Such a man was shivaji. Of the empire which he 'built up, only a few fragments have escaped the ravages of time. The rest has crumbled down and gone the way that all great empires in the world have gone. But the spirit of it has remained behind. He has left no pyramids, no rock cut temples, no architectural marvels to attest his' greatness. But the name of Shivaji still lives to kindle and inspire the growing manhood of Maharashtra. Inspired by the stirring events of the late war, when 4the Maratha soldiers were called upon to display their mative valour on the battle-fields of the West, this workwas undertaken at the special request of the author of the Marathi original, as a grateful tribute to the genius of the founder of the Maratha nation. At the time when this work was undertaken, there was no worthy biography in the English language of the life and career of the great King who during the night of Mahomedan despotism. Dreamt the dream of national independence and realized lit. It seemed a standing reproach to the Indian community, with their newly awakened political consciousness, that there should be no biographical record, commensurate with the greatness of the national hero, in that language 'which has done more than anything else to unite us into a nation.
