Examine the sources of the history of Chhatrapati Shivaji with special reference to Shivabharat and Sabhasad Bakhar.

Answer:

The history of Chhatrapati Shivaji is reconstructed from a rich but decidedly uneven body of Marathi, Persian and European sources, among which the near-contemporary Shivabharat and the somewhat later Sabhasad Bakhar hold a special and much-debated place.

Shivabharat and Sabhasad Bakhar

• The Shivabharat, a Sanskrit court epic by Kavindra Paramananda, is near-contemporary but eulogistic and partisan.
• The Sabhasad Bakhar, written in 1697 by Krishnaji Anant Sabhasad at Rajaram's request, is the earliest detailed prose account of the reign.
• Being retrospective and courtly, the Bakhar mixes fact with legend and must be handled critically.

Other Marathi and Persian sources

• Persian chronicles such as Khafi Khan's Muntakhab-ul-Lubab give a hostile but informative Mughal view.
• Bhimsen's Tarikh-i-Dilkasha and the Mughal court records supply further detail.
• Later bakhars, letters (patra) and administrative papers add valuable Marathi evidence.
• European factory records of the English, Portuguese and Dutch offer an outsider's testimony.

Using the sources critically

• The Shivabharat and bakhars magnify Shivaji, while Persian chronicles belittle him as a rebel.
• The Sabhasad Bakhar remains valuable for administration, the ashta pradhan and revenue policy.
• Contemporary letters and grants are the most reliable check on both traditions.
• Jadunath Sarkar's critical method, and G.S. Sardesai's Marathi scholarship, established the modern account.

The sources on Shivaji are thus abundant yet coloured by the standpoint of their authors, whether adulatory or hostile. Critical cross-checking of the Shivabharat, the Sabhasad Bakhar and the Persian and European records, as Jadunath Sarkar demonstrated, is essential for a balanced and reliable history.