Written by an Englishman, translated into Marathi by an Englishman. The digital quality is quite poor and hard on the eyes to read. Such a pity.

Read Book Online: http://www.archive.org/stream/historyofmaratha00duffuoft#page/n3/mode/2up

Download pdf Book: http://www.archive.org/download/historyofmaratha00duffuoft/historyofmaratha00duffuoft.pdf

Shekhar Sathe: The scanning is quite good actually. Maybe you should adjust the contrast on your screen or some such setting.

Thanks. But still strains the eye. The opening paragraph mentions that Mr. Capt. Grant was posted to Satara after Bajirao's defeat. Whilst there he wondered why the Marathas were so very advanced and felt that their history should be investigated so that people in Europe will understand the quality of this people. Thence he started collecting and putting together his research material comprising older accounts, letters and anecdotes. He spent money from his own pocket to procure the material. He wrote this account (presumably between 1818 (battle of Khadki) and 1828. This translation was published in January 1830. Which means the original Englishe version must have been published atleast one year earlier. The preface acknowledges assistance by one Mr. Sane. It will be interesting to find out how the original Marathi texts which provided the fodder to Capt. Grant looks after Grant's work was translated to Marathi. I am sure, the translator must have reverted to the original Marathi text of the original material. Also, some of the source material may have been in Farsi. RBSI, can you procure Grant's original English book? The preface talks

I am told, all history researcher of any merit get bad eyes! Yes, adjusting the contrast helps a bit. Not to worry. If I have to study this tome, I will be able to visit RBSI only next month. By the way, I have posted one article on limiting effect of the internet on scholarship which you may like to check.

Grant Duff did a commendable job of writing Maratha History not withstanding limited resources available to him as well as limited understanding of Marathi and Modi script.But his casual inference that as general maratha laity was illiterate so was Shivaji caused immense damage .Sir Jadunath Sarkar also perpetuated this view.Subsequent historians after lot of research have debunked this theory.Gajanan Mahendale in his magnum opus on Shivaji has gone into great detail about this topic.

The original book in English by James Grant Duff has been scheduled to be posted in an hour or two...thanks to Postcron which has greatly helped me manage my time and also keep up with my regular posts on RBSI. I can schedule posts for a few days at a time now!

I am in the process of procuring Gajanan Mehendale's work ....

Even if Shivaji was not well-read or literate...why should that change our perception of him being a great warrior, military strategist and a wise ruler that 'known history' clearly acknowledges as a fact. Akbar too is supposed to have been illiterate. Reading and writing never made a man great...it only helped him read and write!

I'm eager to see the English edition.

Hello, In the correspondence to Sir Thomas Munro that I was going through for other subjects, there are some really interesting letters from British officers who were entering the Mahratta Country as part of the many columns taking part in the massive encirclement in 1817. They are very interesting because of the commentary on the state of the country they were entering. They remarked on just how lush the vegetation was in the Mahratta Territory, and how good the farming was, compared to the territory in EIC hands. There were a number who (being young men) who also commented on the great beauty of the women going down to the rivers to collect water, near the places the EIC columns were crossing the rivers. There are two schools of thought about the reasons for the comparative prosperity of the Mahratta Territory Vis a Vis the EIC Territory. One is that it was EIC over taxation and mal-administration that had caused the difference, and the other was the previous activities of the Pindaries who had spent much of the previous two decades raiding the surrounding areas causing the devastation. At this remove and having read only part of the story it is hard to work out which is the "real" reason behind this difference. It certainly points towards a fairly well run area. I have been amazed at the strategic reach of the Pindaries. My 6 x gt grandfather Private then Sergeant John De Morgan stood on the ramparts of Fort St David in the 1720's and 1730's as the Mahratta Pindaries ravaged the countryside just outside the Bound Fence, watching the columns of smoke rising from the weavers villages two or three miles inland. In 1757 one of my 5 x gt grandfathers John Calland was besieged by Franco Mahratta forces at Injaram. He had had the foresight to buy up all the cloth being dumped on the market by the local weavers inland who knew that the Mahrattas would steal it all from them. He escaped with the cloth in an open boat to sea. It amazes me just how far afield these Mahratta raiders could operate. What gave them the tactical & strategic dominance over the other Rajahs? As far as I understand it Mysore and Hyderabad had horse warriors as well. Nick Balmer

@ Nick Balmer,One reason for the quick charge of Maratha cavalry could be the light luggage carried by them on person.Its also true that Marathas by nature were hardy soldiers whose needs were very frugal. Its mentioned at many places how marathas could survive on a ration of course bread of millet(Jowar bhakri)and few onions and green chilies for days together.They just carried one change of clothes and tied a kamarbandh around their waists to store the loot or valuables.I have read some where how these cavalrymen used to rest in harsh afternoon sun by just tying the small blanket(ghongdi in Marathi which they carried under there saddle) to a erected spear and just ducking their heads under its shadow for protection! For your information Pindharis were not a part of Maratha fighting force.They used to accompany Maratha army to carry out loot with express understanding that part of the loot would be shared with Maratha army.They were not paid soldiers and at times caused great loss in the battlefield.

The Pindharies were loose canon and can be described in modern terms as freelancers. They were in many ways the Indian equivalent of English highwaymen (knights of the road or gentlemen of the road in UK, road agents in the US and bushrangers in Australia>). The Nagpur Police website provides a brief take on Pindharies. The pindharies (plural of vernacular "pindhari) were so called because the used to steal Pinda - a local brew (liquor) from shops. They were not specifically Marhattas and were a menace to trade, revenue collectors and pilgrims all over India. They were not an army under any kind of uniform command. http://nagpurpolice.info/manage_pages?id=1

Unless I am mistaken, the Pindharies is used synonymously with thugs and dacoits.

@shekhar sathe: ha ha ha...

Pindari's were what would be irregular cavalry in western parlance. Partly freelancers, and partly mercenaries. They complemented the standing armies of the Marthas in times of war. Maratha's used irregular/mercenaries extensively, the other lot being the matchlockmen/musketeers of Kalpi and other Purbaias. After the Maratha decline, the very same forces were absorbed into EIC (and then later rejoined the Indian side during the 1857 Indian-Anglo war) Pindari's did not however were keen to get absorbed into the British set up from the very start and were a major pain for the English power. The idea of mercenaries in India & warrior Hindu caste armies working as professional soliders for hire is very hold. Arthashastra mentions it, and we find that Alexander had to massacre by treachery settlements of such warrior groups because they were proving disastrous in his attempts to maneuver in western parts of India. India being a very old settled civilization, had long know the difficult trade off between maintaining a large standing army for war, in times there was no war. Briht yoddha was a system were in smaller core standing armies could be ramped up easily in emergencies, thus not proving a drain on developmental resources in peace, and yet not leaving a rich country unprotected.

are there any good books on history of wai, maharashtra?

I like the word "free-lancers".