A History of Agriculture in India v2.c86: Chapter 34. Maharashtra, the Maratha Country

A History of Agriculture in India v2.c86

Language: English

v2.c86.s1 The Marathas — 10 parts
v2.c86.s2 Sivaji (1627-1680) — 7 parts
v2.c86.s3 Chauth as Source of Revenue — 8 parts
v2.c86.s4 Maratha Revolt—Its Cultural and Economic Causes — 3 parts
v2.c86.s5 A Poor Agricultural Base — 1 part
v2.c86.s6 References — 4 parts

Chapter 34. Maharashtra, the Maratha Country

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THE MARATHAS, SIVAJI, AN OUTSTANDING LEADER

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THE MARATHA REVOLT, ITS CULTURAL AND ECONOMIC CAUSES

MAHARASHTRA, the Maratha country, is coterminus with the Deccan lavas, which gave the black cotton soil. On its western side are the Ghats, the flat-topped mountains. Below the Ghats is the coastal strip known as the Konkan. To the eastern side is the Deccan plateau, rising to an average elevation of about 610 metres above the sea level. While there are luxuriant tropical forests on the Konkan side of the Ghats, on their eastern side vegetation is sparse. The monsoon currents deposit most of their moisture in the Western Ghats, and there is very little rain in the middle strip of the Deccan plateau, the rain-shadow area. The main crops are jowar and bajra, which form the staple diet of the people.

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Describing the Ghats and the Konkan, Mountstuart Elphinstone observes: ‘The great feature of the country is the range of Siadri, more commonly called the Ghats, which runs along the western part of it thirty to forty miles (48 to 64 km) from the sea; and, though only from 3,000 to 5,000 feet (944 to 1,524 m) high, is made very remarkable by its own peculiarities, and by the difference between the tracts which it divides. On the west, it rises abruptly, nearly from the level of the sea, and on that side presents an almost inaccessible barrier; but on the east, it supports a table-land 1,500 to 2,000 feet (457 to 609 m) high, extending eastward, with a gradual slope to the Bay of Bengal.

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‘The strip of land between the Ghats and the sea is called the Konkan, and is, in general, very rugged. Towards the coast are small rich plains, producing rice; the rest is almost impervious from rocks and forests, cut by numerous torrents, which change, when near the sea, into muddy creeks, among thickets of mangrove. The summits of the ridge itself are bare rocks; its sides are thickly covered with tall trees mixed with underwood. The forest spreads over the contiguous part of the table-land to the east, a tract broken by deep winding valleys and ravines, forming fit haunts for the wild beasts. Fifteen or twenty miles (24 to 32 km) from the ridge, the valleys become wide and fertile, and by degrees are lost in open plains, which stretch away to the eastward, covered with cultivation, but bare of trees, and rarely crossed by ranges of moderate hills. The great chain of the Ghats receives the whole fury of the south-west monsoon, the force of which is thus broken before it reaches the plains. For several months the high points are wrapped in clouds, and beaten by rains and tempests.

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The moisture soon runs off from the upper tracts, but renders the Konkan damp and insalubrious throughout the year.

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The whole of the Ghats and neighbouring mountains often terminate towards the top in a wall of smooth rock, the highest points of which, as well as detached portions on insulated hills, form natural fortresses, where the only labour required is to get access to the level space, which generally lies on the summit. Various princes, at different times, have profited by these positions. They have cut flights of steps or winding roads up the rocks, fortified the entrance with a succession of gateways, and erected towers to command the approaches; and thus studded the whole of the region about the Ghats and their branches with forts.¹ This was ideal country for guerrilla warfare in which the Marathas specialized. This was the environment in which Sivaji, the great leader of the Marathas, lived as a boy.

