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.
Briggs John 1785-1875"Letter in Madhoo (Madhu) Rao's own hand to Nana Furnevees (Fadnavis) dated 14 May 1767". Letter in Marathi with title in English written in a different hand.
Madhu Rao I Peshwa 1744-1772Letter from "Succaram Bapoo (Sakharam Bapu) to Madhoo [Madhu] Rao Bulal 28 May 1766". Letter in Marathi with title in English in a different hand.
Madhu Rao I Peshwa 1744-1772English identificatory documents. These are:
- 'Original letters of the Poona government in the possession of Nana Furnaveese at his death. Presented to Colonel Briggs at Satara by his widow".
- A piece of paper created into a sleeve for the letters and sealed with a wax seal.
- Blue lined paper with the note 'Sundry papers in Mahratta appertaining to the family of the Great Minister Nana Furnevees and his cotemporaries on subjects connected with his administration till his death in A.D.1799 presented to Col Briggs in 1825 by his widow'.
- Letter from John Briggs to the Secretary of the Royal Asiatic Society to state that he wished to present to the Society a 'specimen of the art of portraiture at the Court of Bijapura A.D. 1579' and 'the collection of original letters and other documents in the Mahratta language'. Three sides, dated 18 September 1874.
Documents of Marathi history dating to the eighteenth and nineteenth century presented to the Royal Asiatic Society by Sir Alexander Malet in 1828 and by General John Briggs in 1874. The papers donated by Briggs are predominantly correspondence from the Peshwa Court at the time of Nana Fadnavis and were given by Nana Fadnavis' widow to Briggs in 1825. Those from Malet were collected by his father, Sir Charles Warre Malet, during his political career in India and are predominantly handwritten accounts of Marathi history.
Each of the documents also has a description provided by Simon Digby when Honorary Librarian at the Royal Asiatic Society from 1970. The documents written in Marathi are in modi script.
Malet Sir Alexander 2d bart