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{{Short description|Hindu nationalistic term of historical significance}}

'''Hindavi Swarajya''' ({{IAST|Hindavī Svarājya}}; "self-rule of Hindu people"{{sfn|Smith, On Understanding Islam|1981|pp=194–195}}<ref name="Pagadi, Shivaji 1983 98"/><ref name="Jackson" />) is a term attributed to [[Shivaji]], the founder of the [[Maratha Kingdom]].<ref name="Jackson" /> After Shivaji's death, the term ''swarajya'' came into widespread use, without "Hindavi" but rather associated with "[[Maratha Empire|Maratha]]". According to [[André Wink]], the term ''Maratha Swarajya'' meant a form of zamindari sovereignty, not necessarily attached to any particular territory.<ref name="Wink swarajva">{{harvp|Wink, Land and Sovereignty in India|2007|pp=43–44}}: "''Maratha Svarajya'' was a form of ‘zamindari sovereignty’ not merely in the eyes of the Mughals but actually established by people who were often just one or two generations away from village or district zamindari status and the practice of ‘organizing cultivation and expelling robbers’."</ref>

The term ''[[Swaraj]]'' was later adopted by [[Bal Gangadhar Tilak]], one of the early leaders of the [[Indian independence movement]] against the [[British Empire]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bal Gangadhar Tilak: Freedom Fighter Who Said, "Swaraj Is My Birth Right" |url=https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/lokmanya-bal-gangadhar-tilak-death-anniversary-know-about-the-freedom-fighter-who-said-swaraj-is-my-birth-right-2272338 |access-date=2023-12-17 |website=NDTV.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Choudhary |first=Ratnadeep |date=2018-07-23 |title=Lokmanya Tilak — the strongest advocate of Swaraj & a prime architect of freedom movement |url=https://theprint.in/theprint-essential/lokmanya-tilak-the-strongest-advocate-of-swaraj-a-prime-architect-of-freedom-movement/86985/ |access-date=2023-12-17 |website=ThePrint |language=en-US}}</ref>

== Origin ==
Popular belief holds that the Maratha warrior [[Shivaji]] used the phrase ''Hindavi Swarajya'' in a letter to Dadaji Naras Prabhu Deshpande of Rohidkhore on 17 April 1645. The purported letter, in [[Marathi language|Marathi]], states:
{{quote|It is God Rohireshvar that has given us victory; and that God would enable us to fulfil our wish of ''Hindavi Swarajya''. It is God's will that this kingdom should be established.{{sfn|Naik, The Foundation of Swarajya|1975|p=50}}}}
Scholars do not agree on the authenticity of the letter.{{sfn|Naik, The Foundation of Swarajya|1975|pp=50-51}}<ref>
{{harvnb|Pagadi, The Life and Times of Shivaji|1975|p=10}}: "The authenticity of this letter has, however, been questioned by several eminent scholars, who consider that its language is not the language of the 17th century."
</ref> Historian [[Setumadhavarao Pagadi]] states that a lot of the historical source material on Shivaji is spurious, contributed by various influential families of Maharashtra to show how close their ancestors were to Shivaji.{{sfn|Pagadi, The Life and Times of Shivaji|1975|p=10}} J. V. Naik states that, irrespective of the authenticity of the letter, Shivaji's career itself amply demonstrates his conception of ''Swarajya''.{{sfn|Naik, The Foundation of Swarajya|1975|p=51}}

== Interpretation ==
Scholar [[Wilfred Cantwell Smith]] interprets Shivaji's ''Hindavi Swarajya'' to mean "Indian independence from foreign rule."{{sfn|Smith, On Understanding Islam|1981|pp=194–195}} Historian Pagadi also interprets it as "Indian rule."<ref name="Pagadi, Shivaji 1983 98">{{harvnb|Pagadi, Shivaji|1983|p=98}}: "Shivaji's coronation and setting himself up as a sovereign prince symbolises the rise of the Indian people in all parts of the country. It was a bid for ''Hindawi Swarajya'' (Indian rule), a term in use in Marathi sources of history."</ref> Religious studies scholar William Jackson, while agreeing that it means independence from foreign rule, thinks its literal meaning is "self-rule of Hindu people."<ref name="Jackson">{{cite book |title=Vijayanagara voices: exploring South Indian history and Hindu literature |last=Jackson |first=William Joseph |publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. |year=2005 |isbn=9780754639503 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PxvDNBc4qwUC&pg=PA38 |page=38}}: "Probably the earliest use of a word like 'Hindu' was in 1645 in a phrase in a letter of Shivaji, ''Hindavi swarajya'', meaning independence from foreign rule, 'self-rule of Hindu people'."</ref>

