Administrative System of the Marathas c7.8

c7.8

Malhar Ram Rao Chitnis, who wrote his bakhar long after Sabhasad, does not give us any additional information about the administrative system. His *Rajniti* is a treatise on polity, in which he compiles the theories of public administration from old Sanskrit works. It could not, therefore, have any bearing on the actual government of Maharashtra as it then existed, although the duties of the eight *Pradhans* might probably have been compiled from some old papers. *Shivadigvijaya*, the most voluminous work of its kind, is full of legends and impossible stories, but has not a word to say about the working constitution of Maharashtra in Shivaji's days. The only thing we should note here is that Messrs. Dandekar and Nandurbarkar, the joint editors of *Shivadigvijaya*, have failed to prove their contention, that it is the work of Khando Ballal, son of Balaji Avaji.⁴ It is in all probability a very recent work; and consequently, its evidence has but little weight with the modern student, who aspires to study history as a science. The same editors have published another *bakhar*, *Shri Shivaji Pratap*, which is nothing but a compilation of myths and legends. The anonymous author had not only no historical training, but he seemed to lack historical knowledge altogether. This *bakhar* is, therefore, absolutely useless both for a reconstruction of the political history of Maharashtra, and for the compilation of an account of Shivaji's administrative system. Very recently a sixth *bakhar* has been published by Mr. Bhave in his *Marathi Daftar*. It is only an elaboration of *Sabhasad*. The anonymous author has copied freely from an old manuscript of Sabhasad's *bakhar*, and his own additions are not at all trustworthy. About Shivaji's civil and military regulations, he has nothing more than an extract from Sabhasad to give. Even there he has omitted some old and obsolete words, which he evidently did not understand.