The Military System of the Marathas, with a Brief Account of Their Maritime Activities c7.4

c7.4

The period succeeding Sambhaji’s death, though decidedly critical, was not wholly destitute of hope for the Marathas. It is true they were losing fort after fort, and that Rajaram, their new king, had to seek safety in distant Jinji, leaving the defence of Maharashtra in other hands. It is true that Maratha officers, like Suryaji Pisar, did not hesitate, as in the days of old, to sacrifice the interests of the State to their own. Yet, thanks to Aurangzib, a new spirit was engendered among the Marathas and the triple barrier, which divided them politically so long, was demolished by the Mughal conquest of Bijapur and Golkonda. Moreover, the imposition of *jiziya* was not calculated to conciliate a warlike people who had long been unfamiliar with religious intolerance. Unfortunately Rajaram, who did not possess the magnetic personality of his father, permitted himself to delegate his authority to two Brahman officers, and thereby lowered the prestige of the kingly office in an epoch when the ruler had perforce to be either the supreme war-lord of the State, or, failing that, a nonentity. The task which he had thus delegated to Pralhad Niraji and Ramchandra Pant Hukmatpanha was unusually arduous, for with an empty war-chest, they were expected to repel an attack backed by the whole weight of the Mughal empire. Aurangzib’s errors of policy had disposed the majority of the Marathas to support their cause; but despite this fact, their inability to command the same devotion that was shown to Shivaji or that would have been shown to Rajaram, if he had inherited his father’s qualities, obliged them to purchase the loyalty of their adherents by concessions of the type most appreciated by the Marathas. Hereditary fiefs were created in favour of successful warriors and fresh services were rewarded with fresh *jahgirs*. In fact the *jahgir* was often granted in districts still in Mughal possession and the favoured *jahgirdar* had frequently to kill the bear before he could own the skin. The old discipline fell rapidly out of date, and Shantaji Ghorpade, the only officer who adhered to it,¹ was weakly sacrificed by the impotent King to the fury of his discontented soldiers. Within twenty years of his death Shivaji’s military reforms were relegated to the scrap-heap, though the kingdom he had founded still survived.