History of Satara district

The years 1668 and 1669 were of greatest leisure in Shivaji's life. Some of his contemporaries, speculating on the future, supposed from his apparent inactivity that he would sink into insignificance, but he employed this interval in revising and completing the internal management of his government, which with his various institutions are the key to the forms of government afterwards adopted by every Maratha state. Shivaji's regulations were gradually formed and enlarged, but after a certain period underwent no change by the extension of his territory until he assumed the ensign of royalty. Even then the alterations were rather in matters of form than in rules. The plans of Maratha expansion which were afterwards pursued so successfully by his nation may be traced from a very early period and nothing is more remarkable in regard to Shivaji than the foresight with which some of his schemes were laid and the fitness of his arrangements for the genius of his countrymen.

The foundation of his power was his infantry; his occupation of the forts gave him a hold on the country and a place of deposit for his plunder. His cavalry had not yet spread the terror of the Maratha name; but the rules of formation and discipline for his troops, the interior economy of his infantry and cavalry, the regulations for his forts, his revenue and judicial arrangements, and the chief offices through which his government was administered were fully developed. Shivaji's Infantry was raised in the West Deccan and Konkan; the men of the West Deccan tract were called Malis or westerners, those of the Konkan, Hetkaris or southerners. These men brought their own arms and required nothing but ammunition. Their dress, though not uniform, was generally a pair of short drawers coming halfway down the thigh, a strong narrow band of considerable length tightly girt about the loins, a turban, and sometimes a cotton frock. Most of them wore a cloth round the waist, which likewise answered the purposes of a shawl. Their common arms consisted of a sword, shield and matchlock. Some of the Hetkaris, especially the infantry of Savantvadi used a species of firelock, the invention of the lock for the flint having been early received from the Portuguese. Every tenth man, instead of firearms, carried a bow and arrows which were useful in night attacks and surprises when firearms were kept in reserve or forbidden. The Hetkaris excelled as marksmen but they could seldom be brought to the desperate sword-in-hand attacks for which the Mavails were famous. Both of them had unusual skill in climbing, and could mount a precipice or scale a rock with ease, where men of other countries must have run great risk of being dashed to pieces. Every ten men had an officer called a Naik and every fifty a Havaldar. The officer over a hundred was termed Jumladar and the commander of a thousand was styled Ek-hazari. There were also officers of five thousand, between whom and the Sarnobat or chief commander there was no intermediate step. The Cavalry was of two kinds. Bargirs, literally bridlemen or riders who were supplied with horses and shiledars who were self-horsed; Shivaji's bargirs were generally mounted on horses, the property of the state. A body of this description was termed pagah or household troops, and Shivaji always placed more dependence on Bargirs than on the Shiledars or any horse furnished on contract by individuals; with both he had a proportion of his pagah mixed, to overawe the disobedient and to perfect his system of intelligence which abroad and at home penetrated into a knowledge of the most private circumstances, prevented embezzlement, and frustrated treachery. The Maratha horsemen were commonly dressed in a pair of tight breeches covering the knee, a turban which many of them fastened by passing a fold of it under the chin, a frock of quilted cotton, and a cloth round the waist, with which they generally girded on their swords in preference to securing them with their belts. The horseman was armed with a sword and shield; a proportion in each body carried matchlocks, but the great National weapon was the Spear, in the use of which and in the management of their horses they showed both grace and skill. The Spearmen had generally sword and sometimes a shield; but the shield was unwieldy, and was carried only in case the spear should be broken. Over every twenty-five horsemen Shivaji had a havildar. To one hundred and twenty-five there was a jumladar, and to every five jumlas or six hundred and twenty-five was a Subhedar. Every Subha had an accountant and auditor of accounts appointed by Shivaji, who were liable to be changed and were invariably Brahmans or Prabhus. To the command of every ten subhas or six thousand, two hundred and fifty horse, which were rated at only five thousand, there was a commander styled Panch-hazari with whom were also stationed a Muzumdar or Brahman auditor of accounts and a Prabhu registrar and accountant called Amin. These were government agents. Besides these, every officer, from the jumladar upwards, had one or more karkuns or writers paid by himself as well as others in the pay of government. Except the Sarnobat or chief, no officer was superior to the commander of five thousand There was one sarnobat for the cavalry and one for the infantry. Every jutnla, subha, and panch-hazari had an establishment of news-writers and spies besides secret intelligencers. Shivajis head spy was a Ramoshi named Bahirji Naik. The Marathas are peculiarly roused from indolence and apathy when charged with responsibility. Shivaji at the beginning of his career personally inspected every man who offered himself, and obtained security from some persons already in his service for the fidelity and good conduct of those with whom lie was not acquainted. This system of security must soon have made almost every man answerable for some of his comrades; and although it could have been in most instances but a form, owing to the ease with which the responsibility could be evaded, the demand of security was always a part of Shivajis instructions to his officers. The Mavlis sometimes enlisted, merely on condition of getting a subsistence in grain; but the regular pay of the infantry was 1 to 3 pagodas [A pagoda was equal to from Rs. 3 to Rs. 4.] a month; that of the bargis or riders, was 2 to 5 pagodas and that of the shiledars or self-horsed cavaliers 6 to 12 pagodas a month. All plunder as well as prizes was the property of government. It was brought at stated times to Shivajis darbar or place of public audience and individuals formally displayed and delivered their captures. They always received some small proportionate compensation; they were praised, distinguished, and promoted according to their success. In fact to collect plunder from the enemy's ranks was usually regarded by the Marathas to express a victory, of which in their estimation it could be the only tangible proof. The horses, especially at an advanced period of Shivaji's history, were subsisted during the fair season in the enemy's country; during the rains they were generally allowed to rest, and were cantoned in different places near kurans or pasture lands, under the protection of some fort, where the grass of the preceding season was stacked and grain prepared by the time they returned. For this purpose persons were appointed to whom rentfree lands were hereditarily assigned. The system was preserved when many of Shivaji's institutions were neglected, and it proved a great aid to the success of his countrymen.

Shivaji kept the Hindu festival of the Dasara with great pomp. It falls in October at the end of the south-west rains, and was particularly convenient for a general muster and review of his troops previous to their taking the field. At this time each horse was examined and an inventory and valuation of each soldier's effects were taken to be compared with what he brought back or eventually to be made good. If a horseman's effects were unavoidably lost, his horse killed, maimed, or destroyed in government service they were on due proof replaced. On the other hand, all plunder or articles discovered, of which no satisfactory account could be given, were carried to the credit of government, either by confiscating the article or deducting the amount from the soldier's arrears. It was at the option of the captors to keep almost any articles if fairly brought forward, valued, and paid for. The, accounts were closed every year, and balances due by government were paid either in ready money or by bills on the collectors of revenue in favour of the officers, but never by separate orders on villages. The only exceptions to plunder made by Shivaji were in favour of cows, cultivators, and women; these were never to be molested. His system of intelligence was the greatest check on every abuse, and his punishments were rigorous. Officers and men who had distinguished themselves, who were wounded, or who had suffered in any way, were always gratified by promotion, honour or compensation.

Shivaji did not approve of the jagir or estate system; he confirmed many, but, with the exception of the establishment for his forts, he seldom bestowed new military estates and gave away very few as personal assignments, Inam Lands were granted by him as well in reward of merit as in conformity with the tenets of his faith; a gift of land, especially to Brahmans, being of all charities the most acceptable to the divinity.

Shivaji's discipline, which required prompt obedience to superiors in every situation, was particularly strict in his forts. The chief person or Killedar in the command of a fortress was termed Havaldar and under him there was one or more sarnobats. In large forts there was a sarnobat to each face. Every fort has a head clerk and a commissary of grain and stores; the head clerk, a Brahman was termed Sabnis; the commissary was commonly of the Prabhu caste and was called Karkhannis. The orders regarding ingress and egress, rounds, watches, and patrols, care of water, grain, stores, and ammunition were most minute, and the head of each department was furnished with distinct rules for his guidance from which no deviation was allowed. A rigid economy characterised all Shivaji's instructions regarding expenditure. The garrison was sometimes partly composed of the common infantry. Independent of them, each fort had a separate and complete establishment. They were maintained by permanent assignments of rent-free lands in the neighbourhood of each fort, which with the care of the fort passed from father to son. The Ramoshis and Mahars were employed on outpost duty. They brought intelligence, watched all the paths, misled inquiries, or cut off hostile stragglers. This establishment while new and vigorous was admirably suited to Shivaji's purpose as well as to the genius of the people. The Gadkaris described the fort as the mother that fed them, and among other advantages, no plan could better provide for old or deserving soldiers.

Shivaji's revenue arrangements were founded on those of Dadoji Konddev, Shahaji's Brahman manager, to whom Shivaji's education in Poona was entrusted (1641) [D.V. Kale: Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj p. 27.]. The assessments were made on the actual state of the crop, the proportionate division of which is stated to have been three-fifths to the husbandmen and two fifths to government. As soon as Shivaji got permanent possession of any territory, every species of military contribution was stopped, all farming of revenue ceased, and the collections were made by agents appointed by himself. Every two or three villages were superintended by karkun under the tarafdar or Talukdar who had charged of a small district, and was either a Brahman or a Prabhu. A Maratha havildar was stationed with each of them. Over a considerable tract there was a Subhedar or Mamlatdar who had charge of one or more forts in which his collections both of grain and money were secured.

Shivaji never permitted the deshmukhs and deshpandes to interfere in the management of the country; nor did he allow them to collect their dues until their amount had been ascertained, when an order was annually given for the amount. The patil's, khots and kulkarnis were strictly superintended, and Shivaji's government though popular with the common cultivators, would have been unpopular with village and district officers, of whom Shivaji was always jealous, had it not been for the recourse which all had of entering his military service.

The method which the Brahman ministers of the Maratha government afterwards adopted, of paying the military and civil servants by permanent assignments on portions of the revenue of villages, is said to have been early proposed to Shivaji. He objected to it, not only from fear of immediate oppression to the husbandmen, but from apprehending that it would in the end cause such a division of power as must weaken his government and encourage the village and district authorities to resist it as they frequently did that of Bijapur. With the same view he destroyed all village walls and allowed no fortification in his territory which was not occupied by his troops. Religious establishments were, carefully preserved, and temples for which no provision existed had some adequate assignments granted to them, but the Brahinans in charge were obliged to account for the expenditure. Shivaji never sequestrated any allowance fixed by the Muhammedan government for the support of tombs, mosques, or saints' shrines. The revenue regulations of Shivaji were simple and judged by the standards of those times undoubtedly judicious.

People were encouraged to clear the jungles, raise crops and revive the village panchayats. They were further assured that the authorities would not take anything more than whatever be due according to law. This persistent effort to foster the rule of law and create an atmosphere of security endeared him to his people, it is just possible, however, that his judicious measures may not have been attended with immediate improvements and prosperity to the people as is sometimes alleged; for his districts were frequently exposed to great ravages, and he never had sufficient leisure: to complete his arrangements by that persevering superintendence which alone can perfect such institutions. The Muhammedan writers, and Fryer, a contemporary English traveller describe his country as in the worst possible state, and the former only mention him as a depredator and destroyer. Still those districts taken by him from Bijapur which had been under the management of farmers or direct agents of government undoubtedly experienced great benefit by the change. The judicial system of Shivaji in civil cases was that of panchayat or council which had invariably obtained in the country. Disputes among his soldiers were settled by their officers. He drew his criminal law from the Hindu sacred works or Shastras; but as the former rulers were Musalmans they had naturally introduced changes which custom had sanctioned and perpetuated. This accounts for the difference that long afterwards persisted between Hindu law and Maratha usage.

To aid in the conduct of his government, Shivaji established eight offices; 1st the Peshwa or head manager whose office was held by Moro Pant or Moreshvar Trimbak Pingle; second the Muzumdar or general superintendent of finance and auditor general of accounts, whose office was held by Abaji Sondev, Subhedar of the province of Kalyan; third the Surnis or general record-keeper, superintendent of correspondence, examiner of letters; the office was held by Annaji Datto; fourth the Vanknis or private record-keeper and superintendent of the household troops and establishment; the office was field by Dattajipant; fifth the Sarnobat or chief captain of whom there were two, Prataprao Gujar over the cavalry and Yesaji Kank over the infantry; sixth the Dabir or minister for foreign affairs, an office held by Somnathpant; seventh the Nyayadhish or superintendent of justice, an office managed by Niraji Ravji and Gomaji Naik; and eighth the Nyaya Shastri or expounder of Hindu law, an office held first by Shambhu Upadhya and afterwards by Raghunathpant.

The officers at the head of these civil situations, except the Nyayadhish and Nyaya Shastri, held military commands and frequently had not leisure to superintend their duties. All therefore were aided by deputies called Karbharis who often had power to fix the seal or mark of their principals on public documents. When so empowered they were styled Mutaliks. Each department and every district establishment had eight subordinate officers under whom were an adequate staff of assistants. These officers were. 1st the Karbhari, Mutalik or Divan; 2nd the Muzumdar or auditor and accountant; 3rd the Fadnis or Fadruvis deputy auditor and accountant; 4th the Sabnis or clerk sometimes styled Daftardar: 5th the Karkhannis or commissary; 6th the Chitnis or correspondence clerk; 7th the Jamdar or treasurer in charge of all valuables except cash; and 8th the Potnis or cashkeeper. Attached to himself, Shivaji had a treasurer, a correspondence clerk, and an accountant besides a Farisnis or Persian secretary. His clerk was a Prabhu named Balaji Avji, whose astuteness and intelligence were remarked by the English at Bombay on an occasion when he was sent there on business. Balkrshnapant Hanmante, a near relation of Shahajis head manager was Shivajis accountant. On Shivaji's enthronement at Raygad in 1674 the names of such offices as were formerly expressed in Persian were changed to Sanskrt and some were marked by higher sounding titles. There was only one Sarsenapati or commander-in-chief for the infantry and cavalry and one Nyayadhish or judge [Grant Duffs Marathas, 206'-:207.

Shivaji's Ministers in 1674 with New Titles were, Moropant Pingle - Mukhya Pradhan, Ramchandrapant Bavdevkar - Pant Amatya, Annaji Datto - Pant Sachiv, Dattajipant - Mantri, Hambirrao Mohite - Senapati, Janardanpant Hanmunte - Sumant, Balajipant - Nyayadhish, Raghunathpant - Panditrav.

In May 1673 a detachment of Shivaji's Mavlis surprised Parali about four miles south-west of Satara. Its capture put the Musalman garrisons on the alert, and Satara, a fort that had always been kept in good order by the Bijapur government, which was next invested, sustained a siege of several months and did not surrender till the beginning of September. It is remarkable that this fort which had long, perhaps before the Adil Shahi Dynasty, been used as a slate prison, often became the prison of Shivaji's descendants in later years. The forts of Chandan, Vandan, Pandavgad, Nandgiri, and Tathvad all fell into Shivaji's hands before the fair season [Grant Duffs Marathas, 202. Satara was captured on 27 July and after the capture of Satara Shivaji installed his Guru in the neighbouring hill for of Parali or Sajjangad, and guides still point out the tourists the seat on the top of the Satara hill from which Shivaji used to hold conversation with the saint across 4 miles of the space (Sarkar-Shivaji p. 193 and p. 363).].

In 1675 Shivaji again possessed himself of all the forts between Panhala in Kolhapur and Tathvad. As soon as he was occupied in Konkan and had carried down all the infantry that could be spared, Nimbalkar and Ghatge, the deshmukhs of Phaltan and Malavdi, attacked Shivaji's garrisons, drove out the posts and recovered most of the open country for Bijapur [Grant Duff's Marathas, 208.].

In 1676 Shivaji for the third time took possession of the open country between Tathvad and Panhala. To prevent future inroads by neighbouring proprietors Shivaji gave orders to connect the two places by a chain of torts, which he named Vardhangad, Bhushangad, Sadashivgad, and Machhindragad. Although of no great strength they were well chosen to support his intermediate posts and to protect the highly productive tract within the frontier which they embraced. While engaged in this arrangement Shivaji was overtaken by a severe illness which confined him at Satara for several months. During this period he became extravagantly rigid in the observance of religious forms, but he was at the same time planning the most important expedition of his life, the invasion of the Madras Karnatak [Grant Duff's Marathas, 209.]. The discussion of his legal claim to share in half his father's Karnatak possessions and the possibility of making this a cloak for more extensive acquisitions in the south was a constant subject of consultation [Grant Duff's Marathas, 213.]. While Shivaji was in the Karnatak a body of horse belonging to Ghatge and Nimbalkar laid waste Panhala in the south and retired plundering towards Karad. A detachment from Shivaji's army under Nilaji Katkar overtook them at Kurli, attacked and dispersed them, recovering much valuable property, which, as it belonged to his own subjects, Shivaji scrupulously restored [Grant Duff's Marathas, 221].

