Maharashtra Elections: What politicians can learn from Shivaji’s agricultural legacy

One of the biggest challenges for any new government in the state would be to find a permanent solution to agrarian distress.

(RSSFACTS is a column that demystifies the functioning, organisational structure and ideology of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.)

As campaigning for Maharashtra assembly polls to elect a new government is underway, one of the biggest challenges for any new government in the state would be to find a permanent solution to agrarian distress in the state. The issue is on top of the political agenda cutting across party lines. And it has remained so for decades now. The challenge is to find a permanent and sustainable solution

In this context, perhaps, it is time to recall the legacy of Chhatrapati Shivaji. There is a lot that our political parties and policy makers can learn from Shivaji’s policy on agriculture that was an integral part of his unique statecraft.

Kedar Mahadevrao Phalke, a Maharashtra-based scholar, has provided a detailed analysis of Shivaji’s work as an administrator in his seminal work ‘The Legacy of Chhatrapati Shivaji: Kingdom to Empire.’ Phalke went through the original archives and extensively analysed the letters written by Shivaji after his coronation as well as official announcements made during his days as the ruler.

Shivaji’s Agriculture Policy

Phalke says (pp285), “There is a letter giving information about the great work done by Shivaji in the field of agriculture. This letter dated 5 September 1676, written to Ramaji Anant, the subedar of Prabhavali, is the soul of Shivshahi.”

This letter reads: “His Majesty has kindly appointed you to the division. You have taken a solemn oath that you will not appropriate anything for yourself and shall serve His Majesty loyally. According to the act, work justly without yearning, for even the discarded stem of a leaf of vegetable. (That does not belong to you). Execute the work of sowing, storing and realization of government dues at the proper time. Revenue settlement by sharing is adopted in the country. See to it that the peasants get their (proper) share and the government its dues. Bear in mind that even slight injustice and oppression of the people would displease his Majesty.”

Shivaji further instructs in this letter, what could be the benchmark for handling contemporary crises in Indian agriculture, “Encourage the cultivators and promote cultivation. Exert yourself and go from village to village. The peasant in the village should be assembled. If a peasant has manpower, oxen and grain to cultivate his piece of land, well and good. But if a peasant has the ability and manpower to cultivate his piece of land but does not have oxen, plough and grain and is therefore forced to remain idle, he should be given cash and made to purchase two or four oxen. He should be given a candy or two of grain for his subsistence. You should get him to cultivate the land according to his ability.”

Loan waivers vs economic prudence 

Those who are offering blanket freebies in present day India in terms of waivers of farm loans can probably take a leaf out of Shivaji’s administrative book in terms of following the principle of economic prudence while taking care of the interests of the farmers. Shivaji demonstrated how the welfare of farmers and the economic prudence can go hand in hand as he further said in this letter, “The money advanced for oxen and grain should subsequently be realized, gradually, and according to his ability without charging an interest. You are authorized by His Majesty to spend up to two lakh larees for this purpose. Make inquiries about the peasants, support them, bring wasteland under cultivation and increase the revenue…If a peasant is ready to exert himself but is unable to pay arrears of dues and is therefore in dire straits, then the realisation of dues should be suspended and a report be made to His Majesty about the promotion of agriculture as well as about the cancellation of such dues. Then His Majesty would issue a decree about the remission of all dues in such cases.”

Phalke underlines a significant difference between the Mughal administration and the Hindu administration under Shivaji in terms of taxing common people for the state revenue, “A lot of firmans issued by Aurangzeb are also available. One can see from these firmans that instead of caring about his subjects, Aurangzeb had issued orders that all those who did not pay revenue should be beaten up by bamboos, their wives and children should be taken away and sold in the market. But there is not a single example of a Maratha ruler forcefully recovering agricultural tax or any other tax from their subjects.”

Earlier RSSFACTS columns can be read here.