A History of the Mahrattas v1.c3: Preface by the Editor
A History of the Mahrattas v1.c3
- Language
- English
Preface by the Editor
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A *History of the Mahrattas*, by James Grant Duff, despite its value to the student of Indian history, has for many years been difficult to procure, and the reprints of the original edition are also scarce. Only in the Calcutta edition of 1912 has any attempt been made at annotation of the text, and the notes which appear as appendices to the three volumes of that edition are meagre and inchoate. In preparing the footnotes to the present edition, I have endeavoured to confine them strictly to the illumination of Grant Duff’s text, and to the record of new facts or circumstances which have become known since he wrote. With the same object I have included in the Introduction a note on the ‘Origin of the Marāthās,’ and a brief account of Marāthī literature, as neither of these subjects is dealt with by the author, and both are inseparably connected with the history of Mahārāshtra. The Introduction also includes a brief memoir of the author, a note on his work, and an alphabetical list of the authorities consulted in the preparation of the footnotes.
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In regard to the spelling of proper-names and place-names I have decided to leave Grant Duff’s spelling in the text unaltered, partly because in the majority of cases it approximates very closely to the sound of the words as pronounced in the vernacular, and partly because the wholesale transformation of his spelling according to the modern system seems to me to destroy to some degree the original character of his work. My plan throughout has been, in all footnotes to give the modern spelling, as followed in the latest edition of the *Imperial Gazetteer of India*, with Grant Duff’s spelling in parentheses immediately after it, and in the Index either to give his spelling with the modern spelling in parentheses beside it, or in cases of marked difference to give both spellings with a cross-reference against Grant Duff’s to the modern form of the word. Thus the footnote on ‘Oolpar’
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gives ‘ Olpād (Oolpar),’ while in the Index the paginal numbers will be found under ‘ Oolpar (Olpād).’ On the other hand, in the case of ‘ Outar,’ the Index gives ‘ Outar, see Avatār,’ the paginal number being given under the latter and more correct modern spelling.
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My footnotes, whether standing alone or in the form of addenda to those of Grant Duff, are throughout distinguished from his by enclosure within brackets, e.g. [ ]. It has not been considered worth while to reproduce the plates, woodcuts and maps appearing in the original edition of the work; but a modern map showing the south-western portion of the Indian continent has been included at the end of the second volume. The portrait of the author, which appears as a frontispiece to this volume, is a replica of a photograph of an oil-painting, which was kindly supplied by the author’s grandson, Mr. A. C. Grant Duff.
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In the preparation of this edition I have to acknowledge help from various sources. The late Dr. Vincent A. Smith, C.I.E., kindly read through the manuscript notes of two-thirds of the work, offered valuable comments and suggestions and supplied references to various authorities, and also lent me a copy of Mankar’s translation of the *Sabhāsad Bakhar*—a very rare book of which only one other copy besides his own has been traced in this country. Dr. William Crooke, C.I.E., performed the same office in respect of the remaining annotations and the Introduction, lent me books from his own library, and supplied me with many notes, references and facts which without his assistance I might have overlooked or been unable to obtain. To Mr. R. E. Enthoven, C.I.E., I am indebted for the valuable ethnographical note on the Marāthās which is included in full in the section of the Introduction dealing with the origin of these people. The Reverend J. N. Farquhar obliged me by reading the note on Marāthī literature, and by lending me the proof-pages of his own work on the religious literature of India, which contain his views on the Bhāgavat origin of the Bhakti movement in Western India. Professor R. P. Paranjpye, Principal of the Fergusson College, Poona, was good enough to send me copies of the College Magazine containing Professor W. P. Patvardhan’s Wilson Philological Lectures, upon which I have drawn freely for the résumé of Marāthī literature; Major J. G. Greig, C.I.E., Military Secretary to the Governor of Bombay, sent me details of the picture of the Pēshwā, Sindia and Nānā Farnavīs, which hangs in the hall of Ganeshkhind, Poona; Mr. R. P. Masani, Deputy Municipal Commissioner, Bombay, supplied me with extracts from a Bombay official record, which I could not procure here; while I have to thank Dr. J. Allan of the British Museum, the authorities in charge of the armouries at Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace, and General Sir Dighton Probyn, V.C., G.C.V.O., for assistance in an attempt to determine the present whereabouts of Sivājī's sword, Bhavānī.
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S. M. EDWARDES.
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EDITOR'S NOTE
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I HAVE to thank the University of Calcutta for kindly presenting me with a copy of Professor S. Sen's *Siva Chhatrapati*. Unfortunately the book arrived too late to permit of my referring to it or quoting from it in the footnotes to the first volume of this edition. The student of Marāthā history would do well to consult Professor Sen's translation and his notes and appendices, particularly in reference to such matters as the murder of Afzal Khān and Sivājī's supposed relationship with the Udaipur family. The book was published by the University of Calcutta in 1920.
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S. M. E.