Shivaji and His Times c19.s2.16

c19.s2.16

And, in that age land-rights were unsettled and perplexing in the variety and complication of the personal claims to one and the same tract. Illustrations of this state of things can be found almost everywhere in the Deccan; I give the case of Savant-vadi as readily available in print. In this small region there was in the sixteenth century a desai (or zamindar) of the Prabhu caste at Kudal for collecting the revenue on behalf of the Bijapur Sultan, with a *dalvi* or captain of the Rajput caste under him to lead his troops. The *dalvi* rebelled against his master the desai and sought the help of a neighbouring *savant* or chief of the Maratha caste. At first the desai suppressed the rebel with the support of his sovereign. But in the third generation an able *savant* rose to power, secured the desai-ship of Banda from Adil Shah, and after extirpating most of the Prabhu desais annexed the Kudal pargana. But some members of the dispossessed family escaped and revived their claim to the land. Next, Shivaji stepped in to oust the *savant*! Further complication was introduced by two branches of the same family (even two brothers) fighting for the same estate and transmitting their disputes to their sons and grandsons.