Administrative System of the Marathas c7.s6: English Sources
Administrative System of the Marathas c7.s6
- Language
- English
English Sources
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In English we have a number of works about Shivaji and the Marathas. The Surat and Bombay Factory Records are invaluable historical documents, and their importance cannot be overestimated. They are useful to the writer of a political history, and some information about Shivaji's navy and his commercial policy can be gleaned from them.
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In addition to these old factory records, English travellers have left us the accounts of their travels in the Maratha country, and English historians have left us the result of their researches. The earliest English traveller to write an account of the Maratha country and Shivaji's court was Fryer. A physician by profession, he had visited Bombay and seen some parts of Shivaji's dominions. But his stay in the Maratha country was very short, and his information was by no means accurate. His account of "Several Brachmins whose Flesh they tear with Pincers heated Red hot, drub them on the Shoulders to extreme Anguish," betrays a good deal of humour, but is evidently untrustworthy. Even Khafi Khan, who delighted in abusing Shivaji, gave him credit for the respect he had usually shown to holy places and holy men both Hindu and Muhammadan.
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Mannucci's *Storia Do Mogor*, another contemporary work, has been translated into English by a great scholar, the late Mr. Irvine. The gossiping adventurer loved to give anecdotes in which he himself figured. He claims to have met Shivaji in Jai Singh's camp, but unlike most European writers refrains from giving any account of his dominions, his people and government.
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Robert Orme wrote his *Fragments* long after Shivaji's death. But all that he learnt of the great Maratha ruler were popular legends. These were reproduced by John Bruce, Esq., M.P. and F.R.S., Keeper of His Majesty's State-papers and Historiographer to the Hon'ble East India Company, in his *Annals of the East India Company*. Both Orme and Bruce failed to give any account of the administrative system of Shivaji. What their version of political history is worth, will be evident from the following account of the night attack on Shaista Khan :
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In the next campaign, Aurungzebe reinforced Chaest Chan's army by sending the troops of the Maha-Rajah of Joudpore to join him. These generals were at variance with each other; the Maha-Rajah, to gratify Sevagee undertook to assassinate Chaest—the murderers broke in on Chaest, who escaped with severe wound; but his son was slain.¹²
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¹² Bruce, Vol. II, p. 39. Orme was more accurate than Bruce.
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The most important English work, from our point of view, is Major Jervis's *Geographical and Statistical Memior of the Konkun*. He was a junior contemporary of Elphinstone, and the work of surveying the Konkan was entrusted to him. While so engaged, he gathered valuable information about land revenue settlement, in all probability, from popular traditions. He tells us many things about Malik Ambar's and Shivaji's land revenue settlement, Annaji Datto's survey and assessment, but never quotes any authority. It is, therefore, extremely difficult, or rather impossible, to verify his assertions. Hitherto I have come across only one Marathi document,¹³ a circular letter of Annaji Datto, that supports Jervis's account of the *bighaoni* survey. But this does not improve our situation much. We can, without much hesitation, accept Elphinstone's account of the administrative system of the Peshwas or Sir John Malcolm's account of the Central India chiefs. For both of them had personal acquaintance with men who had served under the Peshwas and the Maratha and Rajput chiefs of Central India, and who could give them first-hand information. But the case of Jervis is altogether different. He lived and wrote two centuries after Shivaji. Most of the old documents were yet unknown in his time, and he had to rely mainly upon popular traditions transmitted from generation to generation. Consequently, it is extremely difficult either to accept or to reject the views of Jervis. The writer of the *Bombay Gazetteer*, however, has accepted Jervis as the sole authority on the subject.¹⁴
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¹³ Rajwade, M. I. S., Vol. XV, pp. 369-70.
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¹⁴ Since this was written my attention has been drawn to a Marathi document published in Rajwade, Vol. XXI, which, substantially corroborates some of Jervis's figures.
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From these old authors we turn to Ranade with a sense of relief. Born in Maharashtra, and educated in western method, Ranade combined in him the three qualities so indispensable for a historian of the Marathas. He knew the language and traditions of his country, was well conversant with the historical method of the west and had ready access to all papers then available. With true historical instinct he made a deliberate departure from the beaten track and selected a course of his own. His fame to-day does not rest on the discovery of a new document or an unknown event, but on the surer basis of the right interpretation of the history of his people. He did not confine himself to dry details of battles and sieges, but tried to discover the real cause, remote and immediate, of the rise, progress, and downfall of the Marathas. This made him study the civil institutions of Shivaji very carefully, for they were, according to him, not only the outcome of Shivaji's genius but also an expression of Maratha aspirations. It is beyond doubt that Ranade was the first scholar to guide us properly to the real sources of Maratha history, as he was the first to perceive the real importance of the administrative system of Shivaji. It is a matter of regret that the many-sided activities of the great savant did not permit him to devote his leisure solely to the study of his country's past. Modern researches have made some of his conclusions untenable to-day, but the credit of pointing out a new angle of vision belongs entirely to him. He might have erred in minor details, but while dealing with the broad principles, his judgment never failed him. It is true that we do not get in his work as much information as we wish for, but that is because many papers, now published, had not yet seen light when Ranade lived and wrote.
