The 300th Anniversary of the Birth of the Maratha King Shivaji

ON THE 17th of March celebrations were held in many parts of the Bombay Presidency, commemorating the 300th anniversary of the birth of the Maratha king Shivaji, the George Washington of Maharashtra. There exists some doubt as to the year of his birth. Hanuman, who wrote a life of Ramdas about a hundred years after the death of Shivaji, says Shivaji was born in gaka 1549, A. D. 1627. Those who believed that date to be the true one celebrated his birth in 1927. Those whose historical researches lead them to accept 1930 as the true date, made March 17th of this year the chief day of their celebrations. As Shivaji is believed to have been born in the hill fort of Shivneri, near Junnar, in the Nasik District, the celebrations there took somewhat of the form of a religious festival in his honor. The celebration on the same day at Poona took an oratorical and literary form. On that day there were issued several volumes in Marathi and English containing the results of recent research, throwing light on the many problems that center in this loved and honored Maratha hero

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