Administrative System of the Marathas c7.7

c7.7

Supremely indifferent, like their Muham-madan teachers, to everything that affected the ordinary people, the Maratha chroniclers pay very little attention to the administrative system of their times and the economic condition of their country. They give lengthy accounts of battles, gossiping stories of the superhuman deeds of their heroes, interesting anecdotes of well-known personages, and confine themselves mainly to the narration of political events. Consequently, we learn very little from them. Sabhasad, who wrote in 1694, is perhaps the most sensible as he is the earliest of Shivaji's biographers. Condensed and concise in style, he devotes a few pages to Shivaji's regulations, both civil and military. Chitragupta, who elaborated Sabhasad's work, added a few stories and verses of his own composition. The only additional information that we obtain from Chitragupta is a short page where he enumerates the duties of the secretariat officers.