Page:Shivaji and His Times.djvu/473

Rh by V. K. Rajwade and others; Vols, viii and xv-xxiv contain a few political letters and a vast mass of private legal documents and charters of Shivaji and his times. Some of them are clearly forgeries made to deceive the Inam Commission and other judicial bodies. Some others seem to have been faked to support "popular" history or family prestige. If we could be always sure of their genuineness and the correctness of the editor's transcription, they would enable us to trace the growth of Shivaji's power in Desh and Konkan with minute accuracy and exact dates. The editing leaves much to be desired. Stray documents of this class have been also printed in the Annual Proceedings {Varshik. Itibritta) and Conference Reports (Sammelan Britta) of the Varat Itihas Samshodhak Mandali of Puna, Itihas Sangraha, ed. by Parasnis, and several other Marathi periodicals. All letters published before 1915 are noted with exact references in Sardesai, Vol. I.

112. Powadas, or Marathi ballads, collected by H. A. Acworth and S. T. Shaligram, 2nd (really 3rd) ed., 1911. Mostly legendary and of a much later date than Shivaji's life-time. The Afzal Khan ballad is probably the oldest, and belonged to Shambhuji's reign. Touches only two incidents of Shivaji's life. English trans, of ten of the ballads (with an excellent introduction), - by Acworth (Longmans, 1894.) 113. G. S. Sardesai's Marathi Riyasat, Vol. I.