Page:Shivaji and His Times.djvu/40

20 unwritten memory. They place his birth on 6th April, 1627 or near about that date.*

The stories told in the later Marathi bakhars about the history of his parents during the year preceding his birth and the events of his own life up to the age of twenty, are in many points contrary to authentic history, and in others improbable, or, at all events, unsupported by any evidence. We know from the contemporary Persian histories that Shahji led a roving life, subject to frequent change of place and enemy attacks, during much of the period 1630 to 1636. Under these circumstances he would naturally have left his wife and infant son for safety in a stronghold like Shivner. But, in reality, he seems to have deserted both. A later traditional work asserts that at this time his eldest son Shambhuji was killed at Kanakgiri and he conceived a deep-rooted aversion to Lukhji Jadav and his family, and after saying that his surviving offspring from Jadav's daughter would come to no good, he deserted Jija Bai and Shivaji. ( T. S. 9a.) This reasoning is unconvincing and falsified by dates. It is, however, beyond dispute that Jija Bai now lost