{ "id": "epxyw58nvd", "slug": "bakhar-literature", "title": "Bakhar literature", "updated": "2026-10-15", "topic_path": [ { "id": "society", "label": "Society and history", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/society" }, { "id": "society.history", "label": "History and archaeology", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/society.history" }, { "id": "society.history.asia", "label": "Asian history", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/society.history.asia" }, { "id": "society.history.asia.india", "label": "India and South Asia", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/society.history.asia.india" }, { "id": "society.history.asia.india.maratha", "label": "Marathas (1630 to 1818)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/society.history.asia.india.maratha" }, { "id": "society.history.asia.india.maratha.maratha-culture-and-literature", "label": "Maratha culture and literature", "api_url": 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"https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.ind.t1800.society" }, { "id": "geo.ind.t1800.society.history", "label": "History and archaeology", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.ind.t1800.society.history" }, { "id": "geo.ind.t1800.society.history.asia", "label": "Asian history", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.ind.t1800.society.history.asia" }, { "id": "geo.ind.t1800.society.history.asia.india", "label": "India and South Asia", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.ind.t1800.society.history.asia.india" }, { "id": "geo.ind.t1800.society.history.asia.india.maratha", "label": "Marathas (1630 to 1818)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.ind.t1800.society.history.asia.india.maratha" } ] } ], "excerpt": "Bakhar literature (बखर) is a genre of Marathi prose historical narrative, written from the late seventeenth century onward and considered an indispensable primary source of Maratha history.", "snippet": "Bakhar literature (बखर) is a genre of Marathi prose historical narrative, written from the late seventeenth century onward and considered an indispensable primary source of Maratha history.", "node": "society.history.asia.india.maratha.maratha-culture-and-literature", "markdown": "# Bakhar literature\n\nBakhar literature (बखर) is a genre of Marathi prose historical narrative produced in large numbers from the seventeenth to the early nineteenth century.[1](https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4045526) The word *bakhar* is a metathesis of the Arabic *khabar*, meaning news, and the bakhars, together with the official Marathi documents archived in the [Peshwa Daftar](https://www.edgepedia.org/peshwa-daftar) in Pune, are usually considered indispensable primary sources of Maratha history.[2](http://pmml.nic.in/downloadSeries/263) The genre is typically written in Marathi's Modi script (cursive shorthand script for Marathi documents) in the form of prose.[3](https://journal.gujaratvidyapith.org/index.php/vp/article/view/215)\n\n| Fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Language and script | Marathi prose, usually in Modi script[3](https://journal.gujaratvidyapith.org/index.php/vp/article/view/215) |\n| Etymology | Marathi *bakhar*, a metathesis of Arabic *khabar* (news)[2](http://pmml.nic.in/downloadSeries/263) |\n| Period of production | Latter half of the seventeenth century onward; most Marathi bakhars written between 1760 and 1850[2](http://pmml.nic.in/downloadSeries/263) • [4](https://thinkmaharashtra.com/bakhar-literary-form-of-historical-writing/) |\n| Surviving corpus | According to the Prime Ministers' Museum and Library, more than two hundred bakhars have survived[2](http://pmml.nic.in/downloadSeries/263) |\n| Major works | Sabhasad Bakhar, 91-Kalami Bakhar, Chitnis Bakhar, Bhausahebanchi Bakhar, Peshwyanchi Bakhar[5](https://doi.org/10.1017/chol9780521268837.002) • [6](http://dishtavostaging.unigoa.ac.in/resource?filename=2230_Notes.pdf&module_id=2230&type=quad) |\n| Historians' verdict | Much of the genre was hagiographical and often confused in dating and placing events[5](https://doi.org/10.1017/chol9780521268837.002) |\n\n## Origin: authorship and date\n\nThe writing of the history of [Maharashtra](https://www.edgepedia.org/maharashtra) and the Marathas began almost as early as the polity itself. The first Marathi histories, termed bakhars, were written in Marathi by Brahmin eulogists, and were the product of the late seventeenth century to the mid-eighteenth century.