, and let him who will among you, come in the following of my majesty. Shall they think among those enemies whom Re detests: 'Does his majesty proceed upon another road? He begins to be fearful of us,' so will they think."

They spoke before his majesty: "May thy father Amon, lord of Thebes, presider over Karnak, [grant thee life]. Behold, we are the following of thy majesty in every place, whither [thy majesty] proceedeth; as the servant is behind [his] master."
[Then his majesty] commanded the entire army [to march] [upon] that road which threatened to be [narrow. His majesty] swore, saying: "None shall go forth [in the way] before my majesty, in ." He went forth at the head of his army himself, [showing the way] by his (own) footsteps; horse behind [horse], [his majesty] being at the head of his army.

My first post on this blog, let me start by lauding a monarch whom I most admire, Vira Ballala Deva III (reign 1292-1342) of Hoysala vamsha. His biruda (title) is the most laudatory I have ever seen, but one knowing about him will accept that he fully deserves it. Typically in those times, the inscriptions were drafted to award land or other holdings to temples (as devadana), Brahmins, private individuals. In all such inscriptions the reigning monarch's titles and name, his residence is stated. So an inscription after invoking the name of diety would invariably be followed by full styled regalia of the king followed by the rest of the matter. Some inscriptions were just to let us know where the reigning monarch was residing, his nelevidu. Not all of Ballala III's inscriptions have all the following titles, however some do have all his biruda. Here goes one of them

Svastim

Prosperity to All

Samasta Bhuvanashrayam

Refuge to Entire World

Sri Prithvi Vallabham

Favorite of the Earth

Maharajadhiraja Paramesvaram

Great King of Kings, Greatest Lord

Parama Bhattarakam

Supreme Ruler

Dvaravatipura varadhisvara

Lord of Dvaravatipura (Dwarasamudra)

Yadava kulambara dyumani

Crown Jewel of the Yadava clan

Sarvajn Chudamani

Pearl in the Necklace of the Omniscient

Maleraja raja, Maleparolaganda

King of Hill-kings, Champion over Hill-Chiefs

Ganda Bherunda, Kadana Prachanda

Two headed Eagle (Hoysala emblem), Terrible Slaughterer (of enemies)

Asahaya Shura Ekanga Vira

Protector of the Helpless, Unparalleled Brave,

Sanivara Siddhi, Giridurga malla Chhalad-anka Rama

One who is successful (even on) Saturdays, Conqueror of Hill Chiefs

Vairibhi Kanthiriva

Lions Roar to (his) enemies

Chola Rajya Pratishtacharya, Pandya Rajya Samudharana

One who Steadied the Chola Kingdom, One whose Declarations are carried out in Pandya kingdom

Magara Rajya Nirmulana

Uprooter of Magara Rajya (Tondaimandalam)

Nissanka Pratapa Chakravarti Hoysala Bhujabala

Valorous Emperor, The Hoysala Strong armed

Vira Ballala Devarasu ........