pp. 405-406

§1. Extent of his kingdom, and dependencies. At the time of his death Shivaji's kingdom included all the country (except the Portuguese possessions) stretching from Ramnagar (modern Dharampur State in the Surat Agency) in the north, to Karwar or the Gangavati river in the Bombay district of Kanara, in the south. The eastern boundary embraced Baglana in the north, then ran southwards along an irregular shifting line through the middle of the Nasik and Puna districts, and encircled the whole of the Satara and much of the Kolhapur districts. This tract formed what the Marathi documents describe as his swaraj or 'own kingdom' and the Persian accounts as his 'old dominions.' Here his ownership was recognised as legally established and beyond question. A recent but permanent acquisition was the Western Karnatak or the Kanarese-speaking country extending from Belgaum to the bank of the Tungabhadra opposite the Bellary district of the Madras Presidency. This, the consolidated portion of his kingdom, was divided into three provinces, each under a viceroy. The northern division, including the Dang and Baglana, the Koli country south of Surat, Konkan north of Bombay, and the Deccan plateau or Desh southwards to Puna, was governed by Moro Trimbak Pingle. The southern division, which was made up of Konkan south of Bombay, Savant-vadi and the North Kanara coast,—formed the viceroyalty of Annaji Datto. The south-eastern division, ruled by Dattaji Pant, covered the Satara and Kolhapur districts of Desh and the Karnatak districts of Belgaum and Dharwar to Kopal west of the Tungabhadra. (Sabh. 11; Parasnis MS.; a Persian MS. roll of Mr. Rajwade; English summary in Mawjee, J. Bo. B. R. A. S.)

p. 406

Shivaji's latest annexation was the country extending from the Tungabhadra opposite Kopal to Vellore and Jinji, i.e., the northern, central and eastern parts of the present kingdom of Mysore and portions of the Madras districts of Bellary, Chittur and Arcot. His two years' possession of them before his death was too short to enable him to consolidate his gains here, and this province was really held by an army of occupation and remained unsettled in 1680; only the forts garrisoned by him and as much of the surrounding lands as they could command, acknowledged Maratha rule.

pp. 406-407

Besides these places there was one region where the contest for mastery was still undecided at the time of his death. This was the Kanara highlands, including the South Dharwar district and the principalities of Sunda and Bednur. Shivaji had inflicted some defeats upon the local Nawab, a vassal of Bijapur; but Bankapur, the capital, was still unconquered when he breathed his last. So also was Bednur, which merely paid him tribute. (Struggle for Savanur, in Dig.)

pp. 407-408

Outside these settled or half-settled parts of his kingdom, there was a wide and very fluctuating belt of land subject to his power but not owning his sovereignty. They were the adjacent parts of the Mughal empire (Mughlai in Marathi), which formed the happy hunting-ground of his horsemen. In these he levied blackmail (khandani, i.e., ransom, in Marathi), as regularly as his army could repeat its annual visit to them. The money paid was popularly called chauth, because it amounted to one-fourth of the standard assessment of the land revenue of a place. But as this paper assessment was always larger than the actual collection, the real incidence of the chauth was considerably more than one-fourth of what the peasants paid to their legitimate sovereign. The payment of the chauth merely saved a place from the unwelcome presence of the Maratha soldiers and civil underlings, but did not impose on Shivaji any corresponding obligation to guard the district from foreign invasion or internal disorder. The Marathas looked only to their own gain and not to the fate of their prey after they had left. The chauth was only a means of buying off one robber, and not a subsidiary system for the maintenance of peace and order against all enemies. The lands subject to the chauth cannot, therefore, be rightly called spheres of influence.

p. 408

The territory, old and new, under Shivaji contained 240 forts, out of which 79 were situated in Mysore and Madras. (Sabh. 98-101; Chit. 152-157 names 280 forts.)

