The Military System of the Marathas, with a Brief Account of Their Maritime Activities c9.85

c9.85

But the prophecy of Tone was belied, not because he had exaggerated the natural strength of the Maratha country or overestimated the defensive value of the Maratha forts, but because he had overlooked the primitive character of these strongholds, in architecture, in management, in their defensive and offensive arms. Since Shivaji’s days no improvement had been made in the military architecture of the forts; the feudal system that had since been revived had positively undermined the efficiency of the garrison as well as of the command; the artillery was not only not improved, but in the days of Baji Rao II, hopelessly neglected in places like Lohagad, while the English were far in advance of Aurangzib in organisation, artillery and military science.