Is Maharaj (2024) based on a true story? Inspiration behind the film, explored

Maharaj is a Netflix film adaptation of Saurabh Shah's Gujarati novel, and stars Junaid Khan and Jaideep Ahlawat. It follows the story of Karsandas Mulji and his crusade against the Pushtimarga Sampradaya Hindu sect. After Karsandas publishes an expose on the Pushtimarga sect, Maharaj Jadunathji initiates a libel case against him.

The film is based on a real-life libel case that happened in 1862, and both Karsandas Mulji and Maharaj Jadunathji are real people portrayed in the film.

Karsandas was born to an influential mercantile family in Bombay, who were devotees of the Vaishavite Pushtimarga sect.

He was eventually ostracized by his community after breaking a taboo against overseas travel, prompting him to later found the reformist publication Satyaprakash, where he took on the Pushtimarga sect leadership.

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What is the true story behind Maharaj?

Maharaj follows the conflict between Karsandas Mulji and the Vaishnavite Pushtimarga Sampradaya Hindu sect. The Pushtimarga sect was an influential community in 19th-century Bombay.

Worshippers of the Pushtimarga sect answered to the Maharajas as their leaders. They were said to be the male descendants of Vallabha, the founder of the sect. They had a massive influence in Bombay society thanks to their relationships with merchant-princes, or seths, in the region.

Karsandas found himself alienated from his family's orthodox views due to his contentious stance on widow remarriage

Following a trip to Britain which violated his caste's kala pani taboo, he was ostracized from his community.

Maharaj covers the conflict between Karsandas Mulji and the Pushtimarga sect. (Image via Netflix)

Karsandas went on to become a major voice in the reformist movement that was critical of the Pushtimarga sect's actions and sought to hold its leaders to account. He founded the publication Satyaprakash, to publish his writings.

The Pushtimarga leadership had serious allegations leveled against them during this time, including allegations that they s*xually preyed on their female devotees.

Jivanlal, the senior-most Maharaja, tried to clamp down on these allegations by making followers sign a document that promised their silence under threat of excommunication.

Karsandas condemned this document as a "slavery bond" and published an expose on the Pushtimarga sect titled Hinduo No Asli Dharam Ane Atyar Na Pakhandi Mato (lit. 'The True/Original Religion of the Hindus and the Present Hypocritical Opinions').

In response, the Pushtimarga sect called on Jadunathji Brijratanji from Surat, to defend their reputation. Jadunathji had numerous debates with Karsandas and other Pushtimarga critics, culminating in him suing Karsandas and Satyaprakash for libel in 1862.

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What did the courts say about the libel case?

The libel case was tried in the Bombay High Court. Jadunathji brought 35 witnesses to testify to the defamatory nature of Karsandas's expose.

These included devotees such as Gopaldas Madhavdas and Jamundas Sevaklal, who denied any knowledge of the s*xual impropriety allegations. They also seemed unfamiliar with the Pushtimarga tenets due to their lack of knowledge of Sanskrit or Braj Bhasha.

When Jadunathji took the stand, he claimed to be well-versed in Sanskrit, Braj Bhasha, and Gujarati but eventually admitted that even he wasn't familiar with the Braj Bhasha Pushtimarga texts, and displayed an ignorance of Vaishnavite traditions by giving the wrong location of the Shrinathji temple.

When it came to Karsandas's witnesses, he himself took the stand and reiterated his allegations. Other witnesses for the defense were Reverend John Wilson, who was a scholar of Indian languages.

He condemned the Pushtimarg Maharajas as uneducated leaders who asserted their authority solely because of their bloodline, and abused their powers to garner favors from female devotees.

Other witnesses included physicians who claimed to have treated Jadunathji and other Maharajas for s*xually transmitted diseases such as syphillys.

In the judgment, Justice Arnould ruled in favor of Mulji, believing he'd done nothing wrong in publishing his expose, and condemned the Pushtimarga sect as barbaric.

Chief Justice Sausse did find Mulji guilty of libel, but only because he believed that the allegations of s*xual impropriety were a private matter that shouldn't have been published. He also did not dispute the factual accuracy of the expose, and was unimpressed with the testimonies of Jadunathji's witnesses.

While Jadunathji was awarded only 5 rupees as part of the judgment, Karsandas Mulji was awarded 11,500 rupees.

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The Maharaj libel case was a landmark moment in Indian judicial history, and it addressed questions regarding freedom of expression and the influence of religion on society that remain relevant to this day.