A Rajput from the Deccan Shivaji’s Discursive Identities
A Rajput from the Deccan Shivaji’s Discursive Identities

Summary/Abstract: This article explores Shivaji’s use of Braj Bhasha poetry toconstruct and assert his identity in the furtherance of his royal consecrationand realisation of his geopolitical ambitions. Departing from the cultural en-vironment of Deccani sultanates with their established patronage of Dakaniand Persian, Shivaji employed Braj to appeal to Hindu aristocracy, most no-tably Rajput chiefs, linking himself genealogically to the Sisodia Rajputs.Śivrājbhūṣaṇ, poetical treatise commissioned by him, blends indigenousHindu themes with Persianate royal imagery, reflecting complex politicaland cultural strategy to claim legitimacy and imperial status.Drawing on Dirk Kolff’s hypothesis on warrior identities (1990), the ar-ticle attempts to consider Shivaji’s Rajput affiliation as both pragmatic andindicative of flexible social identities shaped by military alliances. The studysituates one of Shivaji’s literary and political endeavours within a broadertradition of Braj Bhasha literary cultivation in the Deccan, tracing its originsto Shivaji’s father, Shahaji, and poets such as Cintāmaṇi Tripāṭhī. This transregionalliterary engagement reinforced Shivaji’s royal authority and posi-tioned him within the competing cultural landscapes of early modern India.

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