CHAPTER FIVE
Financial 8yst«n in tha Maratha Conlederacy: Income & Expcaiditmra 14:
*_U‘
CHAPTER FIVE
Financial System In the Maratha CcmfedTacy: Income and Expenditure
The energies of Maratha swars and sardars were mainly
directed towartis gaining m(Miey from the different autll^a of
India* The Income of the Marathas collected under different
heads had an Important place In the Maratha confederacy, as
It was shared by them In different proportions* The syst«n of
fanning the Income was adopted by the Marathas*
The money collected was officially spent under different
heads; the heads and the items of expenditure also were an
Integral part of the confederacy.
N The Peshwa and the sardars were usually not In a position
to balance the Income and expenditure; tt^^mbalance
Invariably resulted In the debts*
(A) The system of keeping accounts In the Maratha Confederacy^
The Marathas followed the Shallvahan Shak and the
Rajyabhlshek Shak started by Shlvajl. Under the ieshwas#
however^ the Suhur «MMMr"or the Arbi year was mainly follovred
In place of the two Hindu calendars* The Suhur year/started
^In/r^ughly^he first week of June or about 7th Jxuie, of the
Christian calendar* 1 4 C
N^rhe accounting ysar/ for the Marathas, was Suhur year,
rhe t^jkirdai the~~)^atavan^^ and Ghadani^ w r « the main papers
on which the inccwne and expenditure vfere entered*
Rojkirda were the loose sheets of paper of every day on / o‘y a.c.cLcx^^'^ which pota l.e« Income In cash received various
and front various sources was entered. The harki^ the qunheqarl> .> ■— / /\ the khandanl etc* were the Items of Incone entered In the
rojkirda. The Peshwas many tiroes aske^ the saranjaindars to
/pay certain sums of money to certain persons; these amounts
were called as varata Wnd were entered In the accounts \inder
the head rava-sudol* The Income In form of cloth and articles
was entered tinder the head lamdarkhana while under iavahlrkhana
precious stones and metals and the seals were credited* The
Items of expenditure In case of ootHi, jamdarkhana and - Javahlrkhana were debited In the papers under the heads already mentioned*
. The khatavani was called as beheda^ khatavani which was
Tinritten from the kirda/. It was income and expenditure under
head of a person or a mahal* The amounts like karjapatti|t^ saranjampatti received from the saranjamdar of a particular ■“ ■ — — — - - • ♦ ' malul, the varata given along with the date of the san^ given
were entered. If a saranjamdar had more than cme mahal in saranjam, the accounts from all the mahals were entered under
the head of the name of that ^arftnjamdair«
v\ 144
The ohadanl was also loose paper cm ^ I c h the details of
Inccme and expenditure from particular mahal or mahals/ given to a particular saran1amdar« the sanads issued regarding it were registered* Similarly, the expenditure which was , occasi (B) Inccnie of the Marathas and its place in the ^ar5.tiiiLgpn.€s4BFasy The Marathas collected various dues from the subhais of India* Were they, as the successors of the Mughals, aware of the total income of India in the eicrhteenth century ? What were the different dues that they collected and what was their place in the relationship between the Peshwa and the sardars^will have to be taken in ccxisideration* Income frcw the subt^ais of India f' The lama or the rasad from the t%#enty-two stibhas of India in the 17th and 18th centuries have been published in Marathi language* The earliest list, dated 6 June 1674, was made en orders of Shivaji and submitted to him at the time of his coronation. The ajji rasad from the twenty-two subhas according Aurang*eb's reign was prepared in Rudhirodgax L samvatsar i*e* 145 1803-1804; the total mentioned is rupee* 33,10,09,412. In the third 11 st^ of the year 1789 there la mention of tventy<.on« sxibhija and the total as rupees 50,75,35,029. The income from all the s ^ a j ^ o f India in the days of ShivaJi and Aurangzib was around rupees thirtythree crores. The income increased and in 1789 it was fifty crores; the figures indicate the rise in lama of India under the Marathas. Similar increase can be noted in case of north India, referred to as Hindustan by the Marathas* XgtaJi Amount (in rupees) 1674® 15,52,68,985 Rei 1789® 32,46,16,063 The Peshwas, however, received «ily a fracticwi of the total. The amounts which the Peshwas received from prant Hindustan and prant Gujrat (together forming north India) are separately given in four lists* The figures for Hindustan are as follows< Year Amount in Rc ./A s /Pj 1772-73® 1,29,27,568/13/1 1775-76^® 1,31,49,570/11/1 1781-82^^ 1,50,4 5,972 /9/1 1786-87^^ 1,51,05,972/10/0 146 Though the amounts gradually Increase In case of Hindustan, the amoxints for prant Gujrat go on declining* The figures for Gujrat are as follows s Year Amount in Rs«/As»/Ps» 1772-73^^ 15,26,053/9/9 1775-76^^ 15,29,255/9/9 1781-82^® 1,50,0 00/0/0 1786-87^® 6 ,2 2 ,6 4 1 /2 /0 The figures regarding Gujrat reflect upon lack of proper administration in post-Madhavrao Peshwa period* These lists also indicate that the Peshwa government did not follow the ^ ^ h ^ of the Mughals in maintaining the accounts; in the list in addition to grants Hindustan and Gujrat, prants Karnatak# Gangathadi, Varaghati and Khandesh are mentioned* ' (C) The Maratha Dues and their place in the Maratha A ") Confederacy J - , The Chau^ , the garde shmukhi, the sayar pirere the regular dues collected by the Marathas and by 1729, karkuni^lso became a due collected by the M a r a t h a s *A ft e r the demise of Shahu, nazar )was added as an item of inccsme to be collected by the Peshwa from the Maratha sardars* Similarly, culukhgiri / ^ and fhasdaa^' were also collected by the Maratha sardars like Gaikwad and Bhcmsale* These various exactions and the sharing 147 of these exactions among the Peshwa and the Maratha sardars reqfulated the financial relations between the Peshwa and the sardars* In addition to these regular dues, the Maratha sardars collected irregular dues like antasthafand forcible I. Chauth The existence of the practice of exacting chauth in 18 pre-Shivaji periorl has been pointed out by S.N. Sen and Sardesai ; the village-managers of the district of Daman on their own made an agreement with a petty Rajput chief, ^ o came to be called as Raja Chauthia.