Administrative System of the Marathas c21.s2.64

c21.s2.64

When exactly these foreigners first found their way into the Maratha army we do not know. There is documentary evidence that some Arabs were employed on a salary of Rs. 11 per month as early as 1742 during the administration of Balaji Baji Rao.¹ It was probably when the Marathas first established their authority on the northern banks of the Nurbudda that the necessity of a strong body of infantry was for the first time felt for the reduction of forts and strongholds in that quarter. And as the Marathas as a rule preferred to serve in the cavalry, foreigners like Rajputs, Sikhs, Rohillas, Sindhis and Arabs had to be recruited for this new service and to induce them to enlist in large numbers attractive terms had to be offered.