Maratha decline after Shivaji

 

Maratha rule post-Shivaji
After the death of Chhatrapati Shivaji in 1680, the Maratha kingdom struggled to hold its own against the Mughals. Shivaji’s sons, Sambhaji and Rajaram (both half-brothers) who came to the throne one after the other met with limited success in holding on to the kingdom that Shivaji had fashioned in western Maharashtra. Sambhaji was killed by the Mughals in 1689 and Sambhaji’s son Shahu was a prisoner in the Mughal camps of Malwa for almost eighteen years before his release in 1708. Succession battles between Tarabai, Rajaram’s widow who attempted to foist her son, Shivaji II on the throne after Rajaram’s death in 1700 and Shahu, who wanted to ascend the throne himself, also queered the Maratha pitch. Even though Shahu did ascend the throne in 1708, from 1713 onwards, it was the Peshwa, Balaji Vishwanath who came to hold the reins of power.

Till 1761, when the Maratha defeat at the hands of the Afghan marauder, Ahmad Shah Abdali, in the Third Battle of Panipat tempered Maratha power to an extent, Balaji Vishwanath, a Chitpavan Brahmin by caste and the Peshwas (his son and grandson) who followed him — Bajirao (1720 – 1740) and Balaji Baji Rao (1740 – 1761) — exercised power on the Chattrapati’s behalf. The Chhatrapatis who followed Shahu were reduced to being nominal heads and retired to Satara while the Peshwas held fort at Pune which came to be the real centre of power. The Peshwas were assisted in their military endeavours by various Maratha chiefs — Holkar, Scindia (Shinde), Gaekwad and Bhonsle — who led roving bands of soldiers that aided the Peshwa army.

After the 1818 battle, Maratha power, which was anyway on its last legs, was effectively finished. And, ironically, Mahars were involved in its final battle.

Pink City

 Jaipur my home town. There were not more than 25 south indian ( madrasi ) families living , the locals accomodated us with respect and never for once we felt outsiders.Now the population is close to 36 lacs while in 1950 it was just 1.50 lacs. The city was founded in 1727 by Maharaja Jaisingh II and is now ranked 7th best place to visit in Asia ( according to trip advisor ) and first among the Indian destinations for the year. Nahargarh fort is the main tourist spot. Jaipur is the hub for handicrafts, textiles, hand knot rugs, carpets, gemstones and artistic jewellery. There are about 2900 restaurants the place is a “ Foodie Paradise “ the flagship dish of Rajasthani Cuisine is Dal Bati Churma with Gatta Curry. The range is exciting like Ghewar, Mawa ki Kachori, Pyaz ki Kachori, Kalakand, Mirchi Bada, Rasmalai , Kesar Rabri Kulfi. Many of the city avenues is painted pink. Calgary ( Canada ) is the twin city of Jaipur.

Indian Pharmacy

 

India — which is called ‘pharmacy of the world’ for being a leading supplier of drugs to many Countries.
Despite being a leading supplier of high-quality medicines to several countries, Indian pharmaceutical industry is highly dependent on China for raw materials even to produce medicines as basic as Crocin.
These raw materials are called the Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API), also known as bulk drugs. Indian drug-makers import around 70 per cent of their total bulk drug requirements from China.
In the 2018-19 fiscal, the government had informed the Lok Sabha that the country’s drug-makers had imported bulk drugs and intermediates worth $ 2.4 billion from China.
But with an indefinite lockdown in China due to the deadly coronavirus outbreak, supplies of raw materials from China to produce drugs for treating HIV, cancer, epilepsy, malaria, and also commonly-used antibiotics and vitamin pills, are likely to be hit.
To prevent the shortage of medicines, the Narendra Modi government is considering curbing export of 12 bulk drugs. India lost its growing market of APIs to China in the 90s, due to largely , taxes, lack of support by way of subsidies, as a result the Chinese product were 20 to 25 percent cheaper and our domestic API products were squarely taken over by imports from China.

Sarma Thata

 Jaipur my home town. There were not more than 25 south indian ( madrasi ) families living , the locals accomodated us with respect and never for once we felt outsiders.Now the population is close to 36 lacs while in 1950 it was just 1.50 lacs. The city was founded in 1727 by Maharaja Jaisingh II and is now ranked 7th best place to visit in Asia ( according to trip advisor ) and first among the Indian destinations for the year. Nahargarh fort is the main tourist spot. Jaipur is the hub for handicrafts, textiles, hand knot rugs, carpets, gemstones and artistic jewellery. There are about 2900 restaurants the place is a “ Foodie Paradise “ the flagship dish of Rajasthani Cuisine is Dal Bati Churma with Gatta Curry. The range is exciting like Ghewar, Mawa ki Kachori, Pyaz ki Kachori, Kalakand, Mirchi Bada, Rasmalai , Kesar Rabri Kulfi. Many of the city avenues is painted pink. Calgary ( Canada ) is the twin city of Jaipur.

