N
84
A HISTORY OF THE MARATHA PEOPLE
deeply interested. He thought to himself that, if the bull could purify itself from Brahman murder, he (Shiva) could, by doing what it did, purify himself from the sin of having burnt off one of Brahmadev's five heads. He went away, but next morning returned to the spot where he had heard the conver- sation. In a little time the Brahman came and tried to fasten the ring in the young bull's nose. The graceless beast threw him on his back and gored him to death. From being pure white, it became black with sin. Galloping off with its tail in the air, it plunged into the pool in the Godavari river where the divine hero Ramchandra had performed the obse- quies of his dead father. Such was the holiness of the water that the bull became pure white, save only the tip of its tail. This it had held in the air to shew its defiant spirit. The god Shiva watched the incident closely and immediately afterwards plunged into the same pool. The same moment the vision that had haunted bim disappeared. To commemorate the punish- ment and the release of the god Shiva there was built close to the place where these events occurred the temple of Kapileshwar or the god of the head. It is the only temple in India, as I have said, where no bull kneels reverently in front of the god. For, whereas in other spots the bull is regarded as Shiva's servant, there the bull is regarded as the great god's teacher. The charm of this delightful legend was, it is to be feared, lost on the Maratha Achilles, as he sulked on the banks of the Godavari. Less fortunate than his prototype, he found that his absence produced none of the calamities that he had anticipated. Sakharam Bapu was deeply hurt at his super- session by Trimbakrao Pethe. Lastly, the beautiful and ambi- tious Anandibai resented her husband's descent from the regency to private life. Yielding to his anger and the counsels of his friend and his wife, Raghunathrao sought the help of the Nizam against his own nephew. Leaving Nasik, he went to Aurangabad, where the governor, Murad Khan received him in state and gave him a large contingent of Moghul troops. A treaty known as the treaty of Pedgaon was entered into between Raghunathrao, and Nizam Ali, who in 1761 had deposed his brother Salabat Jang1 and was now Nizam of
Nizam Ali murdered Salabat Jang in 1763.
THE ACCESSION OF MADHAVRAO BALLAL
85
Haidarabad. The price of Moghul help was the reduction by fifty-one lakhs annually of the cessions made by the treaty of Udgir, and the surrender of Daulatabad, Shivner, Ahmadnagar and Asirgad. Many Maratha chiefs, including Janoji Bhosle, despised Madhavrao as a child and supported Raghunathrao. Madhavrao equipped such forces as he could, and the two armies fought on the banks of the Ghodnadi river a series of actions between the 7th and 12th November 1762. At last Madhavrao, despairing of successful resistance, went unattend- ed to his uncle's camp and gave himself into his uncle's power, rather than continue a quarrel profitable to his country's enemies. To do Raghunathrao justice, he took no unfair advantage of his nephew's act. He put him under surveil- lance, but treated him with every courtesy. He made no effort to depose him, but took over the administration in Madhav- rao's name, giving out that his young nephew had been misled by the advice of interested intriguers. He displaced Trimbak- rao Pethe and restored Sakharam Bapu. With him he asso- ciated Balwantrao Mahadev Purandare, to whom he gave back the great fort of Purandar. He degraded Nana Phadnavis' cousin Moroba from the family office of the Peshwa's phadnavis or chief secretary, and gave it to Chinto Vithal Rairikar. He attached the estate of Bhavanrao (also known as Shrinivas) Pratinidhi, who had succeeded his uncle Jagjivan, and gave it to Naro Shankar Dani, who had disgraced himself at Delhi, to manage for his own infant son Bhaskarrao, born to him and Anandibai on the 26th February 1762. Lastly, he took Miraj by storm from Gopalrao Govind Patwardhan and confiscated his entire estate.
The evil example set by Raghunathrao was now followed by his opponents. The Nizam's diwan was at this time a singularly astute individual named Vithal Sundar Raje Pratapwant, a Yajurvedi Deshasth Brahman.1 He invited all the discontented Maratha leaders to join Nizam Ali, and Gopalrao Patwardhan, Bhavanrao Pratinidhi, the Nimbalkars, Moroba Phadnavis and his father Baburao, Janoji Bhosle and
1 He was one of the 3} wise men of the Deccan. Sakharam Bapu was another and Divaji Pant was the third. Nana Phadnavis was the half. It was a case where the half proved greater than the whole.
{Frontispiece.']
iJAHMADSHAH DURANI
J ■*-•
<5\^>W
A HISTORY OF THE MARATHA PEOPLE
BY C. A. KINCAID, C.V.O., I.C.S.
Officler de I'lastruction Publlque AND
Rao Bahadur D. B. PARASNIS
VOL. Ill
FROM THE DEATH OF SHAHU TO THE END OF THE CHITPAVAN EPIC
\*
V
0
â– V
*>
^
HUMPHREY MILFORD OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS LONDON BOMBAY CALCUTTA MADRAS
1925
OTHER BOOKS BY C. A. KINCAID
Published by the Oxford University Press
THE ANCHORITE, TALES OF OLD SIND, THE INDIAN HEROES, TALES FROM THE INDIAN EPICS, TALES FROM THE INDIAN DRAMA, TALES OF KING VIKRAMA, TALES OF THE SAINTS OF PANDHARPUR.
Published by Messrs. Macmillan & Co.
DECCAN NURSERY TALES.
Published by the ' Times of India '
HINDU GODS AND HOW TO RECOGNIZE THEM, OUR PARS1 FRIENDS.
Published by Messrs. Taraporevala & Co.
THE TALE OF THE TULSI PLANT. SHRIKRISHNA OF DWARKA.
Published by the ' Daily Gazette ' Press
FOLK TALES OF SIND AND GUZARAT.
OTHER BOOKS BY P. B. PARASNIS
THE RAM OF JHANSI, MAHAHLESHWAR, PANHALA. POONA, THK SANGLI STATE, Etc., Etc.
TO THE MARATHA PEOPLE
THIS WORK
IS
RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED
PREFACE TO THIRD VOLUME
I now offer to the public the third volume of A History of the Marat ha People, which I have dedicated like the others to the Maratha People. I decided to write the book as far back as 1913, after assuring myself of the collaboration of Rao Bahadur D. B. Parasnis. I owe him a deep debt of thanks for the help which he has given me, and for the infinite courtesy with which he has always soothed my impatience. He is solely responsible for Appendix B, Chapter LXVII1 on Ram Shastri and the Peshwa's justice. I have also re- ceived the greatest help from Mr. Sardesai's admirable Riyasat, a copy of which he very kindly sent me. The Chief of Ichalkaranji has been throughout most sympathetic, and has often lent me books that without his help I could not have obtained. My thanks are also due to Rao Bahadur Sane, who has laid all students of Indian history under a great obligation by the publication of the Peshwa's Bakhar and other ancient Maratha chronicles. Lastly, my most grateful thanks are due to the Government of H. H. The Maharaja of Baroda, the Government of H. H. The Maharaja of Kolhapur, and to the Chiefs of Sangli, Ichalkaranji, Bhor, Aundh, and Miraj senior, for their generous support.
As regards the arrangement of the third volume, it may be objected that I have compressed into too small a space the reign of Bajirao II. This I have done deliberately. My work is primarily for Indian readers, and to them the glorious period of the Maratha kingdom will, I think, prove more interesting than its decline and fall. Maratha pre-eminence ended with the death of Madhavrao II. After the treaty of Bassein the Peshwa became a subordinate ally of the English. English readers who wish to read in more detail the events of Bajirao's reign will find them described at great length in Grant Duff. His immortal History of the Mahrattas, admirably edited by Mr. S. M. Edwardes, c.s.i., c.v.o., has recently been republished by the Oxford University Press,
vi PREFACE
One of my critics complained that I had not given a full list of the authorities consulted by me at the end of each volume. I have tried to meet his wishes by giving a list of authorities consulted (so far as it is possible in view of the wide reading involved in such a work) at the beginning of this volume.
In the preface to my first volume I promised to include in the third volume a short account of the Maratha states between 1818 and the present day. This promise, I regret to say, I have been unable to keep. The publishers, for whose generous co-operation I am deeply grateful, think that the work is already long enough. I fear too, that, to use Michelet's words, L'dge me presse. I must leave to some other pen the task of writing the history of the Maratha states during the last hundred years.
I conclude by repeating what I said in the last paragraph of the preface to the first volume, and by assuring my Indian readers, that I have done my best to avoid giving them offence. If by inadvertence I have done so, I trust that, they will extend to me their forgiveness.
C. A. K.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
XLVIII. The Women's War and the Triumph of Balaji
Peshvva ... ... ... ... ... ... 1
XL1X. The War against the Nizam ... ... ... 12
L. The Rise of the English and the Fall of Angre. 20
LI. Balaji Triumphs over de Bussy ... ... ... 29
LII. Events at Delhi from 1748 to 1760 ... ... 52
LIII. Panipat and the Death of Balaji Peshwa ... 62
LIV. The Accession of Madhavrao Ballal ... ... 80
LV. Madhavrao's First and Second Mysore Wars, and
Second Civil War ... ... ... ... 89
LVI. Madhavrao's Third Mysore War and Progress
of Affairs at Delhi ... ... ... ... 96
LVII. Narayanrao and Raghunathrao ... ... ... 102
LVIII. Raghunathrao and the English ... ... ... 112
LIX. The Pretender and the English War ... ... 117
LX. Moroba Phadnavis' Conspiracy and the English
Invasion ... ... ... ... ... ... 124
LXI. Renewal of the English War ... ... ... 132
LXII. Wars against Tipu ... ... ... ... 147
LXIII. Career and Death of Madhavrao Sindia ... 159 LXIV. War against Nizam All Death of Savai Madhav- rao ... ... ... ... ... ... 170
LXV. The Accession of Bajirao II ... ... ... 183
L.XVI. Civil Wars and Wars against the English ... 191
LXVII. The Reign of Bajirao II ... ... ... ... 207
LXVII1. The End of the Chitpavan Epic... ... ... 218
ILLUSTRATIONS
Ahmadshah Durani Frontispiece
FACING PAGE
Sadashivrao Bhau 16
Surajmal, King of the Jats 63
Madhavrao Peshwa 81
Narayanrao Peshwa 104
Raghunathrao Balaji, Pandit Pradhan, Peshwa of the Maratha Empire 139
Madhavrao Sindia , 168
Balaji Pandit Nana Phaduavis 168
Tippoo Sultan 188
LIST OF THE CHIEF AUTHORITIES CONSULTED— ENGLISH
Acworth, H. A., Ballads of the Mar at has, Longmans, 1894.
Anderson, P., The English in Western hidia, London, 1856.
Ayangar's Ancietit India, Madras.
Bernier's Travels, Constable, London, 1891.
Betham, R. M., Marat has and Dekhani Musulmans, Calcutta,
1908. Bhandarkar, Deccan, Bombay ; Vaishnavism, Saivism and
Minor Religious Systems, Strassburg, 1913. Bowring, Haidar Ali and Tippu Sultan, Oxford University
Press. Briggs, Ferishta, Calcutta, 1908; The Siyar id Mutakherin
vol. 1, Murray, London. Broughton, T. D., Letters written in a Maratha Camp during
1809, Constable, London. Bruce, Annals of the East India Company, 1600—1707, London. Bury, History of Greece, London. Campbell, Sir James, Bombay Presidency Gazetteer. Compton, European Military Adventurers in Hindostan,
London, 1892. Cunningham, History of the Sikhs, Oxford University Press. Da Cunha, Antiquities of Bassein, Bombay. Dan vers, F. C, The Portuguese in hidia, London, 1894. Delia Valle, P., Travels i?i India (Hakluyt), 2 vols., London,
1892. Dosabhai Framji Karaka, History of the Parsis, 2 vols.,
London, 1884. Douglas, J., Bombay and Western India, London, 1893. Downing, Clement, History of the Indian Wars, London, 1737. Dubois, Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies, Oxford
University Press, 1899. Edwardes, S. M., The Rise of Bo?nbay, Bombay, 1902; Gazet- teer of Bombay Town and Island, Bombay, 1909. Elliot and Dowson, History of India as told by her own
Historians, London, 1867.
X LIST OF THE CHIEF AUTHORITIES
Elphinstone, M., History of India, London, 1874.
Forbes, A. K., Rasmala, London, 1878.
Forbes, J., Oriental Memoirs, London, 1834.
