Administrative System of the Marathas c27.s7.1

c27.s7.1

If the Mughals had been instrumental in the survival of many good Hindu practices, they were no less responsible for many of the vexatious cesses and dues. This was but natural, human nature being what it is. The Muhammadan rulers, on their assumption of the Government of India, found that many taxes and cesses were levied by its former rulers and they were in no hurry to abolish them. Sometimes the conscience of such orthodox Musulman Emperors as Firuz Shah Tughlak, and Aurangzib was pricked because some of these taxes did not quite conform to the injunctions of the Quran and they abolished them. Benevolent despots like Akbar and Jahangir abolished many extra cesses and abwabs because they were irksome to the trader and cultivator. But these prohibitions had little effect in the distant provinces where the local officers and jagirdars paid but scant respect to the Emperor’s wishes. Only in the big cities and the metropolis could these prohibitions be enforced. but even there it had only a temporary effect. After a few years the vexatious cesses and abwabs were all revived; and the Marathas continued to levy these dues when they became the masters of the land.