Administrative System of the Marathas c7.14

c7.14

A work of unique value and character is *Sambhaji's Adnapatra* or *Marathshahitil Rajniti*. It is commonly attributed to Ramchandra Panta Amatya, who commenced his political career under Shivaji and was responsible for the defence of Maharastra during Rajaram's absence at Jinji. He lived to witness the return and restoration of Shahu but remained loyal to the Kolhapur cause of which he was the mainstay after Tarabai's fall. The present work is believed to have been compiled in 1716 at the request of Sambhaji II of Kolhapur and was published for the first time, half a century ago, in the columns of the *Vividha Dnan Vistar* of Bombay in 1875. The work, however, long remained unnoticed, and the manuscript was in the meantime lost. It was reprinted in 1922 from the printed text, when its importance was realised by Mr. G. S. Sardesai. The language leaves no doubt about its antiquity and the work is most probably genuine. The author, whoever he might have been, had close personal knowledge of Shivaji's government. In the second decade of the 18th century the antifeudal policy of Shivaji had already been abandoned in practice, but the author still recommends it in a manner that leaves no doubt that he had served under the great Shivaji and was merely echoing him.