The Military System of the Marathas, with a Brief Account of Their Maritime Activities c4.12

c4.12

The Marathas owed their early success against their Muslim rivals to superior discipline. But as their empire expanded and the hoarded wealth of Hindustan flowed into the saddle bags of the Maratha horsemen, they began to emulate the grandees of the Mughal empire in their military customs and ways of living. Discipline was in consequence sadly impaired and the Maratha army of the later Peshwa days suffered from the very defects that had led to the fall of their Muslim rivals.