The Military System of the Marathas, with a Brief Account of Their Maritime Activities c8.68

c8.68

This military custom prevailed also during the Mughal period as Manucci says, ‘Along with the armies there marched privileged and recognised thieves called Bederia (Bidari); these are the first to invade the enemy’s territory, where they plunder everything they find. The handsomest items are reserved for the general; the rest they sell on their own account. Prince Shah Alam, when he was within the territories of Shivaji, near Goa, had in his army seven thousand such, whose orders were to ravage the lands of Bardes’. ³ Irvine is unwilling to identify these Bidaris with the Pendharis but the Maratha chroniclers mention the presence of the latter in the Mughal armies operating against Shivaji. Moreover the Pendharis did not belong to any particular race, caste or creed. They drew their recruits from all parts of India without any distinction of race and religion and it is no wonder that the criminal tribe of Bedars should preponderate in their ranks. We find in a contemporary ballad that a number of Bedars were employed by the Maratha generals exactly for the same purpose for which the professed Pendharis were usually engaged at the time of the battle of Kharda.⁴