p. 408

§2. His revenue and hoarded treasure. His revenue is put by his courtier Sabhasad (p. 102) at the round figure of one krore of hun* while the chauth when collected in full brought in another 80 lakhs. (T. S. 35a.) If these statements are correct, Shivaji's theoretical income at its highest was nine krores of Rupees. The sum actually realised was considerably less than this paper-estimate,—probably sometimes falling as low as one-tenth of it. * Chit., 157, speaks of 10 krores of khazinah; but it is not clear whether he means Rupees or huns, nor whether he is speaking of the annual income or the hoarded treasure.

pp. 408-409

The treasure and other valuable things left behind by Shivaji are enumerated in great detail by Sabhasad (95-96) and the Tarikh-i-Shivaji (42-44.) But we cannot be sure that all the figures have been correctly copied in the MSS. of these two works that have come down to us. Moreover, the gold and silver coins were of such an immense variety of denominations countries and ages,—a faithful index to the wide range and thorough character of Shivaji's looting campaigns,—that it is impossible to reduce the total value of his hoard to any modern currency with even tolerable accuracy. The curious English reader is referred to my translation of T. S. in the Modern Review for January 1910 and to Manker's translation of Sabhasad.

pp. 409-410

§3. Strength of his army. The growth of his army is thus recorded: at the outset of his career he had 1,200 household cavalry (paga) and 2,000 silahdars or mercenary horsemen provided with their own arms and mounts. (Sabh. 8.) After the conquest of Javli (1655) the number was increased to 7,000 paga, 3,000 silahdars and 10,000 Mavle infantry. (Sabh. 11.) He also enlisted 700 Pathans from the disbanded soldiery of Bijapur (Chit. 33; T. S. 15b.) After the destruction of Afzal Khan (1659) he raised his forces to 7,000 paga, 8,000 silahdars, and 12,000 infantry (Sabh. 27.) At the time of his death (1680), his army consisted of 45,000 paga (under 29 colonels), 60,000 silahdars (under 31 colonels) and one lakh of Mavle infantry (under 36 colonels.) (Sabh. 96-97.) But T. S. states that he left 32,000 horses in his stables, besides 5,000 given to the bargirs. The core of his army was, therefore, formed by 30 to 40 thousand regular and permanently enlisted cavalry in his own service, and about twice that number of infantry militia (hasham), whom he used to withdraw from the cultivation of their fields during the campaigning season only, as in England under King Alfred. The infantry garrisoning his forts were permanently recruited, though they were given fields in the neighbourhood. The number of the silahdars who hired themselves and their horses out to him varied greatly from year to year, according to his need, their expectation of plunder in the impending campaign, and the demand for their services in the neighbouring States at a particular time. In the earlier stages of his career, local chieftains with their retainers used to join him in his raids (e.g., Surat, 1664) and swell his army by the adhesion of a body of irregulars. But he soon learnt to do without such allies of dubious military value.

p. 410

His elephants numbered 1,260, according to Sabhasad (p. 97); but T. S. gives 125 and Chit. 300, which are more likely figures. The camels were 3,000 (T. S.) or 1,500 (Chit.) The number of his artillery-pieces is not mentioned. Chitnis (a doubtful authority) tells us that 200 guns were kept ready for field service and the rest were placed in the forts. Each piece of ordnance had some elephants and a battalion of infantry attached to it.

pp. 410-411

§4. Council of Eight Ministers. His earliest administrative Council, in the days of Dadaji Kond-dev, was composed of four officers only, viz., the Peshwa, the Majmuadar, the Dabir, and the Sabnis (Sabh. 7.) When, in 1647, Shiva became his own master, he added a commander-in-chief (Sar-i-naubat) and a second Dabir to the above four (Sabh. 8.) In 1655, after the conquest of Javli (which practically doubled his territory) the Council was further expanded by creating a Surnis and a Waqnis and two distinct commanders for the infantry and cavalry arms (Sabh. 11.) After his return from Agra (1667) he appointed a Lord Justice to try all suits in the kingdom according to the Sanskrit law-books (Sabh. 57.) By 1674 the number of ministers had risen to eight (Ibid. 83), which continued till his death.

p. 411

This Council of eight ministers, ashta pradhan, was in no sense a Cabinet. Like Louis XIV and Frederick the Great, Shivaji was his own prime-minister and kept all the strings of the administration in his own hands. The eight pradhans merely acted as his secretaries: they had no initiative, no power to dictate his policy; their function was purely advisory when he was in a mood to listen to advice, and at other times to carry out his general instructions and supervise the details in their respective departments. It is very likely that Shivaji never interfered with the Ecclesiastical and Accounts departments, but that was due entirely to his low caste and illiteracy. The Peshwa's position at Court was, no doubt, higher than that of the other pradhans, because he was closer to the king and naturally enjoyed more of his confidence; but they were in no sense his subordinates. The solidarity of the British Cabinet, as well as its power, was wanting in the Maratha Council of Eight. The eight ministers were the following:—

p. 412

1. The prime-minister, (Persian Peshwa, Sanskrit Mukhya Pradhan.) His duties were to look after the welfare of the State in general terms, to represent the king in his absence, and to keep peace among the other officers, so as to promote harmony in the administration. All royal letters and charters had to bear his seal below the king's.

p. 412

2. The auditor, (Persian Majmuadar, Sanskrit Amatya.) He had to check all the accounts of public income and expenditure and report them to the king, and to countersign all statements of accounts both of the kingdom in general and of the particular districts.

p. 412

3. The chronicler, (Persian Waqia-navis, Sanskrit Mantri.) His duties were to compile a daily record of the king's doings and Court incidents, and to watch over the king's invitation-lists, meals, companions, &c, so as to guard against murderous plots.

p. 412

4. The superintendent, (Persian Shuru-navis, Sanskrit Sachiv.) He had to see that all royal letters were drafted in the proper style, to revise them, and to write at the head of charters the words Shuru shud, or 'here begins.' He had also to check the accounts of the mahals and parganahs.

p. 412

5. The foreign secretary, (Persian Dabir, Sanskrit Sumant.) He was the king's adviser on relations with foreign States, war and peace. It was also his duty to keep intelligence about other countries, to receive and dismiss foreign envoys, and maintain the dignity of the State abroad.

p. 413

6. The commander-in-chief, (Persian Sar-i-naubat, Sanskrit Senapati.)

p. 413

7. The ecclesiastical head, (Marathi Pandit Rao and Danadhyaksha.) It was his function to honour and reward learned Brahmans on behalf of the king, to decide theological questions and caste disputes, to fix dates for religious ceremonies, to punish impiety and heresy, and order penances, &c. He was Judge of Canon Law, Royal Almoner, and Censor of Public Morals combined.

p. 413

8. The chief justice (Sanskrit Nyayadhish.) He tried civil and criminal cases according to Hindu law and endorsed all judicial decisions, especially about rights to land, village headmanship, &c.

pp. 413-414

All these ministers with the exception of the commander-in-chief, were of the Brahman caste, and all of them, with the exception of the last two, had also to take the command of armies and go out on expeditions when necessary. All royal letters, charters and treaties had to bear the seals of the king and the Peshwa and the endorsement of the four ministers other than the Commander-in-chief, the Ecclesiastical Head, and the Chief Justice.* The actual work of State correspondence was conducted by Kayasthas, of whom two were famous, viz., Balaji Avji the chitnis and Niloji the munshi or Persian secretary. The muster-rolls of the army were written and the pay-bills drawn up by a class of officers called sabnises, who corresponded to the bakhshis or paymasters of the Mughal army, but occupied a much lower rank. (Sabh. 83; Chit. 167-168; Sanads and Letters.) * So says Chitnis. But Oxinden's letters imply that all the ministers endorsed Shivaji's treaty with the English.

p. 414

§5. Army organisation. We now turn to Shivaji's civil and military regulations.

