Administrative System of the Marathas c14.s3.12

c14.s3.12

Besides the regular forces Shivaji could in times of emergency call the feudal forces of the Maratha watandars. In a kaulnama, published in the Tritiya Sammelan Vritta of the Bharat Itihas Sanshodhak Mandal, two watandars, Mal Patil and Baji Patil of Birvadi, offered to serve Shivaji, when need arose, like the Mawali Deshmukhs, with ten of their attendants. For their subsistence the watandars expected six Rukas or half an anna per head per diem and they offered to serve in the army as long as the occasion demanded ²⁸ Unlike the later Peshwas, Shivaji never depended much upon these feudal levies, nor did he prefer the mercenary shiledars, who in certain respects resembled the condottiere of medieval Europe, to the bargirs of his paga. It is quite possible that when his power was firmly established, Shivaji did no longer summon these feudal forces.