New History of the Marathas v1.c10.93

v1.c10.93

We have to-day three main accounts of this important visit, first the full Persian reports made to the Emperor by Jay Sinh himself, secondly the account recorded by Manucci, who was an eye-witness on the spot, and thirdly an interesting anonymous poetic account in Persian written by some intelligent person present in the camp and recently published under the caption Shivaji’s letter to Jay Sinh. This last is an admirable piece of composition vividly depicting the atmosphere in the Mughal camp and supplying Shivaji’s side of the affair, as the first of the three items gives the official Mughal version. On the basis of these three accounts we shall summarise the story of this grand event. Shivaji’s Letter to Jay Sinh cannot be rejected as worthless simply because it was composed in the poetic vein. It deserves to be remembered that even official reports like Jay Sinh’s are often intended to whitewash actual facts. Jay Sinh could not report to the Emperor Shivaji’s actual grievances.