p. 414

Every fort or thanah (outpost) was placed under three officers of equal status, viz., the havladar, the sabnis and the sar-i-naubat, who were to act jointly. "No fort was to be left solely under a havladar, lest a single traitor should be able to deliver it to the enemy. The havladar and the sar-i-naubat were selected from the Maratha caste and the sabnis from the Brahmans,"—so that one caste served as a check upon another. The stores and provisions in the forts were in charge of a Kayastha officer called the karkhanah-navis, who wrote the accounts of their incoming and expenditure. In the larger forts, where the bounds were extensive, the walls were divided into five or six sections, and each of these was guarded by a special tatsar-i-naubat. The environs of a fort were watched by men of the Parwari and Ramushi castes.

pp. 414-415

The havladar of a fort was empowered to change the lower officers and to write official letters and seal them with his own seal. All letters from Government were to be addressed to him. He was to lock the fort-gates at sunset and open them at sunrise, carry the keys with himself and sleep with them under his pillow. He had to make frequent tours of inspection in and outside the fort, pay surprise visits to the sentinels, while the sar-i-naubat had to inspect the work of the patrolling parties and the night-watch. Minute written instructions were given by Shivaji for keeping in each fort munition, provisions, building-materials, and other necessary stores adequate to its size, and for keeping proper watch; and these regulations were rigidly enforced.

p. 415

All soldiers, whether musketeers, spearmen, archers or swordsmen, were recruited only after a careful personal inspection by Shivaji himself and taking security for every new soldier from the men already in his service.

p. 415

In the State cavalry (paga), the unit was formed by 25 troopers (bargirs); over 25 men was placed one havladar, over 5 havladars one jumladar* and over 10 jumlas or 1,250 men one hazari. Still higher ranks were the 5-hazaris and the supreme commander or sar-i-naubat of cavalry. For every twenty-five troopers there were a water-carrier and a farrier.

p. 415

The silahdars were organised on a different plan, but were under the orders of the same sar-i-naubat of cavalry, and ranked lower than the paga horsemen. * Chit., 81, says that there was an intermediate officer called subahdar in command of 5 jumlas, below the hazari. Here I read two (don) for ten (daha) of the printed text.

p. 416

In the infantry, whether fort-garrisons or Mavle militiamen, there was one corporal (nayak) to every nine privates (paiks); over 5 nayaks one havladar, over two (or three) havladars one jumladar, and over 10 jumladars one hazari.* There seems to have been no 5-hazari among the infantry, but only 7-hazaris, over whom was the sar-i-naubat of infantry. Shivaji's Guard brigade of 2,000 select Mavle infantry was splendidly equipped dressed and armed at great expense to the State. (Sabh. 58.)

p. 416

The paga jumladar had a salary of 500 hun a year and the right to use a palki. Attached to him was a majmuadar on 100 to 125 hun. A hazari drew 1,000 hun a year; under him were a majmuadar, a Maratha karbhari (manager or steward), and a revenue-writer (jama-navis) of the Kayastha caste, for whom 500 hun was assigned. The accounts of military income and disbursement had to be made up with the signature of all the four. A commander of 5,000 drew 2,000 hun and had the same three civil officers attached to his office. Karkuns (collectors), reporters, couriers and spies were posted to every higher command down to a hazari, under order of the sar-i-naubat.

p. 416

An infantry jumladar drew 100 hun a year, and had a sabnis (muster-writer) on 40 hun. A hazari drew 500 hun and his sabnis 100 to 125 hun. * Chit., 83, gives one jumladar over five havladars and one hazari over five jumladars.

pp. 417-418

It was Shivaji's settled policy to use his army to draw supplies from foreign dominions every year. "The troops were to go into cantonments in the home territory during the rainy season (June—September.) Grain, fodder and medicines were kept in stock for the horses, and the huts of the troopers were kept thatched with grass. On the day of Dasahara (early in October) the army should set out from the camp for the country selected by the Rajah. At the time of their departure a list was made of all the property that every man, high or low, of the army carried with himself. The troops were to subsist in foreign parts for eight months and also levy contributions. No woman, female slave or dancing-girl was to be allowed to accompany the army. A soldier keeping any of these was to be beheaded. No woman or child was to be taken captive, but only men. Cows were exempt from seizure, but bullocks might be taken for transport only. Brahmans were not to be molested, nor taken as hostages for ransom. No soldier should misconduct himself [during a campaign.] Eight months were to be passed in such expeditions abroad. On their return to their own frontier in Baishakh (April) the whole army was to be searched, the property found was to be compared with the old list, and the excess was to be deducted from their salary. Any one secreting any booty was liable to punishment on detection by the general. The generals on their return should see the Rajah, deliver their booty in gold silver jewels and costly cloth to him, present their accounts, and take their dues from the Treasury. The officers and men were to be promoted or punished according to their conduct during the late campaign. Then they would again remain for four months in camp." (Sabh. 29-30.)

