[10][11] The Deshpande, in collaboration with the Deshmukh, was responsible for collecting revenue and sitting in the judicial assembly, and to write and keep various records at the district level.
As literacy was an essential qualification for the work, the office was generally occupied by literate classes such as brahmins.
[13] According to Maharashtra State Gazetteers,[14] The Deshpande was next to the Deshmukh of the district and hence used to keep the entire accounts of the pargana revenue.They used to maintain a register of lands of pargana showing the owner's of the land and the revenue to be paid by them.Sometimes a Deshpande was also called as Deshkulkarni.
Sometimes despande's duties were similar to those of the Deshmukh in the paragana i.e., collecting land revenue of the village, maintaining law and order, settling petty disputes etc.
The Vatandar system was abolished after the independence of India in 1947, when the government confiscated most of the land of the Deshmukhs, Deshpandes, and Patils.