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Administrative System of the Marathas c7.s1: Sanskrit Sources

Administrative System of the Marathas c7.s1

Language
English

Sanskrit Sources

c7.s1.1

A few years ago only two Sanskrit works *viz.*, *Shiva Raj Prashasti* of Gaga Bhatta and *Shiva Kavya* of Purushottam Kavi were known. The latter was a Maharashtra Brahman and the former a contemporary of Shivaji and their works are useless for our purpose.

c7.s1.2

But the untiring labours of Maratha scholars are daily unearthing many new works composed by contemporary poets. Of these the *Parnal Parvat Grahanakhyana* edited by Sadashiv Mahadev Divekar and *Radha Madhava Vilasa Champu* edited by V. K. Rajwade have already been published. The author of both these poems was one Jayaram Pinde, a scholar and linguist of no mean ability. These works may be made to yield, after a careful examination, many interesting historical information. But the most important of all such poetical biographies, *Shiva Bharat*, yet awaits publication. The work was first discovered by Mr. Divekar in its Tamil version in the Tanjore Library. But a critical examination of the text led Mr. Divekar to suspect that the original must be in Sanskrit. An elaborate search proved that he was right, but we do not as yet know what new light it may throw on the civil and military institutions of Shivaji. The most important Sanskrit work for our purpose is *Rajvyavahar Kosh* attributed to Raghunath Pandit. It is a dictionary compiled at Shivaji's request in which Sanskrit synonyms have been supplied for all current words of Persian and Arabic origin. The dictionary is in verse and divided into ten different chapters or sections after the manner of the *Amarkosha*. The author knew the institutions and their working and his list of the Karkhanas and the Karkhana officers supplies information not available elsewhere. The work, short as it is, throws light not only on the civil institutions but also on the military establishments of Shivaji. This invaluable little work was published at Bombay as early as 1860 by one Kashinath Gangadhar Kshatri, but is now extremely rare. It is needless to say that it deserves republication and a critical edition will be of immense use to all students of Maratha history.

c7.s1.3

*Hindi Sources.*

c7.s1.4

In Hindi, there is only one contemporary work—the poems of Shivaji's court poet Bhushan.

c7.s1.5

His *Shiva Raja Bhushan* and other poems may be of considerable literary merit, but they are of very little interest to a historian. Moreover, they do not make the slightest reference to Shivaji's administrative system. *Chhatra Prakash* by Lalkavi is useless to a student of Maratha administrative institutions.

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