Administrative System of the Marathas c23.s7.15

c23.s7.15

From the Jataka stories, referred to by Dr. R. C. Majumdar as well as the Mahabharata, the Manu Samhita and the Vishnu Smriti, it appears that the village headman was appointed by the king. From the story of the Nishada Kayavya²⁶ however it appears that the Gramani or the village headman was sometimes elected by the villagers. The Maratha Patil was neither elected by his co-villagers nor appointed by the State. He was a hereditary officer, with hereditary rights which he could transfer by sale. According to Dr. Majumdar, one of the Mathura Jaina image inscriptions which refers to a lady, would was the first wife of the village headman and daughter-in-law of the village headman, would seem to imply that the post of village headman was hereditary in the family.²⁷ Thus it appears that even in very early times the office had acquired a hereditary character. The process of transformation is not very hard to guess, and in Maratha days elected or appointed Patil or Kulkarni were altogether unknown.