History of the Mahrattas Volume I

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History of the Mahrattas published in 3 volumes was the first attempt at a systematic and detailed history of the Marathas from 1000 A.D. till the overthrow of the Maratha power by the British in 1818. It covers the rise of the Marathas under the Shahji, Shivaji and his successors as also the rise and decline of the Marathas under the Peshwas. Duff had been collecting the material for his work through his access to State papers, family and temple archives, access to the records of the Bombay Government, records of the Surat factory and of the Portu-guese Government, and atleast hundred relevant Persian and Marathi manuscripts, and most importantly he could acquire information due to his personal acquaintance with many of the Maratha chiefs and important Brahmin jagirdars.

James Grant Duff (1798-1858) was a British soldier and historian and became a civil servant of the East India Company. He saw the operations against the Peshwa Bajirao II, terminating in his overthrow. He was later appointed to the important office of Resident of Satara state in 1818.

THE want of a complete history of the rise, progress, and decline of our immediate predecessors in conquest, the Mahrattas, has been long felt by all persons conversant with the affairs of India ; in so- much, that it is very generally acknowledged, we cannot fully understand the means by which our own vast empire in that quarter was acquired, until this desideratum be supplied.

The difficulty of obtaining the requisite materials has hitherto deterred most of our countrymen from venturing on a subject where the indefatigable Orme has left his Fragments as a monument of his research, accompanied by an attestation of the labour which they cost him. The subsequent attempt of Mr. Scott Waring proved not only the difficulties of which Mr. Orme's experience had warned us, but that at a period comparatively recent, those who had the best opportunities of collecting information respecting the Mahrattas, were still very deficient in a knowledge of their history. Circumstances placed me in situations which at once removed many of the obstacles which those gentlemen encountered, and threw materials within my reach which had been previously inaccessible : neverthe-less, the labour and the expense requisite for completing these volumes can only be appreciated by those who assisted me in the design, or who have been engaged in similar pursuits in India.