Administrative System of the Marathas c18.s3.23

c18.s3.23

Madhava Rao II or his chief adviser was not so indulgent. Although he appointed Nimbaji Pawar on a salary of Rs. 12, every two months, for training the Raja's son in the art of fencing,¹⁸ and granted saranjam to each of the two queens and to each of their two daughters, he refused to grant a sum adequate for the repair of an aqueduct which conveyed water to the palace of Satara. It was represented that two or three thousand rupees would be necessary for the work, but the Peshwa did not grant more than Rs. 800. It may be objected that perhaps the agent at Satara had over-estimated the necessary cost and the Peshwa naturally reduced it to a more reasonable amount, but we do not observe the same attitude so far as his other grants and expenses were concerned.¹⁹ The poor Maharaja, however could not do without praying to the Peshwa. So poor and helpless was he, that although about four years had elapsed since his marriage, he could not make the customary present of land to his sister until a grant of sixty bighas had been made for that purpose by the Peshwa in 1782-83.²⁰