The Cambridge History of India, Vol. IV: The Mughul Period v4.c21.71

v4.c21.71

Bālājī Vishvānāth may without exaggeration be termed the second founder of the Marāthā empire. Without his directing brain, Shāhū Rājā, enervated by his upbringing in the Mughul court, would not have survived for a year. His two great diplomatic triumphs were the conciliation of Angria and the treaty with Delhi, but scarcely less characteristic was his method of revenue collection, to which the Marāthās owed to a great extent their power. As Elphinstone points out,² he deliberately preferred assignments on other proprietors, like *chauth* or *sardeshmukhī*, to a solid territorial possession, or even a consolidated sum. Hence the net work of revenue-collectors was spread everywhere in the imperial domains, affording the Marāthās endless opportunities of spreading their influence. Pretexts for interference and encroachment in an extensive territory were better than clearly defined rights in a small one. Secondly, by insisting that the revenue should be calculated on the assessments of the time of Todar Mal or Malik ‘Ambar, which, he knew well, a country ravaged by war could never pay, he could always have a bill for arrears in hand. Thirdly, by parcelling out the revenue among the chiefs, he ensured that, while each had an interest in increasing the contribution to the common stock, none had a compact property such as might render him independent of the government. Lastly, the system was purposely made so complicated as to throw all the power into the hands of Brāhman revenue-collectors and agents, who, being of the same caste as the Peshwā himself, naturally played into his hands. The scheme was typical in its ingenuity.