15.3 Marathas after Shivaji · Part 3

commander-in-chief was in charge of recruitment, organization and discipline of the Army. With the exception of the Nyayadhish and Pandit Rao, all the other ministers were to command armies and lead expeditions. All royal letters, charters and treaties had to get the seal of the King and the Peshwa and the endorsement of the wfour ministers other than the Danadyaksha, Nyayadhisha and Senapati. There were eighteen departments under the charge of the various ministers. Provincial Government For the sake of administrative convenience, Shivaji divided the kingdom into four provinces, each under a viceroy. The provinces were divided into a number of Pranths. The practice of granting jagirs was abandoned and all officers were paid in cash. Even when the revenues of a particular place were assigned to any official, his only link was with the income generated from the property. He had no control over the people associated with it. No office was to be hereditary. The fort was the nerve-centre of the activities of the Pranth. The lowest unit of the government was the village in which the traditional system of administration prevailed. Revenue Administration The revenue administration of Shivaji was humane and beneficent to the cultivators. The lands were carefully surveyed and assessed. The state demand was fixed at % of the gross produce to be payable in cash or kind. Later, the tax was raised to %. The amount of money to be paid was fixed. In times of famine, the government advanced money and grain to the cultivators which were to be paid back in instalments later. XI History - Lesson - - The Marathas in . And the Peshwa assumed the office of the commander-in-chief also. By the treaty of Warna signed in , Sambhaji of Kolhapur was forced to accept the sovereignty of Shahu. Thana, Salsette and Bassein were captured from the Portuguese in and they were driven out of the Konkan coast. At the same time, the English made friendly overtures to the Marathas and got the right to free trade in the Deccan region. Baji Rao I Balaji