Serfoji's most striking initiative was the founding and management of free elementary and secondary schools for orphans and the poor in Thanjavur city and other adjacent places.
Included were schools for all levels, charity schools, colleges and padashalas for Sanskrit higher learning. The schools catered to the court elites, Vedic scholars, orphans and the poor. I
A second innovation was the introduction of navavidya ('modem' or 'new' learning) in the state-run schools.
In 1822, at the free school in Muktambal Chattiram the king's favourite almshouse established in 1803, 15 teachers taught a total of 464 students of diverse castes, in two classes, in the morning and in the evening.
Serfoji also supported a free school for needy Christians, run by missionaries in the village ofKannandangudi.
Serfoji II established Dhanvantari Mahal, a research institution that produced herbal medicine for humans and animals. Maintaining case-sheets of patients was introduced.
Physicians of modem medicine, Ayurveda, Unani and Siddha schools undertook research on drugs and herbs for medical cure. They produced eighteen volumes of research material.
Serfoji II was a patron of traditional Indian arts like dance and music. He authored Kumarasambhava Champu, Devendra Kuravanji, and Mudra rakshaschaya.
He introduced western musical instruments like clarinet, and violin in Carnatic music.
Serfoji's strategic initiatives in modem education enabled the Thanjavur court elite and subjects to enter and benefit from the emerging colonial social and economic order

Sources of revenue were Chauth and Sardeshmukhi.
The Chauth was divided into
25 percent for the ruler
66 percent for Maratha officials and military heads for the maintenance of troops.
6 percent for the Pant Sachiv (Chief, a Brahman by birth)
3 percent for the tax collectors
Customs, excise duties and sale of forest produce also yielded much income. Goldsmiths were allowed to mint coins on payment of royalty to the government and getting license for the purpose.
They had to maintain a certain standard. When it was found that the standard was not being met all private mints were closed in 1760 and a central mint was established.
Miscellaneous taxes were also collected. It included
Tax on land, held by Deshmukhs and Deshpandes.
Tax on land kept for the village Mahars.
Tax on the lands irrigated by wells.
House tax from all except Brahmins and village officials.
Annual fee for the testing of weights and measures.
Tax on the re-marriage of widows.
Tax on sheep and buffaloes.
Pasture fee.
Tax on melon cultivation in river beds.
Succession duty.
Duty on the sale of horses, etc.
When the Maratha government was in financial difficulty, it levied on all landholders, Kurja-Patti or Tasti-Patti, a tax equal to one year's income of the taxpayer.

Balaji Viswanath, his son Baji Rao I was appointed Peshwa in 1720 by Shahu.
Baji Rao enhanced the power and prestige of the Maratha Empire by defeating the Nizam of Hyderabad, the Rajput Governor of Malwa and the Governor of Gujarat.
He freed Bundelkhand from the control of Mughals and for this the Marathas got one third of the territories from its ruler.
The commander-in-chief, Trimbak Rao, who troubled the Peshwa, was defeated and killed in the battle ofDabhai near Baroda in 1731.
And the Peshwaassumed the office of the commander-in-chief also.
By the treaty ofWama signed in 1731, Sambhaji of Kolhapur was forced to accept the sovereignty of Shahu.
Thana, Salsette and Bassein were captured from the Portuguese in 1738 and they were driven out of the Konkan coast.
At the same time, the English made friendly overtures to the Marathas and got the right to free trade in the Deccan region.

Shivaji began his military career at the age of nineteen. In 1646, he captured the fortress of Torna from the Sultan of Bijapur.
The fort of Raigad, located five miles east of Torna, was captured and wholly rebuilt. After the death of Dadaji Kondadev in 1647, Shivaji took over all the jagirs of his father.
Subsequently, the forts of Baramati, Indapura, Purandhar and Kondana came-under his direct control. The Marathas had already captured Kalyan, an important town in that region.
Shivaji's father had been humiliated and imprisoned by the Sultan of Bijapur. He negotiated with Prince Murad, the Mughal Viceroy of the Deccan and expressed his wish to join Mughal service.
The Sultan of Bijapur released Shahji in 1649 on some conditions. So, Shivaji refrained from. his military activities from 1649 to 1655 During this period, he consolidated his power and toned up his administration.
In 1656, Shivaji re-started his military activities. He captured Jav1i in the Satara district and the immense booty that he won made him popular among the Marathas. Many young men joined his army. A new fort, Pratapgarh, was built two miles west of Javli.