The Military System of the Marathas, with a Brief Account of Their Maritime Activities c8.20

c8.20

During the administration of the next Peshwa, however, we find a deliberate attempt to strengthen the new infantry force by recruiting a large number of Sikhs, Arabs, Abyssinians, Sidis and other non-Marathas. In 1770-71 Sumer Sing, a gardi officer, was commissioned to enlist 400 men at a monthly salary of 12 or 13 Rupees, but it was laid down that the men would be paid for ten months only though they were expected to serve throughout the year.¹ Ali Mardan Khan, another gardi Jamadar, was asked to recruit another body of 400 men at a monthly salary of 16 Rupees but these men were expected to find their own muskets (Banduk). Sher Sing, a Sikh officer, was ordered to engage 2 Jamadars and 198 sepoys of his persuasion, at a salary of 25 and 12 Rupees respectively.² And Apaji Ganesh of Ahmadabad was required to find 400 able-bodied Arabs at a salary of 15 to 16 Rupees per month; 100 good Abyssinians at a salary of 15 Rupees per man and one thousand Sidis at a salary of 15 to 16 Rupees.³ These men were to be inspected by one Debi Sing, a Jamadar, sent from the headquarters, and Apaji Ganesh was urged not to employ men of other races or light armed men. These were not the only foreigners employed in the Peshwa's service. Goddard tells us that there were a number of Sindhis among the garrison of Ahmadabad,⁴ while a Portuguese writer asserts that Negro deserters⁵ from Goa were readily employed in the frontier force of the Marathas; but the terms of their employment we do not know. It is needless to say that Indian Christians and Portuguese of pure or mixed origin were also welcomed in the new regiments. In 1789-90 four Portuguese soldiers were employed in the Poona infantry at a monthly salary of 25 Rupees; their Christian comrades were paid 15 Rupees per month, while the Indian footmen in the same regiment got no more than 9 Rupees each.⁶