Forrest, G. W., Selections from Bombay State Papers : Home
Series, Bombay, 1887 ; Maratha Series, Bombay, 1885. Fryer, John, A New Account of East India and Persia, London,
1698. Grant Duff, History of the Marathas, Oxford University Press
(edited by Edwardes), 1921. Gwalior State Gazetteer, 1908. Haig, Historical Landmarks of the Decca?i, Pioneer Press,
Allahabad, 1907. Hamilton, A New Account of the East Indies, London, 1744. Hamilton, History of the Rohilla Afghans, London. Heber, R., Narrative of a Journey through the Upper Pro- vinces of India, London, 1861. Imperial Gazetteer of India, Clarendon Press, 1907, 1908. Irvine's History of the Nazvabs of Farrukabad, London. Julien, Voyages de Hiuen Tsang, Paris. Keene, H. G., The Fall of the Moghul Empire, London, 1887 ;
The Great Anarchy, Thacker & Co., London, 1901 ; Life of
Madhavrao Sindia, Oxford University Press, 1911. Kincaid, C. A., Ishtur Phakde, ' Times of India Press ' ; Tales
of the Saints of Pandharpur, Oxford University Press. Lane Poole, S., History of the Moghul Emperors of Hindustan,
London, 1892 ; Aurangzib, Clarendon Press, 1893. Low, History of the Indian Navy, London, 1877. Macauliffe, M. A., The Sikh Religion, Clarendon Press, 1909. Maclean, J. M., Guide to Bombay, 1875. Macnicol, N., Indian Theism, Clarendon Press, 1915. Malabari, P. B., Bombay in the Making, Unwin, 1910. Malcolm, Sir J., Memoir of Central India, London, 1832. Malleson, G. B., History of the French in India, London. Manucci, N.-, Storia do Mogor, London, 1907-1908. Orme, R., Historical Fragments of the Moghul Empire, London,
1782 ; History of Hindustan, London, 1783. Owen, S. J., Moghul Empire, London, 1912. Parasnis, D. B., Mahableshwar, Bombay, 1916 ; The Sangli State,
Bombay, 1917 ; Panhala, Bombay, 1923 ; Poona in Bygone
days, 1921, Bombay.
LIST OF THE CHIEF AUTHORITIES xi
Ranade, Rise of the Marat ha Power, Bombay, 1900.
Rice, B. L., Gazetteer of Mysore, Westminster, 1897.
Sarkar Jadtmath, History of Aurangzib, Calcutta, 1912-1916,
4 vols. ; Shivaji and his Times, Calcutta, 1919. Scott, J., Deccan, London, 1784.
Sewell, R. A., Forgotten Empire, Sonnenschein, 1900. Sleeman, Sir W. H., Rambles and Recollections of an Indian
Official, Oxford University Press, 1915. Smith, V. A., The Early History of India, Clarendon Press,
1914; Akbar, Clarendon Press, 1917; The Oxford History
of India, Clarendon Press, 1919. Strachey, Sir J., Hastings and the Rohilla War, Clarendon
Press. Tavernier, J. B., Travels in India, London, 1889. Tod, J., Annals and Antiquities of Rajasihan, Oxford Univer- sity Press, 1919. Valentia's Voyages, London.
Waring, E. S. A., History of the Marat has, London, 1810. Wilks, Lt.-Col. M., Historical Sketches of the South of India,
Madras, 1869.
PRINCIPAL MARATHI AUTHORITIES
Atre, M. M., Malharrao Holkar yanche Charilra, Poona, 1893, Bakhars : —
Bakhar of Pilaji Gaikvad.
Bakhar of the Dabhades.
Chitnis Bakhar.
Shivdigvijaya Bakhar.
Sabhasad Bakhar.
Panipat Bakhar.
Bhavsahib 's Bakhar.
Harivanshanchi Bakhar.
Shedgaonkar Bakhar.
Bakhar of the Nagpurkar Bhosles. Khare, V. V., Itihasik Lekh Sangraha, Kurundwad Bhavnana Press, 5 volumes, 1908.
Nana Phadnavisanche Charilra, Maharashtra Book Depot, Poona, 1902.
Adhikar Yog, Maharashtra Book Depot, Poona, 1908.
xii LIST OF THE CHIEF AUTHORITIES
Parasnis, D. B., Brahmendraswami yanche Charitra, Bombay; Marathyanche Armar, Bombay, 1904 ; Marat hyanche Para- kram, Bombay, 1895. Itihas Sangraha, vols, i-vii.
Rajwade Marathi, Itihasachin Sadhane.
Sardesai, G. S., Marathi Riyasat, vols. 4, Indu-Prakash Press, Bombay.
Namdev's Charitra.
Ramdas1 Dasbodh.
Ramdas' Charitra, by Hanmant Swami.
PRINCIPAL PORTUGUESE AUTHORITIES
Ismail Gracias : Uma Dona Portugueza na corte do grao Mogol ; Os ultimos cinco generaes do norte ; O Oriente Portuguese.
GUZARATI AUTHORITY
Karan Ghelo, by Mr. Nandashankar.
CHAPTER XLVIII
THE WOMEN'S WAR AND THE TRIUMPH OF BALAJI PESHWA
A. D. 1750 to 1751
In the late monsoon of 1750 the Peshwa with a large force entered the territories of the Nizam. Ostensibly he was acting as the ally of Nasir Jang. His real aim was to reduce the Nizam's territories to Maratha rule. In September 1750 Raghuji Bhosle received from the Peshwa a robe of honour and sent his son Janoji with the vanguard of the Maratha army to Nasir Jang's assistance. The combined force de- feated Muzaffir Jang and took him prisoner. Then the tide turned. On the 5th December, 1750, Nasir Jang was killed in battle against the French, whose rapid rise the Peshwa had observed with growing resentment. Through a Krikakolam Brahman named Ramdas, in high office at the Nizam's court, he entered into negotiations with Sayad Lashkar Khan, the Governor of Aurangabad. The Peshwa was willing to support either a brother or son of Nasir Jang, as Sayad Lashkar Khan might wish. The Sayad chose Ghazi-ud-din, the eldest son of Nizam-ul-Mulk, who, in view of his own prospects at the imperial court, had not actively opposed the succession of Nasir Jang. He now, in return for Maratha support, offered to cede to them the subhas of Aurangabad and Burhanpur. On receiving Lashkar Khan's reply, the Peshwa prepared to march. On the 29th January, 1751, he left Poona, and on the 12th February he was before Aurangabad, which he invested. Sayad Lashkar Khan paid him seventeen lakhs of rupees, ostensibly to raise the siege, but really to assist his enter- prise. The Maratha army then spread over the country and effectively occupied the two districts, Aurangabad and Burhan- pur, offered by Ghazi-ud-din. Salabat Jang, who was still with de Bussy in the Carnatic, marched northwards to oppose the Peshwa. On hearing of his advance, the Marathas con- centrated on the Krishna and thence moved on Haidarabad.
2 A HISTORY OF THE MARATHA PEOPLE
But while Balaji was still at Pangal, seven marches from Haidarabad, he received the most alarming news from Satara. He had recently attached but little importance to the conduct of Tarabai. He was not unwilling that Ramraja should remain for some little time in custody in Satara fort, if only to make him appreciate more highly his release. But he now learnt that Tarabai, in league with Uamaji Gaikvad, was threatening the whole fabric of the power bequeathed to him by Shahu. He resolved to desert the cause of Ghazi-ud-din and to return to Poona. With his usual address he hid his anxiety from his comrades in the field ; but he directed Janoji Nimbalkar to make the best terms he could with the enemy. Salabat Jang, who was ignorant of Balaji's fears, offered, to secure the Peshwa's departure, seventeen lakhs, two in cash and the rest in bills on bankers in Haidarabad, Aurangabad and Burhanpur. To his surprise and joy, Balaji accepted his offer and evacuated his dominions.
The events that had occurred in the Peshwa's absence on field service resembled the war known in French history as the Fronde. The plot was woven and the rebel armies were organised and equipped by women, although it must be conceded that the characters of the Maratha ladies differed widely from those of Mme de Chevreuse or Mme de Longue- ville. Umabai, the widow of Khanderao Dabhade had, in spite of her pretended reconciliation with the Peshwa, never for- given Bajirao or his son Balaji for the defeat of Dabhai or the death of her eldest son, the gallant Trimbakrao. She had openly disregarded the terms on which Shahu had pardoned her family and had continuously withheld the half share of the royal revenues due to the royal treasury. So long as Shahu lived, he would permit no extreme measures ; but on the king's death, Balaji, faced with an empty treasury and a foreign war, determined to reduce to obedience the house of Dabhade. Umabai made public complaints against the Peshwa's demands and affected incurable grief at the loss of her protector, the Maratha king. Tarabai saw in Umabai a ready ally. She planned a meeting with her and in the rainy season of 1750 the two women met. Umabai agreed to put the forces of Guzarat at the disposal of Tarabai, provided her final appeals to Balaji to release the Dabhades from their
THE WOMEN'S WAR AND TRIUMPH OF BALAJI PESHWA 3
covenant failed. On the 1st October, 1750, the Maratha kdies met again at the temple of Shambhu Mahadev. The power of the Pant Sachiv and the Pratinidhi had been broken, and it is possible that at this interview the plot against Ramraja's person was hatched. On the 20th October, 1750 Umabai instructed her agent, Yado Mahadev Nirgude, to ask the Peshwa to reconsider his claim. Balaji haughtily replied that, so far from reconsidering the covenant of the Dabhades, he meant at once to enforce it. In the agent's presence he formally invested his kamavisdars with powers to collect half the revenues of Guzarat and bade them leave immediately for that province. Directly they had left the audience chamber, Yado Mahadev angrily withdrew, rudely refusing the formal present of clothes usually offered and accepted on such occasions. Umabai, unwilling to rebel, if she could attain her ends by other means, demanded and obtained a personal interview. On the 22nd November, the great Maratha lady met the Chitpavan minister at Alandi. After the preliminary civilities, Umabai pleaded her son's rights and repudiated the terms imposed on them after Dabhai. Extorted by force, so she contended, they were not binding. The Peshwa was more polite to her than to Yado Mahadev, but the gist of his answer was the same. Nothing would alter his resolve to divert into the royal coffers half the income of Guzarat. Umabai bade the Peshwa a dignified farewell. Two days later Tarabai at Satara seized the person of Ramraja.
On the assassination of Pilaji Gaikvad, his son Damaji, who early shewed great promise, was confirmed in his father's offices. As Yashwantrao Dabhade yielded more and more to the use of drink and opium, Damaji' s power grew. To him was now given the command of an army equipped by Umabai to effect a junction with Tarabai and to break the power of the Peshwa. On her side Tarabai was not inactive. She increased the garrison of Satara by five thousand men, placed a strong contingent on the summit of Yeoteshwar hill, and garrisoned other strong places in the neighbourhood of the fort. She implored help from the Pratinidhi and the Pant vSachiv, and sent emissaries to Ramdas, the Brahman in Salabat Jang's service, offering him the office of Peshwa if he would advance with the Nizam's army to her help. Unfortunately
4 A HISTORY OF THE MARATHA PEOPLE
for her plot, the Pratinidhi and the Pant Sachiv thought that they had suffered enough in her cause, while the Peshwa's treaty with the Nizam stopped the advance of troops from the Moghul Deccan. DamajiGaikvad advanced with great speed at the head of an army of fifteen thousand Maratha and Guzarati troops. His first intention seems to have been to march on Poona. On the 7th March, he encamped with his army at the village of Asbota. A wild panic seized the inhabitants of the capital. At early dawn on the 8th March, Radhabai and Kashibai, the Peshwa's grandmother and mother, fled from Poona to Sinhgad. On the same day the Guzarat army halted at Kendur, a large market town twenty miles south-west of Sirur. It was once given by Bajirao Balaji to his beloved Mastani. Here Yashwantrao Dabhade joined the force and stimulated it by his presence, although he left the command with Damaji Gaikvad. On the 10th, the army halted at Nimbgaon, six miles south-east of Khed. On the 11th it encamped at Pargaon, some thirty miles east of Poona. Here the Guzarat general received a letter signed by Mahadji Purandare, who denounced him as a traitor. Thereupon Damaji Gaikvad changed his course and marched straight on Satara. On the 13th March, Mahadji Purandare's brother, Trimbakrao 1 led a strong force out of Poona to intercept him. Purandare came up with Damaji Gaikvad on the Salpa pass. He had by this time been joined by contingents under Balwant- rao Mehendale and Bapuji Retharekar and his troops numbered twenty thousand. He attacked Damaji Gaikvad in irresolute fashion and was repulsed.2 He retired on Nimb, a small town some eight miles north of Satara. Thither Damaji Gaikvad followed and defeated him. From the scene of the victory, the Guzarat army marched in triumph to Satara. Damaji Gaikvad was received in state by Tarabai and several of the neighbouring forts declared for her. The rebel's triumph, however, was short-lived. Trimbakrao re-formed his army and on the 15th March, led it once more to the attack. The Gaikvad's troops met Purandare's on the banks of the
T Usually called Nana Sahib Purandare in the Maratha chronicles.
