CHAPTER : 4 195 - 252
S tate Finance :
i. Financial Administration,
ii. Finance Department.
iii. Record Keeping.
iv. The Kamavisi System.
V , Types of Receipts.
vi. Items of Expenditure,
Appendix A Table Showing the Receipts of Mahal.
W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W 'W W W ’W 'W W ’W 'W
CHAPTER - IV
STATE FINANCE
Public Finance is a politico-econom ic subject but
th is c h a p te r as th e t i t l e suggests, makes a h is to r ic a l
approach to i t . The c h a p te r is concerned with the income
and exp e n d itu re of the Peshwa Government and the system
of adjustment th e re in . I The th re e main asp ec ts of Public
Finance a re ; (1) Income and E xpenditure, (2) Financial
Adm in istra tion , (3) Pub lic Debt.^ The la s t is sometimes
trea te d as a se p a ra te top ic but the th re e jo in t ly mark
the economic p o lic y of the Government. Hence to understand
th e economic and fin an c ia l system of the Peshwa Government,
th ey should be d e a lt w ith sim ultaneously . However the
la s t top ic i s considered s e p a ra te ly in the next c h a p te r ,
so as to a r r i v e at the t ru th in the rem ark g en e ra l ly made
about the h eavy d eb t of the Peshw as.
The f inanc ia l system of the Peshwas is s t i l l an
unexp lored , v irg in f i e ld and the few stu d ies made
so fa r have mainly brought out the d eb it s id e of the subject)
This ch a p te r t r i e s to throw ligh t on the actual pattern
of the Financial System of the Peshwa Government.
Under Shahu, the Peshwa held a prominent p lace
in p o l i t ic s . Shahu had been a p r iso n e r at the Mughal Court
fo r a long time and when he become a king he d id not
have su ffic ien t funds to maintain th e a rm y . \ The Peshwas,
hence, had to confront a v e r y bad condition. They d id
not have any a n ces tra l t re a s u re and y e t , they had to run
th e Government, to hold enemy at bay to p re s s u r is e the
in tern a l enemy and to expand the ex is t in g t e r r i t o r y . To
cope w ith th e situation they promoted the new banking
system w hich became the new method of acquiring the finance
n ecessa ry fo r putting into action t h e i r expansion p lans.
They expected to extend th e sp h e re of the influence of
the Maratha pow er in o th e r s ta te s , to encourage the Marathas
to be engaged in fighting without d is tu rb in g th e i r own t e r r i t t o r y ,
to g iv e them o p p o rtu n itie s to get wealth and above a l l
to 6xpand the 'Hindu P adpatshah i' and to p ro tect those
who re l ie d on them.
FINANCIAL ADMINISTRATION :
I El^hinstone found the Maratha country in a b e tte r
position in re sp e c t of a g r ic u ltu re than the o th e r p a r ts
of India ( 1 ) But the Peshw as' f inanc ia l System did not
have i t s base in a g r ic u ltu ra l p r o s p e r i t y . The in fra s tru c tu re
of th e Maratha f i s c a l system during th e Peshwa period
la y a c tu a l ly in the estab lishm ent of the Maratha confederacy
and la t e r on in the methods adopted fo r co llection of dues
and re c e ip ts expected from va r io u s re so u rce s . ]
i B a la ji V ishw anath , the F ir s t Peshwa of the Bhat
fa m i ly , t r ie d to build up the confederacy in four stages.
196
W h e legal sanction fo r the co llec tion of dues from Mughal
Subhas and o th e r r ig h ts w ere acquired in the form of th ree
d if fe re n t Sanads ( i . e . agreements) which formed the base
of th e Peshw as' economy. These w ere the Chauthai Sanad,
th e Sardeshm ukhi Sanad and th e Swaraj ya Sanad as acquired
in 1719 a .D.
The to ta l revenue of th e s ix subhas came to about
eighteen c r o re rupees and the Marathas could get 35% of
th is amount, i . e . , about s ix c r o re s and t h i r t y lak h s app
ro x im ate ly { 2 ) t This su b stan tia l amount formed the bulk
of the M arathas' finances b es id es which they could claim
big amounts when the Maratha Empire was extended to number
of s ta te s of India.^. This should re fu te the charge that
th e Maratha em pire was not s e l f - s u f f ic ie n t and hence had
to tak e loans fo r c a r ry in g out a d m in is t ra t iv e w ork .
DISTRIBUTION OF THE COLLECTION OF SOURCES :
It i s wellknown that B a la ji Pant, the f i r s t Peshwa
a lso made arrangement fo r th e d is tr ib u tio n of the dues.
^The annual income of th e Maratha Government thus came
from the revenue co llec ted from the S w a ra jya a re a , the
Chauthai and Sardeshm ukhi r ig h ts from the ou ts id e .^ )
'T h e Sardeshm ukhi brought Rs. One c ro re and eighty
la k h s ( in 1720 A.D. ) to King Shahu. M oreover, the
Maratha em pire came to be extended to Northern and Southern
p a rts of India, when war le a d e rs annexed a number of
197
t e r r i to r i e s l ik e G ujarat, Rajputana, and la te r on t r ie d
to conquer Bengal, O rissa e t c . , b e fo re the d is a s te r of
Panipat in 1761 A .D ., and th is meant a co n sid erab le addition
to the to ta l revenue co lle c t io n .
The Saran jam dars who w ere assigned d if fe ren t p a r ts ,
w ere supposed to pay some p a rt of the re ce ip ts into the
government t r e a s u ry .
The point th a t emerges from th e above deta iled d e s c r i
ption is that the s ta te t re a s u ry d id not genera lly get
the expected amount fo r d e fra y in g i t s expenses - One of
i t s p r in c ip a l items being maintaining d iv is io n s of armed
fo rc e s , i . e . , Huzarat. The s ta te t re a s u ry had to support
i t s e l f w ithout a S a ran jam d ar's i r r e g u la r monetary ass is tance .
They had to support t h e i r income by arranging fo r more
and more e x p e d it io n s .
SARANJAMADARS AND THE MARATHA ECONOMY :
The Saranjam dars w ere expected to return the money
i f they d id not a s s is t the Royal A rm y. But they frequently
fa i le d to do so . The S a ra d a rs a lso d id not pay o th er dues
in time and ye t asked fo r concessions. These w ere some
of the fa c to rs which brought d is a s te r in the economic system
and made finance u n a va ila b le . It is necessa ry to consider
in g re a te r d e ta i l the above mentioned Saranjam dari system
w hich p ro v e d , as h is to ry g ive s ev id en ce , both a boon
and a cu rse to th e Maratha economy. The members of the
198
confederacy fu l ly depended on one another since the whole
t e r r i to r y was d iv id e d into two p a rts ;
(1) The t e r r i t o r y under the ru le of the Government which
was ca lled Kamavisi Mulukh(for accounts purpose^ (2) the t e r r -
- i t o r y under the ru le of Saranjam dars named Saranjami Mulukh
which was su p erv ised by the government by appointing
vario u s o f f ic e r s as P hadanis , Jamenis, Chitnis e t c j New
members joining the confederacy was a continuous and necessary
process which was v e ry p ro f i ta b le . I J a g ir s had to be a llo tted
to the S a rd a rs to enable them to maintain armed fo rces
and to d isch a rg e o th e r du ties enjoined on them. These
Ja g i r s , which passed on the next generation w ere known
as Saranjam s and those to whom they w ere assigned were
the Saran jam dars.' Both th e g iv e r and ta k e r had to go through
an agreement ca l led th e Sanad.f iThe term s and conditions
of the Sanad bring out the nature of the Maratha economy.
For exam ple in 1761 A.D. V ithal S h iv d e v V inchurkar was
granted a Saranjam (3 ) of R s .1 ,6 8 ,5 0 0 , th e conditions being
that he should submit d e ta i led accounts of the revenue
of th e t e r r i t o r y assigned to him, that he should increase
the revenue, and t h a t . - - ^ should maintain a contingent of
f i v e thousand h o rse s .
The fo llowing w ere the d e ta i ls of the sum a llocated
to him :
Rs. 5 ,0 0 0 fo r personal expenses,
199
Rs. 15,00,000 for maintaining the contingent
Rs. 1 2 ,5 0 0 fo r ad m in istra tio n of the Fort of Gwalior,
Rs. 1 0 ,0 0 0 fo r the su p e rv is io n of the Fort of Rajdehar
The Saran jam dars w ere thus a l lo t te d the t e r r i t o r y ,
the r e s p o n s ib i l i ty and the m oney, But the government frequently
fa i le d to r e c e iv e th e expected amount from them. Sometimes
the dues and r ig h ts from th e v i l la g e s w ere d is tr ib u ted
between the Peshwa and the Saran jam dars.' These v i l la g e s
ca lled " Domala " used to add some amount to the t re a s u ry .
The fo llow ing Sanad was g iven to a prominent Saradar
which shows how he could re c e iv e from the Government
the r ig h t of S a ra n ja m .(4 )
T R ^ U r S T T ^ f I I T U T R W ^ 3F«F
8 1 7 2 8
I m i l T T T T T T
I m i l T f l T O T F H R f f r W r
200
m n ^ rTT I 1 UTcT
I 4l3f 3inTT
I
I UTH ^
II (1 )
201
I W r n j T
I M tI R
I I TrTHR
mi I
I m { ^
I ^
I 3 ^ 3 %
yri I ^
I m il
I mi I • mrfcT
mi I jttM , mi I mi i wmr^
I ^ 3 1 T
I ^
I
I
I ? I R T T
I T R 7 T 3 T T 7 T
I f ^ I W T
I 2
¥?ir ^Rm
I w r ^
I mi I f c#3-
to one Saranjam dar and how in r e a l i t y th e a rea under the
P esh w a's d i re c t contro l being lim ited , the amount of revenue
co llection was a lso v e r y re s t r ic te d .
