The Great Shivaji Maharaj, Hindu religion and Cow Protection

Have been reading a book - The Life of Shivaji Maharaj by N S Takakhav and adapted from the original Marathi work by K A Keluskar. While his love for the resurrection of Hindu prominence, total disdain of the Muslim rule is well documented, there are interesting aspects related to hindu religion and his inclinations towards those beliefs.

It is unnecessary to proclaim how a devout hindu would hold a cow in high religious esteem and be winching to death at even the slightest mark of harm to cows.

Shivaji's bent towards this is captured well when he was forced to witness such scenes everyday while attending the court of the Bijapur sultan along with his father. He was around 15-16 years of age at the time of this incident. It is also notable to see how the sultan acquiesced to a strange request by Shahaji and took measures to correct the same, even though the rule of law was of the Muslims. Read the following abstracts:

There seems to be lesser division on religious lines and more tolerance in those times than it is today.

The British did a great deal of irreparable harm to India by driving a deep wedge between Hindus and Muslims through their divide and rule policy.