Maratha Empire- Administration Under Shivaji

• Shivaji’s Maratha Empire stretched from Maharashtra to Carnatic and Tamil Nadu
• Shivaji’s dominion was divided into two parts: mulk-i-qadim (ancient territory) or swaraj (own kingdom), and an unspecified stretch of land that paid Chauth but was not under Shivaji’s authority
• Shivaji abolished the Jagir system and began paying his officers in cash to fortify the administration. Despite abolishing the Jagirdari system, he provided land grants for schools and temples
• Hereditary occupation of a post was not authorized under Shivaji’s rule
• Furthermore, the Zamindari system was not supported by Shivaji

General features under Shivaji’s Administration

• To maintain balance and equality among people, he employed people of all tribes and castes
• He made no office hereditary
• Separate responsibilities were assigned to the ministers under his administration
• Special attention was given to the forts by the ruler shivaji
• In administration matters, he gave superior positions to his civil officers than military officers

Central Administration

The Chhatrapati Shivaji government was characterized by the Ashta Pradhan system. He had a council of ministers to advise him on matters related to the state but he was not bound by it. Appointment or dismissal powers were in his hand and the appointment was subject to the efficiency of them. The Peshwa was the first among ministers. Peshwa meant the leader or the senior one.   

Ashta Pradhan (Council of Eight Ministers)

Ashta Pradhan Mandal is a group of eight powerful officials. Except the senapati, all other ministers were brahman and except pandit rao and nyaydhish, all were allowed to command the army. Those eight powerful officials were: 

• Peshwa: The King’s Prime Minister
• Amatya or Majumdar: Finance Minister
• Waq-i-Nawis: Home Minister
• Dabir or Sumant: Work of the foreign department
• Sachiv: The official correspondence
• Pandit Rao: He was a religious officer
• Sar-i-Naubat or Senapati: The army affairs
• Nyayadhish: The chief justice

Other Aspects

Each minister was aided by an eight-person staff to carry out departmental duties: The list is as follows: 

• Diwan: Secretary 
• Mujumdar: Auditor and accountant 
• Fadnis: Deputy auditor 
• Sabnis or Daftardar: Office in-charge 
• Karkhanis: Commissary 
• Chitins: Correspondence clerk 
• Potnis: Cashier 
• Jamdar: Treasurer 

There were many 18 departments overseen by ministers under the direction of the king.

Shivaji had direct control over the Swaraj realm, which was divided into three provinces and administered by the viceroy. These three provinces were split into several parts (group of districts).

Judicial Administration

The judicial system under Shivaji was simple, primitive and crude. The system was founded on ancient Hindu rules. The highest court was ‘Hazar Majils’ of the court of the king.  The Panchayats handled disputes between various parties in the communities and the criminal cases were decided by the village ‘Patel’.

Military Administration

The army’s administration under Shivaji was very efficient. The army people were well-trained, patriotic, efficient and extremely mobile. 

The following reforms were introduced by Shivaji in the army: 

• Regular Army: under the traditional military organization, the soldiers were allowed to serve the army for only six  months and thereafter served in their fields.  Now, the soldiers were allowed to serve for the year

• Payment In Cash: the soldiers were paid in cash except the big chief and military commander who were paid through jagir grants
• Merit Based Recruitment: he recruited the soldiers on merit basis
• Discipline: strict discipline was enforced by him 
• Patriotism: he inspired the soldiers with patriotism 
• Forts Maintenance: particular attention was given to the forts under his administration. Old forts were repaired and new forts were built. It is said that ‘people were taught to regard them as their mother’. The forts also served as military cantonments. There were around 280 forts
• Muslim Soldiers: about seven hundred muslim soldiers were also peresnt in the army

Divisions in the Army 

The army had six divisions , namely the cavalry, infantry, camel battalions, elephant battalions, artillery and navy. 

• The cavalry: with the number of around 40,000 the cavalry forms the main part of the army

Revenue Administration 

The jagirdari system was replaced with the ryotwari system in which the revenue was directly collected from farmers.  by shivaji and he strictly supervised the mirasdards who had hereditary rights in land. He also introduced the collection of two taxes namely the chauth and sardeshmukhi. 

Taxation System: Chauth and Sardeshmukhi

• There are two most important Taxation Systems such as Chauth and Sardeshmukhi
• Chauth, which means 1/4 of total revenue, was a yearly tax. Chauth was a form of military tribute in exchange for protection from a third-power invasion
• This taxation system, however, did not sit well with Jadunath Sarkar. He believed that paying Chauth just freed a location from the unpleasant presence of Maratha warriors and that it did not obligate Shivaji to protect the region from foreign attack or domestic instability
• The Sardeshmukhi was a ten percent additional levy demanded from areas outside the kingdom, based on the legal fiction that Shivaji was the hereditary Sardeshmukh (top headman) of all Deshmukhs
• Sardeshmukhi was gathered from Mughal territories that the Maratha Kingdom considered being inherited

Conclusion

The system of maratha administration was largely borrowed from the administrative practices of the deccan states. Hence, the marathas had significant positions among military and administrative systems in the contemporary kingdoms especially ahmednagar and bijapur.