Maratha administration: Ashtapradhan, revenue and forts

Many medieval kingdoms rose quickly and vanished just as fast after the death of their founders. Swarajya did not. It survived the execution of Sambhaji, a long war with Aurangzeb's entire imperial army, and a civil war — and then expanded across India. One reason was the administrative system that Shivaji Maharaj built. For MPSC, this is one of the most frequently tested topics in Maharashtra history.

The king and the council

At the head of the state was the Chhatrapati. He was assisted by a council of eight ministers, the Ashtapradhan.

Key features:

• Ministers were appointed and could be removed by the king; the posts were not hereditary under Shivaji Maharaj.
• All ministers except the Nyayadhish and the Panditrao were expected to take up military command when required.
• Persian titles were replaced with Sanskrit ones after the coronation — part of a deliberate language policy.

Provincial and local administration

At the village level, the patil and kulkarni were hereditary officials (holding watans). The deshmukh and deshpande held similar hereditary positions over larger areas. Shivaji Maharaj sought to reduce the power of these hereditary intermediaries by bringing revenue collection under state officials.

Revenue administration

Land revenue

Shivaji Maharaj's revenue system aimed to protect the cultivator and ensure a steady income for the state.

• Land survey: land was measured and classified according to its fertility. The survey carried out by Annaji Datto is often cited.
• Assessment: the state's share was fixed based on the land's produce — initially around 30 per cent, later raised to about 40 per cent when other taxes were abolished, according to standard accounts.
• Payment: in cash or kind.
• Relief: loans (taqavi) for seed and cattle, repayable in instalments; relief in times of famine.
• Jagirs discouraged: officials were paid in cash salaries rather than land grants, to prevent the rise of powerful local lords.

The system is often compared with Malik Ambar's settlement in Ahmadnagar, which influenced Deccan revenue practice.

Chauth and sardeshmukhi

Outside Swarajya, the Marathas levied two taxes on territories under Mughal or other rule:

• Chauth — one-fourth (25 per cent) of the revenue, in return for protection from Maratha raids.
• Sardeshmukhi — an additional 10 per cent, claimed on the basis that the Maratha king was the hereditary sardeshmukh (chief deshmukh) of the region.

These levies became central to Maratha expansion in the eighteenth century, after the Mughal emperor formally granted the rights to collect them in the Deccan in 1719.

The army

• Cavalry: divided into bargirs (equipped and paid by the state) and shiledars (who brought their own horses and arms).
• Infantry: the Mavalas and Hetkaris (from the Konkan) were valued for hill warfare.
• Salaried: soldiers were paid regularly in cash.
• Discipline: strict rules prohibited soldiers from harming women and children, and from taking families on campaign.
• Tactics: mobile, light cavalry and surprise attacks — the "ganimi kava" (guerrilla warfare).

Forts

Forts were the heart of the Maratha defence system. Shivaji Maharaj built, repaired or captured a large number of forts across the Sahyadri and the coast.

Each fort was managed by a set of officials, often drawn from different communities so that no single group could betray it:

• Havaldar — the commander of the fort;
• Sabnis — in charge of accounts and muster rolls;
• Sarnaubat — in charge of the garrison;
• a karkhanis for stores and supplies.

The Ajnapatra, a treatise on Maratha statecraft written by Ramchandra Pant Amatya in the early eighteenth century, famously describes forts as the essence of the kingdom.

The navy

Shivaji Maharaj built a navy to counter the Siddis of Janjira and European powers, with sea forts such as Sindhudurg and Vijaydurg. Later, under Kanhoji Angre, the Maratha navy became a major force on the western coast.

Justice

Justice was largely administered at the local level through village assemblies (gotsabha) and panchayats, based on custom. The Nyayadhish heard important cases. Documents called mahzars record the decisions of such assemblies.

Language and culture

• The Rajavyavahara Kosha, compiled on Shivaji Maharaj's orders by Raghunath Pandit, provided Sanskrit equivalents for Persian administrative terms.
• Marathi in the Modi script became the language of administration.

How the system changed under the Peshwas

The Peshwa period also saw careful record-keeping — the Peshwa Daftar in Pune is a vast archive of Modi documents that remains an important historical source.

Questions to practise

Prelims-style:

1. Which member of the Ashtapradhan was responsible for foreign affairs?
2. What percentage of revenue was chauth?
3. Who wrote the Ajnapatra?
4. Why were fort officials drawn from different communities?

Mains-style:

• "Shivaji Maharaj's administration was designed to strengthen the state and protect the cultivator." Examine.
• Compare the administration under Shivaji Maharaj with that of the Peshwas.

Understand the logic behind each institution — why jagirs were discouraged, why forts had divided command — and the facts will be much easier to remember.