[5](https://doi.org/10.1017/chol9780521268837.002) The bakhars are unique to the writing of Maratha history from the latter half of the seventeenth century.[2](http://pmml.nic.in/downloadSeries/263)\n\nThe [Sabhasad Bakhar](https://www.edgepedia.org/sabhasad-bakhar) is a biography of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj written by Krushnaji Anant Sabhasad.[6](http://dishtavostaging.unigoa.ac.in/resource?filename=2230_Notes.pdf&module_id=2230&type=quad) • [7](https://sahyadribooks.com/chhatrapati-shrishivajiraje-yanchi-bakhar/) Sabhasad was a minister of Chhatrapati Rajaram, Shivaji's son, and wrote the bakhar at Rajaram's court at Jinji.[6](http://dishtavostaging.unigoa.ac.in/resource?filename=2230_Notes.pdf&module_id=2230&type=quad) • [8](https://varadabooks.com/products/aadya-chhatrapati-shree-shivajiraje-bakhar-life-legacy-shivaji-marathi) \n\n## Contents\n\nMost bakhars contain writing about historical events, battles, and biographies of great men.[9](https://marathi.timesnownews.com/lifestyle/what-is-bakhar-why-it-is-always-mention-when-referring-to-history-photo-gallery-118357025) The genre covers several kinds of work. Bakhars are classified as biographical (of Shivaji, Sambhaji, or Brahendra Swami), dynastic (the Peshwanchi Bakhar, the Nagpurkar Bhosale), event-descriptive (the Panipat chi Bakhar, the Kharda raid), sectarian, autobiographical (Nana Fadnis, Gangadhar Shastri Patwardhan, Bapu Khano), kaifiyat (Holkar), bakhars written for the [Inam Commission](https://www.edgepedia.org/inam-commission), Puranic, and political (the Ajnyapatra).[4](https://thinkmaharashtra.com/bakhar-literary-form-of-historical-writing/) \n\nExcept for some verse passages in the Mahikavati (Mahim) bakhar, all bakhar writing is in prose, with ornate language and Puranic ideals in the portrayal of historical figures; a battle may be compared to a 'Bharatiya yuddha'. The bakhar writer was usually of the clerk (कारकुनी) profession with access to documents in the phada, the records office, and was often well-read in the Puranas, whose influence is visible in some bakhars; facts were also embellished.[4](https://thinkmaharashtra.com/bakhar-literary-form-of-historical-writing/)\n\nAmong the major works, the [Bhausahebanchi Bakhar](https://www.edgepedia.org/bhausahebanchi-bakhar) is the bakhar of Sadashiva Rao 'Bhau', cousin of Peshwa Balaji Baji Rao 'Nana Saheb' and de facto commander of the Maratha army at Panipat in 1761; it is a developed and more detailed version of an earlier text called the Bhausahebanchi Kaifiyat.[2](http://pmml.nic.in/downloadSeries/263)\n\n## Transmission and revision\n\nBakhar writing was generally done at the command of a political figure. The Bhausahebanchi Bakhar opens by citing Shahu's order, the Sabhasad Bakhar opens by citing its patron's command, and Raghunath Yadav states that he wrote the Panipat bakhar at the command of Gopikabai, the widow of Peshwa Nanasaheb.[4](https://thinkmaharashtra.com/bakhar-literary-form-of-historical-writing/)\n\nAccording to the Prime Ministers' Museum and Library, more than two hundred bakhars have survived, and most were edited and printed by modern scholars of Maratha history in the nineteenth century.[2](http://pmml.nic.in/downloadSeries/263) \n\n## Political influence\n\nThe bakhars supplied the narrative raw material through which Maratha rule was remembered and written. [James Grant Duff](https://www.edgepedia.org/james-grant-duff) relied heavily on bakhars for his *History of the Marathas*.[4](https://thinkmaharashtra.com/bakhar-literary-form-of-historical-writing/) The best of the genre, the Sabhasad Bakhar and the 91-Kalami Bakhar, are important both for their facts and for the tone of heroic and tragic events that form the basis of the popular history of Maharashtra.[5](https://doi.org/10.1017/chol9780521268837.002) Along with the Peshwa Daftar records, the bakhars are usually considered the indispensable primary sources of Maratha history.[2](http://pmml.nic.in/downloadSeries/263)\n\n## Reception and assessment\n\nHistorians' judgments of the bakhars as sources have differed sharply. Shankar Gopal Tulpule described the bakhars as a reliable source of history, while V. K. Rajwade called them 'full of meaningless verbosity' and 'fragmented, contradictory, vague, and unreliable', and [Jadunath Sarkar](https://www.edgepedia.org/jadunath-sarkar) called them 'collections of gossip and tradition, sometimes no better than opium-eaters' tales'.