2 Grant Duff. In this chapter I have followed in the main the Riyasat ; but as regards the scenes of the fighting, Grant Duff is, I think, to be preferred.
THE WOMEN'S WAR AND TRIUMPH OF BALAJI PESHWA 5
Yenna. This time the larger numbers of the royal army prevailed. The Gaikvacl was forced to retreat with the loss of most of his transport and camp equipage. He retreated towards the Krishna valley.1 At its mouth stands Wai. This picturesque township is built on both sides of the Krishna river, which swells during the rainy season into a mighty stream. Even in the hot weather the Krishna never wholly dries up, and year in and year out the score of temples that stand on its banks are mirrored in its clear and brimming pools. The polished Brahmans have a tradition that their town is none other than the ancient Viratnagar, the city famous in the Mahabharata as the hiding-place of Yudh- ishthira, his four brothers and his wife Draupadi. The ancient palace of king Virata, so they will tell the curious visitor, stood on the top of Pandugad, a great fortress close to Wai. On its eastern slopes a small temple marks the spot where the evil prince Kichaka, lured to his doom by the lovely and virtuous Draupadi, went to meet her at a spot chosen by herself. He found awaiting him, not the princess whom he expected, but her terrible husband, Bhima. It was also from Viratnagar that Yudhishthira and his brothers set forth to the stricken field of Kurukshetra, whereon India's chivalry all but perished for ever. As the traveller advances westward up the valley, it narrows ; the river grows smaller and the hills on either side become wilder and the forests on them thicker. At last the gorge ends in a blind alley, blocked by a ridge a thousand feet high, which divides the Konkan from the Deccan plateau. The ridge is covered with dense jungle, even now the haunt of sambhar and panther, wild dog and wolf ; and in its depths are to be found the true sources of the Krishna river.
1 There is some doubt as to the line of the Gaikvad's retreat. I have followed the Chitnis Bakhar, which says that he retreated to the Jor Khora, i.e. the Krishna valley. Grant Duff has done the same and so has Sir James Campbell in his Imperial Gazetteer. Mr. Sar Desai says in his Riyasat that Damaji retreated up the Mahadara valley, which lies to the south of Satara. The Indore copy of the Chitnis Bakhar men- tions the Medha Khora, i.e. the Yenna valley, as the scene of his flight and surrender.
6 A HISTORY OF THE MARATHA PEOPLE
By a series of skilful actions the unhappy Gaikvad was driven further and further up-stream, until at last he could retreat no more. The narrow gorge furnished him with no supplies. Beyond it the Sarsubha, or governor of the Konkan, Ramaji Mahadev Biwalkar held the country in the Peshwa's interest. Damaji still communicated across the Maha- bleshwar plateau with Tarabai's garrison at Yeoteshwar. At last even this narrow door was closed. The Peshwa advanced with lightning speed from the Moghul frontier. In thirteen days he covered four hundred miles. The news of Purandare's victory reached him at Nizamkonda. On the 24th April, he was at Satara. He at once stormed Yeoteshwar, and killed or took the garrison. He then drove in Tarabai's outposts, recaptured the lost forts and joined Purandare in the Krishna valley. Damaji Gaikvad gave way to despair. His Maratha soldiers deserted and fled as best they could over the wild hills ; the Guzarat troops, ignorant of the locality, lost all heart. He sent to the Peshwa a messenger begging for terms of peace. Balaji affected to welcome the messenger and sent as his envoys Trimbakrao, Purandare and Ram chandra Shenvi.1 They invited Damaji to return with them to the Peshwa's camp and he did so. The Peshwa bade Damaji pitch his tents close to his own, that they might amicably discuss the terms of peace. When Damaji had obeyed, the Peshwa demanded the definite cession of half Guzarat and an indemnity of twenty-five lakhs. Damaji refused, pleading that he was a mere subordinate, and referred Balaji to Umabai. As nothing would move Damaji from this position, the Peshwa changed his tactics. On the 30th April he attacked, in spite of the armistice, the Gaikvad's camp, shortly before the dinner hour. The Guzarat troops, completely surprised, offered no resistance.
Damaji was captured in his bath. With him were taken his brother Khanderao, his eldest son Sayaji, his minister Ramchandra Baswant, Yashwantrao and Umabai Dabhade. Damaji's three youngest sons, Govindrao, Manaji and Fatehsing, fortunately for them, were staying with Tarabai in
See chapter xlix.
THE WOMEN'S WAR AND TRIUMPH OF BALAJI PESHWA 7
Satara. The prisoners were sent ahead to Poona, while the Peshwa invested Satara fort and vainly pressed the old queen to release Ramraja. That unfortunate prince's condition had grown worse with the failure of Tarabai's plans. Unable to induce him publicly to remove Balaji from his office, she confined him in a damp, cold dungeon. After the defeat of the Gaikvad, she vented her full spite on the wretched prince. She fed him with the coarsest grain, insulted him daily and openly spoke of him as an impostor — a mere gondhali whom she had in a foolish moment presented to Shahu as her grandson. Ramraja's spirit, never of the highest, drooped under this treatment. His health and mind suffered and he soon became (what Tarabai wanted him to become) unfit to sit on the throne of his forefathers.
Satara was well provisioned and of great strength. A siege would have lasted for months and could hardly have ended before the monsoon, which in Satara bursts in the first week of June. Balaji therefore turned his face northwards and marched to Poona. During the rainy season of 1751, he tried to induce Damaji Gaikvad to cede on behalf of Yashwantrao Dabhade half the lands of Guzarat. This Damaji, as often as asked, refused to do, and counter-intrigued with Dabhade and Tarabai to compass the Peshwa' s destruction. At last Balaji lost patience. On the 19th July, 1751, he placed Damaji and his Diwan, Ramchandra Baswant, in strict confinement. On the 14th November, he sent them to Lohgad and Khanderao Gaikvad to Sinhgad. Some weeks later Ramchandra Baswant escaped in disguise and made his way to Guzarat. His presence there revived the hopes of the Gaikvad family. He and his cousin, Balaji Yamaji met the Gaikvad's relatives, agents and servants at the great fort of Songad. In the cold weather Balaji sent his brother Raghunathrao, a brave and skilful captain, to reduce Guzarat to obedience. Raghunathrao recovered the revenues of Surat, but he could not penetrate north of the Tapti; while the Governor of Bassein, Shankarji Keshav Phadke was, on laying siege to Parner, attacked, routed and driven from the province. These mishaps made the Peshwa still more anxious to come to terms. On the other hand confinement was preying on Damaji. He had been put in irons since Ramchandra Baswant's escape. His
8 A HISTORY OF THE MARATHA PEOPLE
sons, at first safe with Tarabai, were afterwards barely saved from her venomous temper by Govindrao Chitnis ; while Balaji was successfully tempting Khanderao Gaikvad from his allegiance to Damaji. In these circumstances both parties sought a means of reconciliation. They found a mediator in Ramchandra Shenvi. In March, 1752, Damaji, yielding to his instance, abandoned the cause of the Dabhades, his masters. He consented to cede a half of Guzarat and of all his future conquests, to pay a yearly tribute of Rs. 5,25,000 and as arrears Rs. 15,00,000, to maintain for the Peshwa's service ten thousand horses and to send to the Dabhade family a yearly sum sufficient to maintain them in dignified comfort. On his side the Peshwa promised to aid in the capture of Ahmadabad and the expulsion of the Moghuls from Guzarat. He also conferred on Damaji Gaikvad the title of Sena Khas Khel, to which the Maharajas of Baroda still attach great value.
On the 10th December, 1752, an army commanded by Raghunathrao set out for Guzarat. With him went Vithal Shivdev, the founder of the Vinchurkar family, while Malharrao Holkar, Jayappa Sindia, a son of Ranoji, and Powar led con- tingents in the field. Forming a junction with Damaji Gaikvad, the combined forces, at least fifty thousand strong, invested Ahmadabad. The Moghul commander, Jawan Mard Khan Babi, was absent at Palanpur. He skilfully passed through the Maratha lines and threw himself into Ahmadabad. His defence of the town was loyal and resolute. At one time the Marathas mined the fortifications, but without result. At another they smuggled into the town seven hundred soldiers. These were discovered and slaughtered. At last, in March, 1753, Jawan Mard Khan Babi surrendered Ahmadabad. In exchange he and his brothers were confirmed in their posses- sions in Kathiawar, Balasinor and Radhanpur. Shripatrao Bapuji was appointed by the Peshwa Governor of Ahmadabad ; but one gate of the city was entrusted to the keeping of the Gaikvad. In July, 1756, Momin Khan, Nawab of Cambay, with a body of Moghul troops occupied Ahmadabad in the absence of Shripatrao Bapuji at the Poona court. But Sadashiv, the son of Ramchandra Shenvi, sent by the Peshwa, was in October, 1757, with Damaji Gaikvad's help, able to dislodge
THE WOMEN'S WAR AND TRIUMPH OF BALAJI PESHWA 9
him. Thereafter the town remained in the undisturbed keeping of the Marathas. *
Thus agreeably to the Peshwa's good fortune ended the Women's War. Umabai2 and the Dabhades were reduced to impotence and poverty. Even Tarabai was not unaffected. She felt that she could not indefinitely defy the Peshwa. She had quelled a rising of the garrison by seizing and beheading their leader, Anandrao Jadhav. Such were her superhuman strength of will and vigour, that his fellow-conspirators, think- ing her an evil spirit and therefore invincible, let themselves be executed without resistance. Having thus established a reign of terror in Satara, she consented to meet the Peshwa in Poona. She did so with the greater confidence in that Raghuji Bhosle's son Janoji, who was in the neighbourhood of Poona with a powerful army, assured Tarabai of his support. Trust- ing in this assurance, the old queen went in high state to Poona. She was received by Balaji with the utmost deference, and, after a show of reluctance, she made her submission and agreed to dismiss Baburao Jadhav, whom she had left in com- mand behind her, and whom Balaji disliked. In return, Balaji left in her care her unfortunate grandson. He did, indeed, ask for Ramraja's release, but on this point the old beldame was obdurate ; and in the end the Peshwa decided, perhaps wisely, to sacrifice the king for the peace of the kingdom. Tarabai did not trust Balaji' s bare word and demanded that he should confirm it by an oath in the temple of Jejuri. That temple was not then the stately building, approached by a lofty staircase and adorned with shrines and parapets, that it now is. But it was nevertheless one of the holiest spots in the Deccan. It is sacred to the god Khandoba, of whom the following tale is related. Some Brahmans living near Jejuri were at one time tormented by a demon called Malla or Mallasur. In answer to their prayers, the god Shiva took shape as the warrior Khan- doba and slew Malla. On the latter's death both Khandoba
1 Elliott, p. SO.
2 Umabai died on 28th November, 1753. On her death Balaji took Yashwantrao into the Carnatic. The fatigues of the march proved too severe. He died near Miraj on 18th May, 1754, leaving a son, Trimbakrao Dabhade (Riyasat).
2
10 A HISTORY OF THE MARATHA PEOPLE
and Malla were absorbed into the godhead. It was at this temple that Shivaji had met his father Shahaji. Aurangzib's men-at-arms had tried to plunder it, but had been ignominiously driven out by a swarm of hornets that miraculously issued forth from a hole in the temple wall. The bigoted emperor, convinced against his reason of the power of a Hindu idol, had bestowed on it a diamond worth a lakh and a quarter. In this temple, hallowed by the reverence of millions, Tarabai and Balaji met. On the 14th September, 1752, they swore that they would abide by their mutual promises, and Tarabai further declared on oath that Ramraja was not her grandson, but a gondhali and a common impostor. This statement Balaji affected to believe, since it justified him in taking no further steps to obtain Ramraja's freedom. After the interview the high contracting parties returned to their respective strong- holds. Tarabai had indeed secured the perpetual custody of the king, but the real victory lay with the Peshwa. By a happy combination of courage and resource, skill and patience, he had defeated or disarmed all his enemies. The Chitpavan statesman was henceforth the sole ruler of the Maratha empire.
