The Military System of the Marathas, with a Brief Account of Their Maritime Activities c9.70

c9.70

The numercial strength of the garrison as before varied in different forts and at different times. In 1773-74 the garrison of Satara was reinforced by an addition of fifty new men owing to the troubled state of the country.⁵ The garrison of Lohagad, when that fort was held by one Dhondji in Nana Fadnavis's interest, varied from one to three thousand men according to circumstances.⁶ The salary of the private serving in a fort seems to have steadily improved since Shivaji's days. During the administration of Balaji Baji Rao the payment of a private varied from three Rupees to five Rupees and eight annas a month, and when he was transferred to a new fort, an increment¹ was given, but during the regime of Madhav Rao I, a private’s pay had risen as high as seven Rupees a month.² But it ought to be noticed here that during the Peshwa period an ordinary soldier did not get more than eleven and sometimes ten months’ wages for twelve months’ service, and he was generally long in arrears. From the time of Shahu Chhatrapati a new practice, that of paying the private in rent-free land, had come into vogue, and in 1774-75 such soldiers were allowed to serve in the forts by rotation, for they had to look after the cultivation of their lands as well.³ Sometimes they rendered no service to the State and had to be dismissed. In the closing years of the Peshwa period Sir Thomas Munro noticed a peculiar practice prevailing in the Southern Maratha country. Some small forts were provided with a hereditary garrison, and their commander alone with a few followers were sent from Poona.³ This was no doubt the extreme logical result of the feudal principles then in operation.