^® Shivaji claimed the right when the region of Daman came under his control* Shivaji extended its application and its nature under Shivaji in the words of S*N. Sen, was "a military ccxitribution paid by the defenceless subjects of the enemy kingdoms and territories, for the protection of their lives and property from the invading Maratha army, which held 21 them*" The chauth, under Sambhaji and Rajaram, was of a similar nature* The change brought about in the days of Shahu has been aptly described by S.N. Sen^^i Shahu received as a pension what Shivaji had demanded as a tribute, and %^at Shivaji had offered as a favour Shahu xmdertook as an obligation. To the Mughal Government chauth still remained what it had originally been viz* the purchase price of peace and security; but 14H while in Aurangzlb's tlines Its demand Indicated defiance of Imperial authority. In Bahadur Shah's time it connoted unquestlcxied acknowledgement of the Emperor*s suzerainty* Shahu had sent officials like Shankaraji Narayan and Balaji Vlshwanath, along with the Maratha sardars like Santajl Bhaisale« to accompany and to support Hussein All Sayyad in the Delhi politics* It was with the help of the Marathas that Farrukhsiyar was deposed from the thrcne and Rafi Ud Oarjat was raised as the Emperor* The new Emperor* upon the suagestion of Sayyed brothers# gave the sanads of ^ chauth and sardeshmukhi to Shahu; while the sanad of chauth was given on 13 March 1719, that of sardeshmukhi was given on 24 March, 1719.^^ / , ---- y U i X l j ' ------" " n By the scmads, Shahu received the Impsri*! permission of collectingychauth from the six subhas of the Deccan; he was ^ t o maintain a Maratha force of 15«000 for sei^lce with the 24 , //G: f ,. / viceroy, of the Deccan. Phe official pennissl 0 ^ 1-f Med frori t i i e ^ y i l daf-tar of the. Oeccan. i C l rhe official sanad was renewed, upon the request of the vakil of Shahu in the reign of Emperor Muhamanad Shah on January 172cl and it was ordered that the share of the chauth should be given to the kamavisdars of Shahu. There were no other conditions attached to the right of 14a collecting chauth, except the maintenance of a force of 15«000* For the ganad of sardjietoukM# however* condlticxis regarding peace and order* protection of peasants were attached. Just as Shahu was anxious 4 ^ getting and renewing sanads troin the Mughal Emperor* he was always of the opinion that the collection of various dues should be made only with the sanction of his sanads; he reprimanded Sidoji Hiorat for having collected chauth west of the Panchaganga river* as he did not 27 have necessary sanads. Cba^th, and its subdivisions Chauth or Chauthai has been defined by Molesworth and its subdivisions given* He says that the chauth is an assignment I equal* normally* to one fourth of the tanakha but generally* to about one-fourth of the Governinent-collections* obtained from the Muhanwadan territories by the Marathas* The Marathas collected it, and divided it as follows* One-fourth* or twenty-five per cent was appropriated by the head of the Maratha state* and was called raIbabati; from the remainder* termed mokasa^ there was deducted a sunt equal to six per cent (sahotra) of the whole chauth^ and this was assigned to the Pant Sachiv* The remainder* equal to sixtynine per cent of the chauth. termed ain-mokasa jwas partitioned, on certain ccmditions among the sardars* In sone districts there was, besides the 150 I, a man equal to three per cent# cxi the whole chauth deducted from the wokasa, and named nadgonda» Very niimerous subdivisions of chauth have since been inade> The rajbabtl or simply babti» the mokasa, the sahotra and the nadoouda were amounts which were respectively 25%, 75%, 6% 28 and 3% of the amount collected as the chauth» While the Chhatrapati had the babti as his private share, he gave the sahotra to the Sachiv and nado^i^a to any person he liked* The remaining amount - 60% of “the chauth » was called as ain>nokasa. The mokasa (it was also called as mukasbab) has been defined by Shahu himself in one of his letters, as an amount remaining after the deductioi of the amount of babti fr«n the chauth collected.^® This mojcasa was further subdivided among the Peshwa and the sardars; it consequently became a b The distribution of the mokasa among the confederates and the continuous changes therein reflect upm the shifting policies and falling fortunes of many a sardar* The provinces of Malwa and Gujrat may be taken to Illustrate the changes* Peshwa Bajirao received one-half mokaga of prants Gujrat and Malwa from the Chhatrapati*^^ One-half of this amount (i.e . one fourth of the total mokasa) was given by Bajirao to 15i Udajl Pawar 3 Noveinber 1722; the Peshv#a, accordingly, issued Persian sanads to Iftnarkhan, Tegbegkhan, Muhanunad Sherkhan and Serbulandkhan.^^ The mokasa from prants Gujrat and Malwa were, however, equally divided by Shahu between Chimnaji Ballal and Triirtoakrao Dabhade in April 1726.^^ And o nly a year later# the share of Chimnaji in prant Gujarat was transferred to Khan;lerao D a b h a d e * Y e t , the Peshwa, on 26 May# 1728, assigned the paraganaa in prant Gujrat and prant Malwa to Udaji Pawar and Malharrao Holkar; takidpatras were, accordingly, sent to the mandaloi^ and the kanunqo5in both the p ro v in c es*U p o n the request of Nandalal Mandaloi, the tokid-patras for the paragana of Indore were issued by Malharrao Holkar* 37 A tahanania i*e* an agreement between Bajirao, Udaji Pawar and Malharrao Holkar, signed on 15 September 1729, reflects upon the mode of the distribution of the mokasa frcxn Malwa and Gujrat. It was agreed that an amount of rupees two lacs and twenty-five thousand be deducted as the payment of Piwani» It was also agreed to deduct the amount spent traditionally for the political purposes* After having made these two deductions on account of common expenditure, the remaining amount was to be divided amcmg Chimnaji Ballal, Udaji Pawar and Kalharrao Holkar in proportion to the strength of their armies* The arranaement, which the Peshwa aimed at next year. 152 when the cOTtrol over the prants could be firmly established, was as follows* The fifty per cent of the total laokaaa of prant Gujrat and orant Malwa, which belonged to the Peshwa, was to be divided amtong Chimnaji, Udaji and Malharji in the proportiwi of 50%, 32% and 16% respectively.^® The reshwa, in May 1726, overrode the orxier of the Chhatrapati of April 1726 and appointed Udaji Pawar and Malharrao Holkar as Sairdars in charge of collecting his share of the mokasa from the two provinces* The Peshwa put Udaji Pawar and Malharrao Holkar in confrontation with Triirtoakrao Dabhade in the province of Gujrat* These developments indicate the emergence of Udaji and Malharji as the Peshwa's sardars, while rrirrtbakra^^«riained as the Chhatrapati * s sairdar* In 39 such a tense situaticm , Shahu, on 15 December, 1730, gave the mokasa rights of Gujrat to Triinbakrao Dabhade*^ This was O COTsequently followed by the battle of Dabh^ cm April 1, 1731# Trimbakrao was defeated and killed* The constant changes of the persons in charge of collect ing the chauth created divisions, and discords among the Maratha sardars and their followers* The Chhatrapati had to apply reins to sardars like Kanthaji Kadam and Pilaji Gaikwad^^ and to throw the Peshwa at the feet of Utaabai Dabhade*^^ The right of collecting the mokasa was generally given 1 5 3 for a year; at the end of every year takldpatrag • letters of warning and continuation • were issxied to revenue officials 44 in the prants» This practice, added to the almost constant changes# must have made ccmfusion tltfice c Like the sardeshmukhi of Malwa, Gujrat, vrtiich was fanned out by Shahu to the Peshwa^^ the mokasa from Gujrat and khandani from ^urashtra did not reach the royal treasury. The one>third mokasa from Gujrat and three-fourth khMdanl frwn S^rashtra were to be kept for the maintenance of army and military posts and the remaining amount was to be sent to r Chauth farmed out The chauth of paragan^ Bmdi Nenav«y was farmed out fjrom the year 1750 for an annual amount of rupees 7 5 ,0 0 0 to Malharji Holkar and Jayaji Shinde*^^ By-waehmgtltode, ~thc fitfwiey collected on account of chauth never reached the treasury. II. Shivaji, for the first time, claimed gardestMBUkhi for prants Junnar and Ahmadnagar in 1650; he was in return, ready 48 to serve the Mughals with 5000 cavalry. In 1657, Shivaji ^ requested Aurangzeb for the sardeshmukhi grant and the conquest of Kbnkan* While Aurangzeb gave him permission to conquer 15-i 49 Konkan, he put off Shlvajl's demand for »ar The convention of the treaty of Purandar contains a demand for sardeshroukhl* Shivaji In a letter to Safi Khan, Diwan of the Deccan, dated 21 August 1667 wrote that the Emperor had conferred the deshmukhl rights In the region In the vicinity of the forts surrendered by ShivaJl; ShlvaJl complained that 50 the Imperial collectors obstructed him In Its realization* Aurangzeb ordered that his officers should not obstruct in t the collectlcm of deshmukhl rlq^its granted by him to Shivaji. r Shivaji, however, made these requests for sardeshmukhi ricjhts for political reasons, especially when he was har^ pressed by the Mughals* SamMiaji, it appears, used to collect jardestwukhi from the Chaul maanla^ as the subhedar of Chaul exempted the cultivators concesslems in sardestunukhl in 1687, when the peasants were qlven kaul by the suWiedar*^^ Rajaram, on 12 April 1691, gave the j^rdeshmukhi watan of twelve mahals to Nagojl, son of Rataji Mane, as he left the Mughals and joined him^^; Rajaram, thus, farmed out the income from sardeshmukhi from the twelve mahals to Nagojl Mane* Rajaram, however, did not aspire for the sanad, for the collection of sardeshmukhi, from the Mughals* Shivaji and his two sons, thus, regarded sardeshmukhi as their right needed t» -^^praval ~ "fnam the Mughsbls« Shahu, however, through his agents requested the Mughal 155 ' ' 54 £mp«r6r for the grant of a sanad and i t 4 renewal* The agent# of Shahu, Oft ^4 January ^730^^ and on 32 November gave N ' ' wr^ten agreements in which he, an behalf of his master# requested for the grant of sardeshmukhl* which was to be 10 per cent of the income, of the six sulc^as of the Deccan* In both the agreements the vakil of Shahu agreed that his master would establish law and order* trace thefts* In ^ e later agreement, it also agreed by the vakil to pay peshkas to the Emperor* The income from the six subhas of the Deccan Aurangabad* Varad, Bidar, Bijapur# Hyderabad and Khandesh «•* was rupees eighteen crores (in round figure)* out of which Shahu was to get rupees one crore eighty lacs* %^ich was 10 per cent of the income* as sardeshmukhi.The vakil of Shahu agreed to pay rupees 1*17*19*390/12 as peshkash* The one»fourth of the amount* to be given as peshkash, rupees 29,29,847/11 was to be given when the robes and the sanad would be giveni the balance of rupees 87*89*543/1 was to be given in instalments* An