Shivaji and Watandar - Part I

Hello again,

Before we start reading about Raja Shivaji and his feeling towards Watandars and Watandari concept, it is important to know what is Watandari and who is Watandar and before we talk about Watandar(i), it essential to briefly discuss about Manasbdar, Jagirdar and so on and that is what we are going to see in Shivaji and Watandar - Part I.

• Mansabdar - Any leader or officer in the Empire (Mughal, Adilshahi, Qutubshahi even Maratheshai for that matter etc.) is called as a Mansabdar. Mansabdars usually had cavalry and Infantry with them. How much Cavalry and Infantry they could keep was decided by Emperor. Emperor used to decide the other privileges, a mansabdar can have, like permission to attend, 'court or audience hall of the select' (diwan-i-khas), court or audience hall of the common (diwan-i-aam) etc.
• Any person entitled to above mentioned services (and there are many more) was called as holding a Mansabdari.

• There were two ways to make payments (their remuneration we can say) to a Masabdar, (1) By Cash and (2) Payment in the form of Jagir or Mukasa.
• Jagir/Mukasa - is a piece of land may be as small as few hectors or a village or a group of villages bestowed upon a Mansabdar by an Emperor of that region.
• A Mansabdar to whom a Jagir has been officially assigned (could be on top of the salary) used to collect the different taxes (taxes on crop, import/export etc) from the farmers, merchants etc. to feed his troops, run his household and make some more money of course. Such a Mansabdar is called as Jagirdar. 

• Watan - if literally translated mean Hometown or Homeland in general. It is again a piece of land but with some special authorities given to its owner.
• And owners of such a Watan is called as Watandar. They "belonged" to that piece of land. A Watandar could be owner of more than one Watan.
• Watandar's role was to collect taxes as said above from the peasant and give a portion of it to the Emporer/Ruler under whom that Watan is geographically located.
• Watandari was a hereditary concept and it was passed on to the eldest son, or it could be divided among the children. But it was strictly contained in the family.
• The most important salient feature of the Watandari is that, even if the Ruler of the area under which the Watan is situated changes, may be as a result of war and victory of the other person or as a result of treaty, "Watandar" remains the same and his/her Watandari remained intact.
• So, Watandars were least bothered about the outcome of war or change in the rule and because of this they became less patriotic, as their Watan was already carved out of the territory under war. Most of the Watandar's only motive was to join the side of that ruler, who is more powerful and the one who will be providing more favors (may be more monitory favors or favors in the form of additional Watan).
• That said, they remained the most unreliable element of the society, especially during war times.
• And because of their growing power and in turn whims, they used to carry many atrocities on the common man under his territory, like imposing huge taxes, looting them for their own greed and even raping and molesting the young girls of the town. 
• They mostly behaved like king of their region. But most of the time their behavior was like a goon or a gangster who became serious threat to the existing ruler of that region.