The Dynasties of the Kanarese Districts of the Bombay Presidency from the Earliest Historical Times to the Musalman Conquest c7.s9.63

c7.s9.63

There was from the first a Sar Subhedar of the Konkan, four or five other provinces being ruled by an officer of the same rank and title. His residence was at Bassein,⁴ the new town of which was after its occupation by the Marathas called Bajipur. Under the Sar Subhedar were the mamlatdars, whose districts were much larger than those of the present officers of the same name, and generally yielded about five lakhs of rupees. The amount of revenue expected was fixed by the government at the beginning of the year, and the mamlatdar was allowed to levy a moderate extra percentage for himself. He was encouraged in Madhavrav’s time, but apparently not obliged, to live in his districts.⁵ There was generally no one in authority between the mamlatdar and the patils of the villages; and as criminal and civil justice and police were also administered by the Sar Subhedar the mamlatdars and the patils, it is evident that the latter class must in many cases have had great power. Under this system a few powerful officials ruled large districts in which they were not necessarily resident, holding office only from year to year and with power to pay themselves by percentages: and although this may have worked well enough under the strict and intelligent supervision of Madhavrav, yet under such rulers as his immediate predecessors and successors it must have been oppressive in the highest degree. And judging by what we are told of the Maratha government of Salsette it was so,⁶ for it is not likely that the administration would be more severe on the people there than in the older possessions which were valued less highly. The ablest of the mhatras who have already been mentioned as village headmen under the Portuguese were made patils by Khandoji Mankar the first subhedar of Salsette,⁶ and this officer began by raising the assessment of all lands ten per cent above what it had been under the Portuguese, and by establishing a house-tax, a tobacco-tax, and a shop-tax or *mohtarfa*. Many additional taxes were afterwards imposed,¹ and wherever there seemed room for getting in a fresh one it was levied, even although it might apply only to two or three villages. Sálsette was divided into seven districts, each under a *haváldár* and *kárkuns*, and it would appear from this also that there were no regular civil officers between the *subhedár* and the *pátils*. The island, however, notwithstanding these heavy taxations is said to have been prosperous till the death of Báláji Bájiráv in 1761. Returns of the year 1768 show that the district of Kályán, which extended from the Pen river to the Vaitarna and from the Gháts about thirty miles towards the sea and contained 742 villages, besides the towns of Kályán and Bhiwndi, had a revenue of 4½ lákhs from the land and 2½ from customs.² This was undoubtedly a very large amount for such a district considering the circumstances of the times. On the other hand Forbes' description of the districts he passed through in 1771 between Álíbág and Dásgaon does not give one the idea of the country being much worse off as to cultivation and population than it is now.³