Get complete information on the the administration of Marathas

i. The Central Administration:

Maratha’s zeal for innovation and improvement prompted them to introduce a number of changes in the system of government. H.H. Dodwell gives Tipu the credit of being the first Indian sovereign who sought to apply the western methods to his administration. Each department was put under the charge of a chief assisted by a number of subordinate officers who constituted a Board. The decisions in the department were taken after full discussion where members enjoyed the right to dissent.

The decisions were taken by a majority of votes and the minutes of the meetings were recorded. However, the final decision in all important matters rested with the Sultan.

There was no office of the Wazir or Prime Minister in Maratha’s administration the seven principal departments each under a Mir Asif were directly responsible to the Sultan. The seven departments were the Revenue and Finance Department, the Military Department, the Commerce Department, the Marine Department, the Treasury and the Mint Department. Besides there were some minor departments like Post & Intelligence Department, the Public Buildings Department, the Cattle Department etc.

After 1784 Tipu divided his kingdom into seven provinces called Asafi Turkis. Later the number of provinces was increased to 17. The two principal officers in a province were the Asaf and the Faujdar. The two were expected to act as a check on each other. The provinces were further divided into districts and further down there were a number of villages in each district. The traditional village panchayats provided the infrastructure for local administration.

ii. Land Revenue:

Maratha continued the revenue system of Haidar Ali, but introduced greater efficiency into it. They tried to establish direct relationship between the Government and the cultivator by discouraging the jagirdari system, resumption of unauthorized Inam lands and confiscation of the hereditary land rights of the poligars

The Government employed the method of inducement-cum-compulsion to bring more land under cultivation. The Amil, in charge of the district, toured his district and sanctioned taqavi loans to the needy peasants to purchase ploughs and extend cultivation.

Further, if the Amil found that in a household there were a number of men and a few ploughs, he would urge the head of the family to acquire more ploughs; in case of defiance If the Amil was satisfied that in a village there was more ground fit for cultivation than under actual plough then, as a penal measure, the A mil could charge the land tax cultivated on the basis of all cultivable land and not the land under actual cultivation.

The land revenue demand of the state ranged from one third to half of the total produce, depending on the fertility of the land and availability of irrigation facilities. In 1792 the state’s income from revenue was over two crores which were reduced to nearly one-half after the treaty of Seringapatam, 1792. To make up for this loss in income, in 1765 Tipu increased the assessment by 37 over pre-1792 rates.

iii. Trade and Commerce:

In the fashion of European powers Marathas also realised that a country could be great only by developing its trade and commerce. He promoted both foreign and inland trade and imposed tight Government control over it.

Realising the importance of trade with the Persian Gulf and Red Sea regions, he sought to establish commercial factors and stationing commercial agents at Muscat, Ormuz, Jeddah, Aden etc. He even planned to establish commercial relations with Pegu and China.

A Commercial Board was established and the Regulations of 1793-94 set forth the general duties of the officers in the department. He declared government monopoly of trade in sandalwood, betelnut, pepper, cardamoms, gold and silver bullion, foreign export of elephants etc. Similarly, for conduct of inland trade the Government acquired monopoly rights for purchase of the ryot’s share of production of some specified articles, like sandalwood and black pepper. A number of factories were set up in the Mysore state which manufactured a wide range of articles ranging from war ammunition, paper, sugar, silk fabrics, small tools and fancy goods,

iv. Military Administration:

Compulsion of circumstances required the Sultan to give his maximum care to the raising and maintenance of an efficient military force. Tipu Sultan’s infantry was disciplined after the European model with Persian words of command. He did employ French officers to train his troops and raised French crops also, but unlike the Nizam and the Sindhia never allowed French corps to develop a pressure group value. In fact the number of French troops in his army gradually declined till it stood at only 20 Europeans in 1794 and after the fall of Seringapatam in 1799 stood at merely 4 officers and 45 non-commissioned officers and privates.

Maratha’s army varied in accordance with the military requirements and resources available. On the eve of the Third Anglo-Mysore War Tipu’s military forces comprised 45,000 regular infantry and 20,000 horse besides some. Irregular force in 1793 after Tipu had surrendered half his territory to the English and their allies, his army was estimated to be 30,000 regular infantry, 7,000 cavalry, 2000 artillery besides 6,000 irregular cavalry. Both Haidar Ali and Tipu realised the importance of a naval force, but could not rise to the level of their main adversary, the East India Company. Whatever ships Haidar Ali had built were destroyed by Sir Edward Hughes when he entered Bangalore in 1780.

The English occupation of Tipu’s Malabar possessions in the Third Anglo- Mysore war drew the Sultan’s attention to the need for an effective naval task force. In 1796 Tipu set up a Board of Admiralty and planned for a fleet of 22 battleships and 20 large frigates. Three dockyards at Mangalore Wajidabad and Molidabad were established. His plans did not fructify and he found his resources unequal to the potential and resources of the English. It was probably realising this factor when he remarked, “I can ruin their resources by land, but I cannot dry up the sea “.