For better administration, Shivaji abolished the land-grants or jagir for military officers and instituted a system of salary or cash payment for their services.

A case in point here is that the Marathas achieved success in the systematic elimination of all forts which came their way during the Battle of Surat circa 1664.

In addition to the regular army, bands of irregular soldiers joined the fight, transforming the conflict into a people's war.

Raiding the enemy's rear positions and attacking isolated posts and supply lines became common strategies.

[12] Throughout this period, ordinary men and women from virtually every town and village offered shelter and support to the Maratha forces, led by the valiant generals Santaji Ghorpade and Dhanaji Jadhav.

[13][14] Jadunath Sarkar, the noted historian, writes in his famous book, the military history of India about Santaji Ghorpade, a brilliant strategist who fought against the Mughals in the 27-year war.

He was a perfect master of this art, which can be more correctly described as Parthian warfare than as guerrilla tactics, because he could not only make night marches and surprises, but also cover long distances quickly and combine the movements of large bodied over wide areas with an accuracy and punctuality which were incredible in any Asiatic army other than those of Chengiz Khan and Tamurlane.

[19] When the Marathas confronted the French (allies of the Nizam) on battlefield in 1750s, they realized the importance of western-style disciplined infantry.

"[34] In the late 18th and early 19th century, with French-trained artillery and infantry, the Marathas managed to regain their lost ground in North India, however they could not match the superior artillery of the British East India Company, which in due course of time, among other reasons, led to the defeat of the Marathas at the Third Anglo-Maratha War and decline of their Empire itself.

They had implicit support from Maratha chiefs (Maharajas) such as Scindias of Gwalior, Holkars of Indore, and Bhosales of Nagpur.

This band of freebooters accompanied Maratha forces during their campaigns and helped win wars in return for plunder and pay.

The invasions lasted annually for ten years until finally the Nawab of Bengal, European merchants and locals had built the Maratha Ditch to safeguard themselves from war.