The infantry had a similar structure  Infantry ranks (starting with senior-most rank):  During the War of 27 Years (1680 to 1707) the Maratha State forces (regular army) dispersed and the theater of warfare became entire Southern India (or Deccan India). During this period the armies of the Marathas resorted to guerrilla warfare; bands of irregular soldiers also joined in and it became a "People's War". Raiding enemy's rear, isolated posts, supply lines was a feature during this period. Common men and women from virtually every town and village offered shelter to the Mahratta forces led by two valiant Generals - "Santaji Ghorpade" and "Dhanaji Jadhav"  Jadunath Sarkar the noted historian writes in his famous book namely military history of India about Santaji Ghorpade, a brilliant strategist who fought 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". During the 18th century the Maratha army continued its emphasis on its light cavalry, which proved better against the heavy cavalry of the Mughals. Post 1720, the armies of the Maratha Kingdom started making their presence felt in Northern India (the bastion of the Mughals) and scored numerous military victories, primarily due to the skills of Peshwa Bajirao I as a great cavalry leader and military strategist. Bajirao Peshwa made excellent use of small and heavy ammunition (using it in excellent coordination) and used smothering tactics. The Marathas under Bajirao I would use their artillery to create a blanket of projectiles to smother the enemy. A hallmark of Baji Rao I's troops was that of long-distance cavalry attacks, typically light and agile cavalry. During his reign, the cavalry strength was some 100,000. Peshwa's own cavalry was called as "Huzurat Cavalry" which was an elite cavalry division. Further, Baji Rao employed infantry consisting of flintlock-armed regulars   When the Marathas confronted the French (allies of the Nizam) on battlefield in 1750s, they realized the importance of western-style disciplined infantry.