Maratha Army


Maratha Army refers to the land-based armed forces of the Maratha Empire, which existed from the late 17th to the early 19th centuries in India. The formation, rise, and decline of the armies of the Maratha Empire can be broadly divided into two eras

17th century

Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, the founder of Maratha empire, raised a small yet effective land army. For better administration, Shivaji abolished the land-grants or jagir for military officers and instituted a system of salary or cash payment for their services. During the 17th century the Maratha Army was small in terms of numbers when compared to the Mughals, numbering some 100,000.
Shivaji gave more emphasis to infantry as against cavalry, considering the rugged mountainous terrain he operated in. Further, Shivaji did not have access to the North Indian Mughal dominated horse markets. During this era, the armies of the Marathas were known for their agility due to the light equipment of both infantry and cavalry.Artillery was mostly confined to the Maratha fortresses, which were located on hilltops, since it gave a strategic advantage and further these fortresses had abilities to withstand sieges. The Marathas used weapons like muskets, matchlocks, firangi swords, clubs, bows, spears, daggers, etc.
, St Petersburg, Russia.
The Maratha Army, during Shivaji's era was systematic and disciplined.A case in point here is that the Marathas achieved success in systematic elimination of all forts which came their way during the Battle of Surat circa 1664. Regards the artillery, Shivaji hired foreign mercenaries for assistance to manufacture weapons. The hiring of foreign mercenaries was not new to the Maratha military culture. Shivaji hired seasoned cannon-casting Portuguese technicians from Goa. The Marathas attached importance to hiring of experts, which can be corroborated by the fact that important posts in the army were offered to the officers in charge of the manufacture of guns.
The Army deployed musketeers as well - both regular and mercenaries. During the late 17th century, there is a mention of the Marathas using well-armed musketeers during their attack on Goa. Further, during the same period there is also a mention of Marathas using Karnataki musketeers renowned for marksmanship

Structure and Rank

Below was the structure and ranks of armies of the great Maratha at a high level during the reign of Chhatrapati Shivaji:
Cavalry was divided into two at a high level:
The infantry consisted of the below:
Ranks and salary of the cavalry are as below. The infantry had a similar structure
Infantry ranks :
During the War of 27 Years the Maratha State forces dispersed and the theater of warfare became entire Southern India. During this period the armies of the Marathas resorted to guerrilla warfare; bands of irregular soldiers also joined in and it became a People's War. Raiding enemy's rear, isolated posts, supply lines was a feature during this period. Common men and women from virtually every town and village offered shelter to the Mahratta forces led by two valiant Generals - Santaji Ghorpade and Dhanaji Jadhav
Jadunath Sarkar the noted historian writes in his famous book namely military history of India about Santaji Ghorpade, a brilliant strategist who fought the Mughals in the 27 year war :
"He was a perfect master of this art, which can be more correctly described as Parthian warfare than as guerrilla tactics, because he could not only make night marches and surprises, but also cover long distances quickly and combine the movements of large bodied over wide areas with an accuracy and punctuality which were incredible in any Asiatic army other than those of Chengiz Khan and Tamurlane".

18th century

Pre-1761

During the 18th century the Maratha army continued its emphasis on its light cavalry, which proved better against the heavy cavalry of the Mughals. Post 1720, the armies of the Maratha Kingdom started making their presence felt in Northern India and scored numerous military victories, primarily due to the skills of Peshwa Bajirao I as a great cavalry leader and military strategist. Bajirao Peshwa made excellent use of small and heavy ammunition and used smothering tactics. The Marathas under Bajirao I would use their artillery to create a blanket of projectiles to smother the enemy.
, as seen at Raigad Hillfort
A hallmark of Baji Rao I's troops was that of long-distance cavalry attacks, typically light and agile cavalry. During his reign, the cavalry strength was some 100,000. Peshwa's own cavalry was called as Huzurat Cavalry which was an elite cavalry division. Further, Baji Rao employed infantry consisting of flintlock-armed regulars

Modernization pre-1761

When the Marathas confronted the French on battlefield in 1750s, they realized the importance of western-style disciplined infantry. Hence the process of modernization began even before the Third Battle of Panipat. Sadashivrao Bhau Peshwa admired Western-style disciplined infantry. Circa 1750s, the Marathas endeavored to hire the services of the French General Marquis de Bussy-Castelnau for training purposes, but when they failed in their efforts, they managed to hire Ibrahim Khan Gardi. Ibrahim Khan was an artillery expert trained under the leadership of Bussy. The word gardi is a corruption of the French word garde and this gardi formed the backbone of Maratha infantry. Ibrahim Khan played a major role in re-configuring the Maratha artillery. He served the Marathas in the infamous Third Battle of Panipat. During the battle, out of the approximate 40,000 Maratha Army men, some 8000 or 9000 were artillery. They possessed 200 cannons and also possessed handguns.
During this era, sources state that the Marathas made use of both flintlocks and matchlocks and that their matchlocks had a technological advantage having superior range and velocity. However at Third Battle of Panipat, they possessed mainly just swords and spears whilst Abdali possessed a larger force with flintlock muskets.

Modernization post-1761

From the 17th century till the mid-18th century the artillery of the Marathas was more dependent on foreign gunners rather than their own.
, Peshwa's Palace, in Pune
Post 1761 Mahadaji Shinde, a distinguished Maratha Maharaja, focused his attention on European artillery and secured the services of the noted Frenchman Benoît de Boigne. Benoît de Boigne had received training from the best of the European military schools. Following suit, the other Maratha chiefs such as the Holkars, the Bhosales, also raised French-trained artillery battalions.
However a point to be noted here is that it is untrue to conclude that armies of the Maratha got disciplined only post 1761. The Marathas were well aware of the importance of discipline and disciplined and drilled infantry in Maharashtra existed even in the Hindu classical era. The Mahrattas were aware of the Portuguese infantry models having concepts like "Spanish square" since sixteenth century. 
In the late 18th century and early 19th century, with French-trained artillery and infantry, the Marathas managed to regain their lost ground in North India, however they could not match the superior artillery of the British East India Company, which in due course of time, among other reasons, led to the defeat of the Marathas at the Third Anglo-Maratha War and decline of their Empire itself.

Employment of the Pindaris

s were irregular horsemen and their primary role was to plunder in return of payment. Pindaris composed of both Muslims and Hindus. They had implicit support from Maratha chiefs such as Scindias of Gwalior, Holkars of Indore, and Bhosales of Nagpur. This band of freebooters accompanied Maratha forces during their campaigns and helped win wars in return for plunder and pay. They were a part of the Maratha Army during the Third Battle of Panipat and almost all Anglo-Maratha Wars.

Employment of Bargis

The Nagpur Bhosales employed thousands of units called Bargi to invade Mughal Bengal. The invasions lasted annually for ten years until finally the Nawab of Bengal, European merchants and locals had built the Maratha Ditch to safeguard themselves from war.
The Bargi were involved in several war crimes.

Possible employment of Gurkha

The Peshwa was very successful in deploying forces in Northern India. There are indications that India's native Gurkha may have sided with the Maratha during their attacks upon Delhi, the seat of Mughal rule.