New Delhi: Oxford University Press India on 7 January issued a public apology, acknowledging that it had published “unverified statements” about Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in a book released more than 20 years ago. The apology was published in widely-circulated newspapers after a directive from the Kolhapur bench of Bombay High Court in December last year, ending a legal dispute that ran for two decades.
The 2003 book—Shivaji: Hindu King in Islamic India—was authored by American academic James Laine and contained passages about the 17th-century Maratha ruler that many right-wing outfits and political parties construed as an insult to his legacy. Among these groups, Shiv Sena was particularly up in arms. The recent apology is not the first course of action. It is only the latest in the series of events that have since unfolded.
The first apology
The first public apology by Laine, the Arnold H. Lowe Professor of Religious Studies at Macalester College in Minnesota, had included a line in the book that prompted widespread outrage. In response, he apologised in 2003, stating he loved India, had devoted his life to studying its culture, and had no intention of defaming Shivaji Maharaj, whom he acknowledged as a great figure. His statement said the book had inadvertently caused turmoil and offence.
The remark made by the author was reportedly about the Maratha king’s parenthood.
The Oxford University Press (OUP) withdrew the book in November 2003 after a group of scholars led by the Pune-based historian Dadasaheb Purandare had asked the publication to take the book off the shelves because Laine’s remarks were “factually incorrect” and would unnecessarily hurt the sentiments of the Maratha people.
Purandare’s stunt brought the controversy out in the open.
Despite Laine’s apology, protests continued. In January 2004, protesters, calling themselves “sambhaji brigade”, stormed the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute (BORI) in Pune, damaging books, manuscripts, photos and artefacts. The institute’s professor was mentioned in the acknowledgements of the book.
In 2017, a sessions court acquitted 68 members of the Sambhaji Brigade in connection with the vandalism.
Another historian was subject to violence amid the furore. Shiv Sena members blackened the face of Sanskrit scholar and historian Shrikant Bahulkar after forcing their way into his office in Tilak Maharashtra Vidyapeeth in 2003. This was because Laine had mentioned him in his book’s acknowledgements section.
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The last straw
A defamation case was filed in 2004 by the Satara MP Udayanraje Bhosale, reportedly a descendant of Shivaji. In 2005, OUP and Bahulkar, along with other professors, filed a petition in the Bombay High Court to counter the Bhosale petition filed in a lower court.
However, the high court finally disposed of OUP and Bahulkar’s petition on 17 December 2025, suggesting that the petitioners issue an apology.
A government notification banning the book was also overturned by both the Bombay High Court and the Supreme Court.
On 7 January, OUP, on behalf of its former managing director Sayeed Manzar Khan, issued a notice in newspapers stating that some statements about Shri Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in the book were unverified.
OUP India told The Indian Express that the book had only been in circulation for a short period before it was recalled and withdrawn more than two decades ago. The publisher said it strives to consider cultural sensitivities and context so its publications can be appreciated globally.
On 1 January, three individuals who claimed that they had no direct role in writing the book also published a joint apology in newspapers. These were Dr Shrikant Bahulkar, V L Manjul, and Sucheta Paranjpe. Bahulkar and Paranjpe had helped the author understand Marathi literature and grammar, while Manjul, librarian at BORI, had made scholarly books available to Laine, the media reports said.
(Edited by Saptak Datta)