Shivaji and His Times c19.s2.21

c19.s2.21

As an acute English observer wrote in 1803: "Every Maratha prince, and every jagirdar or military chief in the [Maratha] empire, has a *khazana* or collection of treasure, consisting of specie and jewels, which is lodged in a secret depository within the walls of a strong fortress, often erected for the purpose, on one of the most inaccessible mountains in his dominions. This private treasure is the first and never-ceasing object of his ambition to increase...No want of money for supporting a war, even in defence of his own territory, ever induces a Maratha chief to supply the deficiency from his private treasury; the loss of which would be to him a much more grievous calamity than the subjugation of his country."*