extract of the sardeshmukhi collected by Peshwa Bajirao was submitted to Shahu under the head ekber1i iImayali sardeshmukhi swari ra iashri Balirau Ballal/ this was an account 58 of sardeshmukhi till the year 1719>20* In this account rupees 3*54*656/10, 1*10*749/13 and 1*86*810/1 are shown to be collected from prant Gangathadi* prant Varad and prant Khandesh 15b 59 respectivGly. while the entire amount was collected from prant Varad# rupees 57«904/11 and rupees 11#909/13 were shown as arrears for prant Gangathadl and prant Khandesh respectively. The total of these three figures is 6,32,2 16/6, which has been shown as the incoir.e on account of ^j^eshnuj^i for the current year* This figure was an improvement over the previous year# for which the amount collected was 2#07#678/12. Just as the income front sardeslwukhi is shown# the expenditure is also shown* The expenditure »hown is on three accounts* They are hujarat kharcha# peshkash moqalai and sardari kharcha* For these heads# rupees/annas 2#03#622/8# 3,13,366/1 and 93,290/9 are shown* These expenses were for the money expected to be qiven to Rajarshi Chhatrapati Swami^ for khandani to the Mughals j A and for the military expenses made by the Peshwa on the sardars* The watan of sardestwnukhi and nadgoudki of seven villages — Kasaba Tarle, Mtftuje Boposhi, M4>uje Tondosi# Mouje ' a. Vajarosi# M ^ je I'iarulosl, Mouje Kadawekhurd and H0uje Ghot — were given by &hahu to his sister Bhawanibai ^iahadik# wife of ;ShankaraJi Raje Mahadik.^® Later on, upon the wishes of Bhawanibal j »irtio performed the sahagaman, Shahu continued the right of collecting sardeshmukhi and nadagoudi to the younger son rather than the eldest son*®^ 15 V Shahu fanned out the babtl and the sanleshiRukhi of prant Gujrat and prant Malwa to the Feshwa for a sum of rupees two lac*^^ As a result of the method of fanning the amounts collected vnfler the head of babtl and sanieshntukM never came to the treasury* The system of farming was responsible for corrupti<»i and forcible exactions# while the Chhatrapati became financially dependent on the Peshwa* The agreed amount of rupees t%#o lac was not received by Shahu* The Peshwa only gave a written*promise of paying the amount.In this manner, the amount collected by way of sardeshmukhi stopped reaching the royal treasury. Sekhoji Sa%iantrao, Narharrao Jlwajl and f'ukundrao £abaji were given some paraganas in saran jam in prants Gadhj^, Malwa Patane and Prayag. They were ordered to deduct 35% of the total income, for babtl and sardeshmukhi and 2% for potadarl. The 37% of the total amount was to be given to the kamavisdars sent by the Huzur*®^ The tanakha of a paragema was first of all fixed on the basis of the tanakha received last year. Some amount was added ^ ^ it. The total of these two figures became the tanakha of the current year. Sardeshmukhi was 12.5% of the total amount which was ad Ganoathadl®^ can be taken* 25934/4 Tanakha 17289/8 aia tanakha 8633/12 Jajatl chadh 25934/4 3241/12 ^iiardeshitiukhi i> rupees 12/8 per htindred rupees 29,176 Total The figure of rupees 3«241/12 is exactly 12.5% of the figure 25934/4. Froir the total so made, amount for mokasa (it must be futmokasa) qiven to others in the territory and amount due from a fort in the paragana was deducted. To continue the example of paragana Kotul, rupees 3241/14 and rupees 3384 were deducted from the total amount# as they were the mukasa of Dabhade and Pawar in the paragana and the sed^ond figure was deducted as due from the fort of Hari chand ragad. I I I . Sayar The other word used for sayar or immediately following the word sayar was jakat« 66 The meaning of both the vrords is 159 the same. &ayar has been defined as "duties of catanoditles or chattels* excise*’mlsaTftxcise-booth, excise-stand o r ^ ^ ^ (ftx^sf-s atlai5^**®^ > The riqht to collect sayar or jatot was given to Umaji Yadav Deshpande of paragana Sakharkhedal^ as a tnocalai right.®® Anandrao Fawar, Tukoji Pawar and Jiwaji Pawar were to iir.pose 69 excise>duty in their rraJvaLlj in the province of Malwa. Anandrao Pawar was to get one-fourth jakat froni the province of Gujrat.^® The rate of the sayar or the excise-duty can be surmised from the right of sayar continued to lAnaJi Yadav Deshpaade by 71 Shahu in prant Shahalamgir (i«e* Aurangabad)• UmaJi Yadav 72 i^eshpande was to take three ruke for one takka« i^he amount of sayar depended on the price of the conunoiity* Takka was 73 one*fourth of a rupee and ruka was one-’twelfth of an anna, which was (xte*sixteenth part of a rupee* The lakat that the said Deshpande was to impose was« by calculaticm, 25% of the price of the ccminodity* "he zakat was also farmed out. The zakat of Rajgad in Malwa was fanned to Raghunath Gangadhar/ he* in a letter to Lalaji Gulgule, agreed to pay the arrears of rupees 4,000 in four instalments.^^ 160 IV. Nazar The practice of taking nazar from the Maratha sarclars was started by the Peshwa only after the death of Shahu* The earliest reference about the n ^ a r to be paid by the Maratha sardars occurs in June 1750* Tirtien It was laid down that rupees 50«000 should be paid as nazar by Malharrao Holkar and Jayaji Shinde to the Peshwa regarding the Madhosing taluka. I t is not clear from the documeit why HoDcar and Shinde had to pay for the nazar of Madhosing taluka; the taj.uka was probably given by the Peshwa to the sardars* The Maratha sardar had to pay nazar to the Peshwa for the continuation of the saranjain to the son after the death of saranjamdar* Krishnaji Pawar adopted in his lifetime Tukoji, son of Ranoji Pawar* The adoption was regularised and the saranjam was continued to the son cai payment of a nazar amounting to rupees one lac on 22 Septentoer, 1789; the amount was to be paid in three equal instalments