Administrative System of the Marathas c11.s1: 2. Annaji's Survey

Administrative System of the Marathas c11.s1

Language: English

2. Annaji's Survey

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It can be safely asserted that the survey work was done with the utmost care. Annaji Datto refused to rely on irresponsible government officials, whose lack of local knowledge and necessary energy disqualified them for the work. He issued a circular letter to village officers urging them to undertake this important work with the co-operation of some of their co-villagers, whose interests were directly involved. A copy of this old circular¹¹ letter has come down to us, and has been deciphered and published by Mr. V. K. Rajwade. As this is the only document that tells us how the bighaoni survey of the Konkan was conducted by Annaji, it is a pity that this important paper has not escaped mutilation, and the sad ravages of time have made it impossible for Mr. Rajwade to decipher all the words. Many gaps have yet to be filled up mainly by conjecture. But it appears from what has been read, that the estimate of these village officers was not accepted without a proper examination. Annaji Datto himself revised their work. In every district, he visited at least one village of each description, estimated its yield, and then compared his own figure with that submitted by the village officers. It was the interest of these villagers not to over-estimate the possible revenue; consequently, the king alone was the only losing party if any error in these estimates remained undetected. This circular letter was issued in 1678, only two years before Shivaji's death. It is, therefore, clear that this survey settlement could not be finished in his life time and had, in all probability, commenced late in his reign.

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¹¹ V. K. Rajwade. M. I. S. Vol. XV, pp. 368-370. For an English translation of this letter see Appendix, C. pp. 119-122. It may be noted in this connection that Annaji was by no means the only officer charged with the work of survey settlement. Mention is made of similar work being done with regard to Shirval by Moro Pingle, the Peshwa. See Rajwade, M. I. P., Vol. XX, pp. 94-96.

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3. *Cesses and Abwabs* :

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In those days people had to make numerous contributions to the state, to the village communities, and even to those criminal tribes whose protection or neutrality the commercial and agricultural classes considered necessary to purchase. An ordinary peasant, for instance, had to pay his share of the land revenue to the state, at the harvest time he had to give a certain measure of grains to the village officers including the artisans, and when he brought the green vegetables of his garden for sale at the market place, the Patil and the Kulkarni (the village headman and the village scribe) took a handful in pursuance of a very old practice. To appreciate properly the revenue reforms of Shivaji, it is essential to have a clear idea of the taxes and cesses that a peasant or an artisan had to pay. Elphinstone has given us a list of taxes and cesses that prevailed in the Peshwa period but unfortunately no such list is available for the preceding period. This deficiency can however be made up by a careful scrutiny of the Sanads or grant deeds published in Mr. V. K. Rajwade's *Marathyanchya Itihasanchi Sadhanen*, Mawji and Parasnis's *Sanads and Letters* and the Transactions of the Bharat Itihas Sanshodhak Mandal of Poona. These papers mention no less than fifty taxes, cesses and abwabs (extra duties), a formidable list indeed. But it should be remembered that some of these taxes were levied probably once in a life time, others were collected on special occasions, while some of them were undoubtedly confined to a particular locality. About their nature and incidence the Sanads hardly enlighten us. They simply enumerate all customary cesses, taxes and obligations from which the grantee is exempted. It is clear that all the taxes mentioned below were not exacted by the state, nor did they all prevail in the same revenue area and never was the same man in any locality subjected to all the taxes, cesses and other financial obligations of his native Pargana.

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1. *Beth Begari*—Forced labour.

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2. *Farmasi*—"Fruit, vegetables, etc., furnished on occasions to Rajas and public officers, on the authority of their order upon the villages; any petty article or trifling work exacted from the ryots by Government or a public officer."—Molesworth.¹² “An occasional contribution in kind; often paid in commutation of service.” Elphinstone.

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¹² This tax is mentioned in a document dated 1675. See M. I. S., Vol. XV, p. 173 It therefore seems probable that all these cesses were not abolished and the state demands consolidated as Jervis asserts.

