"Shivaji did not belong to Maharashtra alone; he belonged to the whole Indian nation. Shivaji was not an ambitious ruler, anxious to establish a kingdom for himself, but a patriot inspired by a vision and political ideas derived from the teachings of the ancient philosophers."
  — Jawaharlal Nehru

"I think Shivaji ranks among the greatest men of the world. Since we were a slave country, our great men (whatever their standing) have been somewhat played down in world history. Had the same person been born in a European country, he would have been praised to the skies and known everywhere. It would have been said that he had illumined the world."
  — Indira Gandhi