On 19th February 1818, the Peshwa's power was destroyed at the battle of Ashta, where Gokla, his general, was defeated and slain, and the Peshwas disappeared ; and on the 11th April 1818, a descendant of Sivaji was replaced on the throne at Satara, from which he was again removed in 1839 for alleged intrigues, and his brother, who was put in his place, died without an heir. The Bhonsla of Nagpur died in 1855 without an heir, also the Tanjore raja without a son, and in the 19th century the Kolhapur rajas have been continued by repeated adoptions. In 1878, tho States of Holkar at Indere, of Sindia at Gwalior, of the Gaekwar at Baroda, of the Kolhapur at Sawuntwari, have continued in alliance with the British Government. There are also several chieftains of this race with almost regal powers, amongst whom may be mentioned the branches at Sunder, Gunjundurghur, and Akulkote, few miles from Kaladgi, all of the once powerful Ghorphara The British Indian Government, after the fall of the l'eshwa, provided for those who had been high officers under the rajas of Satara and tho I'eshwas. Some, as tho Vinchurkar in Ahnutd nagger and the nawab of Sadernur near Dharwar, had held offices under Aumngzeb and other Moghul emperors. They were, as a rule, guaranteed the enjoyment of their ancient rights and privileges, by treaties binding them to provide a contingent of troops, to make adequate police and judicial arrangements, in consultation with the political agents, for the extradition of criminals. By Regulation 29 of 1827; three classes of Sirdars were established, and an agent to the Governor, for Sirdars in the Dekhan, was appointed to try such suits against them as would ordinarily be cognisable by the judges of Poona or Alimad naggur. No decree of the agent against a Sirdar is executed without the order of the Governor in Council, to whom also plaintiff may appeal, a further appeal to the Queen in Council being open to either party. The personal privi leges of Sirdars consist in formal courtesies, varied with each class. Their precedence in durbar is exactly settled.
The Mahratta race has family names like the people of Europe. Bhonsla, Holkar, Sindia, and Gaekwar are patronymics. Mahrattas, even of the highest rank, have not a dignified appear ance. They are under the European standard, but well - proportioned, with dark skins and irregular features, and the women, as a rule, arc not well favoured. They are sturdy men, rude, rough, boorish, and illiterate, but patient under labour. Their fields and gardens are kept in excellent order, and they have formed good, hardy, and active soldiers, capable of endurance, much of their tactics having resembled that of the Parthians, though even in this Lord Lake's energy overcame them. Speaking generally, tho race is shorter, more robust and darker in com plexion, than the races of Northern India, or even than the Teling people, and their appearance is so dissimilar to that of the Aryan families as to preclude the belief that they have come of that stock. The Mahrattas bordering on the Teling and Crinarese countries in the south-east are taller and better formed men than those around Alimadnaggu r.
During their military operations, if the Mahrattas showed none of the pride and dignity of the Raj puts, they had none of the Rajput indolence or want of worldly wisdom. A Rajput warrior, so long as he did not dishonour his race, seemed almost indifferent as to the result of any contest iu which he was engaged. The Mahratta thought of nothing but the result, and cared little for the means if he could attain his object. For this he would strain his wits, renounce his pleasures, and hazard his person, but had not a conception of sacrificing his life, or even his interest, for a point of honour. This difference of sentiment affects the outward appearance of the two nations : there is something noble in the carriage of an ordinary Rajput, and something vulgar in that of the most distinguished Mahratta. Tho Rajput proved the most worthy antagonist, the Mabratta the most formidable enemy, as they did not fail in boldness and enterprise when these were indispensable, and always supported them or supplied their place by stratagem, activity, and perseverance.
The efforts of the Mahrattas in emancipating themselves from a foreign yoke were neither guided nor strengthened by any distinct hope or desire. They became free, but knew not how to remain independent, and they allowed a Brahman to turn their aimless aspiration to his own profit, and to found a dynasty of Peshwas on the achieve ments of unlettered Sudras. Ambitious soldiers took a further advantage of the spirit called up by Sivaji, but as it was not sustained by any pervading principle of action, a few generations saw the race yield to the expiring efforts of Muhammadanism, and the Mahratta owe their present position, as rulers, to the intervention of European strangers. The genuine Mahratta can scarcely be said to exist, and the 200,000 spear men of the 18th century are once more shepherds and tillers of the ground. The attention of the Mahratta Sudra, for nearly 200 years, from the middle of the 17th up to the 19th centuries, was directed solely to foreign conquest, and nearly all India, from Cape Comorin to Dehli, yielded the fourth part of the revenues as tribute to their kingdoms. During that period of war, agriculture cannot but have been neglected, and even in the early part of the present century they were characterized as mountaineers, herdsmen, and soldiers, but essentially bad farmers. Since 1820, however, they have been settling down to their fields, and are now extremely well-to-do agricul turists, for the great bulk of them follow this pursuit, and are usually designated the Kunbi.
The races and tribes and sects and fragmentary nations dwelling in the Mahratta country are numerous, with many immigrants. The most prominent are the Kunbi cultivator, the village authorities, amongst whom are the Mhar and Mhang as predial slaves, Muhammadans, Brah mans, and Parsees. The chief races and castes daily seen are— The Mahratta people have amongst them, out side every village, the Pariah or Dher, whom they designate as Mbar ; the tanner, who is called Mhang ; and inside the hamlets dwell the Dhor or currier.