Adnyapatra
Also called: Ajnapatra · Topic: The Marathas · NCERT: Class 8, Ch 3 "The Marathas"
Meaning
The Adnyapatra ('The Royal Edict') is a Marathi treatise on statecraft, meaning a written guide on how to run a kingdom. Ramachandrapant Amatya, Shivaji's finance minister, wrote it in 1715. It sets out his ideas on government, defence and danger from outside. Two of its points come up again and again in exams. It calls forts "the core of the state", and it warns against the European "hat-wearers".
Example
The Adnyapatra says that Shivaji created the kingdom "from forts alone". It adds that the state survived decades of attack by Aurangzeb only because of its forts. It also warns that the Portuguese, English, Dutch, French and Danes were "not like other merchants". It says they wanted land and wanted to spread their religion, so their traffic should be controlled and they should not be allowed to build strong buildings.
Don't confuse with
- Rajya-Vyavahara-Kosha: this is a word list Shivaji ordered, giving Sanskrit words to replace Persian ones. It is not a treatise on statecraft.
Related concepts
- Bargir and shiledar
- Bargi raids
- Maratha Military Landscapes
- Sindhudurg Fort
- Maratha navy
- Kanhoji Angre