New History of the Marathas v1.c19.s1.9

v1.c19.s1.9

Rājārām’s death and the accession of Tarabai to power in the Maratha State considerably changed the state of affairs in the Deccan. Before this, the Emperor had succeeded in setting up an administration for the conquered territories, particularly the country between Satara and Aurangabad. Most of the leading families and the common populace of this region, chiefs and sardars, bankers and accountants had accepted the Emperor’s service. The papers of various families in this tract of the country, such as the Purandares, the Bokils, the Atres, the Joshis, the Gijres, the Devs of Chinchwad, the Brahmes of Chakan and so on have been printed. The members of these families were regularly employed by the Emperor in the various branches of the administration, but at the same time the Maratha Chhatrapati also claimed their services and allegiance, so that a kind of double government continued for some years, the Mughals ruling by right of conquest and the Marathas by right of possession. Friction and rivalry of a serious nature thus went on, dividing the loyalties of the common residents and of the average officials during the time of the war, and even later after hostilities had been formally closed by the Emperor's death. It was during this period of double government that Shāhu came to cultivate a more or less intimate contact with some of these local families and their prominent members, particularly money-lenders, who often satisfied his immediate needs of money and did other services to relieve his difficulties. This is quite plain from the various records of his reign, in which he acknowledges these obligations with gratefulness and rewards them by gifts of land and money. He always considered it his pious duty to remember and repay every act of kindness shown to him during this hard period of captivity extending over seventeen years.⁴