New History of the Marathas v1.c2.4

v1.c2.4

The historical ancestors of the Marathas such as the Mauryas, the Guptas, the Yadavas, the Parmars and others who had wielded the sceptre in this land at different times, have left very scanty records of their reigns. What remains to remind us of their times consists of a few cryptic inscriptions, fanciful eulogies (*prashasti*) of court poets, and a few old coins or stray notices of foreign travelers. No full and documented history can be built in such poverty of materials. But as the Maratha rule best known to us, happens to be a very modern phenomenon, there are available in the Marathi language the most valuable materials in the form of state-papers, news-reports, diplomatic despatches, legal decisions, diaries, chronologies, land-grants, official and private correspondence, military regulations, budgets and accounts. The enormous volume of these records can be judged from the fact that at a rough estimate they extend over a hundred thousand printed pages. This is a proud heritage of Maharashtra unshared by any other province of India.