in the next nine mcmths*^® Narsinh Khanderao, who had saranjyn worth rupees twelve lacs in the year 1800-1801^^, died without an issue* Therefore Vitthalrao, a relative, was given in adoption by the permission of the sarkar i.e* the Peshwa and the saran-jam was continued to the adopted son on 9 May 1807, on the payment 78 of a nazar of rupees twenty lacs to be paid in the next year. 16i The MranjaiR^ pnit under confiscation could be made free C m by the payment of nazar« The »a»iUarn of Para»hram Ramchandra was confiscated as he came ^ the disfavour of the Peshwa; the Peshwa, on 19 Noveniber 1799 lifted the zaptl by agreeing 79 to accept nazar worth rupees tvwnty lacs* An agreement was made between the sarkar« meaning the Peshwa and Ahllyabal Holkar for the dismissal of the sardarl of Tukojl iiolkar* It was agreed by the sarkar that Ahllyabal should adopt the son of Fanase^ In whose name sardarl would be clven by the sarkar* It was agreed, through the good offices of Yashwantrao Gangadhar, that Ahllyabal should pay 80 nazar amounting to rupees twentyflve lacs* The agreeni^t made on 8 Auoust 1779* ho\^ver» did not come In practice* There Is no reference In the extant sources about the payment of nazar by the Peshwa to the Chhatrapatl for the continuation of the saran;fam of the Pant Pradhan* The Waratha sardars. It appears, also did not pay n a z ^ to the Chhatrapatl for the contlnuatlcn of the saranjam* The practice of taking nazar from the Maratha sardars was started by Peshwa Balajl Bajlrao after the demise of Chhatrapatl Shahu* V* Mulukhglrli Collected by Galkwad In Gulrat The Marathas \inder Galkwad used to collect amounts of 162 ■(> 1 81 money from orant Kathmrad and region called Hahikantha (which Is shown in the map of Gujrat)• It was a practice with the GaDcwads to send takldoatras to the local rulers in 82 the area beforehand askincr them to pay the amounts* Galkwad also used to send vayata m the accounts to be 83 collected under mulukholri* Some other expenditure was settled on the income on account of triulukhoirl» The bankers# like Vakhatsa Khushalchand were given varata^ on the mulukhairi of Mahikantha for two years against the loan and its 84 interest taken troRi him by tiaikwad* It was the Gaikwads* who especially in the later period collected the amount due to mulukhairi from regions under the 85 Peshwa. rhe Pesh%»a usually demanded the amount of their share beforehand* Galkwad had to take loan from the bankers 36 befoirehand to pay the amount* The bankers were later cat to collect the amoxint of mulukhgiriy the officials were accord- 87 ingly instructed by Galkwad* IV* Ghasdanai Collected by Galkwad in Gujrat Galkwad used to collect ahasdana from local rulers* Fattehsingrao Gaikwad ordered Rana Udeslng, the ruler of Bhardava on 27 July# 1779 to pay an amount of rupees 12,851 88 on account of qhasdana to Bhavani Gulal tarikh , who was a banker from whom Fattehsingrao might have gained soire amount 16o beforehand* The Qaikwads used to collect ahasdana also frctn Chota Udepur.®^ V Z l. %olfAc^jal .^oi.4agJfci£B.§ Antastha, as the name suggests, was an unrecoii^ed and unofficial exaction* but which was mutually fixed between the Maratha sardars and the zawinda^ s » Malharrao Holkar ordered Nandlal >iandaloi to give rupees four thousand as anthastha 90 to Naro Shankar ; this amount, as Malharrao says, was fixed at the time of the agreement regarding the amount to be given 91 from the paragana of Indore. The antastha might be# therefore# fixed for every paragana under the Marathas* The second irregular exaction was the amount of money forcibly collected by the gardars» When Shahu can« to know about it# he ordered sardars like Fat^ehsing Bhcmsale to give him one-fourth share of the forcible exacticxi. 9 2 By asking for a share in the forcible exacticxi# Shahu encouraged an unofficial exaction and the tendency of the sardars in sqeezing the populace* This# in turn# must have led to the unpopularity of the Maratha sardars outside Maharashtra. ■ antastha was the amount which# according to Ali Bahadar# was given by the officials in the paragana to save it from any additional trouble by the Marathas* Nana Fadnis 164 Infonned All Bahadar that It was not necessary to show the income from the ^taatha separately In a list, nor should the amount be taken for the expenses of the paga* He further told All Bahadar not to deceive the Fadnls sent by hlin and credit 93 the amount as and when collected* (D) System of farming the revenue The Marathas adopted In post.Shlvajl period the system of farming the revenue* rhe earliest inscance of farming the revenue occurred when Rajaram gave the right to the Sachlv of collecting Rajdeshmu)chi Sax^eshkuJ,)»jma and Rajpatti* The Maratha sardars adopted the system of farming in the provinces^ Sahotra fanned to Sachlv Shivajl used to collect Padshahi hons 305 from the Deshmukh and Padshahi hons 95 from the Deshpande or 1 94 —j Desh1culkuxKami a m i» t Sambhajl also collected the amounts in the same 95 proportlOT from the Deshmukh and Deshpande* This was called 96 as the khandani* It was Rajaram who farmed out Rajdeshmukhl, Sardeshkulkama and Rajpatti in the percentage of 4, 2 and 4 respectively of the Inccwne from the m tire Konkan except 97 KOTikan to the Sachlv and It was continued by his son Shlvajl 11.