Shivaji VI

Chhatrapati Shivaji IV (5 April 1863 – 25 December 1883) was Raja of Kolhapur from 1871 to 1883. On 1 January 1878, at age 14, he was knighted with the title of Knight Commander of the Order of the Star of India (KCSI). A descendant of Shivaji, he was from the Sawardekar branch of the Bhosle family. His accession as Raja followed an interregnum of ten months and twenty-two days during which there was technically no ruler of Kolhapur.

Early education

In the early years, Yeshwantrao Wasudev Athale was engaged as his tutor. His bride was Yamanubai, the daughter of Waghojirao Shirke of Satara, who was ten-and-a-half years old. She took the married name Anandibai.

Dowager Sakwarbai, the second wife of Chhatrapati Rajaram, and other family elders had pushed for the Raja to be married in recognition of his coming of age. According to the historian Shruti Kapila, while his British wards had prioritised the prince's education, marriage was a priority in the Indian context. Schneider, who obtained the consent of the Bombay colonial government in February 1878, had stipulated that the bride should be chosen "from amongst the many Maratha families of distinction but in reduced circumstances". Yamanubai was chosen from as many as forty-five proposals of marriage from high-ranking Maratha families. Out of sensitivity to the ongoing famine, the wedding of Shivaji IV and Anandibai was not a lavish affair, unlike most princely weddings.

Further education

In October 1878, Shivaji IV was sent by British officials to Rajkumar College, also known as the Princes' College, at Rajkot. The intention was to provide the Raja with an Etonian-style education and to help him overcome his "shyness". Founded in 1870 and led by principal Chester Mcnaughton, Rajkumar College emphasised physical exercise as well as sermons on "gentlemanly duty and benevolent rule". A special tutor, B. P. Modak, was selected to accompany Shivaji. Also joining were two of his companions, Sidhojirao Appasaheb Desai Nipanikar and Appasaheb Shinde Mahisalkar.

School records graded Shivaji's performance as "average" and do not indicate that he was struggling. He played in a cricket match and participated in other sports. Although he did not win any awards, he also avoided getting into trouble. In April 1879, Shivaji returned to Kolhapur at the end of the term. After the summer holidays, Shivaji briefly went back to Rajkumar College in June with his tutor and two companions. Apparently ill, within a few weeks, he was taken back to Bombay for a medical examination and assessment of his mental state.

Illness and maltreatment

The question of the mental state of Shivaji IV is a matter of significant controversy and ultimately became known as the Kolhapur Affair (Kolhapur Prakaran). According to British officials, upon his return from Rajaram College in April 1879, the Raja began to show signs of mental illness. Upon examining him, three British doctors – Hunt, Cook and Murphy – recommended a "change of air". In October 1879, Shivaji was sent to Mahabaleshwar station, where the air was cooler. Initially he was accompanied by his tutor Modak, as well as Rambhau Ainarpurkar, a clerk from the office of the Karbhari. In December 1879, they were joined by Shivaji's new guardian Edmund Cox, who had been appointed assistant political agent. The Indian author Manohar Malgonkar described Cox as "an arrogant jingo in the worst Kipling tradition, a man who implicitly believed in race-superiority" and "the sort of abrasive individual whose enforced companionship would have driven most normal Indians to insanity".

In July 1880, Hunt, Cook and Murphy reported that Shivaji IV was suffering from "delusions" and recommended replacing all his Indian servants with Europeans, implying that this would protect him from "harmful" or "evil tendencies". According to Cox, Shivaji was exhibiting a crisis of identity, denying that he was the Maharaja of Kolhapur and claiming on different occasions to be the Prince of Wales or an Ottoman soldier defending the Khyber Pass. Shivaji was moved to the Fort of Ahmednagar with two custodians, Cox and the soldier Private Thomas Green. According to his successor Shahu of Kolhapur, while Shivaji was essentially being kept captive at the Fort of Ahmednagar, he was subjected to mistreatment by Green, which included withholding his food from him. Concerned for his son's welfare, his birth father Dinkarrao Bhosle tried repeatedly to see him, but was denied. Finding his situation intolerable, Shivaji IV twice tried to escape from Cox and Green. On one occasion, he tried to slip away disguised as a cart driver, using cigar ash to blacken his face. On another, he tried to gallop away during his daily horse ride.

Newspaper coverage

In 1881, Indian-owned newspapers led by the Kesari started publishing critical articles demanding an inquiry into Shivaji's mental health and welfare, significantly influencing public opinion. In contrast, Anglo-Indian newspapers such as The Times of India and the Bombay Gazette published editorials arguing that Shivaji IV was insane and that Cox and Green were doing whatever they could to help him.

Asserting that his mental illness was "incurable", the Anglo-Indian newspapers made the case for designating a new prince to replace Shivaji. The Kesari and other Indian-owned newspapers countered that replacing Shivaji was unnecessary because his mental state was the result of the cruel treatment he had been subjected to by Cox, Green and Mahadev Barve, the Karbhari of Kolhapur. On 17 January 1882, the Kesari published three letters allegedly written by Barve to subordinate officials "which indicated his involvement along with some British officials and native servants in a plot to poison Shivaji IV." The article argued that keeping the Raja in their custody was dangerous and that Shivaji might even try to harm himself in desperation.

Defamation suit and testimony

As public opinion intensified, the British colonial government asked Barve to file a defamation lawsuit in the courts to clear his name. The lawsuit named five individuals. Nana Bhide, the lawyer for Shivaji's birth mother, and Keshav Bakahale, were accused of sending false letters, while Agarkar, Tilak, and Vaman Ranade, the editors of the Kesari, Mahratta, and Dnyan Prakash, were accused of publishing them. The trial began in January 1882. In July 1882, the Bombay High Court ruled in favour of Barve, sentencing the editors to four-months' imprisonment.

Although they lost the legal case, the proceedings received considerable interest in western Maharashtra and exposed many facts about the maltreatment of Shivaji IV. Murphy testified that he had beaten the Raja in front of his servants two or three times, deeming such beatings to be "necessary". Green also admitted physically abusing Shivaji. In the end, the jury decided to ignore the question of maltreatment and decided the case purely on the question of whether the letters were authentic. Barve claimed that the signatures on the letters did not resemble his handwriting. Although several witnesses testified they recognised his signature, convincing many in the broader public about the authenticity of the letters, the jury determined that there was no evidence that they were genuine and could have been traced.

Death and legacy Bust of Chh. Shivaji IV of Kolhapur in the gardens of New Palace, Kolhapur

On 25 December 1883, Shivaji IV died following a physical altercation with Green. The coroner's report returned a verdict of accidental death due to the rupture of the Raja's enlarged spleen during the altercation, though a doctor who had examined Shivaji IV a week earlier did not report any enlargement of his spleen. The academic Avanish Patel noted that claims of ruptured spleens were often used in late-19th century India to let Europeans off the hook for murdering Indians. His medical records from one week prior did not mention anything wrong with his spleen. His widow, Rani Anandibai, adopted his successor, Shahu of Kolhapur, in 1884.

Titles 1863–1871: Shrimant Narayanrao Dinkarrao Bhonsle

1871–1877: His Highness Shrimant Rajashri Shivaji IV Chhatrapati Maharaj Sahib Rao Bahadur, Raja of Kolhapur

1878–1883: His Highness Shrimant Rajashri Sir Shivaji IV Chhatrapati Maharaj Sahib Bahadur, Raja of Kolhapur, KCSI