Maratha Administration under Peshwas 2 - Medieval India Materials

Police System

Watchmen, generally the Mahars, were employed in every village.
But whenever crime was on the rise, government sent forces from the irregular infantry to control crimes.
The residents of the disturbed area had to pay an additional house tax to meet the expenditure arising out of maintaining these armed forces.
Baji Rao II appointed additional police officers to detect and seize offenders.
In the urban areas, magisterial and police powers were given to the Kotwal.
Their additional duties were to monitor the prices, take a census of the inhabitants, conduct trials on civil cases, supply labour to the government and levy fees from the professional duties given to the Nagarka or police superintendent.

The Judicial System was very imperfect.
There was no codified law.
There were no rules of procedure.
Arbitration was given high priority.
If it failed, then the case was transferred for decision to a panchayat appointed by the Patel in the village and by the leading merchants in towns.
The panchayat was a powerful institution.
Re-trial also took place. Appeals were made to the Mamlatdar.
In criminal cases there was a hierarchy of the judicial officers.
At the top was the Raja Chhatrapati and below him were the Peshwa, Deputy Subahdar, the Mamlatdar and the Patel.
Flogging and torture were inflicted to extort confession.

The Maratha military system under the Peshwas was modelled on the Mughal military system.
The mode of recruitment, payment of salaries, provisions for the families of the soldiers, and the importance given to the cavalry showed a strong resemblance to the Mughal military system.
The Peshwas gave up the notable features of the military system followed under Shivaji.
Shivaji had recruited soldiers locally from Maratha region.
But the Peshwas drafted soldiers from all parts of India and from all social groups.
The army had Arabs, Abyssinians, Rajputs, Rohillas and Sikhs.
The Peshwa’s army comprised mercenaries of the feudal chieftains.
As the fiefs of the rival chiefs were in the same area, there were lots of internal disputes.
It affected the solidarity of the people of the Maratha state.

The cavalry was naturally the main strength of the Maratha army.
Every jagirdar had to bring a stipulated number of horsemen for a general muster, every year.
The horsemen were divided into three classes based on the quality of the horses they kept.

The Marathas preferred to serve in the cavalry.
So men for infantry were recruited from other parts of the country.
The Arabs, Rohillas, Sikhs and Sindhis in the Maratha infantry were paid a higher salary compared to the Maratha soldiers.
The Maratha artillery was manned mostly by the Portuguese and Indian Christians.
Later on, the English were also recruited.

The Maratha navy was built for the purpose of guarding the Maratha ports, thereby checking piracy, and collecting customs duties from the incoming and outgoing ships.
Balaji Vishwanath built naval bases at Konkan, Khanderi and Vijayadurg.
Dockyard facilities were also developed.