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Maratha Rule in Chhattisgarh

Marathas came to Chhattisgarh in 1742. At that time the Maratha empire was under Chhatrapati Shahujii Maharaj. Balaji Bajirao, the son of Bajirao Peshwa was his Peshwa. After the death of Chand Sultan in 1739, Raghoji Rao Bhonsle occupied Nagpur on behalf of the Marathas. Raghoji Rao Bhonsle belonged to Deur village in Satara and was an army commander in the army of Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj.

Commander Bhaskar Pant of the Maratha army attacked Ratanpur kingdom in 1741. Raghunath Singh, the king of Ratanpur at that time, was 6p years old. His only son had died and he has no will to fight. He therefore surrendered.

State of Haihay administration at the tim eof Bhonsle attack –

1. The glory of 18th century was lost.
2. The king of Ratanpur, Raghunath Singh and king of Raipur Amarsingh were very week.
3. The organisation of the Haihay administration was faulty.
4. There was lack of an organised army.
5. Haihay government was economically bankrupt.
6. Taxes were very high.
7. According to Jenkins — The kingdom had been divided among members of the royal family and officers and the central authority was week.

Martha rule in Chhattisgarh can be divided into four distinct periods -

1. Direct Bhosle admininstration (1758 – 1787)
2. Suba administration (1787 – 1818)
3. Maratha rule under the British (1818 – 1830)
4. Re-establishment of the Maratha rule (1830 – 1854)

Direct Bhonsle Administration —

Raghoji Bhosle ruled indirectly from 1741 to 1758. Raghunath Singh was the king of Ratalpur at the time when Bhaskar Pant the commander of Raghoji won Ratanpur. Raghunath Singh was allowed to rule Ratanpur on behalf of the Marathas. In 1745 after the death of Raghunath Singh, Mohan Singh was appointed to rule Ratanapur. In 1758 after the death of Mohan Singh Bimbaji Bhosle started directly administering Ratanpur. Bimbaji Bhosle was the first Maratha ruler in Chhattisgarh. Raipur was ruled by Haihay dynasty Amarsingh at that time. Marathas gave him the Parganas of Rajim, Raipur and Patan for an annual revenue of Rs 7000/-. After the death of Amarsigh Marathas tok away the Jagirs from his son and gave only 5 villages in Raipur and established their direct rule in Raipur in 1757. There rule continued till 1854.

There was development of music and culture during the reign of Bimbaji Bhonsle. He helped in the construction of Dudhadhari temple in Raipur and constructed a grand Ram temple at Ram Tekri in Ratanpur. He was vrey popular. Many things of Marathi culture were imbibed in Chhattisgarh e.g. the custom of giving sonapatti on the Vijayadashmi day. He also started the use of Marathi, Morhi and Urdu languages in Chhattisgarh. The glory of Ratanpur gradually faded away. When Vyankoji became the king after Bimbaji he decided to rule Chhattisgarh from Nagpur.

Important things of the reign of Bimbaji Bhosle (1758 – 1787): -

1. Maratha rule was established and Kalchuri dynasty ended.
2. Direct Maratha rule was established in 1758 after the death of Mohan Singh.
3. He was the first Maratha to rule directly in Ratanpur.
4. He integrated Raipur and Ratanpur as an administrative unit.
5. He established the Pargana system.
6. He has an independent army and his rule was for public good.
7. He had a court like and independent king.
8. He established a regular court of justice at Ratanpur.
9. He did not send any part of the revenue to Nagpur.
10. He used to sign the treaties with the Zamindars himself.
11. He started new Zamindaris in Khujji and Rajnandgaon.
12. He started the use of Marathi, Urdu and Morhi languages in administration.
13. He made a grand Ram temple at Ram Tekri in Ratanpur.
14. He started the custom of giving Sonapatti on Dussehra.
15. He made the Chhattisgarh State for the first time.
16. He systematized revenue records.
17. Architecture, music and art developed in his time.
18. The famous Dudhadhari temple of Raipur was constructed with his help.
19. He was not a good soldier so he did not extend the kingdom.
20. He was not a religious fanatic.
21. His wife was Umabai who performed Sati after his death in 1787.
22. Colbrook the European traveler had come at the time of his death and he has written that the people were shocked by his death because his rule was benevolent.

