ABSTRACT
The monetary history of pre-modern Maharashtra is a subject that has received little attention in the wider discourse about histories of Maharashtra in general. Traditionally, an emphasis on ‘positivist’ style of history-writing in Maharashtra has shifted the focus too much towards reconstructing of political events, their veracity and establishing of an overarching ‘narrative’ that threads various political processes in a seamless stream. Conceivably, economic undercurrents and practicalities underpinned many political activities of the eighteenth and the nineteenth centuries in Maharashtra, and money played a massive role in their orchestration. A cursory glance at the amounts of money exchanged as tributes, levies, ransoms and other such transactions that were politically motivated and transpired between Maratha and other polities would be sufficient to see that vital role. In spite of its importance, monetary history has been largely overlooked, and this chapter is an attempt to highlight some important aspects of it, with the rhetorical devices of ‘place’ and ‘space’ deployed to present the story.
