Item Number: M-WIN-18
Item Name: Pindarrie, Maratha Cavalry
Description: The Battle of Assaye was a major battle of the Second Anglo-Maratha War fought between the Maratha Empire and the British East India Company. It occurred on 23rd September 1803 near Assaye in Western India where an outnumbered Indian and British force under the command of Major General Arthur Wellesley (who later became the Duke of Wellington) defeated a combined Maratha Army of Daulatrao Scindia and the Bhonsle Raja of Berar.The Maratha cavalry in the 1803 campaign was probably their weakest arm, yet by far the most numerous.
The Marathas employed three classes of cavalry.
The first were the BARGIRS, the cream of their cavalry, paid for and
maintained by the state. At the death of Shivaji in 1680, they made up
two thirds of the cavalry force, yet by the Battle of Panipat in 1761,
their numbers had dropped to just 6,000 out of 38,000 cavalrymen. This
situation continued in the early years of the 19th Century as the
Marathas continued to put more emphasis on their regular infantry
battalions.
The second type of cavalry were known as SILLIDARS, who
were irregular cavalry and these men provided their own horses and
weapons.
The third type were known as PINDARRIES, and these were from
various ethnic and religious backgrounds, with many being Muslims from
the north.
Pindarries were an irregular light horse formation who were paid a
fee or provided their retainers with a percentage, normally one sixth of
any booty taken for the right to plunder. They were used in the
military role for screening the movement of troops, reconnaissance,
raiding and cutting supply lines. They were not good against formations
of steady infantry or cavalry, but were perfectly capable of cutting
down unwary troops.