Suba Rule – 1787 – 1818)

After the death of Bimbaji in 1787, Vyankoji became the king. He decided to rule Chhattisgarh from Nagpur. As a result of this Nagpur became the center of political activity and Ratanpur faded away. He started the Subedari rule (Suba system). This was a part of the feudal system of Marathas. Subas lived and ruled from Ratanpur. Subas were not permanent and also not hereditary. They were appointed on contract. This system continued till 1818 when the Marathas came under British rule. During this period Vyankoji came to Chhattisgarh only three times. A total of 8 Subs were appointed-

1. Mahipatrao Dinkar (1787 – 90) – He was the first Suba of Chhattisgarh. During his time all the power was concentrated in the hands of the widow of Bimbaji – Anandi Bai. European traveler Forester came to Chhattisgarh on 17-05-1790 in his time.
2. Vithalrao Dinkar (1790 – 96 ) – His rule is the most important. European traveler Mr. Blunt came to Ratanpur in his time on 13th May 1795. He changed the revenue system and started the Pargana system which continued till 1818. Whole of Chhattisgarh was divided into 27 parganas. Details of the pargana system are -
   1. Head of the pargana was called the Kamawisdar. Then there were other officers called the Fadnawis, Badkar etc.
   2. The post of the village Gontia continued as before.
   3. There were two types of taxes -
   1. Land revenue,
   2. additional taxes
3. Bhawani Kalu (1796 – 97) – He was the third Subedar. He ruled for a very short time.
4. Keshav Govind (1797 – 1808) – He was the fourth Subedar. During his time European traveler Colbrook visited. Pindari menace started in his time. There was also the border dispute between Surguja and Chhota Nagpur.
   
   Vyankoji Pindari and Diro Kullulkar – The Pindaris had occupied Chhattisgarh from 1808 ?? 1809.
5. Bhikahi Gopal – Pindaris created big problems in his time. He was the fifth Subedar. Vyankoji died at his time and Appaji was made the viceroy. A new treaty was signed with the British after the death of Raghhoji. Appaji who becae the viceroy after Vyankoji was greedy and selfish. He demanded high revenues and removed those subedars who could not pay him.
6. Sakharam Hari – He was the sixth subedar and remained only for three months.
7. Sitaram Tantia – He was the 7th subedar and ruled for 8 months.
8. Yadavram Diwakar (1817 – 1818) – He was the last subedar. After his in 1818 British rule under the Maraths started and the Suba system came to an end.

Problems of the Suba system –

1. Subas were not appointed on merit and efficiency but on contract.
2. Neglect of public service
3. Suba system was synonym of exploitation.
4. Income and expenditure statistics were not verified.

Society and economy in the Suba system-

When Vyankoji became the king after Raghoji’s death he started ruling Chhattisgarh through Subedars. Thus the suba system started in Chhattisgarh. This was also called the Suba Sarkar and continued from 1878 to 1818. During this time captain Blunt had visited Chhattisgargh. He was written that Ratanpur was like a scattered village with approximately a thousand huts. It appears that no one was looking after the development of Ratanpur. Raipur looked like a big city with 300 houses.

During the suba rule the Marathi rulers collected revenue from Chhattisgarh and sent it to Nagpur. The Suba government was not good for the people of Chhattisgarh. The Maratha rulers kept the farmers dependent on the government. Food grain was taken as tax instead of money. The grain was sent to Nagpur. There was no system for sale of crops. Crops had to be transported over long distances for sale which was very expensive. However farmers did not get a good price when they sold the crop in their own villages

Raghuji Second became the king of Nagpur after Vyankoji Bhonsle. He was a young child so Appaji was appointed viceroy. Appaji was a soldier and was always busy in battles. He had no time even to think about the people.

Agriculture was the main livelihood of the people o Chhattisgarh. Main crops were paddy, wheat, gram, kodo and pulses. There was no mechanism for sale of grains. The farmers had to take their crops to far away places to sell it. The farmers did not stay at one place and kept migrating. Proper development of agriculture could nt take place because of this. Farmers had to take loans from money lenders and many a times lost their land to them.

