Nationalist or a secular Hindutva icon? Feudal potentate or ruler of the peasants? cow and brahman protector or shudra king? Empire-builder or mediaeval marauder? Shivaji was he who? One of Maharashtra's most well-known public thinkers was Govind Pansare. among the bravest, too. A killer brought him down. But it is impossible to destroy his rationalism on human history. The strength of ideas is demonstrated in this work. Krishna Kon Hota? argues against the way that the prevalent Maratha history has imposed colonial and post-colonial religious categories on a past where people lived and behaved in ways that were different from those of the modern day. The simplicity and modesty with which the late Govind Pansare raised and addressed these issues will be obvious to readers. He does not claim originality, but only the ability to rationally re-interpret the facts of Shivaji's career, for facts do exist - despite the claims of contemporary intellectual fashion to the contrary. Shivaji Kon Hota? shows how, with the help of reason, anyone can interrogate the past. We need not be scientists and historians to discover and understand ourselves by questioning the familiar tropes of history." - Anirudh Deshpande, Introduction "Whatever freedom we enjoy in this country, whatever 'modernity' we have in this country, whatever social equality we have achieved in this country, is continuously under attack, and its preservation is made possible by the continuous struggles undertaken by a large number of persons scattered all over India. They do not make it to New Delhi's TV studios, they are not to be found in the corridors of power in the nation's capital, and they do not even belong to the metropolitan centres of the country. But, because of their sheer dedication, indefatigable energy and unquestionable integrity, they wield great influence among the people in their respective regions, in spite of the overwhelming odds stacked against them. Among all such persons, Govind Pansare was undoubtedly one of the finest."