Editing Shivaji (section)

=== Post independence ===
[[File:Shivaji Maharaj Raigad2.jpg|thumb|Statue of Shivaji at [[Raigad Fort]]]]

In modern times, Shivaji is considered as a national hero in India,<ref name=":6">{{Cite news |date=19 February 2015 |title='Chatrapati Shivaji was a national hero' |language=en-IN |work=The Hindu |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/karnataka/chatrapati-shivaji-was-a-national-hero/article6915168.ece |access-date=12 August 2023 |issn=0971-751X}}</ref><ref name=":7">{{Cite web |date=22 May 2003 |title=Appropriating a national hero |url=https://frontline.thehindu.com/columns/article30217102.ece |access-date=12 August 2023 |website=Frontline |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":9">{{Cite web |date=3 June 2015 |title=BBC Radio 4 in Four, Shivaji: An icon of Hindu pride |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02stvy6 |access-date=12 August 2023 |website=BBC |language=en-GB}}</ref> especially in the state of Maharashtra, where he remains an important figure in the state's history. Stories of his life form an integral part of the upbringing and identity of the [[Marathi people]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kuber |first=Girish |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1245346175 |title=Renaissance State : the unwritten story of the making of maharashtra. |date=2021 |publisher=Harper Collins India |isbn=978-93-90327-39-3 |location=[S.l.] |pages=69–78 |oclc=1245346175}}</ref>

[[Hindutva]] activists are noted for appropriating Shivaji by presenting him as "Hindu king" who "fought against Muslim rulers", contrary to historic accounts that show he belonged to a marginalised caste and held secular values.<ref name="r146">{{cite web | last=Ganeshan | first=Balakrishna | title=Shivaji statues in Telangana: BJP's politics of Hindu right-wing iconography, Dalit backlash | website=Newslaundry | date=2023-11-06 | url=https://www.newslaundry.com/2023/11/06/shivaji-statues-in-telangana-bjps-politics-of-hindu-right-wing-iconography-dalit-backlash | access-date=2024-10-13}}</ref><ref name="q235">{{cite web | last=Daniyal | first=Shoaib | title=Protector of Brahmins or peasant king? Why a historian of Shivaji is on Sanatan Sanstha's hitlist | website=Scroll.in | date=2018-09-09 | url=https://scroll.in/article/893168/protector-of-brahmins-or-peasant-king-why-a-historian-of-shivaji-is-on-sanatan-sansthas-hitlist | access-date=2024-10-12}}</ref><ref name="j001">{{cite book | last1=Jayawardena | first1=K. | last2=de Alwis | first2=M. | title=Embodied Violence: Communalising Female Sexuality in South Asia | publisher=Bloomsbury Academic | series=ACLS Humanities E-Book | year=1996 | isbn=978-1-85649-448-9 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i2AObmt7Z8wC&pg=PA163 | access-date=2024-10-13 | page=163}}</ref>

==== Political parties ====
In 1966, the [[Shiv Sena (1966–2022)|Shiv Sena]] ({{Literal translation|Army of Shivaji}}) political party was formed to promote the interests of Marathi-speaking people in the face of migration to Maharashtra from other parts of India, and the accompanying loss of power of locals. His image adorns literature, propaganda, and icons of the party.<ref name="Naipaul2011">{{cite book |last=Naipaul |first=V. S. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XYeWbmq7pkIC&pg=PT65 |title=India: A Wounded Civilization |publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-307-78934-1 |page=65 |author-link=V. S. Naipaul}}</ref>

Shivaji is seen as a hero by regional political parties and also by the Maratha-caste-dominated [[Indian National Congress]] and the [[Nationalist Congress Party]].{{sfn|Laine|2011|p=164}}