Administration of the Maratha Empire
The Ashta Pradhan, revenue reform and just governance of Swarajya
Shivaji Maharaj was as much an administrator as a warrior. He replaced feudal jagirs with salaried officials, built a council of eight ministers, fixed land revenue on measured assessment and enforced strict discipline in the army — a system so sound it outlived him by over a century.
The Ashta Pradhan Council
Eight ministers each held a defined portfolio: the Peshwa (prime minister), Amatya (finance), Sachiv (records), Mantri (intelligence), Senapati (army), Sumant (foreign affairs), Nyayadhish (justice) and Panditrao (religious affairs). Ministers were salaried, transferable and accountable to the Chhatrapati — offices were not hereditary.
Revenue System
Lands were surveyed and assessed directly with the cultivator, in the tradition refined by Annaji Datto. The state's share was fixed, remissions were granted in famine years, and loans of seed and cattle helped bring waste land under the plough — protecting the peasant from the extortion of middlemen.
Military Organisation
The army was a regular, paid force with ranks from the naik of ten to the sarnobat in command. Strict rules governed campaigns: no harm to civilians, women, mosques or crops; plunder went to the state treasury. Forts — the backbone of defence — were each commanded by three officers of different castes to prevent betrayal.
Justice and Language Reform
Justice followed established custom administered through village panchayats and the Nyayadhish. Shivaji Maharaj commissioned the Rajya Vyavahar Kosh, a lexicon replacing Persian administrative terms with Sanskrit and Marathi — asserting cultural as well as political self-rule.