A History of the Mahrattas v1.c18.119

v1.c18.119

Contrasted with the splendour of the Moghul camp already described, we may view the horde accompanying one of these freebooters:—Different from the organized bands of Sivajee, but still more destructive to a country, an irregular assembly of several thousand horsemen united by preconcerted agreement in some unfrequented part of the country. They set off with little provision, no baggage except the blanket on their saddles, and no animals but led horses, with bags prepared for the reception of their plunder. If they halted during a part of the night, like the Pindharees of modern times, they slept with their bridles in their hands; if in the day, whilst the horses were fed and refreshed, the men reposed with little or no shelter from the scorching heat, excepting such as might be occasionally found under a bush or a tree; and during that time their swords were laid by their sides, and their spears were generally at their horses' heads stuck in the ground; when halted on a plain, groups of four or five might be seen stretched on the bare earth sound asleep, their bodies exposed to the noon-day sun, and their heads in a cluster under the precarious shade of a black blanket or tattered horse-cloth extended on the points of their spears. The great object of this class was plunder; and the leaders and their troops, though they generally rendered a partial account to the head of the state, dissipated or embezzled the greater part of their collections.