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414 were written and the pay-bills drawn up by a class of officers called sabnises, who corresponded to the bakhshis or paymasters of the Mughal army, but occupied a much lower rank. (Sabh. 83; Chit. 167- 168; Sanads and Letters.)

We now turn to ShivajVs civil and military regulations. Every fort or thanah (outpost) was placed under three officers of equal status, viz., the havladar, the sabnis and the sar-i-naubat, who were to act jointly. "No fort was to be left solely under a havladar, lest a single traitor should be able to deliver it to the enemy. The havladar and the sar-i-naubat were selected from the Maratha caste and the sabnis from the Brahmans," — so that one caste served as a check upon another. The stores and provisions in the forts were in charge of a Kayastha officer called the karkhanah-navis, who wrote the accounts of their incoming and .expenditure. In the larger forts, where the bounds were extensive, the walls were divided into five or six sections, and each of these was guarded by a special tatsar-i~naubat. The environs of a fort were watched by men of the Parwari and Ramushi castes. The havladar of a fort was empowered to change the lower officers and to write official letters and seal them with his own seal. All letters from Government were to be addressed to him. He was to lock