Administrative System of the Marathas c7.s6.10

c7.s6.10

From these old authors we turn to Ranade with a sense of relief. Born in Maharashtra, and educated in western method, Ranade combined in him the three qualities so indispensable for a historian of the Marathas. He knew the language and traditions of his country, was well conversant with the historical method of the west and had ready access to all papers then available. With true historical instinct he made a deliberate departure from the beaten track and selected a course of his own. His fame to-day does not rest on the discovery of a new document or an unknown event, but on the surer basis of the right interpretation of the history of his people. He did not confine himself to dry details of battles and sieges, but tried to discover the real cause, remote and immediate, of the rise, progress, and downfall of the Marathas. This made him study the civil institutions of Shivaji very carefully, for they were, according to him, not only the outcome of Shivaji's genius but also an expression of Maratha aspirations. It is beyond doubt that Ranade was the first scholar to guide us properly to the real sources of Maratha history, as he was the first to perceive the real importance of the administrative system of Shivaji. It is a matter of regret that the many-sided activities of the great savant did not permit him to devote his leisure solely to the study of his country's past. Modern researches have made some of his conclusions untenable to-day, but the credit of pointing out a new angle of vision belongs entirely to him. He might have erred in minor details, but while dealing with the broad principles, his judgment never failed him. It is true that we do not get in his work as much information as we wish for, but that is because many papers, now published, had not yet seen light when Ranade lived and wrote.