Question

Throw light on the nature of settlements that existed around the 17th century in Maharashtra.

Answer 1

Instructions:
Talk about what a village, Pargana, Kasba is. Also talk about the type of administration they followed.

Solution:
During the 17th century, in Maharashtra, there were mainly three types of settlements. They were villages, Pargana and Kasba. Most of the people lived in villages. The village was also called Mauja. The chief of the village was called Patil who tried to maximise the cultivation and resolved conflicts, if any. Kulkarni helped Patil in his work and kept the record of the collected revenue. Many villages together made a pargana. The number of villages differed in all parganas. Deshmukh and Deshpande were the watandar officers of the pargana. Deshmukh was the chief of patils in a pargana. A kasba was like a big village which was usually the headquarters of a pargana. Agriculture was the main occupation of the people in Kasba. There were also skilled artisans like carpenters and blacksmiths in Kasba. The Mahajan maintained the accounts of the Peth.