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3. *Belekati*—A tax exacted on the commencement of the harvest. (*Balkati*, cutting ears of corn) Thomas, *Revenue Resources of the Moghal Empire*, p. 19.

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4. *Paiposi*—Cannot be positively identified; probably a tax paid in kind by the shoemakers. The shoe-makers claimed the special right of paying their dues in kind.¹³

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¹³ Rajwade, M. I. S. Vol. XX, p. 12.

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5. *Mejbani*—literally dinner tax.¹⁴

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¹⁴ It is not, however, clear who paid the cess and on what occasion.

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6. *Mohimpati*—Expedition cess; a similar tax is mentioned by Kautilya, but we need not go to such a remote age, a tax like this was levied by the Portuguese in their Indian Estate.

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7. *Karchapati*—Cannot be identified.

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8. *Telpati*—Oil cess; perhaps levied for illumination on festive occasions.

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9. *Tup*—A tax in kind levied perhaps on manufacturers of *ghi*.

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10. *Faski*—A toll levied on green vegetable-sellers.

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11. *Sadilvar*—A comprehensive term for any contingent charge.

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12. *Tutpati*—Literally means a tax to cover losses. It might be similar to ‘Kasar’ charged from Khots in Janjira to cover the loss in any deficiency of measurement. Prof. Pissurlencar thinks that it was similar to *but patti* of Portuguese India.

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13. *Idsubrati*—Jervis thinks it was a tax in kind paid by oilmen for illumination on the occasion of Id.

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14. *Toranbheti*—Arches for receiving distinguished guests.

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15. *Ut*—A cess levied on transport camels.

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16. *Ambe*—A tax levied on the produce of mango trees.

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17. *Karujati*—Cannot be identified. Has it any relation to Karus, artisans?

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18. *Hejib*—Probably means the perquisites of an insignificant village officer of the same name. Hejib is mentioned in an old document published in the *Itihas Sangraha*, *Aitihasik Charitren*, pp. 22-23.

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19. *Pathevari*—The meaning is uncertain; is it Patwari, a tax levied for village officers?

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20. *Ashvajakati*—A duty on sale of horse. This tax is mentioned by many Portuguese authors including Barros.

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21. *Setsara*—A tax on arable land.

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22. *Barhad Taka*¹⁵—Probably similar to *bharad* tax of Portuguese India.

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¹⁵ Taka literally means an aggregate of sixteen Shivarai pice: also an aggregate of four pice, an anna.—Molesworth. Barhadghar—The house in which a wedding is celebrated, Molesworth. Is it a tax or cess on nuptials and analogous to Lagan pati?

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23. *Sel Bail*—A duty on transport cattle.

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24. *Jangampati*—A jangam is a lingayat. A tax on the Jangams or Saiva lingayats; see Book III.

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25. *Peshkasi*—Same as the Paishkush of the Mughal period.

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26. *Patisike Humayun*—Sike means a seal. This tax must be analogous to Batchhapai of the Peshwa period.

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27. *Kar-i-Humayuni*—A tax levied for celebrating the royal birth day.

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28. *Thanebhet*—In Portuguese India the villagers had to feed small bands of sepoys visiting the locality. Probably a similar obligation existed in some parts of Shivaji's kingdom.

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29. *Dasrapati*—Is it a cess levied on the occasion of Dasra? We know that under the Peshwa regime the Patil received some presents in kind, *e.g.*, a goat on the Dasra day. Sleeman noticed a somewhat similar practice in Central India. "In the first place, they (Thanadars) levy a fee of one rupee from every village at the festival of the Holi in February, another at that of the Dasehra in October," *Rambles and Recollections*, Vol. II, p. 217. The Ramoshi, Sarnaik also was entitled to the present of a goat from the neighbouring villages on the Dasra day. See Mackintosh, *Origin and present condition of the Tribe of Ramoossies*, p. 58.