''Shri Shiva Chhatrapatichi 91 Kalmi Bakhar'', better known as ''91-Kalami Bakhar'', is a

Marathi language Marathi (; ''Marāṭhī'', ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language predominantly spoken by Marathi people in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the official language of Maharashtra, and additional official language in the state o ...

biography of

Shivaji Shivaji Bhonsale I (; 19 February 1630 – 3 April 1680), also referred to as Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, was an Indian ruler and a member of the Bhonsle Maratha clan. Shivaji carved out his own independent kingdom from the declining Adils ...

, the founder of the

Maratha Empire The Maratha Empire, also referred to as the Maratha Confederacy, was an early modern Indian confederation that came to dominate much of the Indian subcontinent in the 18th century. Maratha rule formally began in 1674 with the coronation of Shi ...

. Its name is also transliterated as , and . Organized into 91 sections (), it is an important source of information about Shivaji's life for modern historians. The original text was composed by Shivaji's courtier Dattaji Trimal, but is now

lost Lost may refer to getting lost, or to: Geography *Lost, Aberdeenshire, a hamlet in Scotland * Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail, or LOST, a hiking and cycling trail in Florida, US History *Abbreviation of lost work, any work which is known to have bee ...

: its extracts survive in later recensions. Although the original text was the earliest

bakhar ''Bakhar'' is a form of historical narrative written in Marathi prose. are one of the earliest genres of medieval Marathi literature. More than 200 bakhars were written in the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries, the most important of them chronic ...

about Shivaji's life, the interpolations in these recensions have rendered the surviving text unreliable.

Original text

According to tradition, the was written by Shivaji's courtier Dattaji Trimbak (or Trimal) Wakenavis (or Waknis), who was a member of his

Ashta Pradhan Ashta Pradhan (literally, ''Modern council of ministers'') was a system /topic/Ashta-Pradhan, title = Ashta Pradhan | Marathi council The council is credited with having implemented good governance practices in the Maratha heartland, as well ...

council of ministers, and accompanied him to the Mughal court in Agra. Internal evidence suggests that the original text was written before 1713, probably as early as before 1685.

Later recensions

The original text written by Dattaji is now largely

, although some extracts from it are available in several later recensions. These recensions survive in form of six manuscripts, and despite the text's title, some of them contain 96 sections. These contents of these recensions vary, and are sometimes mutually contradictory. The earliest surviving manuscript of the text was made by Khando Annaji Malkare, probably during 1720–1740. It contain several interpolations, and includes legends with supernatural elements. Much of the text in this recension is about Khando's father Anaji Malkare, and these interpolations have rendered it unreliable. appears to be a

Persian language Persian (), also known by its endonym Farsi (, ', ), is a Western Iranian language belonging to the Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian subdivision of the Indo-European languages. Persian is a pluricentric language predominantly spoken and ...

translation of .

Modern editions

During

British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...

, multiple modern scholars published various recensions of the text: * V. K. Rajwade in * Kashinath Narayan Sane in * D. B. Parasnis in In 1806, Lt. E. J. Frissell translated the Raigad manuscript of the into English; this translation was published in George Forrest's ''Selections from Bombay State Papers''. In 1907,

Jadunath Sarkar Sir Jadunath Sarkar (10 December 1870 – 19 May 1958) was a prominent Indian historian and a specialist on the Mughal dynasty. Academic career Sarkar was born in Karachmaria village in Natore, Bengal to Rajkumar Sarkar, the local Zamindar ...

published another English translation in ''Modern Review''. In 1930, V. S. Wakaskar republished the earlier editions in one place.

References

{{reflist Shivaji 17th-century Indian books 18th-century Indian books Bakhars Biographies about royalty