Administrative System of the Marathas c27.s7.10

c27.s7.10

4. There cannot be any doubt that *gau shumari* or a tax on each head of oxen²⁰ abolished by Akbar, was the Mughal prototype of the Maratha Shingshingoti, but it is needless to multiply instances. "Rahdari which was collected on every highway frontier and ferry, and brought in a large sum to the revenue," and Pandari (or Pandharpatti) a ground or house cess, which was paid throughout the Imperial dominions by every tradesman and dealer, from the butcher, the potter and the green-grocer to the draper, jeweller and banker" had both been prohibited by Emperor Aurangzib.²¹ This prohibition however was not quite effective. Khafi Khan tells us, "Although his gracious and beneficent Majesty remitted these taxes, and issued strict orders prohibiting their collection, the avaricious propensities of men prevailed, so that, with the exception of pandari, which, being mostly obtained from the capital and the chief cities, felt the force of the abolition, the royal prohibition had no effect and faujdars and jagirdars in remote places did not withhold their hands from these exactions.” And again, “The rahdari in particular is condemned by righteous and just men as a most vexatious impost, and oppressive to travellers but a large sum is raised by it. In most parts of the Imperial territories the faujdars and jagirdars by force and tyranny, now exact more than ever from the traders and poor necessitous travellers.” ²² So it is no wonder that the Marathas should continue to exact rahdari and taxes analogous to pandari as the Mughals did before them. They had accepted the bad as well as the good points of the administrative system which they found in operation when they wrested the land from their Islamic masters.