In 1679, Shivaji's son Sambhaji joined "the Moghals [According to Sardesai, Sambhaji joined the Moghals in 1678 but the fort was captured in 1679 (Sardesai-New History of Marathas Vol. 1 p. 251 and Sarkar-Shivaji p. 317).]. Diler Khan the Moghal general, intent on making Sambhaji the head of a party in opposition to his father, sent a detachment of his army from before Bijapur which they had invested, accompanied by Sambhaji as Raja of the Marathas, and took Bhupalgad in the Khanapur sub-division Shivaji's easternmost outpost [ Grant Duffs Marathas, 225.]. At the time of his death in 1680, Shivaji, who during the last two years of his life had become an ally of Bijapur against the Moghals, possessed that part of Satara of which the line of forts built from Tathvad to Panhala distinctly marked the eastern boundary Shinganapur in the Man sub-division in the east with the temple of Mahadev was his hereditary inam village given by one of the Ghatges to his father Shahaji [Grant Duffs Marathas, 231.]. Ramdas Svami, Shivaji's guru or spiritual guide, whose life and conduct seem to have deserved the universal praise of his countrymen, a few days before his death in 1682 January wrote to Sambhaji his elder son from Parali an excellent and judicious letter, advising him for the future rather than upbraiding him for the past, and pointing out the example of his father yet carefully abstaining from personal comparison [Grant Duffs Marathas, 238.].

The name of Ramdas Swami is closely associated with many places in Satara region. On the completion of his all India pilgrimage he settled at Masur north of Karad near the river Krshna, in about 1644. After staying there for about three or four years he shifted to Chaphal where he continued his practice of celebrating the annual Ramnavmi festival for which Shivaji, is reported to have made an annual grant of 200 hons or about Rs. 700. There is some controversy as to the nature of relationship between Ramdas and Shivaji as also about the exact year in which they met each other, one side advocating that Ramdas met Shivaji as early as in 1649 and initiated him into his favour, while the other advocating that the two could not have met each other earlier than in 1672 [G. S. Sardesai: New History of Marathas, Vol. I, p. 266.]. Even accepting the later year i.e. 1672 as the one of their actual meeting it should be taken into account that their spheres of activity in which they worked for over thirty years, overlapped each other. Under the circumstances it is highly improbable that they might not have heard of each other. In fact there is ample indirect evidence to believe that the two held each other in high respect [G. S. Sardesai: New History of the Marathas Vol. I, p. 265,]. There is however no first hand evidence to prove that Shivaji ever took his inspiration from Ramdas for his political mission. Similarly there is also no first hand evidence to show that Ramdas's teaching which had been first purely religious, developed a secular and political character later because he was influenced by Shivajl's activities. It must be remembered that Ramdas started collating his famous Dasbodh in 1654, the piece-meal composition of which must have been done much earlier[Patra-Sar-Sangraha-1039.]. In 1676 Samarth Ramdas at the request of Shivaji came to stay at Parali which soon came to be known as Sajjangad [Patra-Sar-Sangraha, 1864.]. On Shivaji's return from the Karnatak campaign in 1678 Shivaji was apprised of the misconduct of his son Sambhaji whereupon Shivaji asked him to go to Samarth Ramdas at Sajjangad and stay with him for some time, hoping of course that the association of the saint would bring about the required change in his son's conduct. Unfortunately the hope was not realised, for Sambhaji soon chose a moment to escape from Sajjangad with the object of joining Diler Khan.

After Shvaiji's death. Rajaram his younger son was placed on the throne at Raygad by his mother Soyarabai, who was supported by Shivaji's confidential secretary Balaji Avji.[1]