Sriram Mills Mumbai

 How a downfall happens - this is primarily due to greed and poor planning. I was closely associated with Sriram Mills for 10 years supplying blended yarn about 45 MT rate approx  Rs 80 per kg ie 45000 kg per month valued Rs 35 lacs on 45 days credit ( 15 days interest free and 30 interest @ 18 % pa ) gradually I reduced supply and credit and offered liberal discount on supply on cash / LC . They initially took supplies and gradually they switched to other suppliers - ( Sriram were largest manufacturers of school dress fabrics from 2/40 PV 48/52 blended dyed yarn. In the meanwhile I established new markets in Punjab ( knitted acrylic yarn ) Hukumchand Mills Indore, Reliance Industries Naroda Ahemdabad and in Bhiwandi  - the Bhiwandi power loom association recognised our support during those days to covert their power loom from cotton based to synthetic blended yarn - we could successfully convince power loom owners like Gulam Nabi   Agarwal and Acharya, Mehboob Ali some of the prominent ones and our payments were 100% from Bhiwandi - I and Hema attended several functions in Bhiwandi due to our closeness with their families particularly Kedar Acharya - Agarwal's and Gulabnabi . The association of Indian Cotton Mills Federation ( ICMF ) recognised the efforts of 7 mills including ours Bhoruka Textiles ( A unit of transport corporation of india ) I was Vice President independent incharge of marketing

Wastage of resources

 A nation endowed with abundant natural resources supported by  perennial river system from Himalaya to the peninsular flowing to Deccan  down to southern india having multiple drainage in both coasts has during 75 years of republic achieved a meagre GDP of 2.71 Trillion  USD compared to China of 15 Trillion. While the richest state Maharashtra abysmal 400 Billion USD. A mediocre governance , people humbly accepted the federal system of democracy  where , "A rule by several people affiliated to various  political parties " REPUBLIC all over the world since inception has functioned under the leadership of oligarchic assemblies "  Naturally  ancient thinkers looked upon kingship as the commonest and most important form of governance; to them a rule of assemblies lead to persistent debates and disputes  (  political  stance in assemblies ) lack of consensus , inefficiency and wastages of resources. This is what the Indian public has been subjected to for decades. A  grim and pathetic state of affairs.

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THE ORIGIN AND GROWTH OF BHAGAVATISM

 Bhagavatism originated in post-Maurya period and was centred around the worship of Vishnu  or Bhagavata. Vishnu was a minor god in Vedic times. He represented the sun and also the fertility cult. By second century BC he merged with God called Narayana and thus came to be known as Narayana- Vishnu. Originally Narayana was non vedic tribal god called Bhagavata, and his worshipers were called Bhagavatas Thus worshipers of Vishnu and those of Narayana were brought under a single umbrella by merging Vishnu with Narayana. The former was a  Vedic  God and latter emerged subsequently with non vedic associations, however, two gods mingled and merged.Besides Vishnu came to be identified with a legendary hero of VRISHNI TRIBE in western India known as Krishna Vasudeva. The great epic Mahabharata showed that Krishna and Vishnu were one, by 200 BC the three streams of God's and their worshipers into one and resulted in the creation of BHAGAVATISM or VAISHNAVISM.. This religion was sufficiently liberal to attract foreigners. Krishna taught in the Bhagavadgita that women, vaishyas and shudras  who were born of sin could seek refuge in him. Bhagavatisim or Vaishnavism over shadowed Mahayana Buddhism and it preached doctrine of incarnation or avatar and it presented 10 incarnations of Vishnu. Each incarnation of Vishnu was considered necessary for the salvation of Dharma.By 6 th century Vishnu became a member of Trinity of god's along with Shiva and Brahma.After 6th century Vishnu worship and recitation of the  legends associated with him began to be established in eastern India. Several religious recitations including " Vishnusahasranama " were composed for the benefit of Vishnu worshipers. Idol worship in temples became a common feature of Hinduism from the GUPTA period onward and many festivals also began to be celebrated. Agricultural festivals observed by different classes of people were lent a religious grab and color and turned a useful source of income for the priests