The Military System of the Marathas, with a Brief Account of Their Maritime Activities c13.28

c13.28

The army of Sadashiv Rao differed as much from that of Shivaji as the hardy followers of Babar differed from the ease-loving officers who accompanied Aurangzib to the Deccan. Sadashiv Rao and his principal officers had, like the Mughal grandees of Aurangzib’s time, costly tents and expensive camp equipage. They were accompanied by their wives and female attendants. Nana Fadnavis, then a young man in indifferent health, had accompanied the army with the intent to visit the holy places of Northern India; and he had with him his young wife and widowed mother. A large number of traders and shopkeepers had followed the Maratha force to supply its daily needs. Sadashiv Rao was encumbered with a huge crowd of non-combatants, and worse still the presence of so many ladies of noble birth immensely added to his embarrassment. His army was hardly competent to carry on those harassing tactics, the success of which depended entirely on speed. He was, therefore, right in rejecting Holkar’s suggestion and his decision was further justified by the failure of such tactics in the late campaign. But it is difficult to understand why he did not try to fall back on Delhi even at the risk of a battle and reopen his communication with his base of operation and his far-off native province.