Shivaji and His Times c5.s6.5

c5.s6.5

Thus, the rise of Shivaji opened a wide field of employment all over the Deccan to the Mavle landlords and their sturdy tenantry as instruments of his raids and conquests, and brought them wealth, power and honour far beyond what the plough could have yielded them at home. Their ambition became inseparably linked with his, and the tie was strengthened by Shivaji’s frequent tours through this tract and good comraderie with its people,—till the Mavles came to regard him almost as their Little Corporal, for whom they would do and dare to the point of death. The Maval country was the cradle of Shivaji’s power and the Mavles formed the backbone of his army.