EHI - 4

4th Part

Q.  Give a brief account of the administrative structure of the Marathas.    

A.      Central Administration

The Maratha polity was essentially a centralized autocratic monarchy but an enlightened one. The king was at the helm of affairs. The king's chief objective was the happiness and prosperity of his subjects (raja kalsya karmaam). To assist the king, there was a council of state ministers known as ashtapradhan:-

i) Peshwa(Prime Minister): He was the head of both civil and military affairs.

ii) Mazumdar (auditor): He looked into the income and expenditure of the state.

iii) Wakins: He was the in-charge of the king's private affairs.

iv) Dabir: Foreign secretary

v) Surnis (superintendent): He used to take care of all the official correspondences.

vi) Pandit Rao: Ecclesiastical head

vii) Senapati: Commander in chief

viii) Nyayadbish: Chief Justice

               All, except pandit Rao and nyayadhish, were asked to lead military campaigns. Under Shivaji these offices were neither hereditary nor permanent: they held office till the king's pleasure and they were frequently transferred. They were directly paid by the exchequer and no jagir was granted to any civil or military officer. Later, under the peshwas, they assumed a hereditary and permanent character. The council could advise the king but it was not binding on him to accept its advice.  

          Each of the ashtapradhan was assisted by eight assistants: diwan, mazumdar, fadnis, sabnis, karkhanis, chitnis, jamadar and potnis.

          Next to ashtapradhan was chitnis (secretary) who dealt with all diplomatic correspondences and wrote all royal letters. Letters to provincial and district officers were also written by him. But responding to the letters of commanders of forts was the job of fadnis. The latter was a subordinate secretariat officer under Shivaji. This office rose to prominence under the peshwas. The potnis looked after the income and expenditure of the royal treasury, while the potdar was an assay officer.

Provincial Administration

The country was divided into mauzas, tarfs and prants. Mauza was the lowest unit. Then were the tarfs headed by a havaldar, karkunoa paripatyagar. The provinces were known as prants under subedar, karkun (or mukhya desbadhikari). Over a number of prants there was the sarsubedar to control and supervise the work of subedars.

         Under Shivaji, none of the officers was permanent and hereditary. All officers were liable to frequent transfers. But under the peshwas, the office of kamavisdar and mamlatdars became permanent. To check the mamlatdars, there were darkhdars (fee men) who were hereditary provincial officers.

Military Organisation

     Forts found the prime place in Shivaji's scheme of military organization. Shivaji built such a long chain of forts that not a single taluka or pargana left without a fort. During his life, Shivaji constructed around 250 forts. No single officer was entrusted sole charge of a fort. Instead, in every fort there were-a havaldar, a sabnis, and a sarnobat. Big forts had five to ten tat-sarnobats. All these officers were of equal status and rank and were frequently transferred. This system acted as a check and balance on each others' authority. The havaldar was in charge of the keys of the fort. The sabnis controlled the muster-roll and dealt with all government correspondences. He also looked after the revenue-estimates of the province (under the jurisdiction of the fort). The sarnobat was in charge of the garrison. Besides, there was karkhanis who used to take care of grain stores and other material

requirements. No single officer could surrender the fort to the enemy.

Navy

          After the conquest of Konkan Shivaji built a strong navy as well. His fleet was equipped with ghurabs (gunboats) and gallivats (rowboats with 2 masts and 40-50 oars). His fleet was mainly manned by the Koli sea-faring tribe of the Malabar coast. He established two squadrons of 200 vessels each and used his naval power to harass both the indigenous and European traded /powers.

Judiciary

At the village level, civil cases were heard by the village elders (panchayat) in the patil's office or in the village temple. Criminal cases were decided by the Patil. Hazir majalis was the highest court for civil and criminal cases. The sabhanaik (judge president) and mahprashnika (chief interrogator) gradually faded away under the peshwas whose duty was to examine and cross-examine the plaintiffs.

