The Sun.
London, England, 1818-09-21 00:00:00

LITERARY REVIEW.

ORIGIN of the PINDARIEti ; preceded by historical Notes
on the Rise of the different Mahratta States.—By an OF-
EctER. in the Service of the Honourable EAST INDIA
COMPANY.

[Continued from Saturday's SU
" When the Itibbreea arrives at the place
trhere he intends to take up his quarters, he fixes
leis s!,indard in the ground and dismounts ; those

liehiod immediately begin to collect forage as the
signal for a general halt :—every one pasSes be-
yond the leader, who is thus left in the rear of
the whole. The men of each thok keep as close

together as possible, and in this respect resemble
the highland clans of Scotland, as they are all
either kinsmen, friends, or dependents of the
tbokdar. No other kind of order is observed in
their encampment—no guards are posted, no scouts
sent out---but the lubbreea is expected' to watch
for the safety of all ; which,, as he cannot do by
personal observation, be resorts to the-frequent
.tulis or changes of position already noticed. So
insufficient a precaution exposes them to be sur-
prised ; and recent experience has shewn, that,
both during their mid-day halts and night encamp-
ments, they are extremely liable to be taken un-
awares, and effectually assailed. It is, however,
generally in their advance, and when free ifroM
apreliension, - that they scatter themselves so
withlv over the face of the country. In their re-

treat they proceed more compactly, and, if pur-
sued,' make marches of an extraordinary length.,
As their object is not fighting, but plunder, they
hare seldom been known to resist the attack of

even an inferior enemy; and, if they are over.'
taken, they disperse, and re‘assemble at some ap-,
pointed rendezvous ; or, it followed into their
own country, through all their windings and doub-
lings, and endless lulls, they immediately retire to
their respective homes, They find protection
either in the Vindhya mountains, in castles be.;
longing to themselves, or from those Mahratta
powers with whom they are openlybr secretlyeon-
meted; of these Scin;:iate and Holkar are the
chief—to the former the most formidable branch
of the Pindarries is attached, and not unfrecineutly
exercises over his affairs an ascendancy, like that
of the Roman soldiery, or the Srrelitzes and Ja-
nizaries of modern times.

" In all their expeditions the majority are
mounted on a small, strong, and extremely active
race of horses, on which they bestow the utmost
care, especially in regard to their food, giving
them the best of every kind of grain they can pro-
cure, raw : though in a period of distress, these
animals are trained to undergo the same privations
as their masters. It is a common opinion that
the Pindarries give their horses large quantities of
opium, to enable - them to bear the fatigue to
which they are constantly exposed ; but this ap-
pears, from the best information that we can ob-
tain, an erroneous idea. The prisoners universally
state' that such is not their practice. After a
vet y laborious, march, and when their cattle are
much tircd, those who have the means give them
a small quantity, (about half a Iola,) made into
a ball wish some flour and a little ginger, or
some other stimulant. This is the only occasion
when opium is administered, except in cases of
illness. Gram is seldom given, as they think it
liable to disagree with their small cattle, unless
boiled.
Their usual pace is between a walk and a
trot ; they very rarely gallop. Like the Arabs,
by constant practice, they,acctire a perfect ma-
nagement of their steeds, but make no study of
borsemansitip as a science. It, the day-time they
take off the saddles, but never unsaddle during
the night ; on the contrary, they always sleep
with the bridles in their hands, and are in this re-
spect,ever prepared for battle or flight, or rather
for the latter, since on the slightest alarm, they
-spring on the horses, and are out of sight in an
instant. It may be observed, that they breed few
horses themselves, but either procure them in their
incursions, or'are supplied by the MaltrattaS from
the large herds reared in Malwa. The propor-
tion these different sources of mounting their
cavalry may be approximated by stating, that, in
the party commanded by Buksoo, which_ entered
the Deccan in 1816, amounting to between two
thousand and two thousand five hundred, there
were not more than one thousand of the best de-
scription of horses, the remainder being a breed
of hardy galloways. The speed of his horse is
the great security of a Pindarry; while he pos-
sesses that animal no danger appals him, and it
is therefore almost the sole object of his regard ;
Dolling argues greater negligence, nothing carries
with it greater disgrace, than the loss of his horse,
on which it is figuratively imagined he should al-
ways be mounted : no success can afterwards wipe
away the reproach.
" The arms of the Pindarry are a lance or a
spear, and a sword, which he wields with admir-
able dexterity, though not exercised in that art ;
they are nevertheless fully sensible of the great
advantage fo'he derived from the use of fire-arms,
but very few of them carry matchlinks, on ac-
count of the inconvenience, resulting from their
weight, They feel their inequality in this respect,
and, from their learnt musketry, seldom venture
to attack a place so defended.
" Having from the work before us, and from
more fall -end recent information of our own, on
which we can perfectly rely, described the mode
of warfare, the habits, and arms of this extraor-
dinary race of men, we shall now proceed to take
a more distinct view of the moral and physical
qualities of the men themselves, and add a brief-
biogrephy of their chiefs.
" The Pindarries seem to possess several of
those qualities which we most prize in a soldier
—ccurage, and confidence in their leader, to fol-
low hint through the greatest perils, strengths of
body to undergo the utmost privations and fa-
tigues, and fortitude to-endure them without re-
pining. Uneemitted exercise invigorates their
lin-Ass, and enables them to sustain hardships un-
der which stronger men would perish. Their
manner of life, ever various and exposed to risk,
inspires them wilt a promptitude to act decisively
in, the- most trying moments ; and in situations
where others-, would tamely surrender from des-
' pair, they find n resource in theirinvincible spirit,.
and hope of safety by flight. At timex they wal.

