The Military System of the Marathas, with a Brief Account of Their Maritime Activities c9.40

c9.40

If the provisioning of the forts was necessary, their repairs demanded no less care; and in the same year another fund of one lakh and seventy-five thousand Hons was constituted for repairing his principal forts.² From the English factory records it appears that Shivaji often tempted workmen from Bombay with offers of better wages and better lodgings.¹ A shrewd man, he knew quite well that good work cannot be obtained without good pay and kind treatment. In the paper that announced the constitution of this fund, Shivaji observed that as the workmen did not get their wages regularly, they grew discontented and building and repair works suffered in consequence. He therefore set aside the sum of one lakh and seventy-five thousand Hons for building and repair work alone, which was allotted as follows: