Fall of the Mughal Empire v2.c27.s15.t2.3

v2.c27.s15.t2.3

“The sums which the commanders receive for the payment of their troops, generally run to a certain rate per man and a fixed sum for the commander; and as in the management of these corps the payment by Government is generally very tardy, the commanders have recourse to every trick by which they can possibly elude the checks [of Government]; . . .by which means it happens,—more particularly in the Peshwa’s service,—that a corps of 100 men has seldom more than 50 effectives. . .Not only is half the grass and forage allowed to the horses of the Pāgā (cavalry mounted on Government horses) embezzled, but horses are changed, reported dead, and every species of the most flagitious peculation practised with impunity arising from the general interest and participation therein.”