Administrative System of the Marathas c15.4

c15.4

Sabhasad tells us that Shivaji's fleet not only harassed the indigenous sea powers of the south, but also plundered the ships and possessions of such European powers as the Portuguese, the Dutch and the English. That Shivaji's navy was a menace to these traders is quite true, but he was not so fortunate in his naval as in his military organisation. He could hardly hold his own against the Siddis in the sea and the numerical strength of his fleet was perhaps highly exaggerated by his son's court historian. Robert Orme informs us that "The fleet of Sevagi had by this time (1675) been increased to fifty-seven sail, of which fifteen were grabs, the rest gallivats, all crowded with men."³ Fryer saw on his way to "Serapatan (Kharepatan), to the South of Dan de Rajpore, a Strong Castle of Seva Gi's defended a deep Bay, where rode his Navy, consisting of 30 Small Ships and Vessels, the Admiral wearing a White Flag aloft."⁴ Prof. Jadunath Sarkar⁵ points out "that the English reports never put their number above 160, and usually as 60 only.¹⁶ In all probability Shivaji's men-of-war did not exceed 200 in number, but he had a large mercantile navy. On land Shivaji depended more on the quality than on the number of his men, on the sea, however, his fleet was decidedly inferior to that of the English in efficiency, though not in number. The President of the Surat Factory was of opinion that "one good English ship would destroy a hundred of them without running herself into great danger."¹⁶ This weakness was mainly due to the lack of good artillery as well as the want of a naval tradition.