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THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY
[ NOVEMBER, 1921
spirited modes of whiling it away, retire, at the approach of evening, to the arrack shop, or the tent of the prostitute ; and revel through the night in a state of low debauchery, which could hardly be envied by the keenest votary of Comus and his beastly crew."'137 Shivaji's successors had for reasons best known to them suffered these salutary regulations to disappear and their result was disestrous for their army and themselves. The Maratha soldiers declined in morals, and in the discipline and alertness that made them so formidable under Sbivaji's leadership. Soon after his conquest of Konkan, Shivaji found it necessary to organise a navy, strong
enough to check the raids of the Siddi's fleet on his coasts. His Shivaji's navy.
fleet consisted mainly of Gallivats and Ghurabs as well as many river crafts of various descriptions. Sabhasad 138 tells us that no less than four hundred Ghurabs, Tarandis, Tarves, Gallivats, Shibads and Pagars wore built, and organised into two squadrons of 100 vessels. Each squadron was placed under the supreme command of an Admiral, Dariya Sarang, a Muhammadan officer, and May Naik, a Bhandari. Dariya Sarang was by no means the only Muhammadan officer in Shivaji's fleet. Another prominent Muhammadan Admiral, Daulat Khan by name, entered Shivaji's service a few years later. The fleet was in all probability manned mainly by the Kolis and other seafaring tribes of the Malabar coast. What was their uniform, or whether they had any we do not know. At Malwan, the principal nayal fort of Shivaji, there is a statue of the Maratha hero with the peculiar Koli hat on his head. 139 It will not therefore be unlikely to suppose that the sailors of Shivaji's fleet generally wore a similar headgear.
Sabhasad tells us that Shivaji's fleet not only harassed the indigenous sea powers of Strength of the fleet.
the south, but also plundered the ships and possessions of such Eu
u ropean powers as the Portuguese, the Dutch and the English. That Shivaji's navy was a menace to these traders is quite true, but he was not so fortunate in his naval es in his military organisation. He could hardly hold his own against the Siddi's in the sea and the numerical strength of his fleet has in all probability been highly exaggerated by his gon's court historian. Robert Orme informs us that “ The fleet of Shivaji had by this time [1676) been increased to fifty seven sails of which fifteen were grabe, the rest gallivats all crowded with men."140 Fryer saw on his way to "Serapatan to the South of Dan de Rajapore, a Strong Castle of Seva Gi's defended a deep bay, where rode hig Navy, consisting of 30 small Ships and Vessels, the Admiral wearing a White Flag aloft."111 Professor Jadunath Sarkar 148 points out "that the English reports never put their number above 160, and usually as 60 only.” In all probability, Shivaji's men-of-war did not exceed 200 in number, but he had a very large mercantile navy. On land Shivaji depended more on the quality than on the number of his men; on the sea, however, his fleet was decidedly inferior to that of the English in efficiency though not in size. The President of the Surat factory was of opinion that one good English ship would destroy a hundred of them without running herself into great danger."143 This weakness was mainly due to the lack of good artillery as well as the want of a naval tradition.
181 Broughton, p. 21,
188 Sabhasad, p. 68. 131 Seo Itihas Sangraha
160 Orme, p. 63. 141 Fryer, p. 145.
143 Sarkar, Shivaji, p. 336. 145 (F. R. Surat, 86, 28 No.) quoted in Sarlar'. Shivji, p. 339.