lew in abundance, while at other times they are
destitute of common necessaries ; het they do not
sink in despondency. On the contrary, we may
form some idea of their personal intrepidity and
constancy, from the resolution which instigates
them to undertake journies to so great a distance
from their homes, and through the midst of ar-
mies of whose superior prowess and power they
have had incontestihle proofs. Wormed on their
small horses, frequently heavy laden, without any
other guide than the intelligence of their Lob-
breea, they pass over an incredible tract of coun-
try, generally in bodies not exceeding two or
three thousand men', bolding an undeviating Course
until they reach their destinations The adven-
turous spirit of their leviers stimulates them to
enterprizes which to-weaker minds would appear
impracticable, hut in which they are well second-
ed by the devotio6 of their adherents. Their ab-
stinencse is often extraordinary. In a retreat their
food is frequentlY nothing more than corn plucked
from the fiestas •as they pass; and separated from
tire chaff by rubbing between the hands. This,
with a little water, is the only sustenance they
can procure, till they attain some place of'com-
,parative- security, when they again begin their
ravages, and go on plundering friend,_ and foes
indiscriminately all the way to their own country.
The worst feature Of their character 'is displayed
on these occasions. They every where commit
the-most dreadfuhepormities, arid it may justly be
said that all their good qoalitiesare obliterated
by their cruelty and barbarity. Their progress is
almost always marked by the smoking ruins of
villages, the shrieks of women, and ahe groans of
etheir mutilated husbands. .What they cannot re-
Move is reinorselessli destroyed ; and it has truly
',been observed, that were such pests permitted to
continue their merciless depredations without
molestation, the peninsula of India would in
time become a desert, and the few inhabitants
that survived the general wreck a hand of savage
aed licent ions robbers.' Happily for the coun-
tries subject to their inroads, their stay in one
place is but for a few hours, and two or three
months the usual limiteof their expeditions.
It•bas been supposed; from tire apparent di-
reetnesssaf their operations, that their information
regarding the countries through which they pass,
and at which their ravages are aimed, is unusually
correct ; but there are many instances in which
chance rather than settled design has been their
guide. They have no funds wherewith to pay the
services of spies, but in their route they seize
whomsoever the fortune of war throws in their
way, and from the prisoners gather those parti-
culars with which they wish to be acquainted.
The probability of a large booty is the first sub-
ject of their inquiry, and the next the number of
troops and quantity of fire-arms by which they
are likely to be opposed. That the replies to
these investigations, rather than previous intelli-
gence, influence their motions, we would not
state in opposition to the generally received opi-
nion, were we unable to bring forward some pt oof
in support of our theory. '1 he following inci-
dent, among several others of the same kind, has
been related, to us :-7-Wheo Buksoo, in 1816,
crossed.the Nerbuddah, his only intention was to
have plundered the Nizam's country, between the
Kistnah and Godavery, but on crossing the latter
river he was met by a faqueer, who informed
Jelin of the rich tress of the country round Gun-
toor, and of the facility with which it might be
plundered, from there being no troops in the
neighbourhood. The offer of condecting him thi-
ther was immediately accepted, all the former
plans were changed or relingeished,'Gurrtoor be-
came the object of cupidity, and the laqtieer rode
on horseback at the head of the toll,' by the side
of Buksoo, through a circuitous route of above
700 miles. They laid waste the Northern Cir-
cars nearly tip to Calcutta, and afters tire eomple-
thin of the business, a voluntary contribution of
1200 or 1500 rupees was raised among them, and
given, as the reward of his services, to the fa-
queer, who, on the retreat of the toll,' went on
a pilgrimage to Muck wanpoor.
" On this occasion, they collected an immen-
sity of plunder, and perpetrate 4 the most horrible
cruelties. And it should be recollected, that they
bad been making similar incursions into the do-
minions of our allies ever since the year 1811. In
1814 they entered the prosince of Behar,
.and up
to the period
.of which we have
.been treating,
twice invaded the Madras territories. it the last
inroad 1
inroad their augmented numbers and wanton atro-
cities threw the whole southern part of the pe-
ninsula into a state of alarm. Passing without
opposition or difficulty through the states of the
Peishwalr and the Nizans, they spread themselves
over the face of the country, and carried fire and
sword almost from one end to the other of the
district of Genial)). On their_return home, laden
with the spoil awl stained with the blood of our
subjects, we have the satisfaction to say that se-
veral parties of them were overtaken and defeated
by the Company's troops, against whom they
were not able to contend. The success of our de-
tachments under Majors Lushington, Smith, and
Macdowall, as well as of the Sepoys under Lieut.
Borthwick, in the southern part of India, and the,
equally brilliant exploits of several Officers of tire
Po. -gal army, had a 'very salutary ieouence in
checking the boldness of the enemy, inspiring
our own force with confidence, and convincing
the Native Powers that we still preserved our an-
cient superiority in arms and the art of war."
[To be continued.]