202
This Sanad shows the extent of the territory allotted
In addition to t h i s , th e Peshwa had h is own Saranjam
ca lled Khasgat and th e amounts co llec ted from th ese Mahals
w ere u t i l is e d fo r S ta te .
This system of co llecting the revenue from d if fe ren t
p a r ts in s id e and ou ts ide the Empire completed the formation
of the co n fed eracy . It underwent a few changes la t e r under
B ala ji B a jirao , M adhavrao and Sava i Madhavrao P esh w asJ
It seems that one more fa c to r i s d i f fe re n t from th e p rev iou s
one v i z . ^the influence of Brahmins in economic a f f a i r s and
o th e r a f f a i r s of the Peshwa Government. ■ This period marked
the influence of Brahmins in* almost each and e v e r y f i e ld .
The old 'A sh ta Pradhan Mandal ( i . e . a Body of Eight M inisters)
which constituted th e government under S h iv a j i lo s t i t s power
at th e time of Shahu. The Peshwas became th e c h ie f p o lic y
m akers and the a d m in is tra to rs of the Maratha Empire.
The o f f i c ia ls l ik e P hadanis , Sa b n is , Muzumdar, Jamenis
w ere appointed to contro l and guide va r io u s departm ents
and a lso in the courts of Saranjam dars by the Central Government.
The Peshwa acquired a new sta tus when h is o f f ic e became
h e r e d i t a r y . A fte r B ajirao Peshwa the Brahmin S a rd a rs seem1to emerge in the p o l i t ic a l f ie ld along with o ld Maratha
S a rd a rs , Mong w ith Shinde, Holkar and Paw ar, th e re w ere
R ajebahaddar, Bundele (Kher) Bhuskute, W inchurkar, Panse
and Patwardhan e tc . A few more names in addition to those
mentioned e a r l i e r l i k e Kanade, B in iw ale , Mehendale, Gokhale,
Bendre would confirm th is point! The o f f ic ia ls l ik e Phadanis,
Sabnis w ere mostly Brahmins. The bankers and Kamavisdar
w ere a lso Brahmins, e .g . D ixit - Patw ardhan, Babuji Naik-
Jo s h i , Wanawale, Tambwekar e tc .
FINANCE DEPARTMENT AND THE METHOD OF BOOK-KEEPING :
jThe Finance Department of th e Peshwas was a big
es tab lish m e n t. It was ca l le d 'E k -B e r j i Daftar' More than
a thousand c le r k s worked in th is o f f ic e on va rio u s posts .
At th e time of B ajirao II, th e re w ere more than 1500 (f ifteen
hundred) c le r k s in the Phad. (5)
203
3 0 0
1 0 0
1 0 0
1 0 0
6 0 0
5 0
5 0
2 0 0
I , 5 0 0
In Addition to th is number, sevfer^I o th er c le r k s
w ere appointed to keep accounts in the courts of S a rd a r s ,
M amalatdars, Subhedars and K am avisdars . There w ere se p ara te
c le r k s in va r io u s Karkhanas and mints. This should make
c le a r on what la rg e sc a le money transactions and accounts
keeping ex is ted during th is p e r io d j
The S e c re ta r ia te maintained the re c o rd s of the em pire
ca lled the Huzur Daftar.^i I t , too, was a big establishm ent
consisting of about 200 c le r k s . Both the S e c re ta r ia te and
the E k-B erji Daftar w ere headed by th e Phadanis who was
the Chief S e c re ta ry as w e l l as the Accountant General (6 ) ,
I The Finance Department was located at ^*une, since
i t was the Head Q uarters of the Peshw as. As a p u re ly
finance departm ent it executed the Accountant G enera l's
work> income and exp en d itu re and the economic items
of the t r ib u ta ry s ta te s and a lso Saranjam s. '
RECORD KEEPING :
The Finance Department maintained two ty p e s of re co rd s :
' ^ i ) The C ha la te D aftar, ( l i t e r a l l y a moving Daftar)
t r a v e l le d w ith the Phadnais and d e a lt w ith the general
adm inistration w hich included p a p ers regarding Inams, re lig ious
m atters , kept fo r read y re fe ren c e . These documents '^erg
a lw a ys in t r ip l i c a te so that the Chalate Daftar a lw a ys contained
one co p y . (7)
(2 ) ' The Second Record consisted of p ap ers p rep ared
fo r the budget i . e , Ajmas. There was a se p ara te budget
fo r each prant which noted down gross demand, deductions
and g ross balance and tem porary additions e t c . , So that
204
Daftar i s s ignificant from the point of view of economic
h i s t o r y .
BOOK KEEPING IN THE FINANCE DEPARTMENT OF THE
PESHWA GOVERNMENT :
PRANT AJMAS (Anticipated Budget of the Prant) It
was th e duty of the c le r k s who worked in the finance
department to p re p a re th e revenue demands. It showed
th e net demand by deducting th e payment made to Watandars
and o th er servants^ items of cash exp en d itu re w ere a lso
shown and la s t ly a r r e a r s to be co llec ted w ere added so
that the net cash balance could be a r r i v e d a t . 'Logan's
Report' c l e a r l y mentions th is p ro ced u re . (8 ) ~
Revenue Demand :
Gross demand
- deduction fo r a lienation ( l ik e Domala v i l la g e s )
Gross balance
- Cash exp en d itu re l i k e S a la r ie s e tc .
Fixed Revenue and exp en d itu re .'
TALEBAND : ( i . e . Balance sh ee t) considered
amounts of re c e ip ts and exp en d itu re together. Every Prant
p rep ared such balance sh eets e v e ry y e a r and they a lso
mentioned loose accounts. They w ere accompanied by Zadatis.
( i . e , d e ta i ls of the items of re c e ip ts o r expenditure.) The
Zadatis w ere th e combined form of the d e ta i ls of the re c e ip ts
and ex p en d itu re . Talebands w ere subjected to the Finance
Department fo r au d it. In the y e a r 17 9 1 -9 2 A.D., the Taleband
of Pune Prant show s.
205
Actual co llec tion Rs. 9 0 ,0 1 3 (because ofS c a r ity of rain)
A r r e a r s Rs. 2 ,6 76
Collection of Past Dues Rs. 14 ,6 75 (9)
A ll the Prant Accounts when com pleted, were forw arded
fo r record into the finance departm ent. There they were compared
(studied alongw ith) w ith c la s s i f ie d led g ers (Khatawanis)
of a l l k inds of expend itu re and the g rea t Tarjumas were
thus p re p a re d .
1 . TARJUMA AS A RECORD OF YEARLY INCOME aWd EXPENDITURE :There w ere d a i ly re g is te rs (R o z k ird s) , A bstract of
re g is te r s , Balance sh eets (Taleband)^ estim ates of revenue
and exp e n d itu re (A jm as), a b s t ra c ts (T eri j) and based on
them w ere the au thorised budgets fo r d i s t r i c t s and exh ib ited
a com prehensive view in Tarjuma.
From the Taleband i . e . , balance sheet of the im peria l
co llec tion of revenue, th e net balance was separated and
it was record ed in the Tarjuma. The Tarjuma shows
(1) The a r r e a r s of the past y e a r ca lled Salgudast
(2) F u rth er a r r e a r s w ere found on examination
(3) R eceipts of the cu rren t y e a r in cash o r kind
under the fo llowing heads
1) Mahal Nisbat,
2) Mahal Nihaya
3) K herij Mahal Nihaya
4) Various ty p e s of Kamavisis
206
V.
in d e ta i l namely^ ex p en d itu re . It included
1) Expenses paid to S h i le d a rs as Nalbandi,
2) Pages and Pathake
3) Personal Guards i . e . Hashams
Expenses on adm in istra tion ,
5) S a la r ie s and payments of Sarkarkuns, c le rk s
e tc . ( 1 0 )
6 ) Expenses paid fo r co llecting dues,
7) Expenses fo r buying c lo th ,
8 ) Personal exp en ses ,
10) Payment of w ar Chiefs (More d e ta i ls in The
Income and Expenditure of the P eshw as).
207
In Kharch one finds the items of expenditure
When the Tarjuma of th e Year 1864-65 A.D. was a ssessed ,
i t was found to include dead and l i v e stock . The Tarjuma
is quoted as an example :
Tarjuma of the y e a r 1764 - 1765 A.D. A review
(1) Dues w ere co llec ted from th e Prants v iz . Bundel
Khand, Konkan, Bhelase , Huzarat, Varghat,
Gangthadi, Khandesh, Gujarat, Karnatak, Hindustan*
The Peshwas had the righ t to co llec t the revenue
from the above mentioned subhas or Prants ( 1 1 ) .
(2) Receipts from va r io u s items w ere found in a
s p e c i f ic format v iz .
1) A r r e a r s of the la s t ye a r JsiT^
2) R eceipts of th is year
3) P resents JT'FRTTS
A) Loans 5 W ^ g
5) About c lo th S S
A r r e a r s of the la s t y e a r s Rs. 4 ,7 5 ,8 5 ,6 2 6 and 15
annas. Receipts fo r th e y e a r Rs. A ,3 3 ,4 6 ,9 7 0 and 15 annas.
The p r ic e of j e w e l le r y Rs. 2 2 ,3 8 ,6 5 5 and annas 15.3/A
A l i s t of ornaments loose j e w e l l e r y , id o ls , tools of iron,! y
b r a s s , l e a th e r , i v o r y etc- was found along with a l i s t of
animals and o th er dead and l i v e s to ck . The c a t t le
numbered 1 0 ,0 8 0 which includes cows, bu ffa loes, "
bu llocks e tc . It i s amazing to find even the number of
human beings in th is l i s t . On rev iew ing the above authorised
accounts, i t seems that/
1) The amount co lle c ted by means of revenue and
o th e r sources l i k e Nazar was la rg e enough to
su f f ic e fo r the adm in istra tion and pub lic w e lfa re ,
2) A co n sid e ra b le amount was a lso co llected from
ransoms and lo o ts ,
3) The t r ib u te co lle c ted from the weak powers
of Karnataka as f r ie n d ly t r ib u to ry s ta te s ,
A) When powers w ere not ready to pay t r ib u te ,
i t was co llected from these powers by arranging
invasio ns. Invasions again meant deb ts since
troops had to be paid in — — — — — — —
208
advance and d eb ts in turn could be paid off
only through e x p e d it io n s . The saying " If troops
m o ve,d eb ts w i l l be paid off " i|!i5r ^ "
p ro v e s the t ru th of th is o b se rv a t io n . ,y
The s t ra te g y of the Peshwas about loans is discussed
e ls e w h e re .
Amoung th e sources of income that the Peshwas commanded,
some l ik e V ancharai, C h h ap p arb an d i, Ghasdana w ere local
ta x e s and w ere found in th i s Tarjuma.
ROZKIRD ;
It was the reco rd showing the d a i ly income and expen
d itu re of the Peshw as, t h e i r day - book
contains the d e ta i ls of the actual income from various
sources and money spent on d i f fe re n t items and a lso of
th e agreements and documents g iven to s e v e r a l persons.
This record was a c tu a l ly kept in the Phad in the Chalate
D after b ranch . The p a p ers contain th re e items :
( 1 ) Pota w hich com prised th e actual Jama i . e .
re c e ip ts and K harch , e .g . d a i ly expenses l ik e
Inam, Makta Nazar and money spent fo r re lig ious
purpo ses .
(2) Ravasudgi ; R efers to cash o r d e r s , th e o f f i
c ia l documents l ik e Warat (demand d ra f t s ) ^'sued
by the government to e i th e r Kam avisdars o r
to prant t r e a s u r ie s o r to the t r ib u to ry ch ie fs
in favo u r of a l l ty p e s of c r e d i t s .
209
(3) Dafata Consisted of the government o rd e rs on
important m atters l i k e , g ran ts , appointments
of revenue o f f ic ia ls and o th er personnel. Ghadanis
a re government documents of c la s s i f ie d groups
under sp e c if ic h ead s. They a re the counter
p a r ts of R ozk ird s . They contain the record
of the exped it ion under the gen era lsh ip of various
G enerals of the Peshw as.
CHITNISI GHADANIS :
These Ghadanis made a note of th e money spent on
items l ik e , sw ari Sarkarkun i . e . . S a la r ie s of the c le rk sI
etc . They helped in assess ing the exp en d itu re of the Peshwas.
A ll th e se record - books a re important fo r the study
of th e economic h is to ry of the Peshwa period but some
of the books a re m isplaced and some a re not available^
so one cannot get a com plete, continuous p ic tu re of all^
the accounts.
ACCOUNTS KEEPING :
It was done in d i f fe re n t w ay s . One method ca lled
'P o tap a ik i' ( i . e . from the t re a s u ry ) re fe r re d to the payment
made d i r e c t ly from the t re a su ry and i t s en try was made
in E k -B er j i-D a fta r . A second method was 'P a rb h are ' i . e . ,
payment made from o th er sources than the t r e a s u r y , This
was ad justed against w arats and th is ad justed payment
was deducted from the government re c e ip ts ( i . e . ad justed
210
from th e Prant T re a su ry ) , These ty p e s of e n tr ie s w ere made
in "Duberji Accounts ie . Double - e n t r y —system i e . , F irs t
th e Warat en try and secondly the en try of th e repayment\
was a lso made. This D ou b le -E n try^ ystem p re v a i le d throughout
th e Peshwa p e r io d . A ll the accounts about the contracts
w ere given by p re v io u s agreement. The contracts given
to t r a d e r s , b a n k ers , b ro k e rs who sup p lied c lo th , money
fo r wages, coins and defence equipment w ere put down
in a continuous form of w rit in g . The name of the con tracto r,
the amount he agreed to in ve s t and the la te s t payment
made. The record was a lw a ys c a r r ie d fo rw a rd to the next
time e . g . , Ghadani 460, H aribhakti used to take th is ty p e
of co n trac ts . ( 1 2 )
" 1 ,00,000 F 23 ^ ^ii
F F H R f f r ^ Wm ^ r^T tfl I W
6 , 0 0 0 F 4 ^ f I ’l ^ 1 1 ^ I W R - ^ 1 I T T ^
^Tl I rrarfT ^ 1 1 M T 2 0 0
Tznwar ^ rintn i
MISCELLANEOUS ACCOUNTS ;
This t y p e of account is seen in Ghadanis on a la rg e
sca le under the head Tasalmat. It contained the record
of a loan which had not been p re v io u s ly agreed upon. Some
times an u n in te l l ig ib le loan comes under th is head (13)
211
" F 3 0 W ^ 1 I I ^
r->
t e l T i r w T 1 , 0 0 , 0 0 0 ^ T R T f ^ l I W T 7
fri I T F m T R ^ ^ Wm
tr rqRT TITW l fTTr M?T TFrT 'qsgtfr • "
So a l l the money transactions come under two typ es
of accounts (i) S ingle - E ntry— S ystem . ( i i ) Double- Entry-
System .
212
MONEY TRANSACTIONS :
P rev iou sagreement
Potapaik i(Cash)
P arb h are (Prant - t r e a s u r y )
C red it Miscellan-eous
Duberji E kberji(Double (SingleE ntry) Entry)
Duberji (Double Entry)
Duberji ( Double
Entry)
DuberjiDoubleEntry)
THE INCOME OF THE PESHWA GOVERNMENT :
In t ry in g to a ss e ss the income of the Peshwas
one meets with d i f f ic u l t ie s at the outset. F i r s t a c le a r
p ic tu re of the economic situation cannot be e a s i ly drawn
as the boundaries of the Maratha em pire kept changing
(s ince some of the dues w ere co llec ted from Maratha feuda
to r ie s and some from the Mughal fe u d a to r ie s . Some w ere
co llec ted from the t r ib u ta ry s ta te s of Karanataka and from
o th e r regions and only some of the t e r r i t o r y was under
th e d i re c t control of th e Maratha Government.) Again the
whole Maratha t e r r i t o r y was d iv id e d into two main p a r ts
fo r co llection purposes :
(1) T e r r i to ry w here th e Kam avisdars w ere entitled
to c o l le c t the dues " Kamavisi Mulukh. " ^
(2) T e r r i to ry under the ru le of Saranjam dars ’
'' Mokasi Mulukh '* (14) and consequently the
amount of dues to be co llected changed. Secondly
i f one decided to consider only the area under
the d ire c t ru le fo r assess ing the income, one
cannot ignore the fact that the co llection of
t r ib u te s was eq u a lly important and formed a
la rg e p a rt of the t r e a s u ry .
The methods of co llecting dues and the economic
system remained unchanded though the amount of income
v a r ie d from time to tim e. The Government did not increase
the land revenue from time to time and excess amounts
w ere imposed v e r y freq u en t ly in t h e . form of 'Chadh' (an
excess) o r p a tt ie s e t c . , and the amounts l ik e Nazar e tc .
The p r iv a t e p ro p e r ty and income w ere most of the
time, not kept se p a ra te from public p ro p e rty and
income by the Peshw as. When and w here they needed money,
they d id not h es ita te to use th e i r own money and even
ornaments fo r th e kingdom. (15 ) But they did not seem to
u t i l i s e public funds fo r t h e i r own purpose. They had th e i r
own saranjam s and annual remuneration and o th er p r iv a te
funds. The accounts of personal expenses w ere sometimes
kept se p a ra te ly under the head ca lled Khasgat and th e i r
public p ro p e rty and funds w ere known as Daulat. But one
gathers from the p r iv a te papers that these w ere not sometimes
trea ted as w a te r - t ig h t compartments.
213
21 1
One gets accounts of r e c e ip ts from the Rozkirds which
included a l l the e n t r ie s ; exp en ses and re c e ip ts and also
o th e r accounts which w ere minutely k ep t. The Peshwas
b e l ie v e d in e th ic a l p r in c ip le s and in vested money in such
a way that the em pire would f lo u r i s h . Complete accounts,
hence, a re not a v a i la b le and because of th e regions d is tr ib u ted
to Saran jam d ars , the re c e ip ts of th ese a rea s cannot be
a s s e s s e d .
Division of the Kingdom and the o f f ic ia ls engaged
in the work of co llec tion of dues ;
The w hole t e r r i t o r y of the Maratha Empire was d iv id e d
into s e v e r a l p a r ts of w hich the prant was the biggest one.