^® The khandani under Shlvajl and Sambhajl was collected 165 from Deshmukh and Deshpande; Rajaram and his son Shlvaji II wrote about Rajdeshimikhl and SardeshkuDcama which together was six per cent of the total income of the state, ^till at a later dttage under Shahu, it came to be called as sahotra# This, in my view* appears to be the history of sahotra; the percentage of khaiyiani under Shivaji the Great and that of sahotj^a under Shahu and the manner of their collecticxi were different from each other* In a vatanoatra, Shivaji, son of Rajaram and Tarabai, describes the difficult situaticm when Rajaram had to proceed to Kamatak prant in view of the predominance of the Hughals 99 and the fall of Raigad. In his absence Shankaraji Narayan, the Sachiv collected army and regained territory and forts from the Mughals»^°^Mughals*^^ Raja:Rajaram, for these services, gave to Shankaraji the following watan* The Sachiv was to get in the subt^i^s Rajdeshmukhi and Sardeshkulkama, which were to be four and two per cent respectively of the inccxne; the total was thus to be six per cent of the income from the subhas*^^^ The Sachiv, in addition, was to collect the following dues in the entire kingdom, except the strip of Konkan. 102 Rajdeshmukhi 4 % Sardeshkulkama 2% Rajpatti 10% 1 6 G The amount was# thus# to be ten per cent of the income from the kingdom except the Konkan* The Sachiv was to get similar percentage of the totals collecting under the heads kamavisbab* khanda# gunhegari and jakat*^^^ •flie Sachiv was further ordered by Shivaji II to send his kamavisdars and collect his dues? the r i ^ t to the above mentioned watan was to be hereditary. The right of the watan given by Rajaram was thus continued by his son on 30 Septerrber 1700.^®^ The system of farming adopted in the paraganas The system of fanning the revenue to begin with of some villaqes came to be adopted in the period* Mouje Pipalda in paragana Indore# sarkar UJjain was given in ijara for four years to Nihalkama Kandaloi and his son Dulheray by Malharrao Holkar, siibhedar and his k^avisdar Triiwbak Rajdeo whose seal is affixed at the beginning of the document.The meaning of ijara is a privilege cm an income of variable amount sold for a fixed sum; a c The amount to be given by Mandaloi was not fixedi it was to be annually increased. The systwn of ijara was combined with the system of istava. The istava was the practice of increasing 1 6 V annually th« tax upon grounds let out to be improved or brought l08 under cultivation. The systein of Istava brought Into practice by HuhaRBnadan rulers and adopted by Chhatrapati Shivaji to bring fallow land under cultivation by giving concessions in revenue which was increased progressively every year* was roost ingenuously grafted on the ijara system by the Marathas in the period* The amount that was increased every year has been 109 referred to as i la fa vrtiich here means addition or mc^« A translation of the table given in the document would be worth consideration* Year i'otal Rupees Amount at the IJafa beginning of the year 825 825 0 925 825 100 1,050 925 125 1,150 1,050 100 3,950 3,625 325 The total of the last year was to be regarded as the amount at the beginning of the current year in which an addition of ijafa was added* The mamlat of paragana Ratanpur Khedi was given in ijara< 1 6 B in 1781, to Lalajl Ballal.^^® i’he mainlat of both the shares of Shrlmant Rajashri Pant Pradhan Swawi and Sarkar in paragana Patan was assigned to Lalaji Ballal in kainavis from year 1775-1776 to 1780-1781It was# however, given in ijara from the year 1781-1782 for a period of six years«^^^ The details of the systern are explained in the letter written by Mahadji to Lalaji Ballal. From the total income of the paragana from all the accounts all the expenditure# including the expenditure on account of ) the religious establishment at the t«nple of Shrikeshavai^yaji in paragana Patan was deducted* i'he balance for the last year when the paragana was under the kamavis i*e* 1780-1781 was rupees 36,703/8* This amount was to be added annually by a fixed amount of rupees 4«000/0| this fixed amount was called as ija fa *^^^ In 1786-87, the last year according to the agreement, the kamavisdar was to pay rupees 5 6 ,703/8* The amount was to be paid twice a year* The kamavisdar was to bear other expenses regarding the agricultural operations and law and order in the paragana. The kamavisdar of paragana Ratanpur Khedi, was to pay a total of rupees 1 1 # 2 0 0 , as previously for nazarana and darbarkharch every year for both the shares of the Peshwa riie and Shinde**"^^ latrao Shinde gave the niarolat of the paraganas in prant 1 6 9 Mowad in IJara to Lalaji Gulgule on 27 May 1803.^^* The roainlat of prant Mewad was, however# changed from Gulgule to ^'"^alairslngjl on 28 October 1808; the inamlat was given In the 117 wakhta syBtero. (E) Expenditure o£ the Marathaa and its place In the Maratha Confederacy The ironey so collected was spent by the Marathas and the expenditure so incurred was recorded under certain heads* There were also three main it ^ s of expenditure relating to the working of the confederacy that are worth understanding* The heads of expenditure There were in all four major heads of expenditure* under whic* different items of expenditure were put in* They were 118 kherij tnushahira, badal mushahira^ yekber jl and duberji. Under ekberji, fourteen items like the expenditure on 119 the Chhatrapati, expenditures on the Mahals , the personal and family expenditure of the PQShwa and expenditure on account 120 of Ratnashala, Vaidyakhana, Naqarkhana, Sibikamahal and kunbini» The expenditure on account of seventeen subjects • Darukhana, Shikarkhana. Top^mapgi, Ra^tHsbana# k ilkhana, Jamdarkhana, Faraskhana« Jiratkhana, Gardens, Forts, 1 7 0 Thatl, Paqa, Vahlt kothi, Imarat and purchases — were entered 121 tmder duberii* Though the majority of the karkhanas came under this catef^ory, the karkhanas like Ratnashala (Jawahlr- khana) , Valdyakhana isharabat khana) and Naqarkhana were under the ekberjl» The badalfniushahlra and the kher 1 jjroishahlra has been 122 ' defined by Molesworth* The badalmuahahlra# unlike the kherljmushahlra, was fixed or regular; it