Fall of the Mughal Empire v2.c27.s26.1

v2.c27.s26.1

For the fugitives from Panipat the open road to the Deccan lay through the tract west and south-west of Delhi, *i.e.*, the Hariana country or the modern districts of Hisar and Rohtak. Here the Marathas reaped as they had sown in the past. Almost every year since 1754 they had crossed and recrossed this tract, pillaging or blackmailing the peasants and landlords alike with insane greed. Payment of the fixed revenue or tribute to one Maratha officer had not saved the village headmen from exaction by another. The tenants of the local chiefs who had joined the Maratha banners had been robbed by the Deccani troops, and appeals for redress even to their highest generals had only produced the comfortless reply, "They are soldiers; they always do it." [Malhar's speech to Imād-ul-mulk, 31 May 1754. *T. Ahmad Shahi.*]