LIFE AND DEATH OF SAMBHAJI 

-MEDHA DESHMUKH BHASKARAN 

 Being a beginner to read the books, I always loved to read about history. Apart from studies I wanted to read which was something above the basics. Whenever I utter the word history Marathas appear in my mind. While searching for a book related to Marathas I found 'Life and death of Sambhaji ' written by 'Medha Deshmukh Bhaskaran ' First of all I would like to share a short note about writer
Ancestors of Medha Deshmukh Bhaskaran were watandars (revenue collectors, head of the village or a region) and she was born in Ahmednagar where badshah Aurangzeb breathed his last. Therefore she wanted to take the story further.
While reading this book I noticed that character of Sambhaji has been explained very well including pros and cons. He is pretended to be a traitor ,he suffered from a really challenging life. While reading this book you can totally imagine his character and as of now I personally have collected information about Marathas and when I imagined this book a chronology was created between each and every incident given in the book. After reading this book I understood a lot more things about Maratha culture ,tradition for example Coronation of king....While reading epilogue tears rolled down  my eyes. Sambhaji waged a titanic lifelong struggle to forge his identity. The complexity of his character can be seen from his varied portrayals.
Sambhaji a traitor or protector ,assassin of his father's minister or a seeker of justice, uncouth son or scholar of languages and a poet. His mistakes cost him dearly as a sudden death of his father and then he becomes a Chhatrapati, he inherits a crown of thorns. Sambhaji has not been defined in history books and answers to deeper questions around his life are notoriously difficult. Sambhaji always existed in the twilight zone of our history ,a shadowy figure defying scrutiny. Many more questions are answered in the book about Chhatrapati Sambhaji. His wife Maharani Yesu's character is also well explained. My favorite line from the book was 'All of us are capable of becoming weapons with hearts of iron. What matters the most is for what purpose  we use the weapon we become.'At last- History has been unfair to Sambhaji ,but it can't be denied that he inspired a generation of Maratha warriors, who eventually ensured the end of Aurangzeb's jihad. Language used is easy to understand and easy to read....most recommend book for beginners, and no regrets....really commendable.

©️®️Shreya Satpute