Maratha empire, early modern Indian empire that rose in the 17th century and dominated much of the Indian subcontinent during the 18th century. The Marathas were a Marathi-speaking warrior group mostly from what is now the state of Maharashtra in India. They became politically active under the leadership of Shivaji, their first king, in opposition to the Islamic rulers of the time. The formal Maratha empire began in 1674 with the coronation of Shivaji as Chhatrapati (""Keeper of the Umbrella"") and ended in 1818 after defeat by the English East India Company.
In this edition more than half the narrative has been entirely re-written and expanded; and elsewhere, too, so many old statements and views have been modified as the result of a fresh study of the subject that in its present form the book has practically become a new one. A larger format and type have been used. Briefly speaking, the main points in which it differs from the two earlier editions are the following:-
(a) The total rejection of 19th century fabrications, like the Chitnis bakhar, Shiva-digvijaya, the Vriha-dishwar inscription, etc.
(6) A cautious and selective use of the middle 18th century sources, such as the 91-qalmi bakhar in ita different recensions.
(c) The full use of contemporary French and Portuguese sources for the first time, and of the Marathi chronologies (Shakavalia.).
(d) The addition of all the four portraits of Shivaji definitely known to be contemporary, and of a full chronology in which the dates make a closer approximation to exact precision. An index has been now supplied for the first time.
Besides adding the above features, I have made a fresh and detailed study of the old materials in the light of the newly acquired sources. In the course of the eight years that have passed since the second edition was published, much new material has been collected, and a study of them as well as further reflection has naturally resulted in several minute corrections and changes in the details of the narrative and my opinion about certain persons and events.
So far as the extant materials go, the present edition is definitive; but several dark corners still remain for future discovory of authentic records t illuminate. This is especially the case with the boyhood and youth of Shivaji.
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