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Scott-Waring was the first writer to attempt a comprehensive history of the Marathas in English. His work was published in 1811. But we get little more than a narrative of political events in Scott-Waring's History. In the third decade of the 19th Century, another scholar, destined to be famous as the historian of the Marathas, undertook to write out a more satisfactory history. Captain Grant Duff was more fortunate than his predecessor in the attempt in more than one way. As Political Agent, he had ready access to all papers in the Satara archives. The descendant of Shivaji was ever ready to assist him in all possible ways. Perhaps many of the later spurious bakhars owed their origin to the zeal of Chhatrapati Pratap Singh to gratify the Agent Saheb. Above all Grant Duff had the great advantage of working under the guidance of Elphinstone.¹⁵ But Grant Duff had not sufficient materials for sketching out a graphic account of the administrative system of Shivaji. Prof. H. G. Rawlinson's *Shivaji the Maratha* is a very recent publication, but it does not aim at dealing in detail with the civil institutions of Shivaji. Another recent work dealing with Shivaji is the first volume of the *History of the Maratha People* by Messrs. Kincaid and Parasnis. From the great mass of published materials and the still greater mass of unpublished documents in the possession of Rao Bahadur Dʳ B. Parasnis, it was expected that the long felt want would at last be removed. But we have again been disappointed. Far from giving us a comprehensive account of Shivaji's administrative system, the joint authors have not even made any serious attempt to supplement our knowledge in that direction. Prof. Takkhav and Mr. Keluskar have devoted one long chapter to the administrative institutions in their voluminous *Life of Shivaji Maharaj*.
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¹⁵ See Elphinstone's letter quoted in Colebrooke's Life of Elphinstone, Vol. II, pp. 136-39.
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Sydney Owen of Oxford has drawn a brilliant sketch of Shivaji in his *India on the Eve of the British Conquest*; but it is only a study of Shivaji's political career. Pringle Kennedy has also given us a charming picture of Shivaji and Maharashtra in his *History of the Great Moghuls*. But neither of these scholars studied the original documents. They relied mainly on such secondary authorities, as Khafi Khan, Orme and Grant Duff, and their aim has been to write a readable and sensible summary for the general run of readers. From them, therefore, we should not expect anything that we do not get elsewhere. Maratha history has for them only a relative interest.
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Prof. Jadunath Sarkar's *Shivaji and His Times* is important and interesting in its own way. He has utilised many sources of Maratha history hitherto unexplored. The chapter on Shivaji's navy is of special interest to us.
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A few articles on Maratha history were published in the *Journal of the Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society*. The following are the most useful for our purpose:
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1. Ranade—*Currencies and Mints under Maharatta Rule*.
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2. J. E. Abbott—*A preliminary study of the Shivarai or Chhatrapati Coins*.
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3. P. V. Mawji—*Shivaji's Swarajya*.
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4. Codrington—*Seals of Satara Kingdom*.
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So far as my information goes, no attempt has yet been made of sifting and examining these scattered materials on scientific lines and of presenting the results in a handy and intelligible form to the ordinary student. No one will contest that such an endeavour is worth making. In the following pages, it has been my aim to present a fairly accurate sketch of the Maratha government, its principle and working. I have, for the sake of convenient treatment, divided the history of the Maratha administrative system into two periods. The first period opens with the rise of Shivaji and closes with the accession of Shahu. The second period begins with the accession of Shahu and ends in 1818, when the Peshwa's territories were finally annexed to the British dominions. The administrative system of Shivaji practically continued unchanged till the death of Rajaram, and the Peshwas also found it convenient to leave the old system intact with a few changes in the central government. Otherwise, the administrative system of Shivaji was, for all essential purposes, identical with that of the Peshwas. It will, therefore, be my duty to indicate the few differences that existed in theory and practice between the governments of the two periods. But there is another interesting enquiry to be made. Shivaji was not the creator of a new system. He modified and reformed what he had inherited from his Hindu and Muhammadan predecessors. Every administrative system has its roots in the past and the Maratha system was by no means an exception. I have made an attempt to trace the growth and development of the Maratha institutions from their old Hindu prototypes. But my account does not claim to be complete and should not be treated as the last word on this comprehensive subject.