Historian [[Irfan Habib]] states that the term "Hindu" had acquired a religious sense by this time (though not with the present day meaning) and so, other terms such as ''Hindi'', ''Hindustani'' and ''Hindavi'' began to be employed to mean "Indian", spanning both Hindus and Muslims.{{sfn|Habib, The Formation of India|1997|p=7}} According to Pagadi, ''Hindavi'' had the sense of "the sons of the soil" in this context.{{sfn|Pagadi, Shivaji|1983|p=i}}

''Swarajya'' ([[IAST]]: svarājya) is a [[Sanskrit language|Sanskrit]] term, whose meaning is "independent dominion or sovereignty" according to the [[Monier Williams]] dictionary.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Monier-Williams Sanskrit Dictionary 1899 Basic |url=https://www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/scans/MWScan/2020/web/webtc/indexcaller.php |access-date=2023-12-17 |website=www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de}}</ref> Pagadi notes that Shivaji had referred to his [[jagir]] in Pune as a ''rajya''.{{sfn|Pagadi, The Life and Times of Shivaji|1975|pp=10–11}} He takes ''Swarajya'' to have meant a "homeland"{{sfn|Pagadi, Shivaji|1983|p=89}} and ''Hindavi Swarajya'' a "state of the sons of the soil."{{sfn|Pagadi, Shivaji|1983|p=i}}

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==Bibliography==
* {{citation |first=M. Athar |last=Ali |title=The Evolution of the Perception of India: Akbar and Abu'l Fazl |journal=Social Scientist |volume=24 |number=1/3 |date= January 1996 |pages=80–88 |doi=10.2307/3520120 |jstor=3520120 |ref={{sfnref|Ali, The Evolution of the Perception of India|1996}}}}
* {{citation |first=Irfan |last=Habib |authorlink=Irfan Habib |title=The Formation of India: Notes on the History of an Idea|journal=Social Scientist |volume=25 |number=7/8 |date=July 1997 |pages=3–10 |doi=10.2307/3517600 |jstor=3517600 |ref={{sfnref|Habib, The Formation of India|1997|p=7}}}}
* {{citation |last=Naik |first=J. V. |chapter=The Foundation of Swarajya |title=Shivaji and swarajya |chapter-url=https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.275725/2015.275725.Shivaji-And#page/n1/mode/2up |year=1975 |publisher=Orient Longman, for Indian Institute of Public Administration. Maharashtra Regional Branch |pages=43–57 |ref={{sfnref|Naik, The Foundation of Swarajya|1975}}}}
* {{cite book |first=Setumadhava Rao |last=Pagadi |authorlink=Setumadhavarao Pagadi | title=Shivaji | year=1983 | publisher=National Book Trust, India |url=https://archive.org/details/ShivajiSetumadhavaraoSPagadi1983 |ref={{sfnref|Pagadi, Shivaji|1983}}}}
* {{citation |last=Pagadi |first=Setu Madhava Rao |authorlink=Setumadhavarao Pagadi |chapter=The Life and Times of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj |title=Shivaji and swarajya |chapter-url=https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.275725/2015.275725.Shivaji-And#page/n1/mode/2up |year=1975 |publisher=Orient Longman, for Indian Institute of Public Administration. Maharashtra Regional Branch |pages=1–42 |ref={{sfnref|Pagadi, The Life and Times of Shivaji|1975}}}}
* {{citation |last=Smith |first=Wilfred C. |authorlink=Wilfred Cantwell Smith |title=On Understanding Islam: Selected Studies |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TVTH0MepJBYC |year=1981 |publisher=Walter de Gruyter |isbn=978-3-11-082580-0 |ref={{sfnref|Smith, On Understanding Islam|1981}}}}
* {{citation |last=Wink |first=André |title=Land and Sovereignty in India: Agrarian Society and Politics under the Eighteenth-Century Maratha Svarājya |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kGL3IQAACAAJ |year=2007 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-05180-4 |ref={{sfnref|Wink, Land and Sovereignty in India|2007}}}}

[[Category:Indian independence movement]]
[[Category:Maratha Empire]]
[[Category:Wars of independence]]

Hindavi Swarajya - Revision history

MaximilianGreenb at 15:48, 30 January 2026