Administrative System of the Marathas c7.s6.11

c7.s6.11

Scott-Waring was the first writer to attempt a comprehensive history of the Marathas in English. His work was published in 1811. But we get little more than a narrative of political events in Scott-Waring's History. In the third decade of the 19th Century, another scholar, destined to be famous as the historian of the Marathas, undertook to write out a more satisfactory history. Captain Grant Duff was more fortunate than his predecessor in the attempt in more than one way. As Political Agent, he had ready access to all papers in the Satara archives. The descendant of Shivaji was ever ready to assist him in all possible ways. Perhaps many of the later spurious bakhars owed their origin to the zeal of Chhatrapati Pratap Singh to gratify the Agent Saheb. Above all Grant Duff had the great advantage of working under the guidance of Elphinstone.¹⁵ But Grant Duff had not sufficient materials for sketching out a graphic account of the administrative system of Shivaji. Prof. H. G. Rawlinson's *Shivaji the Maratha* is a very recent publication, but it does not aim at dealing in detail with the civil institutions of Shivaji. Another recent work dealing with Shivaji is the first volume of the *History of the Maratha People* by Messrs. Kincaid and Parasnis. From the great mass of published materials and the still greater mass of unpublished documents in the possession of Rao Bahadur Dʳ B. Parasnis, it was expected that the long felt want would at last be removed. But we have again been disappointed. Far from giving us a comprehensive account of Shivaji's administrative system, the joint authors have not even made any serious attempt to supplement our knowledge in that direction. Prof. Takkhav and Mr. Keluskar have devoted one long chapter to the administrative institutions in their voluminous *Life of Shivaji Maharaj*.