 The pay of the troops was in arrears, and they maintained themselves by plundering the cultivators.At the same time the raids of the Pindaris commenced, who became so bold that in 1811 they advanced to Nagpur and burnt the suburbs.It was at this time that most of the numerous village forts were built; on the approach of these marauders the peasantry retired to the forts and fought for bare life, all they possessed outside the walls being already lost to them.