Talk:Mastani

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reasons for house arrest

In the article for Kashibai it mentions that the reason for putting Mastani into house arrest was that the Brahms of Pune were boycotting the Peshwa family. I think this is important to be mentioned as it is the tangible political reason instead of the "mistreatment of Kashibai" which i don't think anyone really cared about in that time and age

Untitled

Baji Rao was easily the greatest general India has produced. Many opine that he was a greater general than even Napoleon Bonaparte, for he never tasted defeat on the battlefield. And every history of historical reference of Baji Rao makes a mention of Mastani as a big influence in his life. Mistresses are the rule rather than the exception amongst rulers. Every ruler has them, more than one. But how many mistresses are mentioned in every history of the man concerned? It is a rare mistress who may be mentioned as a footnote in history. Extremely rare. Otherwise history records only women like Razia Sultan and Nur Jehan; Mumtaz Mahal is more a footnote because of the Taj Mahal. And the Rani of Jhansi found mention thanks to British applause, more to show up Indian manhood of those times wanting, especially in contrast with the British. Roshan Ara, Jehan Ara, Anarkali…legends.

Mastani’s name, as a dancing girl he was ‘infatuated with’ is a recurring theme in all histories of Baji Rao. How can a mere dancing girl acquire so much influence in the highly politicized Brahmin household of the 1730s. That is what intrigued me about Mastani and drew me to her. What was so special about “Baji Rao’s mistress/dancing girl” Mastani that historians always remembered to take note of her and then dismiss her in a single paragraph? Why did they not just forget about her when the Marathas had so carefully edited her out of all their court Bakhars? This itself is a strange phenomenon since the Peshwas were such particular record keepers that their Bakhars (or court records) mention every paisa spent, including every member of the household. Surely in her ten years in the Peshwa household, some expenses must have been made on Mastani. After all, she and her co-wife, Kashibai stayed under the same roof during their pregnancies and confinements, having delivered sons within months of each other. It is ironical that despite the consistent mention of Mastani, there is total absence of any direct historical record of her existence in the Peshwa world. The Peshwa are noted for their bakhars, an official record that takes note of each and every occurrence in the court and the household, including all and sundry expenses. Mastani spent just over a decade in the Peshwa household with Baji Rao’s mother, sisters and first wife and the family of his brother, Chimaji Appa too. Innumerable expenses must have been made on her account as well., her delivery, her attire etc. There is no mention of this in the accounts which mentioned every paisa spent on saris, shawls and charity by the others. Not even of the how and when of her death and the funeral expenses. Why was she edited out so completely, or were her expenses being borne by her maika? Yet her son Krishna Swami aka Shamsher Bahadur was brought up and educated by the next Peshwa, Balaji Baji Rao himself, and given a commission in the army as a general. Unlike Baji Rao’s own illegitimate half brother who was a mere soldier. Shamsher laid his life for the Peshwa cause at Panipat. His son, Ali Bahadur went on to become the first Nawab of Banda under the overall suzerainty of the Peshwas.

Question: Why Nawab? Why not Rajah? Ali Bahadur was the grandson of Peshwa Baji Rao, a Chitpavan Brahmin. Did the Chitpavans not subscribe to patriarchal society? So what if Mastani’s mother was Muslim? Her father was Kshtriya. Then how could Mastani be Muslim in a patriarchal society, more so when her father Chhatrasaal was reckoned to be one of the major proponents of the Pranami Panth in his time. Why did the Brahmins do this and why did the Chhatrasaal branch of Bundelkhand not protest? Why ere Shamsher Bahadur and Ali Bahadur deprived of their patriarchy. Shamsher Bahadur was initially named Krishna Swami. He wore tulsi mala and tikka and started all his correspondence with the greeting ‘’Jai Pandurang”. How much more Hindu could he get? Why then did he accept Muslim wives? What was the Peshwa agenda in sending Ali Bahadur as a Muslim to oversee his Hindu cousins and rule over Hindus in Banda?

