A History of the Mahrattas v1.c9.33

v1.c9.33

A.D. 1529.—About the year 1529, it is particularly deserving of notice that Boorahan Nizam Shah bestowed the office of Peishwa, or prime minister, on a Bramin, whose name, according to Ferishta, was Kawerseen; and from that period Hindoos acquired great influence in the Nizam Shahee government. Ibrahim Adil Shah, upon his accession to the throne of Beejapoor in 1555, likewise shewed a great preference for the natives of Maharashtra, both as men of business and as soldiers. He discontinued keeping the accounts in Persian, for which he substituted Mahratta, though deeds of importance were written in both languages.⁴ This regulation, of course, tended to increase the power and consequence of Mahratta Bramins. Ibrahim Adil Shah likewise disbanded most of the foreign troops and displaced many of the foreign nobility. He entertained thirty thousand Deccan cavalry, and introduced the practice of enlisting Bargeers,⁵ men who are supplied with a horse by the state or by individuals, instead of Sillidars,⁶ who provide a horse at their own expense.⁷