[4](https://thinkmaharashtra.com/bakhar-literary-form-of-historical-writing/)\n\nRajwade, who compiled a list of 42 bakhars printed in Maharashtra up to his time, recorded that the fault of chronological disorder (कालविपर्यास) pervades almost all bakhars, being least in the Bhausahebachi Bakhar and immense in the Peshwyanchi Bakhar.[10](https://www.loksatta.com/sampadkiya/columns/marathi-bakhar-history-itihasacharya-vk-rajwade-research-reliability-of-historical-documents-analysis-vsd-99-5788515/) • [4](https://thinkmaharashtra.com/bakhar-literary-form-of-historical-writing/) He concluded that one authentic document (अस्सल चिटोरे) is enough to defeat the majority opinion of all bakhars, a sentence that became a foundational maxim of historical research, and that bakhars read without the help of authentic documents lead to serious error, because the true content cannot be separated from the false.[10](https://www.loksatta.com/sampadkiya/columns/marathi-bakhar-history-itihasacharya-vk-rajwade-research-reliability-of-historical-documents-analysis-vsd-99-5788515/)\n\nThe current scholarly consensus, as stated in the Cambridge History of India volume on the Marathas, is that much of the genre was hagiographical and often confused in dating and placing events, while the best of the literature remains important for its facts and its tone.[5](https://doi.org/10.1017/chol9780521268837.002) Most historians of Maratha history criticized and rejected bakhar as source material for its lack of historical accuracy, while Marathi linguistics studied it as a pre-colonial prose genre, focusing on its literary aspects.[1](https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4045526)\n## References\n\n1. Revisiting Bakhar: Power, Knowledge and Communities, https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4045526\n2. Paper on the Bhausahebanchi Bakhar, Prime Ministers' Museum and Library, http://pmml.nic.in/downloadSeries/263\n3. Bakhar: A Tradition of Marathi Historiography, Vidyapith (Gujarat Vidyapith), https://journal.gujaratvidyapith.org/index.php/vp/article/view/215\n4. ऐतिहासिक महत्त्वाच्या बखरी (Bakhar – Literary form of historical writing), https://thinkmaharashtra.com/bakhar-literary-form-of-historical-writing/\n5. Introduction: historiography and bibliography, Cambridge History of India volume, https://doi.org/10.1017/chol9780521268837.002\n6. Sabhasad Bakhar, University of Goa course notes, http://dishtavostaging.unigoa.ac.in/resource?filename=2230_Notes.pdf&module_id=2230&type=quad\n7. Chhatrapati ShriShivajiRaje Yanchi Bakhar (Sabhasad Bakhar), ed. S. N. Joshi, https://sahyadribooks.com/chhatrapati-shrishivajiraje-yanchi-bakhar/\n8. Aadya Shivajiraje Bakhar, Varada Books, https://varadabooks.com/products/aadya-chhatrapati-shree-shivajiraje-bakhar-life-legacy-shivaji-marathi\n9. बखर म्हणजे काय?, Marathi Times Now, https://marathi.timesnownews.com/lifestyle/what-is-bakhar-why-it-is-always-mention-when-referring-to-history-photo-gallery-118357025\n10. बखरी आणि इतिहास संशोधन: वि. का. राजवाड्यांचे विश्लेषण, Loksatta, https://www.loksatta.com/sampadkiya/columns/marathi-bakhar-history-itihasacharya-vk-rajwade-research-reliability-of-historical-documents-analysis-vsd-99-5788515/\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › History and archaeology › Asian history › India and South Asia › Marathas (1630 to 1818) › Maratha culture and literature*\n\n*Initially written Sep 23, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/bakhar-literature", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/bakhar-literature.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"Bakhar literature\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/bakhar-literature. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[Bakhar literature](https://www.edgepedia.org/bakhar-literature)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/bakhar-literature](https://www.edgepedia.org/bakhar-literature). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"Bakhar literature\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/bakhar-literature. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "Bakhar literature is a genre of Marathi prose historical narrative, written from the late seventeenth century onward and considered an indispensable primary source of Maratha history." }