New History of the Marathas v1.c13.34

v1.c13.34

Apart from the ritual and the spectacular ceremony, the occasion was mainly used for giving a final shape to the constitution of the Maratha Kingdom, parts of which had been already introduced from time to time as necessity arose. Some of the eight ministers were already in existence, and possibly also the title of Chhatrapati itself. The Raja now assumed the formal titles, Maharaja Chhatrapati, Lord of the Throne, Head of the Kshatriya race.⁸ Shivaji also started his own era of calculating time, which he called Raj-Shaka commencing from the date of his coronation, on account of which he is rightly called the ‘Shakakarta,’ “the maker of an Era” or a person who has changed the character of Time. Before him there were in vogue two calculations, the Vikram-Era and the Shaka-Era.⁹ As for his official language Shivaji introduced Marathi in preference to Persian and Urdu, which Muslim rulers had imposed as a mark of their rule. Shivaji purposely borrowed Sanskrit phraseology for official purposes for which a special dictionary of court terms called the *Rajyavyavahār Kosh* was prepared and adopted. This fine work was executed under the able direction of Raghunāthpant Hanumante by various learned Pandits among whom one Dhundirāj Lakṣhman Vyās is specially mentioned.¹⁰ Similarly rules and regulations were framed for the conduct of administrative work, including forms of address, seals for the completion and authenticity of official documents. The most noteworthy features of Shivaji’s constitution was the creation of the eight departments assigned to the eight different ministers styled the *Ashta Pradhans*, borrowed in the main (though not in its present developed form) from *Shukraniti* and other ancient works on Aryan polity. The names of the ministers and their official designations in Persian and Sanskrit are given below. The following four ministers had their seats on the right side of the throne :---