Write notes on Alutedar.
Answers
In the first part of this article we saw that the otherwise common structure of land divisions has remained more-or-less the same for over 2,000 years. There were small changes as generations passed, new divisions came into being, and the names changed, but the structure essentially remained the same.
But what of the lowest unit of these sub-divisions—the village?
By far, all through the various changes, handovers, divisions and transfers of lands between rulers and dynasties, the village remained an independent and a self-sufficient unit. Undoubtedly, villages and villagers suffered the most during wartime, or campaigns by various kings and warlords, yet in administrative terms, the village wasn’t affected (significantly) by the mergers, takeovers, and acquisitions by empires.
During the reign of Chh. Shivaji, one notable change that the administrative system underwent was the visible hand of the central government. The indirect system of tax collection was abolished, and government officers were appointed in villages to manage matters of tax. This greatly improved tax collections because it assigned responsibility to government officers, rather than local lords.