was stipend paid in cash, kind or land, to public officials or servants of an establishment* The kherijmushahlra, on the other hand, was occasional and incidental in nature; it was in the form t of presents, charities or expenditure cn account of entertainments* / . The Bandlkhana and the expenditure on account of daftar (Daftarkhana) and other twentyaie subjects were included in kherii mushahlra* The subjects like donations dhanradaq. khalrat, dehanaqj — , paradarbar khana in addition to military expenditure were included In it* Under the title badal mushahlra^ eighteen siabjects, some of which were regarding military affairs like Shlledar, Hugur Hasham. Khasbardar. Jelalbardar, t^yad^ are Included. Though dafta)^»cha was included uilder ekberji# the expenditure on accotjnt of raktawan (seller of ink) was included under this In anothar there are eleven atibjects under ekberji, twenty-two under duberji, twenty-two under kherlj wughahira and nine under badal inushahira^ but the rnajor Items of expenditure remain the same. Expenditure under the head kherij wushahira The analysis of expenditure under the head kheril imishahira would be both Interesting and illuminating* The total expenditure under these heads in the years 1772-73^^^ 1775-76^^® and 1781-82^^^ was rupees 3,68,8 9 5 /7 /3 , rupees 3,84,7 23/0/3 and rupees 3 ,7 1 ,7 4 6 /3 /9 respectively* 1 7 2 table» i The expenditure on the subjects under the head Kherl1 wughahlra for years 1772.73, 1775-76 and 1781-82 In rupees< Subject Year Year Year 1772-73 1775-76 1781.82 ,26,599/3/9 1,11,823/0/0 1,23,028/0/0 meaning gift or grant from a superior 8,654/11/9 9,650/3/9 18,368/13/3 grants to temples Dharroadal grants for religious purposes 68,784/12/0 75,140/8/0 5 6 ,155/10/9 Khairst charity 61,057/11/0 83,540/1/3 1,02,841/13/3 Dehenagi 995/6/0 1,436/9/6 950/13/9 gift <2. taradarfear 84,037/7/6 84,115/1/3 41,686/10/9 expenditure in other courts Rojindar 4'. 7,403/12/0 4,655/4/0 11,274/2/0 daily wagw Moleswrth/i p. 702 -ej^iupLion 1 0 , 0 0 0 1 0 , 0 0 0 1 0 , 0 0 0 Savakar 1,591/14/0 banker 50 2,009 1 7 3 During the period 1772*1782» the expenditure on account of religion was increasing; from rupees 2«65,094 in 1772*73 it raised upto rupees three lacs* On the other hand, the expenditure in other courts, which was essential in gaining information dropped fran rupees 84,000/-. to rupees 41,000/.* Items of expenditure There were three main it«ns of expenditure* They were cm account of karkuns, sarkarkuns and sardars* 1* Administrative expenditure! Expenditure ott accoxmt of karkunj There are three vadls t/hlch give an account of the expendl* ture for the karkuns in the saran iami system* The expenditure was rupees 71,565/12/3, rupees 67,654/7/10 and rupees 36,918/3/2 for the years 1772-73^^®, 1775-76^^^ and 1781-82^^° respectively* The exp^dlture was on account of seven karkuns every year* Though the number seven is fixed, some names vary* The names of Nilkanthrao Govlnd, Shivaram Kaghunath, Dhondo Malhar Purandare and friitibak Mahlpatrao axre common in the three vadls* The talnat In the cases of Nilkanthrao Govind and Trimbak Mahlpatrao Is the same in the three vadisi it is respectively rupees 6,576 and rupees 75* The of Dhondo Malhar and Shivaram Raghunath are the same for the first two 1 7 4 vadis; the amounts are respectively rupees A, 919/1/9 and 2,606/14/0; their talnata for the year 1781*82 were raised to rupees 5,488/3/8 and 7,457/12/0. 2* Expenditure on account of Sarkarktmw l.e* A«h The expenditure on account of the swarlya sarkarkun Is available for the years 1772-73^^^, 1775-76^^^ and 1781-82.^^^ The names of four sarkarkuns only can be seen through the three vadlsi they are Sachlv, Jr^ratlnldhl, Mantrl and Pandltrao. The names of the remaining oradhans v iz* ^ the Peshwa, the Amatya (or the Muzumhar), the S^apatl and the Nyayadhlsh are not mentioned In the vadls» though an amount of rupees 1 ,3 1 4 /8 /0 Is d«^lted In the names of two persons working under Dabhade In the year 1781*82.^^^ There are two entries In the name of Pratlnldhl* One Is Bhagawantrao Pandit moitlcmed as Pratlnldhl In the year 1772-73 and as only Bhagwantrao Pandit In the other two vadls» In which there are separate entries for the P ^ t Pratlnldhl» This reflects upon the conflicts bet%#een Bhagwantrao and Bhawanrao, who was appointed as Pratlnldhl by Peshwa Madhavrao.^^^ i'he conflict between the two was closely associa ted with the ccaifllct between Raghunathrao and Hadhavrao and later on Barabhal^^*^. Both of them, however, received more than one lac rupees each* 1 7 5 3* Exp«ndltur» on account of the sardars Out of the total expenditure of rupees 2,41*89,104 for the year 1772-73# the expenditure on account of the saranlaml sardarn was rupees 2,32#09,557; the expenditure was thus 95% of the total 130 expenditure* Tukojl Holkar# with an amount exceeding seventy- five lac tops the list and fiahadji Shinde the second with fifty- five lac rupees* The declined position of the Dabhade is clear froni the small amount of rupees twenty-seven thousand* On the other haad# Inm >'awar family shared rupees 6,19,279 among its dozen members and the Kadam Bande family had rupees 93,237 only* Most of the sardars belcnged to the Maratha caste* There are mentioned in the list fifteen Brahmin sardars. out of which Vamanrao Govind Patwardhan with saranJam worth 24 lacs, Naro Shankar Rajebehadar with 13 lacs and Shivaji Vitthal 139 with 1 2 lacs appear prominent* The comparative strength of Shinde and Holkar changed after the year 1772-73, so that by the year 1800-1801, O ^latrao Shinde had saran Jam worth more than rupees seventy- seven lacs while Kashirao Bolkar had approximately sixtynine 140 lac* The seniority of the Holkar family is seen by its first entry on the list* The Patwardhans barely maintained their position with saran J ^ worth rupees twentysix lacs approximately* Narsi Khanderao had saranjam worth rupees twelve lacs, Madhavrao Anand Raste after the death of his father succeeded 1 ? G to the saranjam of ten lac* While Parshram Pandit Pratinldhi had saranjam .worth rupees eleven lacs# the Pawars shared saranjam of ten lac rupees* 1 7 7 NOrES D.B* Parasnls, Marathyanche Daptar In 6 haratvar»ha, II, pp* 8.13 C£. IS, ASL, II, pp. 67*70. 