[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Polity, law and society](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity) › [The Military System of the Marathas, with a Brief Account of Their Maritime Activities](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.sen-1928) › c2.1 # The Military System of the Marathas, with a Brief Account of Their Maritime Activities c2.1 The Military System of the Marathas, with a Brief Account of Their Maritime Activities c2.1 - **Language:** English ### [c2.1](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.sen-1928.c2.1) A CIVILIAN writing about military matters labours under obvious difficulties, and it is necessary to offer an explanation for undertaking a task for which neither my training nor my profession qualifies me. Nearly ten years ago I began a study of the civil institutions of the Marathas with a view to explore the causes of the rapid expansion of their empire and its speedy collapse. The Maratha empire was primarily a military organisation and its civil institutions were closely connected with its military system. Every state forms an organic unit, and even a cursory examination of its character demands an enquiry into the nature of its component parts. This is the only excuse I can offer for trespassing into domains other than my own, but I am fully conscious of my limitations and I have carefully avoided all technical matters as far as possible and confined myself to those broad questions to which even a layman can do some justice. The need for such a survey was pointed out by Sydney Owen more than fifty years ago. - [Previous: c1.42](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.sen-1928.c1.42) - [Next: c2.2](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.sen-1928.c2.2) - [Up: c2](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.sen-1928.c2) --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.sen-1928.c2.1](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.sen-1928.c2.1) · Pramāṇa