THE WOMEN'S WAR AND TRIUMPH OF BALAJI PESHWA U
APPENDIX A
Letter from Balaji Peshwa to Nana Sahib Purandare giving an account of the Battle of Satara
{Petrositis Collection) To Rajeshri Nana,
With love and blessings from Balaji Bajirao. Your letter of the 28th Rabilakhar, sent with a messenger on camel, duly came to our hands on the 12th Jamadilavel. We came to know in detail the account of your fight with the Gaikvad in which he was routed and made to retreat to Gendya Mai ; and the capture of three-fourths of his irregulars together with camels, horses and palanquins. The contents of the letter greatly pleased us. The messenger told us that the Gaikvad 's camp was on the bank of the Yenna. Your camp is near the bank of the Krishna. Messrs. Manaji Paygude and Tatya also must have joined you in your camp. With your united efforts, do not allow the Gaikvad to escape.
If the situation favours you, crash and defeat the Gaikvad's army and plunder him. Do not demobilize your forces till the Gaikvad is defeat- ed and routed. We came to an amicable settlement with the Moghuls. All our business in this part is finished. With regular marches, we have been able to encamp ourselves at Nizamkonda on the 12th Jamadilavel. We shall expedite our march and come there soon. Do not allow the Gaikvad to escape. It is no surprise to us, that while the battle was being fought, Sonji Bhaskar and men in the service of the Huzurat and Raja Huzurat showed wonderful bravery ; that Bapuji Baba was wounded with a sword, that Nagoram was wounded with shot, etc. It was in the fitness of things that these worthy soldiers rose to the occasion. For further conduct of the war, we fully rely on them. You should try to cheer everyone up. You won the victory in a battle which had been almost lost. You acquitted yourself in a way that would have befitted your ancestors. Your further manoeuvres to paralyse the foe should be regulated with great vigilance and caution. Exert yourselves to the utmost. We shall be coming soon.
CHAPTER XLIX
THE WAR AGAINST THE NIZAM
A. D. 1751 to 1752
While Balaji was thus meeting with undaunted front the intrigues of Umabai and Tarabai and the army of Damaji Gaikvad, he was at the same time threatened by a domestic quarrel and a foreign war. The Peshwa saw that the feeling of the Maratha leaders opposed his reduction of Satara by force of arms. At the same time he realized more clearly than anyone the impossibility of ruling in harmony with the malignant Tarabai ; but his views were not shared by his cousin Sadashivrao. The latter wished for himself the post of Peshwa' s diwan and the ascendancy enjoyed in public affairs by his father, Chimnaji Appa. On the other hand, Balaji was unwilling to confer power on one who had so far shewn no proof of signal capacity. He had appointed Mahadji Purandare as his diwan and desired to keep him. His wife, Gopikabai, too, feared that the interests of her sons might suffer, if Sadashivrao obtained an undue influence over her husband. Thwarted in his ambition, Sadashivrao pressed on Balaji a further public reconciliation with Tarabai, but Balaji rejected his advice. The anger of the young Chit- pavan was fanned by the malice of Ramchandra Malhar Shenvi. Ramchandra had been Kulkarni of Aravali in Savantvadi, but, unable to meet his ruler's demands, had fled to Satara. Under Bajirao he had distinguished himself both in arms and in business and had been appointed by that Peshwa diwan to Ranoji Sindia. While the latter remained poor, Ramchandra Malhar Shenvi amassed a large fortune. On Ranoji's death, Ramchandra wished to be confirmed in his post ; but Jayappa Sindia had long been jealous of his power and saw with no favourable eye the splendour of his mode of life. At Poona Ramchandra lived in a seven-storied mansion built by himself, and his fame had spread throughout India, because
THE WAR AGAINST THE NIZAM 13
of his donations to temples and public charities, and especi- ally because of the masonry works built by him on the banks of sacred rivers. The money that increased the glory of the minister had been, so Jayappa rightly guessed, pilfered from his master's revenues. Malharrao Holkar, the ruler of the neighbouring state, feared Ramchandra and also desired, although on different grounds, his removal. After his dis- missal by Sindia, Ramchandra was appointed diwan to Sada- shivrao. To his new master Ramchandra whispered that Sadashivrao's capacity was as great as his father's, and, sneer- ing at his cousinly love and obedience, urged him to demand his rightful place in the administration. On Balaji's refusal to dismiss Purandare, Ramchandra Malhar tempted Sadashivrao to secure at the court of Kolhapur a position equal to Balaji's at the court of Satara. Thus, urged the insinuating diwan, would Tarabai's plots be set at nought. Sambhaji would take the place of Ramraja and once more a Bhosle would rule as king. Mahadji Purandare, too, favoured the scheme, as by Sadashivrao's departure for Kolhapur he himself would re- main secure in his office. Behind his cousin's back, Sada- shivrao entered into a correspondence with Sambhaji. The king readily agreed to make Sadashivrao his Peshwa and offered him by way of salary a jaghir of five thousand rupees a year and the three forts of Pargad, Bhimgad and Wallabhagad.1 Jijabai, Sambhaji's queen, bitterly jealous of Tarabai, already counted on her rival's downfall ; but the clear vision of the Peshwa penetrated the schemes of the conspirators. He so sternly upbraided Mahadji Purandare, that the latter in anger resigned his post, which the Peshwa at once bestowed on Sadashivrao. He attached Ramchandra Shenvi to his interest by appointing him his karbhari, but at the same time contrived to extort from him thirty-six lakhs of rupees. About Mahadji Purandare's future conduct the Peshwa felt grave doubts. But, although deeply hurt at the Peshwa's reprimand and the loss of his post, Purandare never wavered in his loyalty. As we have seen, he denounced as a traitor Damaji Gaikvad and sent his brother Trimbakrao in command of the force, that so
1 Riyasat. Grant Duff gives the forts as Pargurh, Kallanidhee and Chundgurhee.
14 A HISTORY OF THE MARATHA PEOPLE
signally defeated him. On the Dasara festival following the collapse of Damaji's rebellion, the Peshwa was publicly re- conciled to the Purandares and bestowed on them grants of land not inadequate to their great services. Ramchandra Malhar never again played a prominent part in public affairs. In 1752, he accompanied Balaji on a pilgrimage to Nasik on the Godavari river. The occasion was the Sinhast, the period when at the end of every twelve years the planet Jupiter enters the sign of the zodiac Leo. Thousands of pilgrims flock to the sacred river ; for then, so it is believed, the Ganges pays her fairer but slighter sister a visit and joins her waters to those of the Godavari. Subsequently Ramchandra was entrusted with a small command, but achieved nothing noteworthy. At last the Peshwa, sure of Sadashivrao, dis- missed from his service the unlucky Shenvi. In July, 1754. Ramchandra went on a pilgrimage to Pandharpur, but at the end of September he fell ill. On the 1st October, he was struck down by paralysis. Unconscious for three days, he died on the 4th October, 1754. He was burnt at Onkareshwar, the great burning-ghat reserved at Poona for the Brahman caste, and on his pyre his wife Dwarkabai burnt herself as a sati.
As I have related, the Peshwa had undertaken, in return for the cession of the districts of Aurangabad and Burhanpur, the elevation of Ghazi-ud-din to the throne of Asaf Jah.1 ' The invasion of the Deccan by Damaji Gaikvad had forced the Peshwa to retreat. Once Damaji had surrendered, the Peshwa resolved to renew his interrupted campaign. He had received,
1 Asaf Jah, the title of the Nizam, means one who is an Asaf in dignity. According to an old Musulman legend, Asaf, the son of Barachia, was the vazir of King Solomon and was renowned for his prudence and wisdom. Two instances are given in the Koran of his superhuman intelligence. On one occasion he contrived to bring underground to Jerusalem the throne of Balkis, the Queen of Sheba, by pronouncing the ineffable hundredth name of God, which he alone knew. On another occasion he discovered the wickedness of Jerada, the daughter of the King of Sidon. When Solomon had slain her father, he married Jerada. But in spite of her wedlock to a true believer, she and her maids secretly set up and worshipped the image of the dead king. Her wickedness was established by Asaf and adequately punished by King Solomon.
THE WAR AGAINST THE NIZAM 15
it is true, from Salabat Jang a cash payment of two lakhs ; but the bills on the bankers for fifteen lakhs had not been honoured and Ramdas had put Balaji off with false excuses, and, to make matters worse, had recently plundered a Maratha convoy. The Peshwa ordered Holkar and Sindia to join Ghazi-ud-din and to effect a junction with himself near Aurangabad, now occupied by Salabat Jang and his French allies. The news of this fresh campaign filled the Nizam and his advisers with consternation and dismay. But it was in the hour of danger that the courage of de Bussy rose to its greatest height. " Care nothing," he said to his trembling master, " care nothing for the invading army ; you will best preserve the Deccan by marching on Poona." With cool audacity the French general unfolded his plan and such was his influence that he overcame the fears of Salabat Jang. Leaving Aurangabad to its fate, the Moghul prince moved on to Golconda, and, after some days spent there in prepara- tion, he marched through Pabal, Khedal and Ahmadnagar to Bedar on the road to Poona. As he marched, he contrived to send messages to Tarabai at Satara and received from the treacherous old queen favourable and encouraging replies. Near Parner de Bussy learnt of the approach of a Maratha army. Balaji, angered at the boldness of the Nizam's plan, had been sufficiently affected by it to detach forty thousand picked horsemen from the main army and lead them in pursuit. The Moghul forces consisted of large irregular levies, quite unfit to meet Balaji's cavalry. But with them were five hundred French infantry and five thousand highly disciplined sepoys led by French officers. On the news of the enemy's vicinity the Musulmans formed up to await the Maratha attack. De Bussy seized some heights on one of the flanks and put his field-pieces on them, so as to command the ground across which the Peshwa must charge. In support of the guns he drew up his disciplined infantry. Balaji attacked the Moghuls in the usual Maratha fashion, testing the whole line before charging home. But these proved bad tactics in face of the rapid shooting of the French cannon and the continuous fire of their drilled riflemen. The Maratha army after suffering some loss disappeared. De Bussy led the Moghuls on Poona, destroying all the villages through which they passed. The
16 A HISTORY OF THE MARATHA PEOPLE
Peshwa retaliated by getting his agents to spread among the Moghuls rumours of intended French treachery. De Bussy's answer was a brilliant coup de main. On the 22nd November, the Marathas were engaged at Kukadi in devotions inspired by an eclipse of the moon. Balaji, like most members of his family, was strict in his religious beliefs and encouraged his soldiers to pray to the Most High, to secure an early release of the moon from the clutches of the demon Ketu. While so engaged, they were surprised by de Bussy's trained troops. The Maratha army did not suffer heavily, but they abandoned their camp, from which the plundering Moghuls secured a considerable booty. Among their trophies were the golden utensils used by the Peshwa for himself and for his gods. On the 27th November, 1751, the French general took and sacked Ranjangaon and utterly destroyed Talegaon Damdhere. De Bussy's plan of campaign had succeeded. So far from invading the Nizam's dominions, Balaji was perplexed how to save Poona. He reinforced his army by summoning to it the Sindia contingent, led by Dattaji and Madhavrao Sindia, two sons of Ranoji Sindia ; and on the 27th November, 1751, he attacked the Moghul army on the banks of the Ghodnadi river with the utmost determination. The Maratha attack was led by Mahadji Purandare, Dattaji and Madhavrao Sindia and Kanherrao Trimbak Ekbote, a native of Purandar. A peculiar interest attaches to the last-named of the four leaders. On this day his gallantry was so splendid that, on the demand of the army, the Peshwa conferred on him the title of " Phakde " or " the brave ". This title, or rather nickname, was only con- ferred three times by the Marathas and then only by the unanimous judgment of the troops. It entitled the recipient to wear a silver bangle on his horse's foreleg. The other two gallant men, who were similarly honoured, were Manaji Sindia and Captain James Stewart, still known to Maratha writers as Ishtur Phakde. We shall hear of them later. Kanherrao Phakde, as he was always known after the battle of Ghodnadi, lived for five years to enjoy his high reputation. In May, 1756, he was killed before Savanur by the side of Sadashivrao, the Peshwa's cousin.
