The emergence of the Maratha state was one of the major developments of the 17th century as added a new chapter in the history of India. They were one of the strongest powers of their ages. It was the achievements of Shivaji which made the Marathas a major power in 17th century. Maharaja Shivaji had brought number of changes in the politico-administration and financial system of the Maratha state.
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Politico-Administration System of Maratha State
The politico-administration system of Marathas was monarchial in nature as the king was the head of state and the kingship was hereditary in nature. The kings adopted number of high-sounding titles like Chhatrapati to emphasized the power and prestige of king. The words of king were the law of land and hence, a despotic state. The elements of centralized administration were also present but was limited to core region, known as Swaraj.
The local feudal lords were also present in the state, known as Deshmukh’s, who were autonomous rulers in the peripheral areas of state but they were under the nominal control of king. The political system of Marathas was also influenced by the Mughals and Deccan states as decimal system of military organization was followed by them. The provisions of provincial and sub-provincial administration, institution of Ashta Pradhan and revenue system were adopted by Deccan states.
The polity of the state was secular and was a welfare towards the peoples. The Maratha kings issued donations to Brahmans, man of learning and for peoples as well. Powerful forts were built to maintain polity and military strength. Imperialistic outlook was also there in the polity of Marathas as they focused on the territorial expansion as they wanted to built a pan-India empire. Under Peshwas, the state assumed the form of a confederacy as Peshwa emerged as the dominant person at centre and other Maratha leader started to emulating him.
The Financial System of Maratha State
The financial system of the state was based on the system established by Shivaji Maharaj. He introduced land reforms in the land of Swaraj and later the instruments of Chauth and Sardeshmukhi were added;
The Land Revenue Reforms of Shivaji
This system was based on the based on the survey and measurement of land. Kethi (1/20th of Bigha), Bigha and Chavar were the prominent measurement systems of land. A land survey was carried by Annaji Dutto in 1678. At the time of land survey, the quality of soil and types of crops were also taken into account. The survey was taken at the level of peasant but the revenue was collected from village as a single unit. This was the feature of the Ryotwari system adopted by colonial rulers later.
The revenue system was progressive in nature as it encourages peasants to carry out extension of the cultivation. The newly cultivated lands were granted concessions as the full rate was applicable only at 8th year and peasants were allowed to pay in cash and kind as well. The revenue was collected twice a year (Kharif and rabi season) to ease the life of peasants. Initially the rate of revenue was 1/3rd of produce and other taxes also there. Later, the rate of revenue was increased to 40% and the extra taxes were abolished.
Sardeshmukhi
The Sardeshmukhi was the personal income of the king which was paid by the feudal lords (Deshmukh) of Maratha state. They used to send Sardeshmukhi every year. The rate of Sardeshmukhi was fixed at 10% of the total income of the Deshmukh’s.
Chauth
The word Chauth itself means 1/4th part of anything. Thus, the 25% of income of paid by neighbouring states to Maratha king for safety against Maratha attacks. Marathas used to attack the neighbouring states to mobilize resources because Maratha’s kingdom was deficient in resources. During these wars they lost number of men and material and hence, to avoid these losses, Marathas developed the system of Chauth.
The income generated from this system was used to divided among the king and commanders. The 75% of the Chauth was granted to local commander of state, 16% of the Chauth was received by king to manage administration expenses, 6% of Chauth was received by Panth Sachiv to manage the expenditures of his department and remaining 3% was received by king for the charitable purposes. Hence, the politico-administration and fiscal system were highly successful in local sense as they provided huge amount of revenue to Marathas.