Maratha rule under the British (1818 – 1830)

Marathas were defeated in he battle of Sitabardi in the third Anglo-Maratha war in 1817. In the treaty of Nagpur after this battle, indirect British administration was established. Now the Martathas ruled under the British. After the fall of Appa Sahab, Raghuji third was made the king but since he was still too young to rule, the British Agent ruled on his behalf. The first Agent in Nagpur was Jenkins. During this period a British Superintendent was appointed to administer Chhattisgarh. -

Administration during the period of Jenkins

1. First British Superintendent – Capt. Edmund – His administration was only for a few months. His time was spent in establishing peace. During this time the zamindar of Dongargarh revolted under the influence of Appa sahab but his revolt was quashed. Edmund died a few days after this incident.
2. Second British Superintendent – Capt. Agnue - (1818 – 1825 ) - The administration of Agnue is of special importance. He served in Chhattisgarh from 1818 to 1825 after which he resigned. He made several changes to make administration effective and free from corruption. The main things are given below –
   1. Change in capital from Ratanpur to Raipur.
   2. He reorganized Chhattisgarh from 27 to 8 Parganas. Raipur was the biggest and Rajro was the smallest Pargana.
   3. 8 kamawisdars were appointed to adminster these Parganas.
   4. After some time one more Pargana – Balod was added so the total number of Praganas became 9.
   5. Many reforms were made to increase crop production, and promotion of trade and improving transport facilities.
   6. Unnecessary taxes were removed which encouraged farmers, mproved their financial situation and increased crop production.
   7. He quashed the revolt of the Gond King of Dhamdha.
   8. He compelled the Zamindar of Sonakhan to return the Khalsa land encroached by him.
   9. He fixed 3000 horses for Chhattisgarh.
   10. He was able to solve the border dispute of Kotpad pargana between Bastar and Jaipur.
3. Third Superintendent – Capt. Hunter – He administered only for a few months.
4. Fourth Superintendent – Mr. Sendis (1825 – 28) – He was the first officer of Nagpur Horse. He was given both civilian and military powers as per the suggestion of Agnue. He started the use of the British administrative calendar. He made English the language of official work and established the post and telegraph works. The main incident of this tenure was the treaty of 1826.
5. Crawford –He became British Superintendent after Sendis. His tenure was from 1828 to 1830. Builder became the Agent on 18-04-1827 after Jenkins. A new treaty was signed between the Biritish and Marathas on 27-12-1829 according to which the administration of Chhattisgarh was returned to the Bhonsles. The transfer of power happened on 06-01-1830.The British superintendent Crawford handed over administration to the Bhonsla Krishnarao Appa. Thus Chhattisgarh remained under British administration for 12 years.

Second Bhonsla Rule in Chhattisgarh (1830 – 54)

After the treaty of 1830 the administration of Chhattisgarh once again came to Bhoslas. Lord William Bentink was the Governor General at this time who had the policy of non-interference in the affairs of Indian States. The Maratha officer appointed for Chhattisgarh was called Ziledar. A total of 8 Ziedars were appointed. First Ziledar was Krishnarao Appa. The names of Ziledars appointed between 1830 and 1854 are – Krishnarao, Amritrao, Sdaruddin, Durgaprasad, Intukrao, Sakharam Bapu, Govindrao, and Gopal Rao. The first Ziledar Krishanra was a peace loving person who was earlier Sadar Fadnawis in Nagpur. He was not very effective in revenue maters. The headquarter of Ziledars was Raipur. The Ziledars used to send information directly to the King. Kamawisdars used to take begar from the labour. The number of Patels also increased a lot. Revenue collection dropped. The administration got entangled in financial problems.

