The Military System of the Marathas, with a Brief Account of Their Maritime Activities c8.71

c8.71

When the Pendharis were for the first time associated with the Marathas is not exactly known. From the account available in the Maratha chronicles it does not appear that Shivaji ever employed these marauders like his Mughal adversaries did. But by the time of Balaji Baji Rao the Pendharis had become a common feature of the Maratha force. In a letter addressed to Dattaji Sindhia in 1753-54 the name of a Pendhari leader, Dost Muhammad, is mentioned.¹ It appears from two letters of the time of the first Madhav Rao that sometimes a few enterprising men sought the Peshwa’s permission for adoption of this lucrative profession, and the number of Pendharis attached to each military officer was strictly limited. The first of these letters runs as follows: ‘Shivchand, Pem Sing, Mohan Sing, Hiraman and Bhopat Beldar represented that if permission were given them to plunder in foreign territories and to reside without molestation in the Peshwa’s camp, they would collect some Lugare and Beldar families for the purpose, and prayed that a kaul to that effect might be issued. Having taken into consideration this petition, a new dhal has been given, and permission has been granted for your residence in the camp, on condition that you should pay five Rupees for each tent of the Beldars resident in the army and you should render to the State any elephant, palanquin, drum or banner that you may obtain in your raids.’² The second letter was addressed to Tryambak Rao Dhamdhere, who was authorised to entertain in his camp 50 Pendhari families, ‘but for every Pendhari tent exceeding that number, a Palpatti or tent tax at the rate of three Rupees per tent would have to be paid’.³