p. 418

§6. Revenue system and administration. "The land in every province was to be measured and the area calculated in chavars. The measuring-rod was 5 cubits and 5 muthis (closed fists) in length. A cubit was equal to 14 tansus, and the measuring-rod was [therefore] 80 tansus long. Twenty kathis (rods) square made a bigha and 120 bighas one chavar. The area of each village was thus ascertained in detail. An estimate was made of the expected produce of each bigha, three parts of which were left to the peasant and two parts taken by the State.*

p. 418

"New ryots who came to settle were to be given money for seeds, and cattle, the amount being recovered in two or four annual instalments. The revenue should be taken in kind at harvest time." * Captain Robertson in 1820 and 1825 gave a different and more complicated account of Shivaji's revenue system. (Bom. Gaz., xviii. Pt. ii. pp. 321-322.) It is quite probable that the system was not so simple and uniform as Sabhasad represents it; but we do not know the Captain's authorities and have no means of testing his statement about a system nearly two centuries old and under a dynasty which had passed away.

p. 419

Shivaji wanted to sweep away the middle class of revenue farmers and come into direct relations with the cultivators. "The ryots were not subject to the authority of the zamindars, deshmukhs, and desais, who had no right to exercise the powers of a political superior (overlord) or harass the ryots."

p. 419

"In the Nizam-Shahi, Adil-Shahi and Mughal territories annexed, the ryots had formerly been subject to patils, kulkarnis and deshmukhs, who used to do the collection work and pay what they pleased to the State, sometimes only 200 or 300 hun for a village yielding 2,000 hun as revenue. These mirasdars (hereditary landlords), thus growing wealthy, built forts enlisted troops, and grew powerful. They never waited upon the revenue officer of Government and used to show fight if he urged that the village could pay more to the State. This class had become unruly and seized the country. But Shivaji dismantled their castles, garrisoned the strong places with his own troops, and took away all power from the mirasdars. Formerly they used to take whatever they liked from the ryots. This was now stopped. Their dues were fixed after calculating the (exact) revenue of the village, and they were forbidden to build castles." (Sabh. 32-33.)

pp. 419-420

Similarly, military fief-holders were given no political power over their tenants. "The sar-i-naubats, majmuadars, karkuns and the officers in the Rajah's personal service were given assignments on the revenue (tankha barat) for their salary. The lands cultivated by them were subject to assessment like the fields of the ryots, and the amount of the revenue due was deducted from their pay. For the balance they got orders on the Treasury of the capital or the districts. Men serving in the army, the militia or the forts were not to be given proprietory (mokasa) rights over any village in entirety. Their dues were to be paid either by assignment of revenue or by cash from the Treasury. None but the karkuns had any jurisdiction over the land. All payments to the army were to be made by the karkuns. The grant of mokasa rights would have created disorder among the peasants; they would have grown in strength and disobeyed the Government collectors; and the growing power of the ryots would have ended in rebellion at various places. The mokasa-holders and the zamindars if united would become uncontrollable. No mokasa was to be granted to any one." (Sabh. 30-31.)

pp. 420-421

Over two mahals, yielding a revenue of from 75,000 to 1,25,000 hun in the aggregate, a subahdar on 400 hun and a majmuadar on 100 to 125 hun a year were appointed. The subahdar was to have a palki allowance of 400 hun. All civil and military officers with a salary of 125 hun or more were given the right to hold parasols (aftab-gir) over their heads, with an allowance from the State for bearers (Sabh. 31.) Where necessary, a subahdar was posted over a tract yielding only one lakh of Rupees. To the disturbed provinces across the frontier, a military force was sent with the collectors of blackmail. (Sabh. 32.) The subahdars were all Brahmans, under the Peshwa's supervision (Sabh. 77.)