Some important reforms also took place during the reign of Raghuji third -

1. Abolition of Sati – the British had abolished Sati in Bengal presidency by the 17th regulation on 4th September 1829. They asked the king to issue a similar order. The King banned Sati in September 1831.
2. Ban on human sacrifice in Bastar – Human sacrifice was prevalent in Manikeshwari Deci (Danteshwari Devi) temple in Bastar. The only record of this custom comes in a bronze plate of King Madhurantakdev of Chhindak Nagvansh on which Shaka Samvat 987 is written. British Officer Campbell took the initiative to stop this custom at the time of Lord Harding.
3. Elimination of Thugs and Robbers – Gangs of thugs and robbers were in Chhattisgarh for many years. This area was famous for robbery by gangs of Multani people. The Multani people were originally agriculturists, who could not pay their tax at the time of Akbar due to a great famine. They were arrested. After this they started looting people to take revenge on the State. They used to give ¼th part of the loot to the Zamindars. The leaders of the Multani gangs of Chhattsgarh were Salwat Uda Husian and Pyare Jamadar. Some other members of the gang were Hira Nayak and Dilawar Khan. The British decided to end this menace and gave capital punishment for robbery. During the time of Governor General Bentink, Colonel Sleeman toot strict action against the thugs and ended their menace. The thugs caught in the area of Nagpur were kept in Jabalpur jail. By 1830 thugee was completely eliminated. An industrial school was opened for the education of the children of thugs.

Mensel was the British resident at the time of the death of Raghuji third on 11th December 1853. He immediately took the administration in his own hands. Governor General Lord Dalhousie rejected the right of the king to adopt a child and took over and included the kingdom in the British ruled territories on 13th August, 1854 as part of his doctrine of annexation. The last Maratha Ziledar handed over the administration of Chhattisgarh on 1st February 1855 to Deputy Commissioner Charles C. Elliot.

Land Revenue System during the Maratha Rule in Chhattisgarh

Vyankoji became the viceroy after the death of Bimbaji, but he left the administration of Chhattisgarh to the Subedars. He himself was to busy in the politics of Nagpur. Subedars only wanted to make as much money for themselves as possible. As a result of this the administration of Chhattisgarh remained chaotic, and bad for people during this period. Many farmers ran away and many villages were abandoned. The condition of agriculture was bad. The total revenue from Chhattisgarh which used to be more than 6 and a half lakh rupees earlier fell down to three lakh per year.

The offices of the Subedars were inefficient due to administrative inexperience. The Subedras were free to spend as per their wishes. They had no sense of people’s good due to uncertainty of tenure. The public was in great pain and was looted and terrorized during the Suba administration. People heaved a sigh of relief when the Suba administration suddenly ended in 1818. Vithal Dinkar had started the Pargana system in Chhattisgarh, which was divided into 27 parganas.

For the purpose of revenue the State was divided into two parts.

1. Khalsa area.
2. Zamindari area

Marathas administered the Khalsa area directly while in the Zamindari area the Zamndars used to give a fixed amount to the Marathas every year and administered their own areas. No new rule was made for measurement of land or determination of the quantum of land revenue by the Gontia. The only purpose of the changes was to systematize the accounts of revenue receipts.

The Marathas made some changes in 1790 AD but could not make a scientific system of land revenue. The land revenue was determined at the village level and was changed from time to time. The measurement of land was according to the number of ploughs owned by the farmer. Revenue was determined by the Gontia. No record of land revenue was kept and revenue was fixed as per the agreement between the farmers and the Gontia. The main purpose was to continuously increase the revenue year after year.

Agricultural year started from June. The Subedar and Kamawisdar used to encourage farmers to bring as much land under cultivation as possible. The allotment of land was done by the Gontia in consultation with the farmers. The kamawisdar used to raise demand for the arrears of revenue of the previous years after the sowing was comleted. One third of the revenue was recovered by the end of August and it was deposited in the treasury by the end of October.

The determination of the revenue of the Pargana was done based on area of fallow lands, weather conditions, illness in cattle etc. The second installment was also one third of the total revenue. The third installment was recovered by 5th April. The Fadnawis prepared the accounts of receipts. The Subedar used to tour the area for 8 to 10 weeks and finalized the accounts after that and used to send it to Nagpur. Patels were appointed by the Marathas to keep track of revenue of several villages. The Marathas also started the Tahutdari system of revenue collection.

