The Military System of the Marathas, with a Brief Account of Their Maritime Activities c12.51

c12.51

The damage committed by a Maratha force, while on the march, was enormous. No distinction was made between friend and foe, and the Peshwa’s Government had often to grant some remission of rent under the title of *Paymalli* to the cultivators of the district through which their army had passed. It is needless to say that this remission could not always be adequate to the loss caused by the irresponsible soldiery. Holkar’s forces probably enjoyed the greatest notoriety for their destructive propensities, for in this army the professional marauders or unpaid Pendharis outnumbered the ordinary *Bargir* and *Silhedar*. Lord Valentia says that the depredations of Jaswant Rao Holkar’s men caused a famine in the Peshwa’s territories,¹ and a popular Maratha ballad of the time presents a most horrible picture of the misdeeds for which these covetous and cruel mercenaries were responsible.² It runs as follows: