Peshwa Court Documents donated by John Briggs

Documents of the Maratha Peshwa Court given to John Briggs by the widow of Nana Fadnavis. This includes original correspondence to Madhu Rao and Nana Fadnavis. The letters commence with the public life of Nana Fadnavis in 1761 and end with his fall in power in 1796 and are associated with the reign of Madhu Rao.

Simon Everard Digby was born in India in 1932 and was educated at Stowe School and Trinity College, Cambridge. He travelled in India and Pakistan before returning to England to complete a PhD at the School of Oriental and Africa Studies. He returned to India in 1961-1962 and continued to make trips to India throughout his life. He was Honorary Librarian of the Royal Asiatic Society from 1968-1984. In 1972 he was appointed to a post in the Department of Eastern Art of the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. He also taught and examined post-graduate students at SOAS. He died in Delhi in 2010 from pancreatic cancer.

Simon Everard Digby was born in India in 1932 and was educated at Stowe School and Trinity College, Cambridge. He travelled in India and Pakistan before returning to England to complete a PhD at the School of Oriental and Africa Studies. He returned to India in 1961-1962 and continued to make trips to India throughout his life. He was Honorary Librarian of the Royal Asiatic Society from 1968-1984. In 1972 he was appointed to a post in the Department of Eastern Art of the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. He also taught and examined post-graduate students at SOAS. He died in Delhi in 2010 from pancreatic cancer.

The material was first appraised by Simon Everard Digby and identified and labelled. This was used to identify the material for cataloguing from the articles written By John Briggs in the Transactions of the Royal Asiatic Society.

John Briggs translated the biography: Memoir of the early Life of Nan Farnevis and also Secret Correspondence of the Court of the Peshwa, Madhu Rao, from the Year 1761 to 1772. Translated from Original Mahratta Letters, translations of these papers and others. Both these articles can be found in the Transactions of the Royal Asiatic Society II, 1830, pp. 95-165.

Published