2 Baheda A certain public paper for the guidance of the Manledars* It contained a statement of all regular receipts and all fixed disburse* ments; of all establishments, endowments etc; also notices of particular transacticms and occurrences* Molesworth, p. 3 SID, XXXI, 33 Janiav No. 1806. 4 KSPY (1889 Ed.), 497. 5 D.B. Parasnis (ed.), Eharatvarsha, I, pp. 54-55. 6 SPD, XXXI, 33. 7 KSPY (1889 Bd.) 497. 8 D.B. Parasnis (ed.), Op. cit«, pp. 54-55. 9 PDNK, I, Yadi No. 1. 10 PDNK, I, Yadi No. 3. 1 1 PDNK, I, Yadi No. 6 . 12 FDNK, I, Yadi No. 4. 13 PDNK, I, Yadi No. 1. 14 PDNK, I, Yadi No. 3. 15 PDNK, I, Yadi No. 6 . 1 7 8 16 PDNK, I, Yadi No. 4. 17 MIS, VI, 597> RL, AC, MD, 61 dated 1.7.1729. 18 Surendra Nath Sen, The Military SysteiD of the Marathag (Orient LoncTmans; Oct. 1958), pp. 20.24. 19 O.S. Sardesai, New Histoty of the Marathaa (Bombayi Phoenix, 1948), I, p. 52* I 20 S.N. Sen, Op« cit.» p. 24* 21 S.N . Sen, Op.clt. , p. 32. 22 Ibid., p. 33. ^ 23 William Irvine, Later Mughals, edited by Jadunath Sarkar, Vol« I 1707-1720 (Calcutta* M.C. Sarkar & Sons; Year of Fxiblicaticm not given), V p • ^ 3 ^ 2 4 PAS, p. ^ ^ ^ 2 5 Ib id . S ^ h x t ^ ~ 0 I ^ i// / ^ 26 IfeM. h - I ^ ^ ■'^ ■ 27 PD, I, 217. 28 Molesworth 29 IfeM. When Pritirao Chavan was given the title of Hinmat Bahadur by Chhatrapati Shivaji II of Kolhapur on 12*2.1785, he was given Sahotra and nadgouda in addition to Panchotra. I^chotra, another division of the chauth was prctoably five per cent of the chauth (KA, Nlwadl daftar, %uk)^1 1 » Pytdke no»2 document no. A»lll) . 1 7 9 30 PD, I, 105. 31 DPIS, 2t RL,ac,DD, 2* rhe date given in the letter sourc* « 3•12*1722 • l 3 correct* 32 i t i d . 33 PD, I, 105. 34 PD, I, 159 dated 1 August, 1828* 35 RL, AC, DD, 14,15,16| PD,’l, 157* 36 MIS,VI, 609; RL, AC, MD, 102 of 12.6.1731. 37 DPIS, 18. 38 DPIS, 18. 39 BISMQ, XXVII, No. 1. 40 SPD, XXX, p. 299* 41 SPD, X II, 46. 42 PD, I, 105. 43 PD,I, 110; Br.Ch. Appi 188. 44 RL,aC,DD, No s . 14,15,16. 45 PDSM, P. 127 dated 17.10.1729. 46 PD,I, 267. 47 D.V. Apte, Chandr^achud Daftar, I, 10, dated 28.6.1750* (Boinbay, 1961), p. 118. ^ 49 ISO 50 Pvrslan AktAiar/ Jaipur Collection ln)uadun«th Sarkar and Raghublr ;ilnh« Shlvajl' s Vlalt to Auranqglb at Agra (Indian History Con^rese, 1961),Ap* 6 6 . 51 S i ll * 52 SCS, XX, 69 . 53 Sanads and Letters, pp> 166*167. 54 TAS, pp.^^^4r 55 TAS,TAS, Sanad fiianad 1, p. i, 2p. 2* TAS, Sanad 3. p.5 ^ CcnY^^ ^ ^ ^ 1 7 ^ C 58 PDSM, pp. 128*130. 59 IkM- 60 D.B. Parasnls, Prachln Marathe Sardar* pp» 20-21* 61 Ibid. 62 PDSM, p. 127 dated 17.10.1729. 63 Ibid. 64 PD, III, No. 10 dated 16*11*1743. 65 D.V. Apte, Op.clt., I, 131 year 1753* 6 6 PGIS, 41; RL, AC, DD, 28 dated 29.5.1732> BISMQ, XXXVI, 27 of 26.11.1732. 67 Molesworth, p. 848. 1 8 i 6 8 BISMQ, XXXVI, 27. 69 PGIS, 41 Of 1732. 70 RL, AC, DD, 28 dated 29 1732. 71 BISMQ, XXXVI, 27 dated 26 Nov.» 1732. 72 Y.N. Kelkar Altlhaslk Shabdakosh, I, p. 469. 73 -Ibid., p. 1197. 74 RL, GD, XXII, 28 Year 1788-89. 75 D.v* Apte, Op.clt*, I, 8 , dated 28 June, 1750. 76 PDNK, II, Yadl No. 14, p. 63. 77 PDNK, II, Yadi No. 8 , pp. 40-43. 78 PDNK, II, Yadl No. 22, pp. 73-74 dated 9 May 1807# PDNK, II, Yadl No. 23, p. 74. 79 PDNK, II, Yadl No. 18, pp. 67-68, dated 19.11.1799. 80 PDSM, p. 213. 81 Baroda Record Office BRO, IV, 371, 4, 6/1 Year 1785-86. 82 BRO, IV, 380, 13, 9/43 Year 1V96-97. 83 BRO, IV, 371, 4, 6/1 Year 1785-86| BRO, IV, 393, 26, 1/47 Year 1804-05. 84 BRO, IV, 393, 26, 1/47 Year 1804-05. 85 BRO, VI, 647, 3, 1/24 Year 1800-1801. 8 6 Ibid. 18: 87 BRO, VI, 646. 2, 3/20 Year 1797-98. 8 8 BRO, IV, 369, 2, 4/4, 28*31. 89 BRO, IV, 394, 27, 12/32 Year 1306. 90 MIS, VI, 589# RL., AC, MD, 26. 91 Ibid. 92 FD, I. 184, dated 14.11.1730. 93 RL, AC, Gore Daftar, 565. 94 MIS, XVIII, 25. 95 SPD, XXXI, 44, 183. 96 MIS, XVIII, 25| SPD, XXXI, 44, 183/ SCS, XVIII, 86,87. 97 RL, AC, North India Daftar, 891. 98 Ibid. 99 RL, AC, NI Daftar, No. 891 dated 30.9.17C0. 100 Ibid. 101 S i id . 102 103 Ifeia.. 104 105 106 RL, AC, MD, 1(a), No. 188 dated 5.6.1767. 1 8 3 107 Kolesworth# p* 80* 108 l^olesv/orth, p* 83* 109 KiOleeworth« p* 80* 1 1 0 RL, GD, V, No. nil Year 1781. 1 1 1 RL, GD, V, No. nil, dated 28.7.1781. 1 1 2 113 114 Ibid. 115 116 RL, GD^ ZX« No. nil dated 27.5.1803. 117 RL, GD, IX, No. nil dated 28.10.1808. 118 SPD, XXXXV, 43# 44, pp. 124-128. 119 See Sabhasad for twelve mahalsi Surei^ranath Sen, Administrative system of the Marathas (Calcutta; 1976). 1 2 0 Sibika, meaning an open palanquin of a certain description Molesworth, p. 796. 1 2 1 For the laeanina of the karkhana see Surendranath Sen, 0£»cit«, pp. 300-301. 1 2 2 Moldsworth, pp. 214, 563* 123 SPD, XXXXV, No. 43. 124 Ibid.« No. 45* 1 8 4 125 PDNK, I, Yadl No. 1, p. 4» 126 Ibid.. Yadl No. 3, p. 18. 127 Ibid.. Yadi No. 6 , p. 32. 128 PDNK, I, Yadl'No. 1, p. 4 of 1772-73. 129 FDMK, I, Yadi No. 2, p. 17 of 1775-76. 130 tDMK, I, Yadl No. 6 , p. 31 of 1781-S2. 131 tDNK, I, Yadl No. 1, p. 5. 132 PDNK, I, Yadl No. 3, p. 18. 133 PDNK, I, Yadl No. 6 , p. 32* 134 IMl- 135 TAS, p. 213. 136 G .S. Sardesai, Marathi Rlvasat. Madhva Vibhag, III (BoRtoay; 1922). pp. 126-127. 137 G .S. Sardesai, Op. cit*, Uttar Vibhaq, 1, (Pune; 1929), pp. 433-437. 138 PDNK, I, Yadi No. 139 PDNK, I, Yadi No. 1, p. 5 Year 1772.73. 140 PDNK, I, Yadi No. 8 , pp. 40-43 Year 1800-1801.