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¹ Elphinstone, Hon. M. *The History of India—the Hindu and Mahometan Periods*, p. 615

The Marathas

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The bulk of the Marathas were Shudras with an infusion of Rajput blood in certain castes. No other historian had better insight into the character of the Marathas than Elphinstone, who was the British Resident at Poona in 1811 and Governor of Bombay from 1819 to 1827. ‘Though the Marathas had never appeared in history as a nation, they had as strong marked a character as if they had always formed a united commonwealth,’ observed Elphinstone. ‘They are small sturdy men, well made, though not handsome. They are all active, laborious, hardy, and persevering. If they have none of the pride and dignity of the Rajputs, they have none of their indolence or their want of worldly wisdom. A Rajput warrior, as long as he does not dishonour his race, seems almost indifferent to the result of any contest he is engaged in. A Maratha thinks of nothing but the result, and cares little for the means, if he can attain his object. For this purpose he will strain his wits, renounce his pleasures, and hazard his person; but he has not a conception of sacrificing his life, or even his interest, for a point of honour. The Rajput is the most worthy antagonist—the Maratha, the most formidable enemy; for he will not fail in boldness and enterprise when they are indispensable, and will always support them, or supply their place, by stratagem, activity, and perseverance. All this applies chiefly to the soldiery. The mere husbandmen are sober, frugal, and industrious.²

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² Elphinstone, Hon. M. *The History of India—the Hindu and Mahometan Periods*, pp. 616, 617

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Sardesai, the Maratha historian, observes: ‘The Marathas as a people doubtless possessed in their vein high blood and noble tradition derived through ages from their royal ancestors such as the Mauryas, the Rashtrakutas, the Chalukyas and the Yadavas, not to mention the more recent additions to the original stock by the arrivals from time to time of north Indian Rajput tribes such as the Paramarsa (the present day Pawars), the Solankis, the Bhosles, the Ghorpades, the Mohites, the Mahadiks, the Gujars, the Shirkes, the Sawants, the Ghatges, the Manes, the Dafles, the various Deshmukhs of the Mawals, several of who adopted new surnames, in some cases from the places they occupied in the Deccan and from other sources. The Nimbalkars of Phaltan, for instance, are indeed the Paramars of Dhar, who after being expelled by Muslim conquerors from their habitation in Malwa, at first took their residence at Nimbalak in the Deccan and received their present name from that village. The Bhosles similarly are believed to have migrated from Rajputana and settled near Verul in the vicinity of Daulatabad. Sivaji's mother came from the Jadhao family, doubtless descendants of the ruling Yadavas of Deogiri, who continued to drag on a subdued existence in the region once ruled by their royal ancestors. The Ghorpades are indeed a branch of the Bhosles who acquired that surname from one of their ancestors capturing a fort by climbing up a rampart on a rope tied to an aguana (i.e. ghorpad). The several Deshmukhs of the Mawal valleys such as the Jedhes, the Bandals, the Khopdes, the Pasalkars, the Silimkars and so on, acquired their present surnames when they came into and colonized those regions west of Poona, and figured prominently as early associates of Sivaji.⁸

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⁸ Sardesai, Govind Sakharam. *New History of the Marathas*, Vol. I, *Shivaji and His Line*, 1600-1707, pp. 35-37

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The intellectual elite of the Marathas were Chitpawan Brahmans of the Konkan. The Peshwas, the Prime Ministers of Maratha rulers, were Chitpawan Brahmans. The first Peshwa was Balaji Viswanath. On his death in 1720, he was succeeded by his son Baji Rao, who in 1737 made an incursion into Delhi to intimidate the Mughal Emperor Muhammad Shah.

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Apart from providing Peshwas, the Brahmans also provided accountants. The accounts work was kept so intricate, that other castes could not penetrate their special preserve.

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Describing the food, dress, arms and method of warfare of the Marathas, Elphinstone states: 'Their usual food was a cake of millet, with perhaps an onion; their dress a small turban, tight breeches covering their thighs, and a scarf or sash rolled round their middle. When their body was not bare, it was covered by a light cotton tunic.