So vigorous was the Maratha charge that Salabat Jang's levies were completely overwhelmed. The day was saved by
SADASHIVKAU BHAU
[To fare page 76.]
THE WAR AGAINST THE NIZAM 17
de Bussy. Changing his front, he brought his guns to bear on the flank of the charging cavalry with such effect that he enabled the Moghuls to rally ; and, although the Maratha losses were far less than those of their enemies, they eventually withdrew from the field, taking with them Salabat Jang's howdah, four elephants and seven hundred horses. The next day de Bussy pressed on to Koregaon on the river Bhima, a little town only sixteen miles from Poona. Balaji now decided to follow his foe's example and save his capital by carrying the war into his enemy's country. He directed Sadashivrao to enter into negotiations with the Nizam's Hindu diwan, Ramdas, to whom Dupleix had given the title of Raja Raghunathdas. The plenipotentiaries met, but the negotiations, no doubt at Balaji' s orders, were deliberately drawn out. Before any settlement was arrived at, the Nizam was dismayed to hear that the fort of Trimbak had been escaladed by a Maratha officer. While the Nizam vainly protested against the outrage and demanded the return of his property, news reached him that Raghuji Bhosle was overrunning, on his eastern frontier, the whole country between the Penganga and the Godavari. At the same time the Peshwa's agents fomented the dis- content of the Moghul soldiery, by charging de Bussy with embezzling their pay, which they had not received for several months. Salabat Jang's confidence in his French general was shaken and he ordered a retreat to Ahmadnagar. Having reached that town in safety, the Nizam's courage returned. He replenished his ammunition and collected siege guns for the recapture of Trimbak. He set out northwards, but he was so harassed on his march that he abandoned his enter- prise and once again sought de Bussy's counsel. That sagacious soldier saw that it was useless to continue the march on Trimbak. It was useless also to march on Poona, for the Moghuls had turned their backs on it and were now sixty miles away. He advised his master to ask for an armistice and thus secure his retreat to his own dominions. The Nizam took his advice. On the 7th January, Balaji at Shingwa granted an armistice in return for a promised cession of land. Salabat Jang sent some cakes, and his diwan, Raja Raghunathdas, sent some tulsi leaves as a proof of their good faith ; and the lately victorious army retreated across their 3
18 A HISTORY OF THE MARATHA PEOPLE
own frontier. Salabat Jang was still in grave peril. His army was mutinous for want of pay, and during the homeward march Raja Raghunathdas was assassinated by some Afghan soldiers, with whose commander he had quarrelled. On de Bussy's advice the Nizam replaced the dead diwan by Sayad Lashkar Khan, the former governor of Aurangabad ; but it was still impossible to enter that city. Ghazi-ud-din, supported by Holkar and the main Maratha army, had occupied it with 1,50,000 men. To his cause had rallied the Moghul gentry of Aurangabad and Burhanpur ; and even Salabat Jang felt qualms about his right to supersede his elder brother. Indeed, he would in all probability have yielded to the persua- sion of Sayad Lashkar Khan, who was a secret adherent of Ghazi-ud-din, and surrendered his throne in exchange for a landed estate. The Marathas would have acquired Auranga- bad and Burhanpur under their agreement, and Ghazi-ud-din would have become the new autocrat of the Deccan. But this arrangement, which would have been fatal to French in- fluence, was suddenly rendered impossible by the death of the viceroy-designate. At Aurangabad in the ancient palace of the subhedars lived one of the widows of the great Nizam- ul-Mulk. She had borne her husband one son, Nizam Ali ; and it was the darling wish of her heart to see her son succeed to his father's office. Two obstacles stood in his way. One, Salabat Jang, was safe with de Bussy and the army. The other, Ghazi-ud-din, was close at hand. On the 16th October, 1752, she invited her stepson to dinner and insisted on his partaking of one dish, which she said with truth she had prepared herself. The unfortunate claimant, suspecting nothing, ate of it freely ; the same night he died of poison. Salabat Jang had now no elder brother to dispute his claim. But the Maratha leaders insisted on his carrying out Ghazi- ud-din's engagements. In this they were supported by the Moghuls of Burhanpur, who, after the help given by them to Ghazi-ud-din, were afraid to remain Salabat Jang's subjects. The viceroy left the decision to de Bussy. The French general preferred a solid peace to a doubtful war and advised the surrender of a considerable tract of land, provided Raghuji Bhosle first withdrew from the eastern provinces. Balaji ordered Raghuji Bhosle to do so. He complied. Thus,
THE WAR AGAINST THE NIZAM 19
in spite of de Bussy's genius and of French valour, the Peshwa acquired in this war the sacred town and fort of Trimbak and the whole country west of Berar from the Tapti to the Godavari. 1
1 This treaty is known in history as the treaty of Bhalki. It was concluded on the 25th November, 1752.
CHAPTER L
THE RISE OF THE ENGLISH AND THE FALL OF ANGRE
A. D. 1751 to 1757
Among my readers there must be many who, reading of the inability of the English to take Angre's fortresses and of their wavering and uncertain conduct during the siege of Bassein, have wondered how they came by their Indian Empire. The answer to that question is to be found in their struggles with the French in Southern India. In chapter xlvi I described how the gallant de Bussy, in face of tremendous odds, stormed the fortress of Jinji. From that disaster Mahomed Ali escap- ed ; afterwards he took shelter in Trichinopoli. In his despair he appealed to the English and they, correctly judging that the further growth of French power would mean their own expul- sion, resolved to answer his appeal. Their first efforts were not successful. A relieving force under Captain Gingens was defeated at Volkonda and in several subsequent engagements. In the meantime Chanda Sahib and his French allies closely besieged Trichinopoli, which, so far as man could foresee, was a doomed city.
It was at this point that there appeared in the ranks of the English a genius of the first order. On the 29th September, 1725, in the small Shropshire town of Market Drayton was born a sickly child, to whom his parents gave the name of Robert Clive. His father was a struggling solicitor, to whom the practice of the law had brought but little profit. Unwilling to condemn his son to a profession in which he had himself earned so little wealth, his attention was drawn to the East by the large fortunes brought home about that time by men engaged in Indian trade. He obtained for his son a writership in the service of the East India Company and on the 10th March, 1743, the Wi?ichester, a 500-ton ship owned by the Company left the Thames, carrying on board the founder of the English em- pire in India. It was not until June, 1744, more than a year
The rise of the English and the fall of angre 21
later, that dive, a boy of seventeen, landed in Madras to begin his career. His salary was five pounds a year and his work consisted chiefly of trading on a small scale with Indian mer- chants and of attending long, compulsory services in church. A year or two of such a life would probably have killed Clive ; but on the 24th September, 1744, its monotony was broken by the news that France and England were again at war.1 The fall of Madras and the siege of Pondicherry have already been related. It was at that siege that Clive, who had volunteered for active service, had his first real experience of war. He was present at the capture of Devicottah, stormed by the English on behalf of Shahaji, the Raja of Tanjore, who had been driven from his throne by his half-brother Pratapsing. He subsequently took part in the disastrous fight at Volkonda and barely escaped capture. But wherever he had served, his courage and resource had won him the high esteem of his commanding officers. So great was now his reputation, that he could without presumption submit to the Governor in Council a plan to restore the fallen fortunes of his country.
Give's plan was at once simple and daring. It was to relieve Trichinopoli by a march into the enemy's country. Chanda Sahib in his anxiety to reduce his rival's last strong- hold had denuded his own capital, Arcot. Let the English take Arcot, said Clive, and Chanda Sahib would, to recover it, raise the siege of Trichinopoli. The Madras Council, domin- ated by his genius, approved his plan. On the 6th Septem- ber, 1751, Clive left Madras. On the 11th, he entered Arcot under cover of a thunderstorm, and the reduced garrison, terrified alike by the storm and the suddenness of the attack, fled without opposing him. The fall of Arcot had no effect on the serene mind of Dupleix and he ordered the siege of Trichi- nopoli to be pressed with greater vigour than before. But he could not soothe the fears of his ally. Chanda Sahib detached his son Raju Sahib with ten thousand men to win back the capital of the Carnatic. The details of the siege of Arcot live for ever in the glowing pages of Macaulay and need not be repeated here. It began on the 4th October, and on the 25th
1 War was actually declared in March, 1744, but the news took six months to reach India.
22 A HISTORY OF THE MARATHA PEOPLE
November the baffled besiegers retreated to Vellore. The valour of the defenders, aided by a body of Maratha horse under Murarirao Ghorpade, a great nephew of Santaji Ghor- pade, had triumphantly held against all assaults the great city. Clive now set himself to imitate the French methods of train- ing Indian soldiers. Fired by his spirit and subjected to strict discipline, the English sepoys soon became the equal of the French. Reinforcements came from England, success follow- ed success, until at last, on the 13th June, 1752, not Trichi- nopoli, but the besieging army of Chanda Sahib, surrendered to the English. Chanda Sahib was beheaded and Mahomed Ali was proclaimed by his English allies Nawab of the Carn- atic. The cost of this disastrous expedition alienated the sympathies of the French East India Company from Dupleix. They wanted not glory, but dividends, and, impatient at his failure to provide them, they resolved to recall him. They sent in his place a Monsieur Godeheu ; and on the 14th October, 1754, the greatest Frenchman of his time left India for ever. Anxious to secure peace at any price, Godeheu directed his officers to act strictly on the defensive. The result was as might have been anticipated. The moral of the French armies declined, while that of the English armies rose. On the 13th December Monsieur Godeheu obtained from the Madras Government a contemptuous peace, by which he sacrificed the French claims in the Carnatic and recognized Mahomed Ali as Nawab. De Bussy's name was omitted from the treaty and he still remained supreme at the court of the Nizam, Salabat Jang.
The success of the English arms against the French, for a short time deemed invincible, had deeply impressed the discerning mind of Balaji Bajirao. He resolved to use the English to remove French influence from the dominions of the Nizam, which he secretly hoped to annex to his own. He cultivated friendly relations with Mr. Bourchier, the Governor of Bombay, and invited him to join the Marathas in an attack on Janjira. This invitation Mr. Bourchier declined, pleading the long alliance between the English and the Sidis. In return he invited the Peshwa to join him in the destruction of the Angres. This proposal a man so far-sighted as the Peshwa would certainly not have accepted, had events not favoured the
THE RISE OF THE ENGLISH AND THE FALL OF ANGRE 23
English. The quarrel between Sambhaji Angre and Manaji Angre had caused the war between king Shahu and the Portuguese, and had ended in the Maratha conquest of Salsette and Bassein. Sambhaji retained the fortresses of Suvarnadurg and Vijayadurg or Gheria. Kolaba remained with Manaji. Sambhaji had always kept near him his half-brother Tulaji, and on Sambhaji's death, not long after the fall of Bassein, Tulaji succeeded to Sambhaji's share of the great Kanhoji Angre's inheritance. Tulaji kept alive his brother's family feuds and added to them other feuds of his own making. He quarrelled with Sadashivrao and carried off the ladies of Manaji's house- hold. So outrageous was his conduct that Brahmendraswami felt constrained to write him a reproachful letter, in which he implored him to be reconciled with Manaji and to join with him in the destruction of the Sidis.1 The shameless Tulaji, unmoved by this saintly epistle, continued to plunder the ships of all nations and even to levy contributions from the Peshwa's own territories. He affected to be the ally of Ramraja and of Tarabai, and defied the usurper, as he styled Balaji, to reduce him to obedience. Nor was it a light task to do so. Tulaji's infantry numbered thirty thousand. His numerous artillery was served by European gunners and his sixty war-ships were the terror of the Indian Ocean. To Ramaji Mahadev Biwalkar the turbulence of Tulaji Angre was particularly obnoxious. As Sarsubhadar of the Konkan, Ramaji Mahadev had jurisdic- tion over Salsette, Bassein, Thana and Kolaba. At Kalyan, his neadquarters, he built a stately mansion, still the home of his descendants. At Thana the temple of Koupineshwar still per- petuates his name, and in his house in that city British judges to-day dispense law and justice. It was Ramaji Mahadev's duty to collect the Angre tribute, but, so far from paying it, Angre cut off the noses of the unfortunate men sent to collect it. He followed up this insolence by storming the fort of Ratnagiri, held by Amatya Bawadekar in the Peshwa's inter- est. To punish the sea-rover was impossible, so long as he held the great forts of Suvarnadurg and Vijayadurg ; so, with a skill sharpened by hatred, Ramaji Mahadev strove to unite in
1 See Appendix A.
24 A HISTORY OF THE MARATHA PEOPLE
a league against Tulaji, his brother Manaji Angre, the English and the Peshwa. The alliance of the English and of Manaji was easily obtained. But the Peshwa was for long reluctant to call in foreign aid against a Maratha subject. At last Tulaji's excesses and Ramaji's instances won Balaji over. On the 19th March, 1755, a treaty was signed by the English and the Marathas. The English were to command the allied fleets. Their reward was to be the forts of Bankot and Himmatgad together with five villages and also half the ships captured by the allies. The remaining forts, with their treasures and armament, were to become the property of the Peshwa. On the 22nd March, 1755, the English fleet weighed anchor. Their squadron con- sisted of the Protector, the Bombay, the Swallow, the Trmmph and the Viper. They were under the command of an able and skilful sailor, Commodore James. At Chaul, thirty miles from Bombay, the English squadron met the Maratha fleet. It numbered sixty-seven galleys and barges, locally known as gallivats and grabs. On board were ten thousand Maratha troops. On the 2nd April the allied fleet reached Suvarna- durg. Eighty miles south of Bombay, Suvarnadurg stood on a low irregular island about a quarter of a mile from the shore. The fortifications were built out of the solid rock and the channel was protected by three forts named Goa, Fatehdurg and Connoidurg. On the 2nd and 3rd April, Commodore James bombarded Angre's fortresses without result. On the 4th April the outer strongholds struck their colours. Only Suvarnadurg remained. But for months past Ramaji Mahadev had been corrupting its garrison. Thus, when a landing party from the ships disembarked to carry it by storm, they n et with little or no resistance.
On the fall of the outer forts, Tulaji had fled to Vijayadurg, where he remained in safety until the following year. The approach of the monsoon made Commodore James anxious to return to Bombay, which he did on the 17th May. Ramaji Mahadev, reinforced by a strong body of troops under Shamsher Bahadur, the son of Bajirao and Mastani, took all Tulaji's lands in the neighbourhood of the conquered fortress. Another detachment under Khandoji Mankar drove Tulaji's soldiers from the villages near Vijayadurg. The attack on Vijayadurg itself was postponed until the next dry season.
THE RISE OF THE ENGLISH AND THE FALL OF ANGRE 25
In the meantime the English Government had decided to drive de Bussy from the Deccan. Their plan was to invade, together with an allied Maratha force, the Nizam's dominions, and force him to dismiss de Bussy. It was too far to do this from the Carnatic. The starting-point, therefore, of the English expedition was to be Bombay. In March, 1754, Admiral Watson sailed for the East Indies with six ships of the line. They had on board the 39th regiment of 700 men, and some 240 gunners and recruits for the Company's regiments. On the 23rd April, 1755, Clive, who had been to England to recruit his health, sailed for Bombay on the Stretham, one of a squadron of ships that carried several hundred more English soldiers. The second squadron reached Bombay in October, 1755, and found Admiral Watson's ships already in the harbour. Clive was the senior military officer and took command of the troops. He learnt to his dismay that the Bombay Government, alarmed at the cost of the expedition to the Nizam's dominions, had made the recent truce with Godeheu an excuse for abandoning it. They decided instead to use the expeditionary force for the reduction of Vijayadurg. That fortress stands about a hundred miles lower down the coast than Suvarnadurg. On the 7th February, 1756, the fleet sailed from Bombay. Khandoji Mankar's force had been camped round Vijayadurg since the previous Novem- ber and was engaged with Tulaji Angre in negotiations for its surrender. On seeing the great strength of the English armada, Tulaji fled in terror from the doomed stronghold and took shelter in Khandoji Mankar's lines. Neither Khandoji Mankar nor Ramaji Mahadev wished any longer to storm Vijayadurg, since Tulaji was in their power and could be forced to surrender it at any moment. But the English commanders resented the separate negotiations of the Marathas, and on the 12th April, 1756, their attack began. By 6-36 p.m. Angre's entire fleet had been destroyed and the English colours flew over Vijayadurg. Tulaji spent the rest of his life in captivity, first in Chandan Wandan fort near Satara and afterwards at Sholapur. The Peshwa annexed his lands.
After this brilliant feat of arms Watson and his squadron sailed for Madras, which they reached on the 14th May, 1756. On the 22nd June, Clive was appointed Governor of Madras, 4
26 A HISTORY OF THE MARATIIA PEOPLE
On the 14th July, 1756, the news reached him that the Nawab of Bengal, Suraj-ud-Daulah had declared war on the English. It will be remembered that in 1750 Alia Vardi Khan ceded to the Marathas the province of Orissa by way of settlement for the chauth of Bengal. He lived for six years after making this cession, dying in 1756, at the ripe age of eighty. To his dying day he remained on friendly terms with the English, whose settlement, founded by Job Charnock at SatanathiHath, or the cotton thread market, had grown into the rich emporium of Calcutta. On Alia Vardi Khan's death his grandson Suraj-ud-Daulah succeeded him. He had seen with apprehen- sion the position reached by the English in the Carnatic and by the French at Aurangabad, and the fall of Vijayadurg added to his fears. The erection of fortifications round Calcutta and the refusal of the English merchants to surrender a certain Kishindas, his aunt's lover and a conspirator against his throne, furnished Suraj-ud-Daulah with an excuse ; and on the 28th May, 1756, he marched with thirty thousand men against Calcutta.1
In August the news of the declaration of war was confirmed by worse news still. On the 26th June, 1756, Calcutta had fallen after a three days' siege and the survivors of the garrison had, all save a handful, perished in the Black Hole. War was imminent between France and England. In Chandanagore was a large French garrison and at Aurangabad was de Bussy, the one man in India whose talents as a general equalled those of Clive. A junction between the French forces and the Nawab's army meant the permanent extinction of the English settlements in Bengal. The Peshwa seems to have been deeply shocked at the misfortunes of his allies. He begged Drake, the Governor of Calcutta, not to make peace with the Nawab, and offered him the assistance of 120,000 horse. The offer was declined ; but Balaji redoubled his intrigues at Aurangabad, with the result that de Bussy, as we shall see hereafter, so far from being able to send help to Bengal, was forced to struggle for his very existence. On their side the English acted with promptitude and vigour. On the
1 Forest's Life of Clive, p. 429.
The rise of the English and the fall of angre 27
9th December, Watson and Clive with an English army sailed up the Hughli. On the 2nd January, they retook Calcutta. With consummate skill, Clive lulled the Nawab with hopes of an alliance, while he prepared for an attack on Chandanagore. On the 23rd March, after a gallant defence, Chandanagore fell, and Clive marched against the Nawab. On the 23rd June, 1757, was fought the memorable battle of Plassey. In a single day Clive overthrew the great structure reared by Alia Vardi Khan ; and the whole vast province of Bengal, towards which the Marathas had often cast longing eyes, became the spoil of the English merchants. In barely ten years the English had risen from petty traders to be the only real rivals of the Maratha people.
28 A HISTORY OF THE MARATHA PEOPLE
APPENDIX A
Letter from Brahmendraswami to Tulaji Angre
To Tulaji, after compliments,— You have committed a thousand crimes. I should never have addressed a line to you ; but I am writing this letter in the hope that you may be reconciled to Manaji, for, if you are, I shall have done a great thing. Send back to Manaji the ladies of his household. I have spoken to Manaji too, and I am sure that he will behave well, for I have examined his inmost heart. You are brothers and you should be friends and join in some great work ; and this we urge you to do.
(Paras nis Collection)
CHAPTER LI
BALAJI TRIUMPHS OVER DE BUSSY
A. D. 1753 to 1757
It is now necessary to revert to affairs in the Nizam's dominions and to Southern India. In the troubled times that followed the return of Shahu, the Maratha possessions in the south of India fell away one after the other. At first so large a number of petty chieftains assumed the title of nawab and established themselves at various spots, that the great Nizam- ul-Mulk threatened to scourge any officer who dared to call himself Nawab without the Nizam's permission. This drastic threat reduced the number of nawabs to five. Of these the greatest was the Nawab of the Carnatic ; then came the Afghan Nawabs of Kadapa, Sira, Kurnul and Savanur. In addition to the five nawabs, several Hindu rajas had made themselves independent ; of these the most important were the Rajas of Bednur and Tanjore. Bednur, according to local legend, had been founded in 1560 by two brothers who were known as Nayaks or headmen of the petty village of Kiladi, to the north-west of Maisur, or, as the English call it, Mysore.1 They happened to find a vampire's treasure and appeased the vampire by the sacrifice of a human victim. By means of their newly-gotten wealth they were able to conquer a strip of territory, for which they got a grant from the Raja of Vijaya- nagar. Their descendants moved to Ikkeri, where the Italian traveller Pietro della Valle met them. From Ikkeri Sivappa Nayak moved to Bidururu or the bamboo town, now known as Bednur. So great was the fortune of Sivappa Nayak and his descendants that at the beginning of the eighteenth century the Rajas of Bednur ruled over ten thousand square miles.
On Shahaji's death, as already related, Vyankoji, the brother of Shivaji, became Raja of Tanjore. Vyankoji had three
1 Maisur takes its name from Mahishasura, the buffalo-headed demon, slain by the goddess Parvati or Kali.
30 A HISTORY OF THE MARATHA PEOPLE
sons, of whom Tukoji alone had issue. Two of Tukoji's sons survived him. One, Sayaji was legitimate ; the other, Pratapsing was the son of a concubine. Tukoji towards the end of his reign fell under the control of a Musulman officer. On his death the Musulman officer raised Sayaji to the throne, but in 1741 dispossessed him in favour of Pratapsing. The new prince was a man of some vigour and resource, and freed himself from his protector by assassination. Sayaji escaped to the shelter of Madras.
At Gooti were established the family of Santaji Ghorpade. Their leader was the gallant Murarirao Ghorpade, Santaji's great nephew, by whose help Clive was able successfully to defend Arcot. Lastly, a new and powerful state had grown up round the great fort of Shrirangapatan or the town of the god Krishna, known to English writers as Seringapatam. The tale of its growth is shortly as follows : —
At the close of the fourteenth century two Rajputs, Vijayaraj and Krishnaraj, who claimed descent from the divine Krishna, left their town, Dwarka, and journeyed south in search of adventure, romance and fortune. In the course of their wanderings they reached the town of Hadinad close to Mysore. At Hadinad they found what they had been seeking. The local Wadiar or prince had gone mad and a neighbouring chief demanded from him his daughter's hand or in the alter- native his family lands and possessions. The father's deranged mind was incapable either of consent or refusal. The prince's relatives appealed to the two young Rajputs, who by their craft slew the hateful suitor and by their valour seized his estate. As a reward Vijayaraj obtained the hand of the grateful princess, and he and his brother adopted the lingayat faith of their new subjects. For two hundred years Vijayaraj' s descendants were satisfied with their small principality. In 1565, the defeat and death of Ramraj, King of Vijayanagar, to whom they were subject, shook his kingdom to its foundations. It gradually fell to pieces and the former vassals of Vijayanagar strove with each other for the frag- ments. In 1609, Raj Wodiar, seventh in descent from Vijayaraj, seized the fortress of Shrirangapatan ; to celebrate this event he renounced the lingayat doctrines and he and his family became once more worshippers of the god Krishna.
BALAJI TRIUMPHS OVER DE BUSSY 31
In 1699, the Emperor Aurangzib had planned the subjuga- tion of Mysore ; but the ruling chief, Chikka Devaraj, who had skilfully increased his territories at the expense of his neighbours, sent the Emperor so tactful an embassy that Aurangzib changed his mind and, receiving the chieftain's homage, gave him the title of Raja Jaga Deva and an ivory throne. Chikka Devaraj's successors were men without capacity and their power fell into the hands of their ministers. In 1733, the direct descent ended with the death of Dodda Krishnaraj, and thereafter the new chiefs were elected at the pleasure or the whim of their commanders-in-chief, best known by their official title of Dalwais.1
It will be remembered that, shortly after Bajirao's appoint- ment as Peshwa, a quarrel arose between him and Shripatrao the Pratinidhi as to the royal policy. The latter pressed for the consolidation of the Maratha possessions and then a re-conquest of Shivaji's southern acquisitions. Bajirao had successfully urged a direct thrust at the heart of the Moghul Empire. The thrust had been fatal. To use Balaji's own simile, the trunk had been struck1 down and the branches had fallen of themselves. It only remained for the Marathas to gather them. This Balaji resolved to do and ' We must conquer the whole Deccan ' became the common catchword of the court and the army. Had Ghazi-ud-din lived and mounted the throne by the aid of Maratha arms, Balaji would surely have reached his goal. But behind Salabat Jang stood de Bussy with his French soldiers, and trained artillery and infantry, whose value had been shewn in the fighting of 1751. To the riddance, therefore, of de Bussy from the court of the Nizam, the Peshwa devoted all the resources of his acute and powerful mind. In his efforts he received ample help from his agent at the Nizam's court, Shyamji Govind Dikshit. So long as de Bussy remained at his post, Balaji's schemes made little headway. The fort at Haidarabad to which Salabat Jang had moved was at a safe distance from the Maratha frontier and was garrisoned by de Bussy's troops. Their cannon threatened the town ; at the same time, so strict was their discipline and so exemplary their conduct,
1 See Appendix A for the genealogy of the chiefs of Mysore.
32 A HISTORY OF THE MARATHA PEOPLE
that they won the esteem and affection of the townspeople. In 1753, however, de Bussy was laid low by an illness so severe that a change to the sea-coast became necessary for his cure. He was carried to Machlipatan, now known as Masulipatam, a town near the mouth of the Krishna river, and his illness and departure gave his enemies their chance. On the assassination of Raja Raghunathdas, the post of Diwan to the Nizam had, as already related, fallen vacant and Salabat Jang had, on de Bussy's advice, appointed to it Sayad Lashkar Khan. This man's affected friendship had deceived de Bussy ; but he really detested the French because of theii overthrow of Nasir Jang, for whom Lashkar Khan had felt a deep affection. He was in constant correspondence with Balaji, and, as soon as de Bussy had left for the sea-coast, he began to work in the Peshwa's interest. He encouraged, nay pressed Goupil, de Bussy's lieutenant, to relax the strictness of his discipline. Drunkenness and disorder took the place of order and discipline, and the French soon became as hateful as formerly they had been popular. Sayad Lashkar Khan declared himself unable to pay the troops, and advised the officers to collect their pay by plundering the neighbouring districts. Goupil, deceived by his enemy's courtly manners, divided his small force into raiding detachments. Having thus reduced Goupil's strength, Sayad Lashkar Khan per- suaded Salabat Jang to return to Aurangabad, a spot at once nearer to Balaji and further from de Bussy. While the French cause was thus tottering to its fall, de Bussy lay sick at Masulipatam. But at the news of danger his ardent spirit triumphed over illness. He returned at full speed to Haidarabad, recalled his detachments and forced the governor of that city to pay his troops. Their confidence restored, de Bussy led them in October, 1753, against Aurangabad. The miserable Sayad lost courage as soon as his schemes were penetrated. He made no effort to stop the march of the French ; and on the 4th December he was forced to sign on behalf of Salabat Jang a grant to de Bussy of a great tract of land along the eastern coast, 470 miles long and from thirty to a hundred miles wide. It was watered by two noble rivers, the Godavari and the Krishna, and included the towns of Vizaga- patam, Rajamundri and Ellore. The tract was known as the
BALAJI TRIUMPHS OVER DE BUSSY 33
Northern Sirkars, a name that it still bears. De Bussy was now independent of both Salabat Jang and his minister, and he proceeded to raise fresh troops and to govern the assigned lands with a moderation and wisdom that did him the greatest honour.
Baffled by the cowardice of Sayad Lashkar Khan, Balaji did not despair. He urged him to fresh plots ; and, when the Nizam replaced the Sayad by one Shah Nawaz Khan, Balaji entered into close relations with him. This was easily done ; for Shah Nawaz Khan had also been a devoted adherent of Nasir Jang and he hated the French as cordially as the Sayad did. The recall of Dupleix by the French East India Company and the recognition of Mahomed AH by Godeheu also aided Balaji's policy. The Nizam was vexed beyond measure at the French recognition of his enemy as the occupant of one of his own vassal thrones, without his previous consent. De Bussy did his best to smooth matters over, but his position at the Nizam's court was greatly shaken. To complete his downfall Shah Nawaz Khan advised Salabat Jang to demand the Moghul tribute from Mysore. This proposal he hoped de Bussy would oppose, as the Mysore Government were then actively helping the French. De Bussy was, however, equal to the occasion. He openly approved the advice and secretly sent a warning to the Dalwai or commander-in-chief of Mysore. Having thus done all he could for his allies, he took the direction of the in- vading army. Three days after crossing the Mysore frontier, he was in sight of Seringapatam. The unfortunate Mysore Government were completely paralysed by the absence of their troops and the celerity of de Bussy's movements. Worse news, however, awaited them. A great Maratha army under Balaji's own leadership now invaded Mysore from the west. This was not the first time that the Marathas had invaded Southern India. As I have related in the first volume of this history, Shivaji had conquered a dominion that stretched south of the Tungabhadra from sea to sea. Bajirao had again penetrated southward in 1726. In 1747 Sadashivrao had led thither a large army and had annexed nearly half the lands then ruled over by the Nawab of Savanur. The expedition of 1754-1755 was conducted on a great scale. 5
34 A HISTORY OF THE MARATHA PEOPLE
From every village through which his army passed, Balaji extorted one-fourth of the revenue, either in cash or in bills. Several strong places were stormed, the garrisons killed and the treasure-chests seized. Among them was the fortress of Hole Honnur on the river Bhadra, one of the confluents of the Tungabhadra. The Peshwa was still deeply in debt, as the result of the extravagance of Shahu and of his own father Bajirao. He was determined to make his government solvent at the expense of Mysore and he was merciless in his ex- actions. He joined Salabat Jang's army beneath the walls of Seringapatam. In the meantime the Dalwai had been forced to promise to the Nizam a ransom of fifty-two lakhs of rupees. He had already stripped the rich jewels from the temple images of Seringapatam and from the arms and wrists of the royal ladies, but even so he had collected only one-third of the sum claimed. The Peshwa now demanded a further vast sum as arrears of his tribute. De Bussy, on behalf both of the Nizam and the Dalwai, obtained an audience of the Brahman prince. This was the first time that these two eminent men had met. Balaji was deeply impressed by de Bussy's bearing, his studied courtesy, his unruffled temper, and above all by his vast capacity for military and civil affairs. He listened attentively to the French general's address and was led to the view that it was useless to make further demands on Mysore. The Peshwa had already obtained by plunder on the march more than enough to settle his debts and with this he agreed to remain content. He did not, however, give up his plan of removing de Bussy from the counsels of Salabat Jang ; but he modified it and determined after removing him from Aurangabad to employ him in his own service at Poona.
The Peshwa withdrew his army from Seringapatam, but he overran Jamkhandi and fought a series of actions at Harihar, Bagalkot and Mundlagi. The campaign continued all through the winter and summer of 1755. In January, 1755, Mahadji Purandare was given a separate command to plunder Bednur. This duty he effectually performed, but in the per- formance he quarrelled with Muzaffar Khan, the commandant of the Maratha artillery. The latter had been trained by de Bussy and had left his service for that of the Peshwa.
BALAJI TRIUMPHS OVER DE BUSSY 35
He now deserted the Peshwa's service for that of the Nawab of Savanur. Early in April, 1755, the Peshwa returned to Poona and, as already related, engaged at once in the war against Tulaji Angre. Immediately the monsoon of 1755 had passed, the tireless Peshwa was once again at the head of his southern army. He had apppointed Panse to the command of his artillery, but he deeply resented the desertion of Muzaffar Khan. He demanded his surrender of the Nawab of Savanur. The latter returned a haughty answer and leagued himself with the Maratha chief, Murarirao Ghorpade, who would not acknowledge the Peshwa, and with the Nawabs of Kadapa and Kurnul. Against this formidable league the Peshwa invoked the help of the Nizam. He justly represented that a league of Afghan nawabs supported by Murarirao Ghorpade would, after defying the Peshwa, repudiate the suzerainty of the Nizam. Shah Nawaz Khan supported the Peshwa's agent, and an allied Moghul and Maratha force marched into the country of Savanur. In the forefront of the Maratha army were many famous leaders — Mulharrao Holkar, Vithal Shivdev Vinchurkar and Naro Shankar. Raghuji Bhosle was absent, for earlier in the year, on the 14th February, 1755, that gallant old chief had died of dysentery, and thirteen Maratha ladies had, in his honour, thrown themselves on his flaming pyre. He had tried to divide his state among his four sons, Janoji and Sabaji, Mudhoji and Bimbaji ; but the brothers quarrelled and the Peshwa turned their disputes to his own advantage. He conferred Raghuji' s title of Sena Sahib Subha on Janoji, recognized him as his father's heir and obtained from him a nazar of seven lakhs. In the expedition against Savanur both Janoji and Mudhoji were present.
The Peshwa at the head of a great army met the Pathan nawabs and Murarirao Ghorpade not far from Savanur and inflicted on them so severe a defeat, that they were forced to take shelter in the fortress. On Salabat Jang's arrival the siege began. De Bussy had raised his artillery to the highest pitch of efficiency, and the tremendous effect of his cannon at this siege has passed into legend.1 Murarirao Ghorpade, see- ing the confederates' cause hopeless, entered into negotiations
1 It is said that de Bussy fired 125,000 shells into Savanur (Riyasat).
36 A HISTORY OF THE MARATHA PEOPLE
with de Bussy and deserted to the Peshwa. Eventually the Nawab of Savanur sued for peace and obtained it in return for an indemnity of eleven lakhs, large cessions of territory and the surrender of Muzaffar Khan, who once more became an artillery officer of the Peshwa. In the course of this expedition the Marathas acquired among other places Belgaum, Sholapur and Hubli. Peace was declared in May, 1756 and in June, 1756, as I have already mentioned, the Nawab of Bengal stormed Calcutta. Balaji feared that a junction between the French and the Nawab of Bengal would be fatal to the English. He now evolved a fresh plan, by which he hoped to paralyse the French, drive de Bussy from the Nizam's service, and employ him in his own. In the course of the siege of Savanur, Murarirao Ghorpade had, to induce de Bussy to favour his negotiations, returned him a bond which the French authorities had given Murarirao in recognition of his services against the English at Trichinopoli. The French authorities since Godeheu's ignominious peace were no longer able to redeem it. De Bussy took the bond and spoke on Murarirao's behalf both to the Peshwa and the Nizam. The Peshwa came to hear of the bond and told Shah Nawaz Khan. The latter told the Nizam, at the same time painting de Bussy's conduct in the blackest colours. While Salabat Jang had received nothing, said Shah Nawaz Khan, de Bussy had behind his master's back received a rich bribe from Ghorpade. Other Musulman nobles, jealous of de Bussy's power, supported Shah Nawaz Khan, with the result that the Nizam formally dismissed de Bussy from his service. Immediately this blow had been struck, Shah Nawaz Khan invited the English to attack de Bussy's force and the Peshwa to have him assassinated. Both invitations were declined. The English had no troops to spare, and the generous Brahman not only scorned to assassinate the French general but sent to his help a large body of horse under Malharrao Holkar, offering him the same pay and advantages that he had enjoyed at Haidarabad. De Bussy, however, declined the gracious offer and, after courteously dismissing the Maratha escort, marched from the Nizam's camp to Haidarabad. With incomparable skill he evaded or swept aside the forces sent to attack him, and, reaching his goal in safety, established himself
BALAJI TRIUMPHS OVER DE BUSSY 3^
in a garden known as the Char Mahal or the four palaces. From his new camp he sent for reinforcements to Pondicherry and Masulipatam. Moracin, the French Governor of Masuli- patam, sent a Scotch officer named Law, a brother of the famous speculator of the d'Orleans regency, with a detach- ment of one hundred and sixty Europeans, seven hundred sepoys and five guns. A further body of seven hundred men and six guns was sent from Pondicherry, and the two forces, having met, set out to join de Bussy. As they advanced their difficulties grew and enemies sprang up from every defile, thicket and river bed. At last, when at Meliapur, only seventeen miles from Haidarabad, Law took post and sent word to de Bussy that he could advance no farther. Back came the stern answer, " I bid you march forward in the name of the King." Law dared not disobey and once more the advance began. De Bussy did all that he could to help it. He had induced Ramchandra Jadhav, the son of the rebel Chandrasen Jadhav and Rav Rambha Janoji Nimbalkar of Karmala, two of the three Maratha leaders sent against Law, to take no active part against him. He also made a feigned attack on the Nizam's troops near his own camp, and simultaneously sent a force to escort Law during the last few miles of his march. Helped in this way, Law after very severe fighting succeeded in reaching de Bussy. An hour after Law's arrival in the French camp, de Bussy received a letter from Salabat Jang offering to reinstate him. De Bussy accepted the offer and on the 20th August, after passing through a crisis which no ordinary man would have survived, he was publicly reinstated by the Nizam in all his titles, lands and dignities.
