Administrative System of the Marathas c20.s13.27

c20.s13.27

The Metropolitan Police at Poona became a model body during the administration of the last of the Peshwas. The efficiency and honesty of this body had extorted the applause of critics like Elphinstone and Tone. William Henry Tone served in the army of Baji Rao II, and he had first-hand knowledge of the Peshwa's Government. His remarks therefore claim our best regards. Tone says, "It is little remarkable for anything but its excellent Police which alone employs thousand men. After the firing of the gun, which takes place at ten at night, no person can appear in the streets without being taken up by the Patroles, and detained prisoner until dismissed in the morning by the Kotwal. So strict is the discipline observed that the Peshwa himself had been kept prisoner a whole night for being out at improper hours." No less than Rs. 9,000, Elphinstone tells us, were spent for the upkeep of this splendid body consisting of a large number of peons, horse patrols and Ramoshis. Lt. Edward Moor and his brother officers visited Poona in 1792 and they heard that the police of Poona was "uncommonly well regulated." 49