The fo llow ing p ran ts w ere under the d ire c t control
of the Peshwa government :
Prant Konkan,
Prant V arghati,
Prant Gangathadi,
Prant Khandesh,
Prant Gujarat,
Prant Hindustan,
Prant K a ra n a tak a ,( some of them w ere t r ib u to ry s ta tes
in Karnataka)
In 176A A.D. th e Peshw as co llec ted dues from
the fo llowing Prants ( 1 6 ) ,
215
P rant Bund e lk h and ,
Prant Konkan,
Prant Bhelase ,
Prant Huzarat,
Prant V arghati,
P rant Gangat had i ,
Prant Khandesh,
Prant Gujarat,
Prant Karanatak,
Prant Hindustan,
A v i l la g e was th e sm a lles t unit but India at that
t im e, being an a g r ic u ltu ra l co u n try , the v i l la g e was an
important unit fo r co llec t in g dues . It was a lso known as
Dehe, Marje e t c .
A b igger unit was a paragana and a prant included
many paraganas. For a d m in is t ra t iv e purpose^ , the v i l la g e
was the sm allest and the prant was the biggest unit.
For co llec tion of dues , a c e r ta in number of v i l la g e s
w ere assem bled together in a se p a ra te unit ca l led 'Mahal'
but the number in one Mahal was not f ix e d and the term
Mahal was used in d isc r im in a te ly to denote any su b -d iv is io n
from prant down to a sm all group of v i l l a g e s . The term Mahal,
re fe r re d to a unit of a p a r t ic u la r a re a meant fo r co llection
of revenue. 'At times a Mahal was big enough to include a
number of v i l l a g e s . Any how the Mahal was an important
area fo r co llection of revenue.' The Peshwas appointed Kama-
- v i s d a r s as the revenue o f f i c e r s . Kam avisdars seem to
e x is t in th is f i e ld b e fo re th e Peshwa p e r io d , but they
w ere given more pow ers and e s ta b l is h e d new ly as powerful
persons to c o l le c t th e revenue . The o th e r o f f ic e rs l ik e
Phadanis, su b h e d ars , Sarsubha w ere supposed to look a f te r
the general a d m in is t ra t iv e d u t ie s . Kam avisdars collected
revenue fo r one o r more than one Mahal. The Prants and
Mahals included in them a r e g iven below though the number
may have changed from tim e to tim e.
In M aharashtra , t h e r e w ere tw e lv e subhas o r P ran ts . (17)
Khandesh including Baglan, consis ted of 30 paraganas o r
Mahals.
Nemad Handia 5
Pune Nagar 18
Konkan 15
Gangathadi including 25
Nasik
In Gujarat th e re w ere 20 Paraganas.
Karanataka 8
Wai Satara 9
In addition to t h i s , fo r Jak a t purpose, some area
was assigned as Jak at (O ctroi) subha. There w ere four
Jakat subhas v iz . Pune, Junnar, Kalyan and B hivandi.
There w ere two Armar Subhes v iz . V ijaydurg andI
Vasai , S u rp r is in g ly enough the Peshwas used to s e l l out
216
The Mahals ou tside th e i r a re a s . (18 )
In Konkan, Paragana was ca l le d Taluka and i t s head
was T alukadar. Takshim was a sm all unit of adm inistration
which was a lso used fo r c o lle c t io n of p a tt is and o ther
dues. It i s not p o s s ib le to r e f e r to graded units as they
changed f re q u e n t ly .
The v i l la g e community was e f f ic ie n t enough to a ss is t
the o f f ic ia ls in co llec ting reven u e . Some v i l la g e s w ere under
two pow ers l i k e the cen tra l government and a saranjam dar
and paid dues a cco rd ing ly to the r e s p e c t iv e a u th o r i t ie s .
Some had to pay the Peshw as, the Saranjam dar and an
alien ru le r l i k e S id d i in Konkan. These ty p e s of v i l la g e s
w ere c a l le d 'Domala' v i l l a g e s .
\ A g rea t number of o f f i c ia ls from th e Sarsubha and
Mukadam of the Prant down' to the Kulkarni of the v i l la g e
(who was a watan h o ld e r ) , w ere engaged in ca rry in g out
th e adm in istra tion including co llec t io n of revenue to some
extent. In 177A A.D.^ Sh a n k a ra ji Keshav was appointed as
th e Sarsubha (V icero y) of Prant Konkan. The sarsubha enjoyed
w ide power e .g . j he could f ix the remuneration of Kam avisdars.
Some p a rt of the commission was g iven to him. He could
assess the d e ta i ls of the accounts of the Kam avisdar at
any time. The people could approach him through the Watandars
i f any oppress ion was made by the K am avisdar.'T he Mamlatdars,
Kam avisdars formed an important p a rt of jthe a d m in is tra tiv e
machinery in regard to revenue m a t t e r s . (19)
217
218
Three ty p e s of o f f ic ia ls co llec ted the revenue fo r
the Government :
Government o f f ic ia ls , l i k e Mokadam, Phadanis,
Sub h edar, o r sometimes P ra n ta d h ik a r i ;
(2) Watandar, o f f ic ia ls l ik e P a t i l , Kulkarni, Deshpande,
Deshmukh etc .
(3) C ontractors cum government o f f ic ia ls l ik e , Mamala-
- t d a r , T akshim dar, and Kam avisdars. Kamavisi
was a p r i v a te system p a r a l le l to the o f f ic ia l\
revenue co llection w ork .
THE KAMAVISI SYSTEM :\
The Kamavisi system was th e p ivo t of the then economic
system , th e main source of th e revenue co llec tion . The
P esh w a's K am avisdars w ere a b le men of p re s t ig e and socia l
sta tu s . They w ere the p r iv a t e body of o f f ic ia ls appointed
by government. They worked as l ia iso n o f f ic e rs between
the su b jec ts and the government.' They could be in charge
of more than one Mahal and th e i r only duty was to co llec t
revenue and o th e r dues. They advanced to the government
1/3 of the amount w hich was ca l le d ' Rasad.'' However,
they paid more than 1/3 i f i t was demanded. As such th is
system came to be a p a ra l le l system to the o f f ic ia l one.
They w ere r e l i a b le revenue c o l le c to rs .
There w ere d i f fe re n t kinds of K am avisdars . Some
co llected regu lar revenue, o th e rs w ere assigned to co llec t
K arjp a tt i o r Kherj Mokasa e tc . Nilo s e k h o j i , a kam avisdar,
was appointed in the s e r v ic e of P i la j i Ja d h a vra o to co llec t
dues o th er than the revenue (2 0 )
TTI I ^ VI I SRTT
^ 3T% ^ ^ ite ^ ^
y mrfr ^ TT^ W ifw TRtf ^ w¥^ virm4<S1i i rrrar wm
'*TI I TRT < W ?<5rli 21 *
There is another exam ple of a Kamavisdar who was
the incharge of co llecting a tem porary tax named K arjp a tti
which was imposed on th e d evo tees of Goddess Saptsrung
(21) This shows that the Kam avisdars w ere given d if fe re n t
assignments.
(The Kam avisdar was not a paid s e rv a n t . He was givn
the commission o r amount as M ushahira. He was honoured
with a P a la k h i . He was a llow ed to appoint se rv a n ts to
a s s is t him and to charge h% as h is commission in addition
to t ran sp o rt ch a rg es fo r sending money
to the government. The fo llow ing e x t ra c t shows th is (22)
^ T R ^ t h n r t F T f I I ^?rinT F 4 ¥ 1 I ■'SjtlHHd
rnw ^ Tnm ^Rffr
2 , 0 0 0
5 0 , 0 0 0
8 0 0 "pfitTT
219
220
225 arrainjr
4 0 3 p * f t I T l I 5
3 2 I T n n ^ T l I 4
1 2 8 3TTTHTT arauft F I 4
2 2 4 W > r t rs R Tfl ^ I 6
8 Tnfr
2 , 2 5 0 3iranfr 1 5 T T 3TR?nJt rR[?T ^ 5 0 THTI^
XX TTfr
^ fTfr ^ WR •gjfr frffr
ipn t W R TTraHT-
5 , 5 7 4
This shows that th e Kam avisdars w ere given d if fe re n t
d uties and only those who could in ve s t money in advance could
be appointed as K am avisd ars . They w ere t ra n s fe r re d to
d if fe re n t p laces and then t h e i r accounts w ere c a r r ie d fo rw ard
to the new p lac e . The accounts w ere c le a re d up e v e ry th re e
y e a r s . They w ere fo rb id d en to o v e r ta x and to use unfair
means. Even long d is tan ce revenue was co llec ted with th e ir
help so they w ere g iven more re sp e c t as w e ll as concessions^
The fo llowing exam ple shows that B haskar B a lla l paid
50 ,0 0 0 as the Rasad of Prant Udepur. He could charge
Rs. 2 per mensum, p e r hundred as in te re s t fo r the Rasad
he advanced.
^ ui I tRSJcT Tinmr ^ iRfft
T ? R ^TTTT ^ 5 0 , 0 0 0 T R R T I R T T r ^ R T ^
^ wm ^ T?i^ JTw ^ {fRfeJ ^
tf%rn 5?7Rm 31^ 3^ tiRT tm TTi^ p «nc<c£)
^trT ?l«((i^N %9r 71 I ^ STIR p |«!<<fj T»Tf^
n>r TTiTcft ^ TTifW TTfr ^ inn r
^ ( 2 3 )
Charges l ik e Hundanawal e tc . w ere borne by the G over-
ment. A ll th ese items a r e c l e a r l y shown in the above e x t ra c t .
Again,
711 wmr ^ ^ ?7t%
eia#RT W ^ - w m ¥ t r - ( 2 4 )
• g ^ 400
3TI I I 0 T T 2| I
^ r I I 2 5 1 2 5
7 1 ^ ^ 1 I 5 T T I 5 I I 7 5
\ 75 ^ TRinfr ---
9 0 0
Thus, the K am avisdars w ere the important agents
and o f f ic ia ls of the government. It would not be an exaggera
tion to say that i t was the Kam avisdar who helped to fu l f i l
th e P e sh w a's am bitions.
INCOME - VARIOUS SOURCES :
I The re c e ip ts of the Peshwa Government can be d iv id e d
into two p a r ts .
(1) Internal sources and
(2 ) External sources.
some of th e permanent in terna l sources included the land
revenue.
221
It was the most im portant source of Income. A c tu a l ly , Maujewarl
system was in e x is te n c e as the v i l la g e community and s e l f -
su ffic ien t v i l la g e s d id va r io u s jo b s . They helped the govern
ment in co llec ting reven u e . They promoted a g ricu ltu re and
sm all sca le in d u s t r ie s . \ The Peshwa government
implemented 'Kamal' assessm ent but th e re was a d if fe ren ce
between 'Kamal' and actual assessm ent. The government
did not a sse ss the land fr e q u e n t ly , but i t imposed more
taxes on the land named 'C h a d h '. i The land revenue
was n ev e r more than 2/3 depending on the c la ss if ic a t io n
of the land and a v a i l a b i l i t y of w ater s u p p ly . The government
used to p ro v id e and promote ag ricu ltu re .T h ere w ere p ro g re ss iv e
ra te s ca l le d Istawa w hich helped the c u l t iv a to r s in ca lam ities(
The c u l t iv a to r s w ere compensated fo r the lo ss from movements
of t ro o p s . But th is seems to be a prolonged p rocess and
took much time to y i e ld p r o f i t . The actual assesment of
a v i l la g e was done w ith the help of the v i l la g e community. (25)
" Tfrfr ^ TTFM
^ HTi I ^ TTi I ^ ^ 1 1 ^ w ^
Mr
222
45
m l
7'l I-
223
<fn)> wnrr
02
01-
3 -I I I-
4 5
2 9 T ? r o f
7 4
^7^ ?TTtr ^ ^ aPTRTfr
T T # r ^ 31^- T 1 I F H T ^
From the ab ove Kaulnama, i t i s c le a r that in addition
to land t a x , tem porary tax e s l i k e Tupkanu, Moglai and r ig h ts
l ik e , Babati, Deshkmukhi, w ere co lle c ted from the sm allest
unit of the s ta te . The Tax l ik e Mogali was 2/3 of the o th e r
co l le c t io n s . The dues w ere to be paid to th e v i l la g e o f f ic ia ls ,
Kam avisdars and o th e rs who w ere appointed fo r th is w ork ,
w h ere the a rea was assigned to a Saranjam .
'From Paraganas and towns th e fo llow ing dues w ere
co llec ted (26)
(1) S h i r s te k a r i - land revenue on the land a c tu a lly
a s s e s s e d .
(2 ) Mohataraf - tax le v ie d on a r t is a n s ,
(3) Gulla,
(4) Zakat (customs)
(5) G harpatt i (House tax)
Prant receipts included^
1) Ain Jama
2) Kamavis - Various ty p e s of re c e ip ts fo r
Government s e r v ic e s and o th e rs ,
3) Chakarmane
A) Inamat
5) Tax co llec ted fo r f a i r s J o t ra ,
6 ) Peth Gurwar (estab lishm ent of a new lo c a l i t y ) ,
7) Vancharai »
8 ) C hiti Masale,
22 1
The Saranjam dars had to pay th e dues to the government
in add ition to th e regu la r payment of Mokasabab. This
amount was known as K herij Mokasa. Here the Kamavisdar
Nilo Sekho ji was g iven th e Kauai (agreement) fo r Pargane
Jo rd e , Prant, Handia (27)
t f l I % % TJTRT M I H
qnfTT ^ ^ ^
ihrg mrfr ^ ^
r cfir w j 1 ^
The regu lar re c e ip ts of th e Peshwa government w ere
as fo l lo w s (according to the va r io u s T arjum as.) The Tarjuma
of 1767 A.D. contains the fo llowing heads (28)
(1) The a r r e a r s of the past y e a r s ,
(2) Receipts of th is y e a r ,
(3) I japhat (P resents)
(4) Jama Karj (Loan)
(5) Yain Jama,
A r re a rs of the past y e a r -
From Forts Rs. 4 ,15 ,0 5 A
From Talukas of Rs. 6 ,4 4 ,9 1 1Konkan.
From Mahal Nisbat Rs. 9 6 ,6 5 ,6 4 4
Mulki Baki Rs. 1 , 2 9 ,3 2 , 1 0 9
Revenue co llection -
(Mahal Ninaye) Rs. 5 6 ,2 2 ,7 2 3
Kherj Mahal Ninaya Rs. 7 3 ,0 9 ,3 8 5
(By deducting land revenue)
The main items seem to be as fo l lo w s :
(1) Mahal Nihaye (Revenue co llection)
(2) Kherij Mahal Nihaya : Collection of dues in
addition to revenue co llec t io n .
(3) Khandnya
(4) Kamavis (var io u s ty p e s )
(5) S i la k Karkhane,
(6 ) Pote Nakhta (cash)
(7) Mahal Nisbat
(8 ) Jamadarkhana
(9 ) Tahawet
(10) Pagahaya
( 1 1 ) K il leh a ya
(12) Talukhaye etc .
225
The above item s can be c la s s i f ie d under the following
groups.
' Receipts of ta x e s imposed by the government v iz .
Mahal Nihaya - land revenue.
(2) Receipts of th e tax e s imposed fo r punishment v iz .
Gunhegari.
(3) R eceipts of ta x e s imposed fo r s e rv ic e s rendered by
the government v i z . H arak i-Sheran i-K asar, S ilkawan,
Karj chauthai e tc .
(A) Receipts as p re se n ts fo r re s p e c t , Ifazat , Bhet
bakara etc .
(5) S a la r ie s of th e Peshw as.
In 1767 A.D. The amounts co llec ted under the fo llowing
heads (29) w ere as fo l lo w s .
Jama salm azkur • 3 ,3 4 ,6 3 ,8 2 2
K herij Mahal Nihaya 1 ,4 9 ,9 8 ,6 8 0
T ributes :
B edar, C h itra d u rg , Karnal e t c . ) 30 ,0 0 ,0 0 14 ,1 0 ,0 0 1
1 ,30 ,000^Mokasa 7 9 ,1 9 ,7 6 4
Kamavis 5 1 ,3 0 ,4 7 7
Nazar 12 ,2 9 ,9 0 6
Kamavis Nazar 10 ,0 00
Kherij Mahal
Nihoya' (T ributes) 7 9 , 1 9 ,2 8 3o th er Kam avisis 2 1 ,7 4 ,2 0 2Ja f fy a Kotwali
226
Jakat 1,22,37,608
The co llec tion of the revenue under
227
the head
' Mahalnihaya ' is as fo l lo w s : (29) (A)
Varghat 1973 1764 1766
Varghat 2 3 ,6 4 ,8 4 2 3 ,8 8 ,0 6 7 4 1 ,0 0 ,0 3 5
Gangathadi 2 1 , 1 9 ,5 0 9 6 ,3 9 ,5 1 0 3 3 ,8 8 ,8 4 4
Khandesh 1 1 ,8 0 ,5 5 9 1 ,0 2 ,0 8 8 1 4 ,3 5 ,2 4 2
Gujarat 1 6 ,6 3 ,5 3 1 7 ,8 0 ,0 1 3 2 0 ,3 2 ,4 8 9
Hindustan 2 1 , 1 8 , 4 9 3 1 1 ,9 4 ,9 0 3 18 ,3 5 ,5 7 6
Karnatak 1 6 ,1 7 ,2 0 2 2 1 ,6 6 ,9 4 6 2 3 ,63 ,93 6
Konkan 2 1 , 1 8 ,4 9 3 3 ,3 8 ,5 0 1 2 0 ,5 2 ,4 7 4
Huzarat Mahals 1 0 ,8 3 ,4 5 8 2 ,9 1 ,2 5 3 12 ,5 6 ,5 4 2
The amount co llec ted under the head ’ Kherij Mahal
Nithaye ( ie - excep t land revenue)
1764 20 ,5 6 4
1766 : 1 4 ,9 9 ,8 6 8
1767 : 1 , 4 9 ,9 8 , 6 8 0 ' (30)
' The va r io u s ty p e s of re c e ip ts named as Kamavisi
added a good amount in the t r e a s u ry . The Kamavisdars'^'
co llected the re c e ip ts . The fo llowing ta b le shows the va rio u s
ty p e s of Kam avisis :
KAMAVIS (INTERNAL SOURCE)
/
IRegular Kamavis (Included in M ahalnihaya)
For s e rv ic e s to the subjects Haraki, Sherani
From th e a rea from th e Occasional Gunhegariunder the direct area outside | KotwaU,KarjchaLithaicontrol of the th e contro l 'Peshwas of th e Peshwas Silakawan Bini
Ghasdana Majwani Bhet ChhaparbandiNazar Karj PattiDarakmule Madal P atti Kasar Ijaphat
Aher
The re c e ip ts from Huzarat Mahals w ere as fo l lo w s
(1766 A .D .) (31)
228
/■
A rre a rs 2 ,6 8 ,0 3 ,A 9 9
Huzurat Mahals 1 2 ,5 6 ,5 4 2
Jama sa l Mazkur 3 , 3 4 ,6 3 ,8 2 2
I jap h a ti 1 , 0 9 ,2 6 0
Yain Jama 6 , 0 3 , 7 6 , 5 7 8
Jama Karj 1 , 2 7 ,0 0 ,9 0 7
Awal Jama 7 , 3 0 ,7 7 ,4 8 6
Cloth 1 , 4 4 ,5 0 , 2 5 0
Total Rs. 2 2 ,2 2 ,3 8 ,3 4 4
In 1764 A .D , th e fo llow ing amount was re c e iv e d under
the Head Kamavis (32)
Kamavis Ghasdana ■ 9 5 ,2 7 9
Kamavis Madat P atti 1 ,4 6 2
46 ,001
Harki 1 ,4 2 6
Gunhegari 53
Karj Chauthai 135
Karj P atti 33 ,475
Kotwali 521
Kasar 3 4 ,17 1
Kitta Aivaj 9,25,000
From Kamavis Nazar one gets the
Name Place Nazar
P i lo j i Gaikwad Narwar 2 A,0 0 0
P i lo j i Gaikwad Pacchel 2 ,0 0 0Kolyan Kalyan
Khonderao Malhar Udepur
M alhar Krishna Vodase
Naro Raghunath Wai/Rajgad 7 ,0 0 0
Bapuji Mahadeo Bundli
N ilosekhoji Handia
Laxman Shankar Handia
B haskar B alla l Udepur
A ntaji Manakeswar II
1 lowing am<iunts in dcx:uments. (32-A )
Kama v i s
229
10,00,000
1 ,7 5 ,0 0 0
3 ,0 00
862
2 ,9 95
25,071
9 3 ,0 0 0
By conferring j a g i r s the government re ce ived the
fo llow ing amounts : (33)
Puranmal P iproha
Panchamsingh Rathod
Durjan Singh
Sastanvaduse
In d ra j i t (Datia)
In d ra j i t (Datia)
3 7 ,5 0 0
14,A95
1 5 ,0 0 0
A ,0 5 ,0 0 0
A ,0 1 ,0 0 0
1 , 9 2 ,0 0 0
Now b r i e f l y items of th e in tern a l re c e ip ts of the
Peshwa government can be understood as fo l lo w s :
230
( 1 ) M ahalnihaya,
(2) Inamat Khandani,
(3) Jafti)
(A) Nazar,
(5) Various ty p e s of Kham avisis
(as d iscu ssed e a r l i e r ) •
(6 ) Customs
(7) K herij M ahalnihaya - tax e s excluding land revenue.
(8 ) Mokasa,
(9) K herij Mokasa^
(10) Loans,
(1 1 ) K a sa r .B a tta v a r t a la j
(12) Temporary ta x e s imposed on many occasions^
(13) Huzurat M ahals.
EXTERNAL SOURCES : WHICH INCLUDED THE TRIBUTES ;I
' (1) T ribute from th e f r ie n d ly t r ib u ta ry s ta te s .
This t r ib u te was co llec ted without using troo p s.
(2) T ribute from th e enemies l ik e Nizam, Hyder
and o th e rs and w ar idem nities .
(3) Loots, ransom e tc .
In 1767 A .D ., the government re c e iv e d the following
amounts as t r ib u te s from v a r io u s p laces (34)
231
Total from Hindustan
Total from Karnatak
In 1765 A.D. th e Nazar
s ta te s and sa ra n ja m d a r's was
Kamavis 9 ,3 0 ,9 A 7
Kamavis Nazar 7 5 ,0 0 0
86,000
Dharak Diwangarioffored
SaranjamJabta
2A,278
3 1 ,0 7 0
Watan Jab ta 1 0 ,2 2 0
Saran jam d ar's 4 ,0 0 ,0 0 0 dues
3 , 1 0 0
26 ,647 .
TOTAL ; 1 6 , 1 5 , 1 6 3
8 4 ,8 7 ,9 0 9
8 6 ,9 5 ,7 7 7
Kamavis from fr ie n d ly t r ib u to ry
re c e iv e d as fo l lo w s (35)
Yemaji V irupaksha
Khanderao Pawar
Khando Baburao
Saranjam was re leased which was confiscated. Deshmukhi Watan was re le a sed .
Kasaba Rajubhai
K edarji sh inde
From the Tarjumas the f igu res recorded show that
the re c e ip ts of the p re v io u s y e a rs and those of the present
y e a r w ere co l le c te d . The a r r e a r s seem to be more in the
s ta te s . S u rp ris in g ly the amount from Hindustan a r e more
than those from Karnataka. The amounts of p resents and
I jap h ati a re sub stan tia l . Though loans w ere taken th e income
was in excess of loans.
P erh ap s though they d id not need loans urgently
th e Peshwas fo l lo w ed loan-taking as a P o lic y .
' The amount of t r ib u te s re c e iv e d shows that even
in the p o s t-p a n ip a t tim es the Peshw as commanded respect
in th e North. The Peshwa could manage to pay off the
debt w ith the help o f h is financia l reso urces . Yet he seems
anxious about h is d e b ts . The fig u re s of the Peshw a's debt
w ere as fo l lo w s : (36)\ /
B ala ji B a jirao (1740 to 1760) 1 ,5 0 ,0 0 0
M adhavrao (1762) 2A ,00 ,000
Savai M adhavrao 2 ,0 0 ,0 0 0
Reviewing th e budget in w hich th e re ce ip ts w ere never
le s s than 18 c r o re s rupees approxim ately^ the f ig u re y o f
the debt w ere not so la rg e as to make the Peshwas uneasy.
But because of t h e i r sense of re sp o n s ib i l i ty
and because of i r r e g u la r payments from various s a rd a rs ,
from the above ta b le of t r ib u te s , i t i s c le a r that Mulukhgiri
in i t i a l l y a n ec ess ity became a kind of necessary e v i l in
thatjthough ex p e d it io n s brought money they taxed the t re a s u ry .
To sum up, th e Peshwa government had various typ es
of re c e ip ts which could be u t i l is e d fo r a d m in is tra tiv e purposes
and fo r p ub lic w e l fa re .
232
EXPENDITURE ;
! The cen tra l government under the King and the Peshwas
was a m ixture of bureaucracy and feudalism . E verybody from
the King at the apex (though the King became power -
- less after shahu) , the Peshwa to the troop commander
( i.e. Shiledar from high command,) the Huzur to the regular
Sardar or Shiledar had regular payments and some type of
Saranjams. ^"^i^ere was no separate civil service cadre.
The troop commander had to fight on the battlefield, the
Peshwa himself as the the general was on the battlefield
and in addition he had to frame the policy to run the
administration etc. But he did not have a sep^prfle payment
for all the three duties he performed. They were linked
together in an oral or written agreement. Only saranjams
were officially recorded in government .documents (Daftars).
The Saranjamadars, the Sardars, had to return a stipulated
amount to the treasury if they did not go on expeditions
(3 7 ). So that warfare became their regular duty. Even
Shiledars and owners of Pathaks and pagas had saranjams.
Before going on expeditions, they were given an advance
named Nalbandi. This amount was noted down in chitnisi
Ghadanis and it suggests that they were paid servants
during the period of actual fighting. These Ghadanis (37)(A)*
also mention other expenses viz. Jakkhmana i.e. help to
wounded soldiers and travelling expenses were given to
them but they did not mention the loot made or articles
collected by them, which were submitted to the government.
233
The main items of expenditure were :
(1) Salaries of Ministers.
^<2) Salaries of Shiledars and War leaders.
23t»
(3) Private expenses,
(4) Expenses of the Peshwas' Standing Army,
(5) Defence Services,
(6) Expenses on Administration,
(7) Liquidation of the debts, '
(8) Court expenses.
The Salaries of ministers
Ministers
Peshwa
Sachiv
Sumant
Mantri
Nyayadhish
Panditrao
Rajadhya
Amatya
Pratinidhi
Senakarate
Senapati
Dabhade
Sardars were as follows (38)
Salaries in Rupees
18,000 Per month
34,211 Per year '^^
5,891 Per year
4,601 Per year
603 Per year
532 Per year
2,333 Per year
2,436 Per year
661^661 and 12 ann^s
672 Per year
1,475 Per yearv /
8,467 Per year
Their salaries seem to be low because most of them
were not active members in the Peshwa's court. In addition
to Salaries, they had saranjams and a share of perquisits
and rights]
235
Salaries of the Warchiefs :
The warleaders were highly paid as they were
important persons of the time (39)
Damaji Gaik wad 48,637 Per annum
Kanhoji Mohite 47,037 Per annum,
Raghoji Angre 47,583 Per annum,
Shahaji Raje Bhosale 21,932 Per annum
Janoji Bhosale 5,27,237 Per annum
Tulaji Angre 1 ,416 Per annum
Mudhoji Bhosale 1 ,235 Per annum
This extract also shows that the Navel Chief was
paid the lowest salary. The total expenditure for the year^^
in 1766 A.D. was Rs. 54,23,577 out of which 40,42,41^
were spent for Pathaks and Rs. 22,96,414 on Pages. The
Nalbandi seems to be 2/3 of the total amount in advance
and the rest of amount was adjusted after 'Ganati' i.e.
counting. The swars were paid Rs. 5,39,214 and the Pagas
(Huzur) Rs. 14,164.
PAYM ENTS T O SH ILED AR S :
The Shiledars and their payments were as follows(AO)
Uadaji Garsade Rs. 605 ’
Uadaji Garud Rs. 400
Anandrao Jachak Rs. 1,343 ^
Amrutarao Yadav Rs. 810
Jagatap Rs. 300
Salokhe Rs. 364
>36
Arjunsingh Rs. A, 887
Arjun More (Jasud) Rs. 200
Amarsingh Jadhav Rs. 5,027
Anand Ganpat Rs. 1 ,302
Amrutrao Earavkar Rs. 321
Anandrao Baravkar Rs. 3,971
Amrutrao Bhapkar Rs. 1 ,299
Amrutrao Dhamdhere Rs. 316
Uadaji Pawar Rs. 80
Abhayya Bhagat Rs. 100
Uadaji Shitole Rs. 263
Uadaji Mohite Rs. 3A2
Ansoji Randive Rs. 3, AAA
Uadaji Mohite Rs./
3A2
Appaji Jadhav Rs. A76
Uadaji Kharate Rs. 90
Ishvardas Rs. 315
Umaji Raje Bhosale Rs. 8,731
Anandrao Shitole Rs. 50
The Peshwas had a private allowance for paying their
body-guards (Hasham), Servants artisans etc.
The Peshwa had spent the following amount for them
in 1760 A.D. (41) ^
Clerks Rs. A63
Vakil Rs. 13,389
Khasbardar Rs. 25,809
Pyade Rs. 26,352
Pavlok Rs. 2,364
Huzur Hasham Rs. 1,26,032
Dimat Hasham Rs. 11,346x /
237
In addition to this, the cooks, Chopdars were paid
as follows :
yAchyari RS. 467
Bajelok Rs. 51,021
Chopdar Rs. 3,034
The Peshwa had to spend a separate ^a^unt for
Shiledars who were at his own disposal (42)
In 1767 A.D.
Shiledar Rs. 95,12,930
Paganihaye Rs. 13,60,823
Karkun Rs. 4,31,561
Ashrit Rs. 97,531
Vakil Rs. 42,067
Khasbardar Rs. 1,41,561
Huzur Hasham Rs. 1,27,103
Dimat lok Rs. 1,50,957
Pavlok Rs. 1,23,560
Bajelok Rs. 2,28,062
In 1766 The total receipts were Rs. 56,54,025
and the expenses were Rs. 54,23,577 (43)« These figures
clearly show that the Peshwas certainly did not spend
more than what was budgeted.
WAR FIN A N CE AND E X P EN D ITU R E ON D EFEN CE SERVICES :
The main item of expenditure for the Peshwa Government
was the unavoidable expeditions and defence service. A
bird 's eye-view on the administration of the army services
of the Marathas in the 18th Century shows that there were
two types of mlitary services. (1) The Artillery^ the ammuni
tion was provided by the contractor e.g., Raste was given
the contract to provide ammunition and guns. But the main
service was the cavalry The cavalry consisted of Swars
of two types, Bargirs and Shiledars. The Bargir was provided
with the cloth, ration, the horse etc. by the government.
The Shiledars were troop commanders and Swars were paid
through them. The Pathaks had their own equipment. Itlakhi
Pathaks were supported by the government. If the Pathaks
were given Saranjams, they were called Saranjami Pathaks
or they belonged to some Saranjamdars. The Peshwas had
their own standing army (Huzurat). The Saranjamdars too
maintained an army with the help ,jQf the Saranjams awarded
to them and cash paid by the government. The Peshwas
standing army included Fifty Pathaks. The Saranjamdar's
army must have consisted of atleast one lakh Swars and
Shiledars who could be supported by the Marathas.
An item of recurring expenditure was the purchase of horses
essential for fighting on the battlefield. There were different
238
types of horses like Nirathadi, Gangth^jj Bhimthadi,
Prawarthadi, etc. Every expedition entailed the loss of_ __
four to five thousand horses on an average. Naturally
the Peshwas had their own Paga called Huzurpaga (This
place is still in Pune) and so did the Sardars and Saranjamdars»
Gharpagas expected to join the expedition if called by
the government.
As far as Salaries, if every Swar was paid Rs.300,
239
it meant spending Rs. 3 - A lakhs on Swars,
Shiledars were paid Rs. 7 to 8 hundred by way of
salary. The following extract gives some idea of the pay-roll
made by Haribhakti who was the Banker and contractor
of the government. (4A)
W!T THTT ^
8 5 0 F 2 9 ^ 1 1 ^ f ^ T r R R m JR
^ ^ T 2 , 6 1 5 1 , 5 0 0 F 2 9 I ^
f TrRTT "m THT?T ^ tcT R% TflFPfT
^ T 4 , 0 0 0 ^ W f r 8 5 0 ^ 1 1
6 , 0 0 0 F 1 8 5 0 ^ 1 1 ^ M ? T T I W T 1 %
cTOrtV ^ 1 1 ^ 2 00"nFTift
• /
650 F 6 W 4l I ^ ^ 1 I -m
w im rt ":nt#Wr rrorft T n boo ^
150 ^ ^11 tril W TRffT Rf lT tpR
w s r a r a r ^r t t % ? it 3i% -
j
3 ,500 3Prt# ^Rit I W r •• •
This extract shows that advance money was paid
to Shiledars before the expedition.
Since all the equipment to the army could not be
made available in Pune, some of it was purchased [>f^m
outside e.g., cloths, ration, some of it was provided on
contract by a banker like Haribhakti, Raste etc. For the
rest, auxiliary business flourished in those days, e.g.
The Gosavis sold horses, elephants, camels to the Peshwas.
The method of payment to the troops and the account
keeping have already been de^ribed in the earlier part
of this Chapter.
Even more than personal, private expenses,'the army-
maintenance made deep inroads into the Peshwds official
income.
EXPENSES ON A D M IN IS TR A TIO N E X C E P T M INISTER S
WAR C H IE F AND SH ILED AR S (F O R C O L L E C TIO N
- OF REVENUE AND O TH E R R E C E IP TS ;
! The officials for the Sarsubha at the apex to the
Kulkarni at the bottom were engaged in running the administ
ration of the Maratha Kingdom. Some of them were watan-
holders like Patil and Kulkarni and worked as “ ^ernment
officials. Some of them were attached to the Saranjamdars'
courts, some like the Kamavisdars worked on commission
basis and some were directly under the conlieel of the
Peshwa government officials of the record, and they were
2i\0
2^1
some of the servants who were paid salaries worked
centrally in the capital i.e. Some were appointed
to assist the Prant administration, Phadanis, Sabnis, Jamenis
and others who kept the accounts every where. There
were various types of clerks,: Phadanis, Chitnis, Hasbanis,
Daftardars, Muzumdars, and Thanedars, NakedarS, Tarafdars,
Kotwals etc. who worked for the administration of the
Peshwas. The central government^^aid their salaries but
if they worked under saranjamdars and Dimatihaya, their
salary was partly paid by the government and partly by
the person concerned. Salary included cloth and ratior^oo.
Their salaries were either paid by the central treasury
(Pota) or by Prant Treasury (Parbhare).
The Civilians received less wages than the soldiers
who were engaged in warfare and in defence services. The
following extract gives some idea of the expenses incurred
on salaries of the clerks. The salaries of the Clerks varied
from person to person. (4 5 )
•?TI I ^ VrnrUFT f I I w
TPJt -SI
Name Payment in cash
Payment in Kind
186 ----
528 3 3 1
1946 614
983 ---
225 ---
2 2 1 ---
2 12
VgihT 292
fen# 370
f®r I 86 -
71^ 00
%ITH TR 185
%nH 573 2 2
J?IM|ot<|c| ttrIT^T 2 37 0 0
TT% ^ 5605 5
ffmn# 259 00
rllrT 557 00
TR^t W TT 6 16 18 4
7 126 16 10
frfl w iiRitnr (a6)
ter i?mhm i667
TR^ T T ^ 1990
^1 I 370
^1 I 186
Tfr 219 42 2
263 00
^13# 7 I
F»rSt <4i4fi*H4i 400 —
1 11 T R ^^ I I TO# 19093 00
w m ?e|WHm 33 1 2 14
Tlr5R 3W^ 911 1082
IfiiRI# 3iq|v 4 5 8 2 11
I 47 00
TmrA ■RRTtPT I86 00
Tmr t 3T^ 186 00
TTTO #=T^ 186 00
TT% Vc<HHW
25755 12 -025
TUT# W?K 369
rJ¥*nr I 8 6
294
TW 470 6 40
3FTTf5T WmWT 536 1 4 2
TpiRr 300 6 2
iT ITR 370
#RT# ffra^ y 18 4
^ 24420
mm 80
irfr 337
3573 15 3 6
From this extract, it is clear that the Peshw^/Govern-
ment spent large sums of salaries on bureaiJcp^cy and other
c iv ilia^ . The extract also suggests that civilians were
engaged on various jobs like accounts keeping and writing
money transactions or checks on Sardar's Courts.
