Shivaji Raje, the VISIONARY
Most of us know only one facet of Shivaji Raje’s personality, ie. his bravery. This story is a small attempt to throw some light on his one more facet as a shrewd Business Administrator and Economist
It was in the year 1671, Under the rule of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj salt business was thriving in and around the sea facing belt of Konkan region of Maharashstra.
Local people owned 100s of salt panes and 1000s of people were employeed in these salt panes. Hindavi Swarajya was earning considerable amount of revenue on account of taxes collected from these salt panes and protection offered to them.
Portugese who were ruling Goa then understood the importance of salt trade and decided to manufacture salt in and around Goa sea belt, their strategy was to produce better quality salt than Konkan belt and sell it at throw away prices and disrupt the existing trade and gain monopoly in salt trade in the future.
The moment Portugese launched their better quality Salt at throw away rates, traders who used to buy salt from Konkan belt started shifting their purchase contracts to Portugese controlled salt panes in Goa.
Shivajiraje was quick in understanding the sinister designs of Portugese and swiftly took action by announcing & raising the taxes on import (import duties) of salt from Goa. With higher import duties on Portugese salt, traders moved back to original contracts of buying salt from konkan salt panes. This way Raje not only saved thousands of jobs but he also saved people from higher cost of salt in near future avoiding Portugese monopoly on salt trade.
Meanwhile Raje also ensured that the quality of indigenous salt is improved and it did become better than the Portugese salt eventually.
Taking this forward he went on to become the first king in south of the Vindhyas to build a merchant navy of nearly 350 small and big ships on modern lines in those times & even built dozens of small and big sea forts. He even employed 340 Portuguese artisans and shipbuilders and got them to impart training on the new techniques to his people.
He encouraged the export of local produce such as cashew, coconut and rice, which were shipped to Arabs, Iran, Egypt & Africa using the merchant navy fleet.
He was against exploiting practices in trade, but recognised the worth of merchants and moneylenders, and gave them due respect and protection as well.
Learning from the story
1. We as business owners are not only supposed to create and build a business but also need to grow, consolidate and protect it from competition.
Questions to ask ourselves
1. How can I build a business in line with the principles of Hindavi Swarajya?
If you really want to build a business based on Shivaji Raje’s Principles of Hindavi Swarajya; here’s my personal invitation to our seminar Business On Autopilot
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“It was a great experience going through the seminar. Sachin presented the journey and common problems faced by MSMEs in a very crisp and engaging format. concepts such as ‘build a sellable business’ was an eye opener and made me introspect. Will definitely recommend this to business owners struggling to make their mark as well as those who have reached their milestones but yet dream bigger.. there is something for everyone! Thanks a lot Sachin!!”
