section_path: Governance/Agriculture
section_name: Agriculture
paragraph_text: Agriculture
  
  Sambhaji encouraged agricultural activity in the Maratha state. Agriculture was the backbone of the rural Maratha economy. He encouraged people to cultivate more land. The government of Sambhaji gave promises of safety to the Marathas who gained independence from the Mughals and asked them to carry out their previous work of cultivation in their territories. It also called back people who had absconded because of their inability to pay taxes and asked them to carry on their previous work of cultivation. Sambhaji tried to increase the revenue from agricultural activities. He also made efforts to cultivate more wasted or barren lands.
  
  Sambhaji, in his letter of 3 June 1684, directed his prime minister Nilkantha Moreshwar to bring the agricultural land of the villages confiscated by the government under cultivation which otherwise would have remained uncultivated. He also asked Hari Shivdev to distribute fifty khandis of grain which were being sent to him from Sagargad among the cultivators.
  
  Sambhaji encouraged agricultural activity in the Maratha state. Agriculture was the backbone of the rural Maratha economy. He encouraged people to cultivate more land. The government of Sambhaji gave promises of safety to the Marathas who gained independence from the Mughals and asked them to carry out their previous work of cultivation in their territories. It also called back people who had absconded because of their inability to pay taxes and asked them to carry on their previous work of cultivation. Sambhaji tried to increase the revenue from agricultural activities. He also made efforts to cultivate more wasted or barren lands.
  
  Sambhaji, in his letter of 3 June 1684, directed his prime minister Nilkantha Moreshwar to bring the agricultural land of the villages confiscated by the government under cultivation which otherwise would have remained uncultivated. He also asked Hari Shivdev to distribute fifty khandis of grain which were being sent to him from Sagargad among the cultivators.