2^3
■The duties of some of the officials were; the Kamavisdar
collected dues and revenue. (A detailed description of
his work is made early in this chapter)
The Muzumdar balanced day books and maintained
salary registers of soldiers and horse-riders, Muzumdars
also watched over the pagas^ Karkhanas, Phadnis and
Chitnis looked after the account and correspondence. The
Daftardar prepared the annual estimate of the income and
expenditure of Mahals, Jamenis kept systematic revenue
records and hence received high salaries.
The following extract shows the different items
on which the government spent. (47)
Rs. 6,27,966
Rs. 9,36,421 on salary
Rs. 3,70,301 on Artillery.
Rs. 1,64,023 on household matters.
Another extract shows the following expenses on-^arious
items. According to Mr. l-ogon, the main items of the
expenditure (Huzur charges) were as follows : (48)
Head quarter establishment Rs. 76,06,575
Charities Rs. 23,00,000
Mahal Mazakur Rs. 16,06,194
Liquidation of debt Rs. 65,42,81
Expenses on Satara Rajia : and "
Salaries of Sarkarkun. Rs. 2,45,7-1^
Salaries on Military Chief and Rs. 2,01,048
Charges on forts and fleets.In addition to this the Peshwaspent the total amount of Rs. 6,27,966
2HH
245
RS. 3,70,301 Artillery
Rs. 9,36,421 Emoluments,
Rs. 1,64,023 Household expenses.
yIn 1768 Peshwas spent the following amounts (49)
Babat Mushahira Rs. 42,93,402
Kherij Mushahira Rs. 18,59,421
Tahwel RS. 95,869
Mahal Mazkur Rs. 36,75,409
Rad Karj Rs. 4,87,132
Huzurat Rs. 2,48,999
Swari Sarkarkun Rs. 3,12,536
Subhe Laskar Rs. 2,18,052
Killhaya Rs. 1,13,889
Mahalnihaya Rs. 5,435
Ekberji Rs. 1,57,34,346
Duberji Rs. 4,80,03,208^
Total : Rs. 205,343,704
(20. 1/2 Crores)
The receipts of the Peshwas against the revenue were
20 Crores at the time of Madhavrao Peshwa,and the main
items of expenditure were as follows. The first item is
payments of clerks, the second and the third are Kherij
Mushahira. The fourth is on Karkhanas. The fifth is spent
on Kamavisdars, the Sixth on the Peshwas royal-army,
the seventh on payment of ministers, the eighth on army,
the ninth on Forts, and the tenth on collecting revenue
again. Eleventh on recovery of debt. So a very large amount
i.e. 20 crores and fifty thousand approximately was spent
on various items mentioned above. A much greater amount
was spent on Kamavisdars since they were entitled to charge
k% (already explained else where) as their commission
on the total revenue of their region. They could charge
2% to Z% per month as an interest for the advance they
paid into the treasury. A huge amount of money was spent
by the government in 1763 A.D. on the Kamavisdars. (50)
2 16
P rant
Konkan
Varghat
Gangathad
Gujarath
Hindustan
Khandesh
Karnatak
Huzurat
Total Rs.
Amounts
2,44,957
2,53,758
3,12,262
2,85,283
5,65,085
2,63,994
4,30,253
92,832
2A.31,984
N X
In 1766 A.D. Rs. 38,55,770 were spent for this
purpose (51) .
The Kamavisdars collected Rs. 1 1/2 crores in 1763
and more than 2 crores in 1764, which comes to 1/10
of the total expenditure of the Peshwa. The collection
of dues and revenue and army were then the biggest and
heaviest items of expenditure.
In Madhavrao's time the budget was of 20 crores
and expenditures came close to it. Balaji Bajirao's financial
position was better than Madhavrao's position.
To conclude the Peshwa government was a mixture
of feudalism and bureaucracy. The government had sufficient
receipts to run the government. The budget was nearly
20 crore rupees. In addition to this figure the governnj^t
had got tributes and war indemnities but these amounts
were not fixed amounts.
The government used to appoint Kamavisdars to collect
the revenue but this system does not seem to be economic.
The amount paid to them for this work was more
than 1/10th of the total expenditure. But the Kamavisdars
worked in precarious conditions and they had to cover
the risks, Moreover, it s'e^s that there was no other
arrangement which would have been profitable to the govern
ment. The government had taken up the policy of expanding
boundaries. This is also an expensive policy. The government
had to spend much amoijnt on raising troops and taking
loans and paying interest for this purpose, However, it
could not be evaluated from only the economic point of view.
They had borrowed large amounts as loans. Moreover,
V\1
2^S
they were not persons who should be considered to
be responsible for this debt. This point is already discussed
in the chapter' Public Debt '
However, the Peshwa Government does not seem to
be a Bankrupt Government as it is alleged to be. At the
same time, loan figures, found frequently in the account,
prove that the Peshwa's apprehensiveness was certainly
not about something imaginary, byt it was not a heavy
weight burden which would crush them. During the Peshwa's (V
time the total Public Debt was never more than two and half crores.
ant their budget was always more than Rs. 20 Crs. The receipt
against the Zakat of Kalyan, Bhivandi, was Rs.55,000 at
the time of Balaji Bajirao and from Pafie Subhit was
Rs. 35,000 Later on, at the end of this century the receipt
(Zakat) was Rs. One Lakh.
2^9
Foot Notes :
Chapter ; 4 :
State Finance
1. Mountstuart. Elphinstone, A Report on TerritoriesConquered from the Peshwas, (Bombay, 1948) p.2.
2. K. N. Chitnis, Glimpses of Medieval Indian Ideasand Institutions, (Pune, 1981), p.48*
3. Ibid.
4. P. M. Joshi., (Ed.)j Selection from the Peshwa Dafter(New series).. Expansion of the Maratha Power (1707-1761), (Bombay, 1957) Letter - 6.
5. Gazetteer of India (MAH) Vol.3., (Bombay 1963),Again Y. V. Khare, Nana Phadanicanche Charitra(Pune 1927), P. 238.
6. P. A., Logon's Report (Bombay, 1905) p. 9.
7. Ibid.
8. Ibid.
9. Ibid.
10. Ib id., Tarjuma 749*
11. Ibid.
12. Ibid, Ghadani, 460a
13. Ibid, 449*
14. Marathi Vishvakosha Vol. 12, p. 1179*
15. P. A., based on various Ghadanis consulted in this thesis.
'16, Ib id ., Tarjuma 748.
V7. M. G. Ranade, expansion of the Maratha Power,(3rd Edn), p. 238.
’18. Chitnis op. cit., p. 185*
19. Ranade, op. cit., p.
250
20. P.A., Rozkird 28.
21. S.P.D. Vol. 17, Letter 3.
22. P.A., Rozkird 27.
23. Ibid.
24. Ibid. 28 •
25 S.P .D .. Vol. 17., Letter 21.
26. P. A., Pune Prant Ajmas.
11^ Ib id . , Rozkird 28.
28. Ib id ., Tarjuma 749 •
29. Ibid.29-A. Apte, thesis, p. 182,30. Ibid.
31. Ibid.
32. Ibid.
33. Ib id ., Tarjuma 750 *
34. Ibid. 750.
35. Ibid.
36. Ranade, Expansion of Maratha Power, Appendix - 2
37. Ibid.
' / a . P.A., Based on Ghadanis cousulted in this thesis.
38. Apte, " Sarkari Aya-Vyaya," Unpublished doctoral thesis, (Pune, 1979) p. 108.
39. Ibid. p. 109.
40. P. A. Chitnisi Ghadani 811.
41. P. A. Tarjuma 749.
42. Ib id ., 750.
43. Ibid.
44. Ib id . Ghadani 460 «
45. Ibid. Chitnichi Ghadani 811.
46. Ibid.
47. P. A. Tarjuma 749 •
48. Logon's Report.
49. P. A. Chitnisi Ghadani 871 ^
50. Apte, op. cit., p. 111.
51. P. A. Tarjume 749 *
52. Gazetteer of India Part - 3, op. cit., p. 230 .
Again D. V. Apte, " Nanasaheb Peshwayanche Karj " p. 91.
251
APPENDIX
JTzrfr rTfPT imj ^ ^ ^1 I 3PI ^1 I 1770 A.D.
TTI 1 3 rr
^ JJf^f 34l2*f 10058 2407 226l*|)s:- 1 I50*)i =
T I+( R NII 1 976-\l . 00 979'•)/ 9 46 3 3*1*-
<rcTd
4 65 00 465 465 00
2 8 00 28 28 00
JfWJMI \
VIS i|W1 1 49 00 49 49 00
^1 1 ^ 4-I*: 00 4-1= 4 1 00
W<JIrIT 9-1 00 9-1 9 1 00
^11 H3R 45 16 1678 2838 274 1 1775
1 20I4?«=- 1 625-in I79I3<- 2229-ill
29696-li 4309 I85I7*1:; 2 44 17-lJ- 5 1 8 8'!//=
?rf|3f 1 1 HSR f 1 1 TRT ^ 3FF
. 7,898-1=-
^RT 2,838
1 ,041 3111111111
^1 1 657-11
3RRH 1,134 •(I?-
^11 9 4 6
949 •M
^ ?i I
tiRT
HIMH
eCHran/ *
FT^
FT? ^
(■ ^ T IeK
p. A. Ghadni 713.
2 ,706
2,213
540
I ,943
00 2,291^
001 ,059
0026, I 47-I"-
2 ,329 • /H
2,828 29,172