A History of the Mahrattas v1.c14.52

v1.c14.52

¹ [Despite Sivājī's views, the cultivating classes cannot be said to have prospered under Marāthā rule. The methods of government, the forays, and the extortionate and destructive practices of the Marāthā armies prevented the peaceful cultivation of the countryside and inflicted great misery upon thousands of innocent people. (O.H.I., p. 433.) Professor J. Sarkar remarks that Sivājī's regulations were often violated in practice except where he was personally present. The assertion that his soldiers had to deliver every item of booty to the State is contradicted by the sack of Dharamgaon (1679). 'It was impossible for Sivājī to prevent private looting by his troops and camp-followers. In the wake of the Marāthā army gangs of private robbers took the road. The Pindhārīs were the logical corollary of the Marāthā soldier, to whom rapine was a normal duty.' (Shivaji and His Times, Calcutta (1919), p. 476.)]