Short Essay on the rise of Marathas

Shivaji, the founder of the Maratha kingdom, was a self-taught man. He never got an opportunity to see the working of the administration at a great capital or royal court. Unlike Ranjit Singh or Mahadaji Sindhia, he had no French advisers to assist him in this work.

His administration and military systems were his own creations. He studied the ancient works on Hindu polity and also borrowed some of the essential features of organizational set up by the contemporary Muslim states of Deccan.

Shivaji’s liberal and practical bent of mind induced him to use the Persian language in the court and adopt Islamic designations for many of the posts in his court. There was complete centralization of administration in his time.

Shivaji as Chhatrapati was the supreme head of the Maratha state and directed all its activities. He was assisted by a council of eight ministers who may appropriately be called advisers.

They looked after the different departments such as collection of revenue, administration of justice, defence, religious affairs, etc. However, in actual practice, they acted merely as secretaries and the official decisions in almost all cases were taken by Shivaji himself.

He was shrewd enough to perceive that the main cause of friction in the society was the system of collection of revenue through intermediaries-the zamindars. He dispensed with this institution and appointed government officials to collect land revenue direct from the ryots.

He also introduced a standard system of measurement and ordered a fresh survey to be made. Annaji Datto was appointed its chief. He abolished all extra taxes and cesses and fixed a consolidated rent of 40 per cent.

Shivaji hardly had the time to make any fundamental changes in the administrative system as he was engaged throughout his life in fighting wars against the neighbouring Deccan states or the Mughals.

However, it is no small tribute to his genius that the system he evolved lasted, with minor modications, for over a century.

The mukhya pradhani or the chief minister was in overall charge of the administration of the Empire. He held no particular portfolio but supervised and coordinated the working of all the departments and kept harmony among the ministers. His seal was affixed in all royal letters just below that of the king.

He acted on behalf of the king in his absence. Mukhya pradhan or Peshwa as he came to be known improved his position considerably during the time of Sahu who lacked the commanding talents and energy of his grandfather. His post became hereditary from the time of Balaji Vishwanath.

On this death-bed, Sahu granted plenary powers to the Peshwas who thus became the virtual rulers of the Maratha state. Some of the Maratha chiefs, who felt disgruntled, were overawed. Thus the Peshwa became supreme.

It was not an unmixed blessing. While the Maratha empire reached its peak under the rule of the capable Peshwas, “it aggravated the centrifugal tendencies of the Maratha state, especially the enmity between the Brahman and Maratha, which were at least kept in check while a member of the house of Bhosle actually ruled; after the Peshwa’s prestige was shaken by the defeat of Panipat, the disintegration became more and more evident.”

It not only emphasized the feudalizing process but also led to the assertion of brahmanical authority. The administration was no longer open to all classes and castes as in the day of Shivaji. All the important offices were now held by brahmans.

To quote M.S. Ranade, “the state ceased to be the ideal protector of all classes and upholder of equal justice.” Ramdas’s highi ideal of the religion of Maharashtra was lowered down to one in keeping with the belief that the state “had no higher function than to protect the cow and the brahman, and the usual consequences followed such as decadence of virtue.”

Amatya or majumdar was the finance minister who checked all accounts of state income and expenditure and countersigned all public accounts.