A History of the Mahrattas v1.c14.68

v1.c14.68

The method which the Bramin ministers of the Mahratta government afterwards adopted, of paying the military and civil servants by permanent assignments on portions of the revenue of villages, is said to have been early proposed to Sivajee; who objected to it, not only from fear of immediate oppression to the ryot, but from apprehending that it would ultimately cause such a division of authority as must weaken his government and encourage the village and district authorities to resist it, as they frequently did that of Beejapoor. With the same view he destroyed all village walls, and allowed no fortifications in his territory which was not occupied by his troops.