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'Their arms were a sword and a matchlock, but oftener a bamboo spear, thirteen or fourteen feet (4 to 4.3 m) long, the national weapon, which they used with extraordinary skill. Their horses were those of their own country, small, strong, and active, capable of enduring great fatigue, and taught to bound forward, or stop, or to wheel round when at full speed on the slightest pressure from their rider's leg. They had a pad for a saddle, with a blanket folded over it. When stationary, few except the chiefs had tents; and on their inroads, each man slept on the ground, with his spear struck by him and his bridle tied to his arm, ready to leap on horseback.

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'They would then form a compact body, to protect those which were carrying treasure; but with such a prize before them, the Marathas were irresistible: the party were generally obliged to take post; the Marathas cut off the communications, and perhaps even the water; and, at the end of a day or two, the Mughals were obliged to surrender; the men were stripped of their horses and their valuables, and the chiefs detained for a ransom.'⁴

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⁴ Elphinstone, Hon. M. *The History of India—the Hindu and Mahometan Periods*, pp. 660, 661

Sivaji (1627-1680)

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Leadership to the revolt was provided by the chiefs who were men of families who had for generations filled the offices of heads of villages or functionaries of districts, and had often been employed as partisans under the governments of Ahmadnagar and Bijapur. One such chief was Maloji Bhosla, who rose to a command of 5,000 horses in the service of Sultan of of Ahmadnagar. His son was Shahji, the father of Sivaji.

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At the age of fifteen Sivaji freed his *jagir* of Poona. His constant companions were the Mawalis, the hillmen, who taught him to ride and shoot, and to find his way in the pathless jungle, which covered a great part of the country. Like Akbar, he was unable to read and write, and his education was oral. He avidly listened to epics, like the *Mahabharata*.

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Sivaji built a great reputation for skill in reducing forts. He conquered the fort of Torna, some twenty miles (32 km) from Poona. 'By fraud and stratagem, and by his marvellous skill in the conduct of seiges, every fort that he approached fell into his hands after a few days investment,' states Khafi Khan. 'He reduced Sattara, Pannala and ten other forts belonging to Bijapur. He rebuilt the forts which had formerly stood on the sea-shore, and he constructed also vessels of war, which were kept under the guns of the fortress. With these vessels he attacked and plundered ships which were proceeding to Europe and to Mecca. The inaccessible forts of Rajgarh and Chakna were his abodes, and he had secured several islands in the sea by means of a fleet which he had formed. He built several forts also in those parts. Altogether, he had forty forts, all of which were well supplied with provisions and munitions of war.'

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In 1648 Sivaji occupied the whole of the northern Konkan. His rule extended on the sea-coast from Kaliani in the north to the neighbourhood of Goa, a distance of over 250 miles (402 km); east of the Ghats, it reached to Mirich on River Krishna; and its breadth in some parts was as much as 100 miles (161 km). It was not a vast dominion, but it supported an army of over 40,000, and had been built with incredible patience and daring.

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His return to the Deccan from Delhi was followed by a series of triumphs. Surat was again sacked (1671), and the Maratha swarms spread southerly past Madras to Tanjore, levying blackmail wherever they went. In June 1674, he was enthroned at Raigarh. As he was meditating still greater aggrandizement, a sudden illness put an end to his career in 1680, when he was not quite fifty-three years of age.

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Sivaji was a man with an extraordinary personality. According to Ramchandra Nilakanth Amatya, 'He overcame every enemy, some he openly attacked, some he compelled to accept a fight, some he surprised by means of ingenious contrivance, others he weakened by involving them in mutual dissensions, sometimes secretly fomenting quarrels; others he confounded by sudden raids upon their camps and habitations. Some he boldly met in open combat, some he won over through tempting offers, some he boldly went to visit personally, some were scattered through curious stratagem.'⁵

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⁵ Sardesai, Govind Sakharam. *New History of the Marathas*, Vol. I, *Shivaji and His Line*, 1600-1707, p. 262

