Hindu unity day commemorates the coronation of Chhatrapati Shivaji in 1674 CE, or Vikrama Era 1731, at Raigadh in Maharashtra, India. 

Chhatrapati Shivaji’s greatest contribution to the freedom struggle of India lay in the fact that he infused in it the right kind of national idealism, ‘Hindawi Swarajya’, Indian or Hindu self-rule. By successfully challenging and defeating the dominant Muslim Moghul empire, he established the Maratha Empire that existed from 1674 CE to 1818 CE. At its peak, the empire covered much of the subcontinent, encompassing a territory of over 2.8 million km. The Marathas are credited with ending the oppressive Moghul foreign rule in India.

François Gautier, born in France, is a writer and journalist based in India. He went to India at the age of 19 and spent his first eight years at the Sri Aurobindo Ashram in Auroville in Tamil Nadu. He has been living in India since the 1970s. Francois is now the editor in chief of the Paris-based La Revue de l’Inde (lesbelleslettres.com) and a director of a book collection on India with the same publisher. Francois is married to Namrita and shuttles between Pondichery, Bangalore and Delhi. 

Gautier writes for the online website Rediff.com, The New Indian Express, Dainik Bhaskar, Sahara Samay, Outlook and The Sunday Indian. He has also authored the “The Ferengi’s Column” in The Indian Express and “The French Connection” column in the The Pioneer. Among his books are Arise O India (2000), India’s Self Denial (2001), A

Western Journalist on India: The Ferengi’s Columns (2001), The Guru of Joy: Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and the Art of Living (2002), Rewriting Indian History(2003), A New History of India (2008), Un autre regard sur l’Inde, éditions du Tricorne (2001), Swami, PDG et moine hindou (2003), La caravane intérieure (2005), Femmes en Inde (2004).

Francois has founded FACT (Foundation Against Continuing Terrorism),  a registered non profit organization. FACT is working on building a Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Museum of Indian History in Pune, India.