The Cambridge History of India, Vol. IV: The Mughul Period v4.c21.150

v4.c21.150

Bālājī, in the intervals of his campaigns, did a great deal to improve the administration of the Marāthā state. Regularly appointed officers were placed in charge of the several districts; and the territory round Sātārā, being the best protected and most productive, was entrusted to the Peshwā’s favourites. They had absolute charge of the civil administration, but they were expected to furnish proper accounts: this, however, was very irregularly done, as the holders of these offices, being usually absent on campaign or in attendance on the Peshwā in Poona, left the work in the hands of dishonest and extortionate deputies. Bālājī, however, placed the civil administration in the hands of his great minister Rāmchandra Shenvi, and after his death in those of his cousin Sadāshiv Rāo. The latter appointed as chief of the revenue-collectors a very able man by name Balloba Manduvaguni, who introduced sweeping reforms, and forced the collectors to produce their accounts. At the same time, the administration of justice was reformed: a strong police force was organised in Poona city: and a famous jurist, Bāl Kishan Gādgil, was appointed as chief justice.¹ The *panchāyats* or courts of arbitration were improved, and altogether the administration was established upon a sound basis; abuses in revenue collection were checked, and the villages were encouraged to resist the exactions of every petty commander of horse who tried to levy blackmail on them. Each village was, of course, a tiny republic, administered by the headman, assisted by the accountant and other village officers: over the headman was the sub-collector, and over him the collector, who had armed irregulars to assist in keeping order.