Military administration and forts

The Maratha armed forces had three parts: infantry (foot soldiers), cavalry (horse soldiers) and navy.

The cavalry came in two kinds, and the difference was who paid. The bārgīrs had horses and equipment paid for by the state. The shiledārs paid for their own.

That gave flexibility: the state could put more cavalry in the field than its treasury alone could afford, while still keeping a core it equipped itself.

In the 18th century the Marathas noticed that European-style disciplined troops and artillery were better, and tried to raise such troops. Mahadji Shinde in particular had a large European-style army.

Swords and lances were their favourite weapons, though they used guns in large numbers too. Rockets were used from Shivaji's own days, and by 1770 metal tube rockets were in use.

But the heart of Maratha power was not a weapon. It was the forts.

Shivaji controlled and built a great many forts, because they let him control important routes and shelter his army between guerrilla attacks.

Ramachandrapant Amatya, his finance minister, wrote in the Ādnyāpatra: "Forts are the core of the state. In their absence, the land gets devastated in the face of an invasion ... This kingdom was created by the late great master from forts alone ... it was due to forts that the [Maratha] state survived despite decades of onslaught."