India, Feb. 20 -- Mera rang de basanti chola. Jis chole ko pehan Shivaji khele apni jaan pe.

The song that Ram Prasad Bismil and his comrades sang in jail was not an act of nostalgia. It was a recognition. In moments of supreme political courage, Indian revolutionaries instinctively reached for one name-Shivaji-because his life had already fused resistance, statecraft, sacrifice, and moral authority into a single legend.

Born around 19 February 1630 at Shivneri Fort, Shivaji grew up amid fractured sovereignties. The Deccan was contested by the sultanates of Bijapur, Ahmednagar, and Golconda, while the Mughal Empire pressed relentlessly from the north. His father Shahji Bhonsle served these powers as a general; his mother Jijabai shaped ...