The Military System of the Marathas, with a Brief Account of Their Maritime Activities c11.59

c11.59

With all its defects Sindhia's regular army was the best that any Indian prince had at that time. The defects were common to them all, but Sindhia's men were better armed, better paid and more efficiently trained. In theory, however, the trained battalions of Sindhia did not belong to the Maratha empire. De Boigne had his jahgir in Hindustan and though Perron took part in the battle of Khada the new army was supposed to serve the Emperor of Delhi. The Peshwa's trained battalion was never so numerous as that of Sindhia, and its first commander of whom we know anything was an English deserter from Madras. He was a bold man, as is testified by Lt. Moor who knew him, but he could not be expected to know much of the higher science of war that had rendered the European forces so superior to their Indian opponents. Evans had under him about fifty Europeans of diverse nationalities, but he was succeeded in his command by his wife, a native Christian woman.⁴ Baji Rao II, however, had two battalions under the efficient command of Col. Boyd. The old battalions consisted of 677 sepoys commanded by 2 Captains, 4 Lieutenants, 3 Sergeants, 14 Subhedars, 2 Cumedans (Commandants), 20 Jamadars, 59 Havaldars and 38 Naiks, while the new battalion of 484 Sepoys had 1 Captain, 2 Lieutenants, 1 Sergeant, 4 Subhedars, 5 Jamadars, 32 Havaldars and 7 Naiks. Both the battalions had a complement of artillery but only the new battalions had also a body of 15 horsemen commanded by a Jamadar. Colonel Boyd, who held the chief command, got a salary of 3,000 Rupees per month, the Captains under him got Rs. 400 each, a Lieutenant was paid Rs. 250 per month, while his Sergeant's monthly remuneration was Rs.90.⁵ The scale of salary, therefore, was not higher than that in Sindhia’s army; for when Sindhia’s men were called upon to serve in the Deccan they got an allowance in addition to their usual pay.¹ John Ford, who commanded the Peshwa’s battalions in 1812-13, got a lower salary than Colonel Boyd (Rs. 2,500), but the two Captains under him got Rs. 1,000 each, while the two Assistant Captains were paid Rs. 500 (each) per month.²