Q.  Critically examine the rise of Maratha power in the Deccan.      

A.  The Marathas in the Deccan began emerging since the early 17th century under the Bijapur, Ahmednagar and Golkonda states. They served in the army of Bijapur and Ahmednagar rulers, but some served the Golkonda state as well. The hill-forts in the Deccani states were controlled by the Marathas through the forts of more importance were manned by Muslim qiladars . They were often honoured by the titles of raja, naik, and Rao. The Bijapur ruler Ibrahim Adil Shah employed the natives of Maharashtra as bargirs and frequently used them against the Nizam Shahi ruler of Ahmednagar. He even recruited Brahmin and tile Marathas in the accounts Department. 

           Ahmednagar never had a conflict of any significance with the Marathas. From 1650 onwards, Shivaji started his military offensive inside Bijapur territory. Between 1650 and 1656, he captured Purandar, Kalyani, Bhiwandi, Mahuli, Javli, Shrinagarpur and Rairi. Thus he became master of practically the whole of the north-western comer of Adil Shahi kingdom except the Konkan ports.

          In 1659, Shivaji murdered the Bijapur noble Afzal Khan, captured Panhala and other fortresses on the western coast and, in 1660, captured Dabhol. Kolhapur also fell to him but he lost Panhala to Bijapur the same year. Then peace was restored between Adil Shah and Shivaji resulting in the confirmation of all his conquests in the north-western part of Bijapur kingdom. Shivaji on his part agreed not to invade Bijapur. But Shivaji did not keep his promise. In 1665, the Mughals under the command of Jai Singh made an abortive attempt to conquer Bijapur. Meanwhile, by the treaty of Purandar between Shivaji and the Mughals, the former was permitted to make incursions into Bijapur. 

             After the death of Ali Adil Shah II in 1672, his four years old son Sikandar ascended the throne. Shivaji took full advantage of the disturbed conditions in Bijapur. In 1673, he occupied Panhala, Parli, Satara, and raided and plundered Hubli. 

             Due to the strife between the Afghan and Dakhani nobles of Bijapur, Shivaji was able to raid Bijapur territory. He captured Phonda, Sunda, Karwar, Ankola, and Kadra in 1675. After that, Shivaji made an alliance with Qutb Shah who agreed to pay to Shivaji a monthly subsidy of Rupees 4.5 lakh till the end of the military expedition against Bijapur. He also agreed to help him with a contingent of 5000 troopers. Shivaji promised to divide his proposed conquests which did not constitute his father's jagir. Shivaji then took Jinji and Vellore, captured the territory up to the north of Coleroon river and then returned to Belgaum.

            At the same time, Shivaji made inroads in Gokonda also. He visited Abul Hasan Qutb Shah in 1677 and they signed a treaty according to which (i) Qutb Shah was to pay a subsidy of 3000 huns per day as long as the campaign to take possession of his

father's jagirs lasted; (ii) Shivaji, after the end of the campaign, was to hand over to Qutb Shah those parts of Karnataka which did not belong to Shivaji's father.

Q.  Do you agree with the view that Akbar's Rajput policy was a deliberate attempt on his part to exploit the martial attributes of the Rajputs for the expansion of the empire?                             A.         It was a deliberate attempt to exploit the martial attributes of the Rajputs for the expansion of the Empire and also to play them against each other thereby ensuring that they would not unitedly pose a threat to the Empire. It is also stated that Akbar's Rajput policy was a part of a broad policy of wooing the zamindars and martial classes which included the Rajputs and Afghans. The majority of the zamindars were Hindus and specially Rajputs. It is pointed out that the policy was aimed at using the Rajputs to counter the power of the Uzbegs and other disaffected nobles. The faithfulness of Rajputs was legendary. They could serve as important buttresses both within the court and outside. Rajputs had made an impression on Akbar's mind way back in 1557 when a Rajput contingent under Bhara Mal, the ruler of Amber, had demonstrated its loyalty to Akbar.  

There are 4 phases of Akbar-Rajput relation

         Akbar's alliance with the Rajputs began as a political coalition but later, it developed into an instrument of closer relations between H~ndusa nd Muslims which formed the basis for a broad liberal tolerant policy towards all, irrespective of faith. Around this time, the concept of justice also became extensive. It was stressed that justice should be dispensed to all irrespective of religion, faith, caste, and race.