Gontia: This post was in Chhattisgarh from ancient times. He was the headman of the village. The post was not hereditary and could not be sold. The Gontia was responsible for the well being of the people of the village and was respected by the people. He was responsible for the determination and recovery of land revenue. He also allotted land to the farmers. He used to help the farmers with seeds, money, cattle etc. For his services he was given land called “Seradoli” Farmers used to cultivate this land and the income from this land was used for expenses on the tours of officers and travelers.

Tahutdari– This was a new system started by the Marathas. Under this system the area was given for a fixed period on contract for a fixed amount. The Tahutdars deposited the amount in the treasury directly. Marathas had made two Tahutdars – Tarenga and Lormi.

The taxes other than land revenue were –

1. Takoli – This was the fixed amount given by the Zamindars

2. Sair – This was tax on import and export.

3. Kalali – This was excise duty on intoxicants

4. Pandri – This was tax on non-farming activities like carpentry, iron smithy etc. This used to be 10% of the income.
5. Sewai – Many smaller and temporary taxes were called sewai.
6. Zamindari Tax – This was tax on imported food grain and was three payali on each cart.

Some important things about Bhosla Rule

Exchange – Many different types of coins were used at this time such as Raghuj’s rpee, Agnulala, Ramji Tantia, Manbhatt, Shivram, Zaripatka, silver coin, Jabalpuri rupee etc. The currency system was faulty due to non-uniformity in coinage.

Justice and Police– The system of justice made during the British periodn continued even after they had left, but it became poor because of corruption and inefficiency.

Corruption –Corruption was common among officers. Even Ziledars were corrupt. Sadaruddin embezzled one lakh rupees and returned only 60,000 when he was caught. Even his successor was removed on charges of corruption. The administration of Raghuji’s time was better than the Suba administration but was much worse than British administration.

Administrative system of Marathas

There was direct Maratha administration during the time of Bimbaji. After him the Bhosles rules through Subedars. In between there was British administration under the Marathas and after that when direct Maratha administration returned, the State was ruled by the Ziledars. For the purposes of revenue the State was divided into Khalsa area which was directly administered and the Zamindari area. The Zamindari area was administered by the Zamindars who gave a fixed amount to the Marathas called Takoli. The officers at the time of Bhonslas were –

1. Subedar – He was the representative of the king and ruled in the name of the king.
2. Kamawisdar – He was the head of the Pargana.
3. Fadnawis – He kept the accounts of income and expenditure.
4. Badkar – He worked under the Kamawisdar and sent the information of crops etc.
5. Bararpandey – He toured the villages and collected the information about land revenue.
6. Pandripandey – He kept the account of the income from intoxicants
7. Potdar – H was the treasury officer.
8. Mal chaprasi –They worked under the Kamawisdar and toured the area to keep tabs of offenders. They also helped in recovery of arrears of land revenue.
9. Village level officers – The post of Gontia continued from the Haihay time. He allotted land and determined and collected land revenue. He was the magistrate and also the police for the village. He was confidant of the people of village and took care of their rights.
10. Patel – They recovered land revenue and got a commission of one anna per rupee.
11. Chauhan – He was under the Gontia and protected the village.

Administration of Justice – There were no courts to administer justice. The Gontia and Patels used to deliver justice in the village. Important cases the decision of Kamawisdar or Subedar was final and in rare cases the matter went up to the king in Nagpur. During the time of Bimbaji justice was easily available as the king lived in Ratanpur but after him it became more and more difficult to get justice. There was no capital punishment for Brahmins, Bairagis and Gosains as also for women. Justice was also given by the traditional Panchayats but they had no powers to compel the attendance of parties and witnesses or compliance of their decisions. They only worked by social pressure. There was no police. There were Harkaras who collected information about crime etc. Marathas had an army to take care of internal and external threats. All the 5000 soldiers of Bimbaji had come from Nagpur.

Education – People used to arrange home tuitions for their children. Sometimes village people used to keep Brahmins to teach the children in the village and used to give them food grains when the crops came. Some schools were opened with state help in Ratanpur and Raipur.

Religion – The aboriginals of Chhattisgarh worshiped Budhadev of the village. Others were predominantly Hindus. Kabirpanth was also spread far and wide in Chhattisgarh. It was followed by both Hindus and Muslims. Between 1820 and 1830 the followers of Guru Ghasidas also increased and reached large numbers.