Question

Write in detail about Maratha’s administration under Chh. Shivaji Maharaj. 

(a) Central administration 

(b) Provincial administration 

(c) Village administration

Answer 1

(a) Central administration: 

• Chh. Shivaji Maharaj set up an ideal administrative system for the smooth running of Swarajya’s affairs. 
• The formation of the Ashtapradhan Mandal (council of eight ministers) and its growth took place along with the expansion of the kingdom.
• After the coronation, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj created special posts of Ashtapradhans. It included ‘Peshwa’, ‘Amatya’, ‘Sachiv’, ‘Mantri’, ‘Senapati, ‘Sumant’, ‘Nyayadhish’ and ‘Panditrao’. 
• Chh. Shivaji Maharaj had a strong intelligence network of his own. Bahirji Naik was the Chief of this network. Before starting on any expedition, Chh. Shivaji Maharaj obtained detailed information from his spies and then planned his expedition.

(b) Provincial administration:

• The Kingdom was divided into two parts for the sake of administration. One of them was the province that was geographically bound together and the other comprised scattered regions in the south.
• Sarsubhedars taking care of provincial administration were known as ‘Deshadhikari’. 
• Sarsubhas in the Swarajya was meant to be the zonal division for the overall administration, while under Islamic rulers a division merely served the purpose of revenue collection.

(c) Village administration: 

• The Subhedars were assisted by ‘Deshmukhs’ and ‘Deshpandes’. 
• The main task of a Deshmukh was to collect the land revenue, develop wasteland into cultivable land and settle new villages. 
• All government officials received salaries in the form of cash instead of a land grant (watan). 
• ‘Village’ was the basic unit of the administrative system. New villages were settled.
• The people were provided with cattle, seed money, money for daily utilities.
• The farmer was given a period of two years, to repay the advance after a good harvest. This system was known as the ‘Batai system’.