bALAjI vishvanAtha

bALAjI (=baLLAla = gaNesha) vishvanAtha (wiki, family tree), kauNDinya-gotra, peshva who overcame internal friction within marATha empire, won over kAnhoji Angre, consolidated shAhu’s position, subdued the mughal system. “Balaji convinced Shahu to alter Shivaji’s old constitution of the Maratha state, whereby the nobles were salaried employees of the ruler. Henceforth, nobles would be feudatories with grants of land over which they ruled as vassal princes.” “The Maratha tax collection system from a wide swathe of nominally Mughal provinces was based on a widespread network of agents and collectors.”