The Military System of the Marathas, with a Brief Account of Their Maritime Activities c4.11

c4.11

Unfortunately this was not all. With the change of its constitution the Maratha State gradually forsook its original ideal and the national elements in the army were in consequence largely replaced by foreign mercenaries. But this defect of the Maratha army, important as it is, does not explain its discomfiture; for the English army, against which it fought, was also composed of the same elements; and disunited as the Maratha chiefs were, some of them could and did bring to the field a much bigger force than the English could hope to muster. Their defeat must therefore be attributed to inferiority in discipline, equipment and command.