The Military System of the Marathas, with a Brief Account of Their Maritime Activities c11.66

c11.66

These concessions might have been justified if the Marathas had meant to make the fullest use of the military talents of the foreigners whose superiority was thus frankly acknowledged. But though the Hindu and Muhammadan soldiers of the North readily enlisted in the new battalions the Maratha scrupulously kept away. He preferred his time-honoured profession of an irregular *Silhedar*. The strict discipline that the new method enjoined and the Drill Sergeant, an unfamiliar figure, did not appeal to him, and the average *saranjam*-holder could not afford to have such an expensive force, while by the terms of his *saranjam* he was expected to serve the State with inexpensive cavalry regiments only: Of the numerous military leaders who were called upon to account for their rent-free estates before the *Inam* Commission only one, Rupram Chaudhari, could claim to be the commander of a *paltan* or trained battalion.² The Europeans were employed not to teach and train the Marathas for a period of transition but were expected to occupy a permanent position in the Maratha army; and, as we have seen, all of them did not possess even the minimum qualification.