p. 421

§7. Religious policy. Shivaji's religious policy was very liberal. He respected the holy places of all creeds in his raids and made endowments for Hindu temples and Muslim saints' tombs and mosques alike. He not only granted pensions to Brahman scholars versed in the Vedas, astronomers and anchorites, but also built hermitages and provided subsistence at his own cost for the holy men of Islam, notably Baba Yaqut of Kelshi (4 m. s. of Bankot on the Ratnagiri coast.) (Sabh. 33.)

p. 421

"The lost Vedic studies were revived by him. One maund of rice was (annually) presented to a Brahman who had mastered one of the books of the Vedas, two maunds to a master of two books, and so on. Every year the Pandit Rao used to examine the scholars in the month of Shravan (August) and increase or decrease their stipends according to their progress in study. Foreign pandits received presents in goods, local scholars in food. Famous scholars were assembled, honoured and given money rewards. No Brahman had occasion to go to other kingdoms to beg." (Chit. 85, 43.)

pp. 421-422

Shivaji's spiritual guide (guru) was Ramdas Swami, one of the greatest saints of Maharashtra, (born 1608, died 1681.) An attempt has been made in the present generation to prove that the Maratha national hero's political ideal of an independent Hindu monarchy was inspired by Ramdas; but the evidence produced is neither adequate nor free from suspicion.* The holy man's influence on Shivaji was spiritual, and not political.

p. 422

After the capture of Satara, (1673) Shivaji installed his guru in the neighbouring hill-fort of Parli or Sajjangarh, and guides still point to the credulous tourist the seat on the top of Satara hill from which Shivaji used to hold converse with the saint, across four miles of space! A charming anecdote is told, that Shivaji could not understand why Ramdas used to go out daily on his begging tour, though his royal disciple had made him rich beyond the dreams of avarice, and that he next day placed at his feet a deed making a gift of all his kingdom to the saint. Ramdas accepted the gift, appointed Shivaji as his vicar, and bade him rule the realm thenceforth not as an autocratic owner, but as a servant responsible for all his acts to a higher authority. Shivaji then made the tawny robe of a Hindu sannyasi his standard, bhagwe jhanda, in order to signify the livery of his ascetic lord paramount, and conducted himself "As ever in his great Taskmaster's eyes." * Shivaji and Ramdas: Chit. 44-53, also his Shambhuji Bakhar, 5-6; Prof. Bhate's Shivaji ani Ramdas; the publications and now-defunct monthly magazine of the Ramdasi coterie of Dhulia (notably Mr. Rajwade.) Dig. 226 (doubtful.)

p. 423

§8. Effect of Shivaji's reign. So much for Shivaji's regulations in theory. But in practice they were often violated except where he was personally present. Thus, the assertion of Sabhasad and Chitnis that his soldiers had to deliver every item of the booty taken by them to the State, is contradicted by the sack of Dharamgaon (1679), where the English factors were robbed of many things without these being entered in the official papers of the Maratha army or credited to Shivaji's Treasury (Ch. XIV.) Shivaji could not be everywhere and at all times; hence it was impossible for him to prevent private looting by his troops and camp-followers. In the wake of the Maratha army, gangs of private robbers took to the road. The Pindharis were the logical corollary of the Maratha soldier, to whom rapine was a normal duty.

p. 423

Shivaji justified his spoliation of his neighbours by saying, as he did to the Mughal governor of Surat (1672), "Your Emperor has forced me to keep an army for the defence of my people and country. That army must be paid by his subjects." (P. 240.) Such a plea might have been true at the beginning of his career and in relation to Mughal territory only, but cannot explain his raids into Bijapur and Golkonda, Kanara and Tanjore. It fails altogether as a defence of the foreign policy of the Peshwas.

