The Military System of the Marathas, with a Brief Account of Their Maritime Activities c7.15

c7.15

In rank the Sarlaskar, the Sena Saheb Subha and the Sena Khaskhel were below the Senapati, but it is difficult to say which of these officers had precedence over the others. The office of Sarlaskar was older than the other two andthe office of Sena Khaskhel was originally conferred on a junior member of the Senapati’s family, just as the posts of Sena Dhurandhar and Sena Bahadur¹ afterwards served to console the junior members of the Bhonsla family, the eldest branch alone being entitled to the higher office of Sena Saheb Subha. To each of these offices was attached a *jahgir* in return for which the holder was expected to maintain a stipulated force. These honours, it appears, were confined only to the older families who had risen to prominence under Rajaram or Shahu.