Chauth as Source of Revenue

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The Marathas derived their finances from *chauth*, a tribute of twenty-five per cent of the revenue of a province. How the *chauth* was collected is thus described by Khafi Khan (1718 A.D.). 'With large armies the Marathas invaded the *subas* of the Dakhin, and Ahmadabad, and Malwa, for the purpose of collecting the *chauth*, and they plundered and ravaged wherever they went. To cities and large towns they sent messengers and letters, demanding payment of the *chauth* from the governor or *zamindar*. Or the *mukkaddams* and *zamindars* of the towns and villages hastened out to meet the Maratha army, undertaking to pay the *chauth*, and begged for protection. Taking back with them a messenger (*harkara*) and a horseman, to protect the village and the cultivation, instead of showing their total rent to be one or two thousand rupees, they made it out to be four or five hundred. But whatever sum was settled, they promised payment, and gave sureties, called *ol* in the language of India. They thus saved themselves from violence and plunder.

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'When the *faujdars* or *zamindars* of a place refused to pay the *chauth*, and made no propositions, the Marathas attacked the place and thoroughly ravaged it.

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'The Marathas treated carvans just in the same way, and many were plundered. The commanders of their bands did their best to settle the amount of *chauth* to be paid, and were not willing to pillage. Their men, on the contrary, strove to prevent any arrangment of the *chauth*, so that they might be free to plunder. For, if an agreement was arrived at, and the chauth was settled without plundering, it belonged to the chiefs, and the men got nothing. But, if it came to plundering, each man kept what he could lay hands upon, and the chiefs did not gain so much.

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'Through Balaji Bishwanath and Jamnaji, Brahmans, and most intelligent generals of Raja Sahu, a proposal of peace was made on these terms. There was to be paid to the officers of Faja Sahu a fourth part of what the amins, kroris, and shikkdars collected as land revenue, and as sair from the government lands and from the jagirdars. It was also settled that, in addition to the fourth share which they were to get from the receipts of the jagirdars, they were to receive from the raiyats ten per cent as sar-deshmukhi. Altogether they were to receive thirty-five per cent, upon the total collections, and also upon the cesses (abwabs) called faujdari, shikkdari, ziyafat, and other charges, as shown in the gross account of the collections. According to this account they were to receive nearly half the total revenue recorded in the Government rent-roll, and the collections were thus shared by the domineering collectors of Raja Sahu. This arrangement, by which they were to collect all taxes, fell very hard upon the raiyats, and the government officers and jagirdars; for in every district there were two collectors: one called the kamaishdar, the other the gumashta of the sar-deshmukhi. On the roll of the collections the signature of the sarrishtadar of the sar-deshmukhi was first placed, and what was required by the rules on that account was to be taken separately. The position and life of the officers of Government and of the jagirdars became irksome.

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'Besides these, there were two separate collectors of the rahdari (road duties) in each district. In consequence of the negligence of the faujdars and the dominance of the enemy, these had for some time taken their positions in different places, and exacted half a rupee, or one rupee, for each bullock and cart from merchants, and whatever they pleased from other persons. They exacted twice or three times more than the most tyrannical faujdars. Now also, since the days of the peace, the former grievance remained, but it was aggravated by more taking part in it. In the present state of things there were in each district three regular collectors of Raja Sahu, with parties of horsemen and footmen stationed at the office, the guard-house where the land-revenue, the sair and the tolls were collected.

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'Besides this there were in many places villages which had been laid waste by the Marathas, and which had been again brought into cultivation under special agreements, such as the districts about Nandurbar, in Khandesh, in Berar, and in other places. They paid no heed to the special contracts made by Husain 'Ali Khan; but, conceding the third share belonging to the jagirdar, they made the following arrangement. They recognized three shares; one was for the jagirdar, one they took themselves, and the third they left to the raiyats. In revenue and civil matters the orders and the action of the enemy prevailed over the authority of the *faujdars* and *jagirdars*. At the time of the peace Husain 'Ali Khan determined and issued strict injunctions that the *rahdari* should not be exacted, as in the days before the peace, from merchants and travellers at the rate of three rupees or four upon each bullock and cart, as if *faujdars* and harsh officials were acting. But it was not good. In several districts there was no longer any plundering of villages and caravans; but, as in former days, travellers and wanderers paid the *rahdari*, and went on in peace without interruption. Villages which had been ravaged by plunderers, or made completely desolate by the tyranny of rapacious managers, were now restored to cultivation.

