Administrative System of the Marathas c16.s2.1

c16.s2.1

We have seen that the civil and the military regulations of Shivaji had been framed mainly to meet the needs of his times and in this respect they were eminently successful. Engaged in a life-long war against his Muhammadan neighbours, Shivaji could not give his people that peace and tranquillity so necessary for the growth of commerce and industry. But he had reformed the revenue system of his kingdom, organised a careful survey of his lands, and substituted a fairly enlightened and efficient government for the tyranny of semi-independent revenue officers. He had organised an army that shattered the foundation of the Mughal Empire in the South. He was the father of the Maratha navy and the mercantile policy inaugurated by him had a very bright future. Born in 1627 he died at the age of fifty-three only, and during the short reign of thirty-five years he had not only founded a kingdom but created a nation. Yet we cannot admit that Shivaji was the most original of Indian rulers. For his revenue policy he was indebted to Malik Ambar. Some of his military regulations were copied from the Adilshahi code, and the system of branding horses of the cavalry was known in Hindustan even in Allauddin Khilji's time. Shivaji however enforced strict method where formerly there was a lack of it. The slightest irregularity did not escape his keen eyes and in personal attention to the minute details of he government perhaps he was not inferior to his great Mughal rival. We find him framing regulations about the proper style of official letters, we find him deliberating about the necessity of punctual payment of masons. He urges his cavalry officers to beware of the careless use of fire in the camp. They are warned to be more careful about storing hay and fodder for their animals. To the governor of a port he issues instructions for regulating the price of salt and nuts, and we cannot but wonder when we find the same man starting a literary movement which so vitally influenced the character of Marathi language. He employed an erudite scholar to find out Sanskrit synonyms for current Persian words and the *Rajvyavahar Kosh* was compiled.