Administrative System of the Marathas c18.s5.1

c18.s5.1

It has already been pointed out that allowance had to be made for the spirit of independence of the Maratha peasants and the Peshwa had to leave undisturbed what they thought were their ancestral rights. The village communities were allowed to administer their own affairs under the paternal and lax supervision of a set of government officers. The work of these officers again was supervised by the officers of *Huzur Daftar* supposed to be under the direct control of the Peshwa through his Karbhari. At the top of the system was therefore this daftar or secretariat, and at its base were the village communities. For convenience, we will discuss separately how the daftar and the village communities worked, and how the tiny states at the base were connected with the daftar at the top by a chain of hereditary and non-hereditary government officials.