The Military System of the Marathas, with a Brief Account of Their Maritime Activities c18.3

c18.3

The first step in the wrong direction was the revival of feudalism. Shivaji knew the defects of Maratha character better than any of his predecessors or successors, and he deliberately set himself to undo the evils of that disintegrating system. He found his countrymen divided by mutual jealousy and inherited rivalry and left them fairly united under a ruler of their own race with a national banner and a common object to strive for. But his success was by no means complete. Even in his lifetime one of his principal ministers, Niraji Raoji, served as an agent of the English East India Company at his court.¹ Though the rivalry of Moro Trimbak Pingle and Annaji Datto did not find expression in any overt act of hostility while their great master was alive, lesser officials did not hesitate to let private feelings colour their public acts. When the Subhedar of Chaul quarrelled with the English of Bombay, seized their ships and threatened to stop their supply of fuel and provisions from the mainland, his colleague, the Subhedar of Kalyan, encouraged the English by every means in his power and assured them of his friendship and support.¹ It was, therefore, obviously necessary that the anti-feudal policy, so wisely initiated by Shivaji, should have been vigorously pursued by his successors, but unluckily it was abandoned by them. Feudalism was revived under unusual circumstances, first for the defence and later for the expansion of the Maratha kingdom, and it certainly served its immediate purpose. The Mughals were permanently expelled from Maharashtra, and the Marathas soon afterwards penetrated into Gujarat and Malwa. But in the very prosperity of the Maratha empire lay the germs of its degeneration, decline and decay. While engaged against a powerful external enemy, the Maratha generals could be expected to forget for the time being their private differences, but hardly was that crisis over when they recklessly prosecuted their quarrels, oblivious of everything else. The Mughal hordes of Aurangzib found them resolutely united, but the triumph of the Maratha cause was before long marred by the ugly spectacle of Shantaji and Dhanaji engaged in a war of extermination. The crisis that culminated at Panipat rallied the Maratha chiefs to the Peshwa’s banner, but the forces of disunion did not take long to assert themselves, and Bhonsla and Gopal Rao Patwardhan openly ranged themselves with the Nizam, the hereditary enemy of the Maratha empire. The inexcusable insult offered to the Peshwa and Nana Fadnavis again helped to bring together the principal chiefs at Kharda, but soon afterwards followed suicidal civil war which offered the English an effective opportunity of firmly establishing their suzerainty in India.