⚔️ Adilshahi Royal Poet Mullah Nusrati's Epic War Poetry on the Mahrattas 📜
Though throughout the Epic Ali Namah, Hindu Mahrattas are presented as enemies of Muslim Adilshahi Sultanate, here is a section where Mahratta Warriors are paid a flowing tribute by Poet Mullah Nusrati.
Though throughout the Epic Ali Namah, Hindu Mahrattas are presented as enemies of Muslim Adilshahi Sultanate, here is a section where Mahratta Warriors are paid a flowing tribute by Poet Mullah Nusrati.
"Marāte capal mādvā po sawār
Paryā jyūn ki Jinno ke Rānā talwār
Disenā vo jaldī ke waqt apne āp
Birādar hai Sawām ke, Choro ke Bāp!
Har ek mādwām unkī goyā parī
Dikhāve Chandar ko apas dilwarī
Kare fir jo kāvyām ki khūbī ayā
Pade pech mein dekh ābe rawā!
...
Paryā jyūn ki Jinno ke Rānā talwār
Disenā vo jaldī ke waqt apne āp
Birādar hai Sawām ke, Choro ke Bāp!
Har ek mādwām unkī goyā parī
Dikhāve Chandar ko apas dilwarī
Kare fir jo kāvyām ki khūbī ayā
Pade pech mein dekh ābe rawā!
...
...
Kare daud mein ā ko bāre mein sū bāt?
Mundāsā le ūs ka ude hāt hāt!
Har ek Nezābāzī mein Rāvūta badā!
Kulegā Chandar hat te kāde kadā!
Jo Dhan-Fauj ke nāz mein muya nipat,
Toh Nezyā kī ungalī sū khole ghungat!"
Kare daud mein ā ko bāre mein sū bāt?
Mundāsā le ūs ka ude hāt hāt!
Har ek Nezābāzī mein Rāvūta badā!
Kulegā Chandar hat te kāde kadā!
Jo Dhan-Fauj ke nāz mein muya nipat,
Toh Nezyā kī ungalī sū khole ghungat!"
English Translation:
"The Marathas are cavaliers of meteoric Stallions,
Like Sprites that can dodge even the swords of Demon-Kings,
They manifest only at their whims and remain unseen,
They are a Fraternity of Saints, Masters among Raiders.
...
"The Marathas are cavaliers of meteoric Stallions,
Like Sprites that can dodge even the swords of Demon-Kings,
They manifest only at their whims and remain unseen,
They are a Fraternity of Saints, Masters among Raiders.
...
In every battlefield they sweep across the terrain,
The Moon God has seen their cojones,
They execute such manoeuvres that Ballads sing of,
Those who have witnessed them swooping into War-Zones and lassoing away glory know who they are.
...
The Moon God has seen their cojones,
They execute such manoeuvres that Ballads sing of,
Those who have witnessed them swooping into War-Zones and lassoing away glory know who they are.
...
How can one describe their Élan,
They gird their turbans and their grasping hands extend to capture all,
In every skill of the Lance, the Maratha Cavalier is a maestro,
He can even yank out the bracelets from the arms of the Moon God!
...
They gird their turbans and their grasping hands extend to capture all,
In every skill of the Lance, the Maratha Cavalier is a maestro,
He can even yank out the bracelets from the arms of the Moon God!
...
That Hoity-Toity who marches his armies against them intoxicated in the pride of his wealth,
Perishes like a wittol, watching his womenfolk disrobe themselves before the Maratha Lancer."
— The Ali Namah of Nusrati, Adhyay XXVI.
Perishes like a wittol, watching his womenfolk disrobe themselves before the Maratha Lancer."
— The Ali Namah of Nusrati, Adhyay XXVI.
The poem concisely compares Marathas Cavaliers to their opponents as Peris (Sprites) and Djinns (Spectres) respectively. Mullah Nusrati presents the dichotomy of Marathas being a Noble/Saintly Community (Savām ki Birādari) who are also master Marauders (Choro ke Bāp).
Their fabulous achievements under Chattrapati Shivaji Maharaja are lauded in next verses.
Their guerilla abilities to perform
• Sweeping Onslaughts,
• Night Operations,
• Quotidian Heroism
• Riptide-like Charges
• Expert Plundering
• Masterful Lancing
are extolled.
Their guerilla abilities to perform
• Sweeping Onslaughts,
• Night Operations,
• Quotidian Heroism
• Riptide-like Charges
• Expert Plundering
• Masterful Lancing
are extolled.
The last verse is a quite clear roast of Chaghtai Badshah Aurangzeb's and generals whose forces were failing pathetically against the Mahratta Empire.
Ali Namah was composed by one of the greatest poets of the Deccan, Malik-Uz-Shorā Mullah Nusrati in honour of his Sultan Ali Adilshah II, describing grandeur and glory of Adilshahi Sultanate.
Eventually the poem also went to include the Rise of Chattrapati Shivaji Maharaja...
Eventually the poem also went to include the Rise of Chattrapati Shivaji Maharaja...
...the Founder of the uprising Mahratta Empire and the eventual three-sided war between Adilshahi Sultanate, Chaghtai Patshahi and the Hindavi Swarājya for supremacy over the Deccan.
Ali Namah is filled with epic descriptions of these spectacular wars that played out in Deccan.
Ali Namah is filled with epic descriptions of these spectacular wars that played out in Deccan.
One such description;
"Kamana ki rūth jab Qashāqash hui,
Hawā bhar ke tīrān so tarqash hui,
Lagya tīr har tan pe jab bale bāl,
Disya lahū uchalte fawwāre ka jāl!"
"Kamana ki rūth jab Qashāqash hui,
Hawā bhar ke tīrān so tarqash hui,
Lagya tīr har tan pe jab bale bāl,
Disya lahū uchalte fawwāre ka jāl!"
"The Chapal Maratha" poem of Mullah Nusrati in IAST format.
Along with English Translation and original reproduction in Devanagari 📜
Along with English Translation and original reproduction in Devanagari 📜
Special Credits to Shri Sachin Shivajirao Khopade-Deshmukh for his finding 🙏🏻
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