New History of the Marathas v1.c16.38

v1.c16.38

Shivaji as an intensely practical administrator, clearly saw the danger of distributing land in lieu of service. To his ministers and the other servants he always made cash payments. Rāmachandra Pant Amātya has lucidly described the dangers and pitfalls of conferring gifts of land for military and other services under a government. The jagir system Shivaji considered harmful to the interests of the State. He mercilessly confiscated the landed watans of previous regimes and allowed no middlemen as landholders between the cultivators and the Government. Writes the Amātya, “The king is the supreme owner of all lands. To him the Zamindars do not render proper loyalty. Nor do they remain contented with what they possess. They are unjust to the cultivators of the soil. They erect independent fortifications, defy the master, grasp what does not belong to them, commit robberies outside. Once their position is fairly strengthened, they use it as a base for further expansion, (Did not Shivaji do the same?). If a foreign enemy invades a country, these land-holders often openly join him, secretly convey to him important information. Thus they become a fruitful source of weakness to the State. A jagirdar is rarely honest.”