Books on Shivaji Maharaj

From the old bakhars to modern biographies — a reading list to know the life of Shivaji.

Sabhasad Bakhar

Krishnaji Anant Sabhasad

Marathi · 1697

Written roughly 17 years after Shivaji's death on the orders of his son Chhatrapati Rajaram, Krishnaji Anant Sabhasad compiled this chronicle from the recollections of surviving veterans and officials of the court. It is prized for its detailed account of the Ashtapradhan council of ministers, administrative structure, and fort garrisons, making it one of the earliest systematic sources historians still draw on for Shivaji's reign.

Shivabharata

Kavindra Paramananda

Sanskrit · c. 1670s

Kavindra Paramananda was a Sanskrit scholar in Shivaji's own court, and he composed this epic during Shivaji's lifetime, reportedly with the king's encouragement — making it one of the earliest eyewitness-adjacent sources on his life. Though the poem was left unfinished and covers events only up to around 1660, it preserves valuable detail on Shivaji's early campaigns not found elsewhere.

Raja Shivchhatrapati

B. M. Purandare

Marathi · 1958

Babasaheb Purandare drew on decades of research and firsthand visits to forts across Maharashtra to compose this biography. First published in 1958, it later grew into an expanded multi-volume edition and became the single most widely-read introduction to Shivaji's life for generations of Marathi readers, prized for its vivid, narrative-driven style.

Shivaji: His Life and Times

Gajanan Bhaskar Mehendale

English · 2011

Gajanan Bhaskar Mehendale spent decades cross-examining original Modi-script papers, Persian records, and contemporary chronicles to produce this biography. Condensed from his larger multi-volume Marathi research work 'Shri Raja Shivchhatrapati', this English edition is dense with footnotes and citations, and is widely regarded by international scholars as a standard reference on Shivaji's life.

Shivaji the Great Maratha

Ranjit Desai (transl.)

English · 2017

This is the English translation of Ranjit Desai's Sahitya Akademi Award-winning Marathi novel 'Shriman Yogi'. Preserving the original's historical detail and emotional depth, this edition has carried Shivaji's story to readers who cannot access the Marathi original.

Shriman Yogi

Ranjit Desai

Marathi · 1968

Published in 1968, Ranjit Desai's novel went on to win the Sahitya Akademi Award. Grounded in historical research yet rendered in lyrical, evocative Marathi prose, it is regarded as a timeless classic of Marathi literature and continues to introduce new generations of readers to Shivaji's life.