Question

Who were the Pindaris?

Answer 1

Hint:
The bulk of Pindari's leaders were Muslims.
The first mention of the Pindaris can be found during the Aurangzeb campaign in the Deccan.
They are spread across Central India, the Deccan and other areas.

Complete answer:
Pindaris were irregular horsemen from defeated armies who robbed and plundered Maratha armies in central India in the 18th century. They accompanied the Maratha bands that raided the territories of Mughal. With the fall of the Mughal Empire in the 18th century, these camp followers organised themselves into groups usually joined by one of the leading Maratha chiefs.

Most of them seem to have been Mahommedans: when the regular forces of the Mahrattas were broken up in the campaigns of Sir Arthur Wellesley and Lord Lake in 1802-04, the Pindaris made their headquarters in Malwa under the tacit protection of Sindhia and Holkar. They were accustomed to meeting at the beginning of November every year and to march to British territories in search of plunder.

When their practise became unbearable, in 1816 the British organised a campaign known as the Pindari War, which exterminated them under the supreme command of Lord Hastings. The protectors of Pindaris in Gwalior were overawed and signed a treaty (1817) against Pindaris. Their other allies took up arms against the British, but they were defeated separately. The Pindaris themselves offered no resistance; most of the leaders gave up, and their followers dispersed.

Note:
During the raid on the coast of Masulipatam, 339 villages were plundered, 682 people were killed and injured, 3,600 others were tortured and a lot of valuable property was taken away.

Amir Khan, by far their most influential chief, accepted the conditions offered to him and his descendant is now Nawab of the state of Tonk in Rajputana.

The others surrendered or were hunted down, and the fate of Chitu, one of the most infamous, was to perish in a tiger's den. These military operations accompanied the appeasement of Central India under the leadership of Sir John Malcolm.