Coming to Mastani, reputedly stunningly beautiful:

Had Mastani been such a stunning beauty, there would have been some genuine picture or painting of her. The two in the Kelkar and Wai museums have been denounced by historians as not depictions of Mastani herself. There are too many identification and cultural errors for these to be depictions of Mastani.

There are innumerable anomalies in the story of Mastani as it is popularly told. Here was a Kshtriya maiden, daughter of the most powerful ruler of Central India of his times and a known upholder of his religion, supposedly "giving" his daughter from a minor "wife/mistress" to the Peshwa. If she was the daughter of a mistress, would not that be a calculated insult to the man who saved Chhatrasaal life and kingdom for him? An act for which Chhatrasaal agreed to give the Peshwa one third of his kingdom as well as war reparations of 2.25 lakhs. Against these reparations, Mastani's lugda choli, i.e. dowry alone was five lakhs!

When Mastani first comes to Pune with Baji Rao, she is accepted in his Brahmin household. Despite having been brought up in the Pranami Panth, with its unique combination of rituals and customs, she was able to adjust in the Brahmin household surprisingly well. When Baji Rao built his Shaniwar Wada, there is a corner reserved for Mastani as Mastani Mahal. During her pregnancy, she is said to have lived under the same roof as Baji Rao's mother, Radhabai and his first wife, Kashibai. So much so that when Mastani entered her final trimester and was big with child, Baji Rao slept with Kashibai and got her pregnant. Both his wives delivered sons within months of each other in 1734.

Yes, I did say "wife". For the present day descendants of the Peshwas are on record acknowledging Mastani as the legally wedded (or whatever term may have been prevalent in that society in the 1730s) second wife of Peshwa Baji Rao I. It is significant that neither the king, Shahu Maharaj, nor Baji Rao's spiritual guru, Brahmendra Swami made any public denouncement of Mastani, which would have well been the case had she been the manipulative mistress that she is made out to be.

The social history of those times reveals that it was the return of Shahu from Mughal imprisonment that saw the introduction of many north Indian influences into Maratha social life. This included various festivals and Rajput practices, including dancing girls, wine and meat consumption; for all of which Mastani was blamed. Was it a parochial bias against a highly accomplished princess from Central India versus the rather simpler women of the Bhat Peshwa household?

Whatever be the case, records indicate that after Baji Rao escorted Kashibai on her Narmada yatra, it was the turn of his mother Radhabai to embark on her Varanasi yatra. On her way there, she was feted by Rajput [princes and rajas. On her way back she made a stopover at Bundelkhand.

Question: Did she stay at Mastani's maika or with Govind Pant Bundela who was Baji Rao's agent there to collect his dues from the estate he inherited from Chhatrasaal?

What happened during that stopover that as soon as Radhabai returned to Pune, she embarked on a pogrom of vilification against Mastani and drew support from the Chitpavan Brahmins, citing the Mussalmani, wine and meat issue etc?

This vilification campaign was eventually to sap Baji Rao; so much so that for the first time in his life, he ran a fever so high that it took his life!! And in the bargain, Mastani's also, although no historical records have been left of how, when and where she actually died .

Should this myth be accepted or probed since it came on the heels of Baji Rao's announcement to his ambitious brother Chimaji that he was considering shifting out of Pune and settling down with Mastani, closer to Delhi and his Bundelkhand estates.

If anyone can tell me anything which will throw light on these questions, I will be very obliged.

   kusumchoppra@yahoo.com

Mastani: the other view

Latest comment: 16 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion

Baji Rao was easily the greatest general India has produced. Many opine that he was a greater general than even Napoleon Bonaparte, for he never tasted defeat on the battlefield. And every history of historical reference of Baji Rao makes a mention of Mastani as a big influence in his life. Mistresses are the rule rather than the exception amongst rulers. Every ruler has them, more than one. But how many mistresses are mentioned in every history of the man concerned? It is a rare mistress who may be mentioned as a footnote in history. Extremely rare. Otherwise history records only women like Razia Sultan and Nur Jehan; Mumtaz Mahal is more a footnote because of the Taj Mahal. And the Rani of Jhansi found mention thanks to British applause, more to show up Indian manhood of those times wanting, especially in contrast with the British. Roshan Ara, Jehan Ara, Anarkali…legends.

