Setumadhavarao Pagdi or Sethu Madhav Rao Pagdi[1] (27 August 1910 – 14 October 1994) was an Indian civil servant, a polyglotlinguist, an accomplished historian and a distinguished man of letters specialised in modern Maratha history, especially the history of Shivaji.[1][2] He also worked as the secretary of Government of Maharashtra. As a secretary he did his job fairly well. Setu Madhavrao was well versed in Marathi, English, Hindi, Sanskrit, Urdu and Persian, apart from Kannada, which was his mother tongue. As a linguist he discovered the sound system and Grammars of tribal languages like Kolami and Gondi. He was one who served the cause of Marathi against all odds in pre and post - Independent Hyderabad state.[3] Following in the footsteps of the noted Bengali historian Jadunath Sarkar, Setu Madhavrao wrote Shivaji's biography in Marathi and English and the theory enkindled the spirit of nationalism in his readers.[4]
^Indica, Volume 32. Heras Institute of Indian History and Culture, St. Xavier's College. 1995. p. 67. In the person of Setu Madhavrao, who died last October at the age of 85, India has lost an outstanding intellect: an able civil servant, an accomplished historian and a distinguished man of letters.
