Administrative System of the Marathas c18.s26.18

c18.s26.18

It may be noted here that Zakat was generally farmed to a person for a fixed sum, but these men were strictly warned not to oppress the people or to levy any unauthorised tax. As in the administration of land revenue the Peshwas followed the policy of encouraging the merchants and securing their prosperity and as the farming system was bound to be more or less inefficient from that point of view, we find that government officers were appointed during the administration of the second Madhava Rao for assessment and collection of Zakat. These officers often replaced the farmers altogether, but sometimes they simply supervised their work. The collection of Zakat, when under a government department, was conducted according to the Kamavis system and to it also the same checks of Zamindars and Darakhdars were applied. Two documents will be quoted here to illustrate the working of the principle. The first of these recounts the duties of the Zakat-Fadnis, of Bandar Pen, as follows: