A History of the Mahrattas v1.c17.152

v1.c17.152

Two officers were appointed to it, the Foujdar and the Khalsa Dewan. The Foujdar was a military officer, in command of a body of troops, charged with the care of the police and the protection of his division. He held, or according to circumstances assumed, a greater or less degree of power. The regular amount allowed him for the maintenance of the district establishment was about 25 per cent. of the government collections. The duties of the Dewan were entirely of a civil nature, and he was entrusted with the collection of the revenue, whether of the exchequer or on account of a Jagheerdar. The Moghul commanders who received what were called Jagheers from the newly acquired territories of Hyderabad and Beejapoor seldom had lands permanently made over similar to the tenure by which the Mahratta Munsubdars held their possessions; the usual practice was to grant assignments for a term of years on specified districts for the support of their troops. Thus the Foujdars were more on the footing of feudatories than the Jagheerdars. The Foujdars, in conjunction with the Dewan, farmed out the districts to the Deshmookhs or Dessayes, and the Dewan realized the amount from them. There were commonly several Foujdars in each Soobeh. The Moghul conquests in the Deccan, which had formerly consisted of four Soobehs, now with the addition of Beejapoor and Golcondah were formed into six.