Mastani’s name, as a dancing girl he was ‘infatuated with’ is a recurring theme in all histories of Baji Rao. How can a mere dancing girl acquire so much influence in the highly politicized Brahmin household of the 1730s. That is what intrigued me about Mastani and drew me to her. What was so special about “Baji Rao’s mistress/dancing girl” Mastani that historians always remembered to take note of her and then dismiss her in a single paragraph? Why did they not just forget about her when the Marathas had so carefully edited her out of all their court Bakhars? This itself is a strange phenomenon since the Peshwas were such particular record keepers that their Bakhars (or court records) mention every paisa spent, including every member of the household. Surely in her ten years in the Peshwa household, some expenses must have been made on Mastani. After all, she and her co-wife, Kashibai stayed under the same roof during their pregnancies and confinements, having delivered sons within months of each other. It is ironical that despite the consistent mention of Mastani, there is total absence of any direct historical record of her existence in the Peshwa world. The Peshwa are noted for their bakhars, an official record that takes note of each and every occurrence in the court and the household, including all and sundry expenses. Mastani spent just over a decade in the Peshwa household with Baji Rao’s mother, sisters and first wife and the family of his brother, Chimaji Appa too. Innumerable expenses must have been made on her account as well., her delivery, her attire etc. There is no mention of this in the accounts which mentioned every paisa spent on saris, shawls and charity by the others. Not even of the how and when of her death and the funeral expenses. Why was she edited out so completely, or were her expenses being borne by her maika? Yet her son Krishna Swami aka Shamsher Bahadur was brought up and educated by the next Peshwa, Balaji Baji Rao himself, and given a commission in the army as a general. Unlike Baji Rao’s own illegitimate half brother who was a mere soldier. Shamsher laid his life for the Peshwa cause at Panipat. His son, Ali Bahadur went on to become the first Nawab of Banda under the overall suzerainty of the Peshwas.

Question: Why Nawab? Why not Rajah? Ali Bahadur was the grandson of Peshwa Baji Rao, a Chitpavan Brahmin. Did the Chitpavans not subscribe to patriarchal society? So what if Mastani’s mother was Muslim? Her father was Kshtriya. Then how could Mastani be Muslim in a patriarchal society, more so when her father Chhatrasaal was reckoned to be one of the major proponents of the Pranami Panth in his time. Why did the Brahmins do this and why did the Chhatrasaal branch of Bundelkhand not protest? Why ere Shamsher Bahadur and Ali Bahadur deprived of their patriarchy. Shamsher Bahadur was initially named Krishna Swami. He wore tulsi mala and tikka and started all his correspondence with the greeting ‘’Jai Pandurang”. How much more Hindu could he get? Why then did he accept Muslim wives? What was the Peshwa agenda in sending Ali Bahadur as a Muslim to oversee his Hindu cousins and rule over Hindus in Banda?

Coming to Mastani, reputedly stunningly beautiful:

Had Mastani been such a stunning beauty, there would have been some genuine picture or painting of her. The two in the Kelkar and Wai museums have been denounced by historians as not depictions of Mastani herself. There are too many identification and cultural errors for these to be depictions of Mastani. There are innumerable anomalies in the story of Mastani as it is popularly told. Here was a Kshtriya maiden, daughter of the most powerful ruler of Central India of his times and a known upholder of his religion, supposedly "giving" his daughter from a minor "wife/mistress" to the Peshwa. If she was the daughter of a mistress, would not that be a calculated insult to the man who saved Chhatrasaal life and kingdom for him? An act for which Chhatrasaal agreed to give the Peshwa one third of his kingdom as well as war reparations of 2.25 lakhs. Against these reparations, Mastani's lugda choli, i.e. dowry alone was five lakhs!