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'Husain 'Ali delivered a *sanad* containing the conditions of peace, under his seal, to the *vakils* of Raja Sahu, and made no delay in writing for a royal *farman* confirmatory of this document. He introduced the agents of Raja Sahu everywhere, and he settled that Balaji Bishwanath and Jamnaji, two of the highest officers of Raja Sahu, should stay with a suitable escort in Aurangabad as deputy and *vakil* of the Raja, so that all civil and revenue matters might be settled through them.⁶

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⁶ Khafi Khan. *Muntakhabu-l Lubab*, in Elliot and Dowson, *The History of India*..., Vol. VII, pp. 465-468

Maratha Revolt—Its Cultural and Economic Causes

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According to Bhimsen, who was writing his memoirs in 1700, there was an intimate connection between the rise of the Maratha power and the oppression of the peasants. The peasants of the Deccan had suffered for decades before Sivaji's rise to eminence from wars brought about by the steady pressure of the Mughals against the Deccan kingdoms. Vast areas were ravaged by the invading armies; the grain was seized, the people slaughtered or enslaved. Some of the peasants rendered aid to Sivaji. Aurangzeb ordered his officials to give capital punishment to peasants, *deshmukhs* and *patels* of the *parganas* of Imperial territories, who had gone over to the side of Sivaji. 'The oppressed peasants, who were unable to carry on their avocation peacefully joined the army of Sivaji. They were the "naked starved rascals", who formed the core of his army. The military operations of the Marathas did not offer any relief to the cultivating peasants. On the contrary, they suffered grievously from their ravages. As the range of operation of the "Robber State" grew, so too the number of its victims increased. But this seems to have created a still larger number of "naked starved rascals", who themselves plundered, had no alternative left but to join the plunderers in order to survive; and so the unending circle went on.⁷ As the Mughal armies decayed, the Marathas multiplied. Elphinstone observes: 'After reducing the Deccan to a desert, they spread over Malwa, and made a powerful inroad into Gujarat, leaving their traces everywhere in pillaged towns, ravaged fields, and smoking villages.’

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⁷ Habib, I. *The Agrarian System of Mughal India*, p. 350

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The main causes of Maratha rebellion against the Mughals were cultural and social. Ramdas, the spiritual preceptor of Sivaji, pointed out to him that the protection of gods, cows, Brahmans and the Faith was his primary duty. ‘When the Faith is dead, death is better than life. Gather the Marathas together, make religion live again.’ Thus the main object before Sivaji was to win freedom of worship and revival of Hinduism, which could only be achieved through military and political power.

A Poor Agricultural Base

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The Marathas had their power base in the Deccan, an infertile rocky area with scanty water resources. It depended upon an uncertain monsoon, which, when it failed, converted the Deccan into a land of famine and hunger. This was a decisive handicap in the race for supremacy in India, whose main contenders on the collapse of the Mughal empire were the Marathas and the British. The British occupied the most fertile areas of India with rich alluvial soil and high rainfall, viz. Bengal, Bihar and the coastal area of Andhra and Tamil Nadu. This explains, why the Marathas who had conquered Delhi in 1737, occupied the Punjab in 1758 and almost fulfilled their dream of flying their saffron flag from the Krishna to the Indus, ultimately failed to consolidate their gains. On account of a poor agricultural base, the Marathas resorted to the plunder of fertile provinces of Mughal India, and thus antagonized the inhabitants of these provinces. Moreover, their guerilla tactics of warfare, which served them so well in the Deccan terrain, were entirely unsuitable for the flat Indo-Gangetic plain.

Linked texts (1)

Mahābhārata — Vyāsa, Sanskrit