pp. 423-424

But whatever might be the moral quality of the means he employed, his success was a dazzling reality. This petty jagirdar's son proved himself the irrepressible opponent of the Mughal empire and all its resources. This fact deeply impressed the minds of his contemporaries in India and abroad.

p. 424

Aurangzib was in despair as to how he could subdue Shiva. A significant statement is made in a newsletter of his Court in 1670 that the Emperor read a despatch from the Deccan, recounting some raids of Shiva and then "remained silent." In the inner council of the Court he often anxiously asked whom he should next send against Shivaji, seeing that nearly all his great generals had failed in the Deccan, and Mahabat Khan irreverently replied with a sneer at Abdul Wahab's influence over the Emperor, "No general is necessary. A decree from the Chief Qazi will be sufficient to extinguish Shiva!" The young Persian king, Shah Abbas II., sent a letter taunting Aurangzib, "You call yourself a Padishah, but cannot subdue a mere zamindar like Shiva. I am going to India with an army to teach you your business."

p. 424

To the Hindu world in that age of renewed persecution, Shivaji appeared as the star of a new hope, the protector of the ritualistic paint-mark (tilak) on the forehead of Hindus, and the saviour of Brahmans. (Bhushan's poems.) His Court and his son's became the rallying-point of the opposition to Aurangzib. The two rivals were both supermen, but contrasts in character.

p. 425

§9. Portraits of Shivaji. We have reliable information about Shivaji's personal appearance in 1664, when he was seen by some Englishmen at Surat. The chaplain Escaliot writes, "His person is described by them who have seen him to be of mean [= medium] stature, lower somewhat than I am erect, and of an excellent proportion. Actual [= active] in exercise, [he] seems to smile, a quick and piercing eye, and whiter than any of his people." The cultured Frenchman Thevenot, who travelled in the Deccan from November 1665 to February 1667, says of him, "The Rajah is small [in size] and tawny [in complexion], with quick eyes which indicate abundance of spirit." It is a pity that neither the English factor of Rajapur whose wig Shivaji examined with his fingers in curiosity (March, 1675), nor Henry Oxinden, the English envoy present at Shivaji's coronation, has left any description of his personal appearance.

pp. 425-426

There is a contemporary and authentic portrait of Shivaji preserved in the British Museum, viz., MS. Add. 22,282 (Picture No. 12.) "It bears a Dutch inscription, 'Shivaji the late Maratha prince.' This volume of Indian portraits evidently belonged to some Dutch owner who had written the name of each person in Dutch on the portrait before 1707, as Aurangzib's portrait is inscribed, 'the present Great Mughal'... I should, therefore, say the portraits were true to life so far as the artist could make them. They are well executed, in the usual style.

p. 426

"No. 12, Shivaji.—Three-quarter length, looking to right,—same face as in Orme's Fragments. Black beard and moustache—long hair at sides—gold pagri—jewelled aigrettes—black plume—white jigah (pearls?)—flowered coat with white ground—purple silk scarf thrown across shoulder—worked sash—peshqabz (dagger) sticking out from waist on left side—right hand hidden in hilt of a pattah or rapier—left hand holding a dhup or straight sword." (Note supplied to me by Mr. W. Irvine, 10th March, 1904.)

p. 426

The portrait of Shivaji given in Constable's edition of Bernier's Travels (p. 187) follows an engraving in F. Valentyn's Oud-en Nieuw Oost-Indien (1724-26), the pictures in which were most probably acquired by the Dutch E. I. Co.'s mission to the Mughal Court in 1712. The Italian traveller Manucci in 1706 presented to the Venetian Senate a volume of 56 portraits drawn for him by Mir Muhammad, an artist in the household of Shah Alam, before 1686. This volume (now at Paris) contains a portrait of Shivaji (No. 39 in Blochet's list), which Mr. Irvine has reproduced by photography in his edition of the Storia do Mogor, Vol. III., picture No. XXXV. Earlier and less faithful woodcuts of it are to be found in Langles' Monuments Anciens et Modernes (Paris 1821) and De Jacigny and Raymond's Inde (Paris, 1845.)