Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies - DUBOIS, Abbé Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies, Dubois | Page 719

CAMP FOLLOWERS
679
Charlatans of all kinds swarm in these disorderly camps.
There are conjurers, soothsayers, astrologers, tight-rope
acrobats, quacks, pickpockets, fakirs, religious
and furthermore, each soldier is
mendicants, blind men
Thus you may often
generally followed by his whole family.
see an army of from twenty-five to thirty thousand soldiers
with three hundred thousand followers of all sorts and con-
ditions in its train, who, profiting by the confusion which
reigns in the camp, devote their whole time to robbery with
impunity. The Mahratta armies are less troubled with these
encumbrances, for they often make forced marches, and it
would be impossible for the followers to keep up with them.
The generals' tents, especially in the case of Mahomedans,
Oriental taste and luxury
are very large and commodious.
They are richly adorned, and
are conspicuous in them.
provided with every kind of comfort. They are divided
into several compartments, some of which are destined for
the wives or concubines of these pleasure-loving commanders,
who are almost invariably accompanied by their women.
Even in the midst of a tumultuous camp,