भारतीय इतिहास के ६ स्वर्णिम पृष्ठ (वीर सावरकर - विदेशी आक्रान्ताओं पर विजय गाथा)

was the deciding vote in respect of the political manoeuvres in the south. A
line from a contemporary poet, which became a common saying in those
days, stated that the earth was ruled by the two guardians of directions';
उत शाहजहां इत शाहजी है। (Shahajahan in the North and Shahaji in
the South)
920. For Shahaji, thus to conquer the remnants of the Vijaynagar Empire
in the name of a Muslim, would at the first sight, seem highly preposterous
and would even smell of high treason against the Hindu nation. But it
should, at the same time, be remembered that it is because he brought all
these scattered and vanquished Hindu states under his unified control, that
he could overawe his very Sultan and rule the South like an independent
Hindu King at Mysore.
That he did this in order to root out all the Muslim Sultans from the
Deccan and to found an all-embracing powerful Hindu Kingdom can
amply be proved by the act that very soon, one of his sons could set up an
independent, powerful and conquering Hindu Empire and that he could
help him secretly in that great cause. That this ‘insignificant rebellious’ son
of his could not have grown into a successful empire-builder without, not
only the benevolent connivance of Shahaji, but also his active but secret
assistance and guidance, requires no further elucidation. Although for
reasons of chronological sequence, we may not name this illustrious son of
Shahaji just yet, it must already have flashed like a lightning in the hearts
of the readers! There can be no doubt about it!
921. In similar circumstances during the years A.D. 1316-1322,
Khushrukhan commanded the Sultan’s whole army at Delhi as a Muslim,
because the Hindu military help was readily available, and conquered and
consolidated forcibly the Southern Hindu States, which never united of their
own accord, as parts of the vast empire of a Muslim Sultan (Ch XVII). And,
only after he succeeded in perfecting the plans for his coup d’etat, did he
kill the Sultan of Delhi overnight, ascending the throne himself as a Hindu
monarch. He merely brushed aside, as it were, the label ‘Muslim’ from the
imperial throne and wrote in bold letters ‘Hindu’ over it. Within a day, the
all-India Khilji empire became a Hindu empire! Again, a little later, when
Harihar and Bukka were captured and made Muslims and were rotting in
captvity at Delhi, they first employed the same Koutileeya code of ethics to
win the confidence of the Sultan of Delhi under their Muslim garb. They
invaded the rebellious Hindus of the South as Muslim commanders at the