The Military System of the Marathas, with a Brief Account of Their Maritime Activities c10.68

c10.68

Their artillery among other things ensured the supremacy of the English in India. To the Marathas it afforded little or no advantage in their final struggle for the empire. The weapon was not ineffective. It had a great future and its possibilities had not yet been exhausted. But the Marathas had borrowed a scientific weapon without mastering its science and unintelligent imitation seldom leads to success. Assimilation of new ideas is always fruitful, for assimilation signifies complete comprehension of the underlying principles and ability to make further contribution in the same line. Since the introduction of firearms in Europe immense improvement had been made in their mechanism, weight, range and frequency of firing. But the Marathas were unwilling and unable to make any improvement. They were quite satisfied with the weapons rejected by their rivals as useless, their factories turned out a number of antiquated guns of a type hopelessly out of date. The result was that the Marathas lost their speed and mobility which constituted their superiority in offensive and defensive operations without gaining any corresponding advantage. They were compelled to fight their English rivals on their own terms, in their own fashion and with inferior weapons. This was not the only disadvantage. Their army consisted of forces of different character, with different traditions, different equipments and different methods of warfare not yet reconciled to their old tactics. Their confidence in artillery and trained infantry led the Maratha leaders to neglect their cavalry, and the result was disastrous.¹ It was like a combat of the eagle and the lion. So long as the noble bird kept in its own elements it could with safety and effect harass the mighty beast, but compelled to fight the lord of the forest in his chosen ground with wings cleft and talons shorn the eagle had no chance. It had to yield to its enemy and give up the unequal contest.