De Bussy was now, it would seem, free to act with the Nawab of Bengal ; but the resources of the Peshwa's diplo- macy were inexhaustible. While de Bussy was surmounting insuperable obstacles in and near Haidarabad, the agents of Shah Nawaz Khan, prompted by Balaji, had raised a revolt in the Northern Sirkars. Directly the rainy season permitted, de Bussy was forced to proceed there. On the 16th November, the French general with five hundred Frenchmen and four thousand sepoys set out for the assigned districts. In three months he had reduced them to obedience, and he was preparing
38 A HISTORY OF THE MARATHA PEOPLE
to march northward to relieve Chandanagore, when he received the fatal news that the city had fallen on the 23rd March. It was useless now to go north, but vengeance might still be exacted from the English settlements in the east and south. He took successively the English factories at Vizagapatam, Madapollam, Bandarmalanka and Injiram, and was getting ready to sweep the English from Southern India when he was again stayed by news from Haidarabad. In his absence Shah Nawaz Khan, in league with the Peshwa, had woven a most formidable plot not only against de Bussy but against Salabat Jang himself (May, 1757). Their intention was to confine Salabat Jang and to declare his brother Nizam Ali Subhedar of the Deccan. Shah Nawaz Khan seized Daulata- bad, pretending to be afraid of his own troops. He invited Salabat Jang to visit him there ; but from this folly he was dissuaded by the French officers of his escort. Shah Nawaz Khan then refused to surrender the fortress. Nizam Ali, who was Governor of Berar, pretended to be shocked at the rebellion against his brother and marched with all speed to Haidarabad, really intending to seize Salabat Jang in his own camp. At the same time a Maratha army under Janoji Bhosle invaded the Nizam's dominions from the north ; and another Maratha army under the Peshwa's eldest son Vishvas- rao concentrated on the Godavari. A third Maratha force attacked and defeated Ramchandra Jadhav, who was march- ing to Salabat Jang's aid, and besieged him in the town of Sindkhed. The leader of this third contingent was Madhav- rao Sindia and against him Nizam Ali pretended to march. Madhavrao Sindia, acting under the Peshwa's instructions, allowed Nizam Ali to relieve Sindkhed. Nizam Ali offered the Peshwa the price agreed on secretly for his assistance, namely, the cession of a tract of land producing twenty-five lakhs of revenue, together with the fort of Naldurg. Balaji and Nizam Ali then marched as friends to Aurangabad ; and the next step would assuredly have been the deposition of Salabat Jang. But, before this could be achieved, de Bussy came by forced marches from the Northern Sirkars. His arrival foiled the plot. He recovered Daulatabad and over- awed the conspirators. Nizam Ali, in his rage at his failure, murdered Haidar Jang, de Bussy's confidential agent. He
BALAJI TRIUMPHS OVER DE BUSSY 39
then fled for his life to Burhanpur and in the tumult that followed Shah Nawaz Khan was killed. The Marathas withdrew, but were consoled for their check by the capture of Shivner. That mighty fortress close to Junnar had long been coveted by the Maratha Government. It was the birthplace of the great king, who had more than once tried to take it. Its commandant, Alamkhannow surrendered it, induced to this act of treachery by the handsome bribe offered him by Uddhav Vireshwar Chitale, a Maratha officer. De Bussy, for the moment master of the situation, made Basalat Jang, Salabat Jang's remaining brother, diwan, and proposed through him to govern the entire Deccan. It might thus seem that de Bussy had won in his struggle with Balaji. In reality the latter had reached his goal. While de Bussy was struggling to save Salabat Jang, the English had fought and won Plassey and conquered Bengal. Nothing that the French could now do was of any use. De Lally, the new French Governor-General, anxious to concentrate his troops for an attack on Madras, recalled de Bussy ; and on the 21st July, 1758, the great soldier said good-bye to Salabat Jang for ever. The attack on Madras failed. The Northern Sirkars were conquered by the English and the French were expelled from the Nizam's dominions. It was thus Balaji who had won in the contest and it was not long before he reaped the fruits of his victory.
The Peshwa's plans were favoured by the turbulence and faithlessness of Nizam Ali. On reaching Burhanpur the latter levied a heavy contribution and proceeded to raise troops. He was soon joined by Ibrahim Khan Gardi with a corps of artillery. This celebrated individual had at one time been a favourite officer of de Bussy and had become an expert in the French method of serving their cannon. He had left the service of the French for that of Nizam Ali, had rejoined de Bussy at Haidarabad, and on his recall had once more thrown in his lot with Nizam Ali. His surname Gardi was a corruption of the French word " Garde ". Basalat Jang persuaded Janoji Bhosle to attack the rebel, but by the aid of Ibrahim Gardi's artillery, Nizam Ali defeated the Maratha leader. Janoji Bhosle, thereafter, on instructions received from the Peshwa, joined the pretender's cause.
40 A HISTORY OF THE MARATHA PEOPLE
Another event helped Nizam AH. Salabat Jang, in answer to an appeal from his French friends, marched to relieve Masuli- patam, then besieged by the English. In his absence Nizam Ali took Aurangabad and marched on Haidarabad. In all haste Salabat Jang patched up a treaty with the English and returned to drive away his brother. But Nizam Ali's position had become so strong that Salabat Jang was forced to accept him as his diwan and to dismiss Basalat Jang. Nizam Ali on his part agreed to dismiss Ibrahim Gardi, who at once entered the service of Sadashivrao.
Nizam Ali, having become supreme in his brother's vice- royalty, refused to carry out the treaty of Sakhar Khedale,1 as the treaty concluded between him and the Peshwa was called. He also refused to become the subordinate ally of the Peshwa, as Balaji demanded. In spite of the Peshwa's remonstrances, he allied himself to the English. All through 1759, therefore, Balaji and Sadashivrao made extensive preparations for war. On the 9th November, 1759, the Peshwa's officer, Visaji Krishna Biniwale induced Kavijang, the Musul- man governor of Ahmadnagar to surrender it in return for a perpetual jaghir of fifty thousand rupees. This act led to an open rupture between the two powers. Some delay took place in the Maratha movements by reason of Muzaffar Khan's attempt on the life of Sadashivrao. Muzaffar Khan, as will be remembered, had on the fall of Savanur re-entered the Maratha service. Sadashivrao, who disliked him, protested, but was overruled. Afterwards Sadashivrao tried to get Ibrahim Khan Gardi appointed in Muzaffar Khan's place as commandant of the Peshwa's artillery corps. Although the two Musulmans were kinsmen, Muzaffar Khan's vanity was deeply wounded. He corrupted his son-in-law, Haidar Khan, to assassinate Sadashivrao. On the 25th October 1759, while Sadashivrao was sitting in his tent at Garpir, just outside Poona city, Haidar Khan entered it and struck at him with a dagger. A silledar or cavalry officer named Nagoji Guzar caught the assassin's wrist and Sadashivrao escaped with a slight wound. Haidar Khan was seized, and implicated Muzaffar Khan and a Prabhu officer called Ramchandra
1 Sakhar Khedale was the village where the treaty was signed.
BALAJI TRIUMPHS OVER DE BUSSY 41
Narayan. The first two were instantly beheaded ; the third was imprisoned for life.
Early in December 1759, the war began in earnest. Nizam Ali's cause was hopeless from the first. His finances were in disorder and his army were in arrears. They were also outnumbered by the Marathas, who were superior in arms and equipment of every kind. Still Nizam Ali could not bring himself either to carry out the treaty of Sakhar Khedale or acquiesce in the loss of Ahmadnagar, a spot dear to all Deccan Musulmans as the capital of the Nizamshahi kings and of the heroic Chand Sultana. Nizam Ali's army moved first to Bedar and then to Dharur. Sadashivrao took by storm Bahadurgad, a strong fort on the Bhima river, and, hearing of the Moghul movements, sent an advance party to harass the main body and so prevent their junction with a cavalry corps of seven thousand horse under Vyankatrao Nimbalkar, a Maratha officer in the Nizam's service, who was encamped at Dharur. The advance party did their work admirably and so harassed the Moghuls that they never reached their objective. While the Moghuls were skirmishing with the advance guard, Sadashiv- rao and Vishvasrao, the Peshwa's eldest son, came up at the head of forty thousand cavalry, five thousand regular infantry and an ample park of light artillery. The unfortunate Moghuls were attacked near Udgir and driven into the fortress of Ousha, where they were besieged for four days (January, 1760). On the fifth day the two brothers— for Salabat Jang was also in the field— sued for peace and were only granted it on the most humiliating terms. Sadashivrao demanded the cession of lands that yielded annually a crore of rupees ; eventually he accepted an assignment of land worth annually sixty-two lakhs, the surrender of the great forts of Ashirgad, Daulatabad, Bijapur, Ahmadnagar and Burhanpur. Nimbalkar was no longer to remain in the Nizam's service. The terms of peace were promptly executed, save only the surrender of Daulatabad. This was stubbornly defended by the commandant, until he, too, was won over by the payment of a lakh and a half and a jaghir of thirty-five thousand rupees a year. The power of the Nizam was now almost as broken as the imperial power in the north. In two or three years, so the Peshwa expected with confidence, the entire viceroyalty 6
42 A HISTORY OP THE MARATHA PEOPLE
of the Deccan would have become part of the Maratha dominion.
While the Peshwa was thus vigorously prosecuting his designs in the Deccan, he was pressing Maratha interests with hardly less energy in the extreme south. In January 1757, an army of sixty thousand men, led by the Peshwa and Sadashivrao, marched through southern India, collecting tribute. All the petty chiefs save only the Nawab of Kadapa paid it readily. In March 1757, the Marathas were under the walls of Seringapatam and claimed several crores of rupees as arrears of tribute. The Dalwai Nandraj pleaded his inabi- lity to pay. Sadashivrao opened fire on Seringapatam with thirty cannon. Unfortunately a shot from one of his guns struck the temple of Shri Rang or Vishnu, the temple from which the town derives its name. About the same time another gun burst, causing considerable loss of life. A religious panic spread through both armies because of the evil omen and they hastened to come to terms. Sadashivrao demanded thirty-six lakhs, but accepted thirty-two. Five lakhs were paid in cash ; for the remaining twenty-seven lakhs fourteen districts were mortgaged. The Peshwa ap- pointed revenue collectors over the mortgaged districts and occupied them with six thousand men. On the 16th May, he started to go back to Poona. The Krishna and Tungabhadra were already in flood and the troops despaired of crossing them. The Peshwa, however, worshipped the river deities, the floods abated and the main army reached Poona on the 16th June. A considerable force remained with Balwantrao Mehendale with orders to recover Sira, Bangalore, Ouscotta, Kolar and Balapur, the former conquests of the great king. This brought him again into conflict with the Afghan Nawabs of Kadapa, Savanur and Karnul. On the 24th September, 1757, Balwantrao Mehendale won a great victory near Kadapa. The Nawab of Kadapa was killed and his town was sacked. His cousin and heir, Abdul Nabi Khan gallantly defended the rest of the Kadapa territory, but eventually agreed to surren- der half and keep the rest. Finally Mehendale levied four and a half lakhs from the Nawab of Arcot, and returned to Poona in February, 1758.
The Peshwa spent the monsoon of 1757 in equipping a
BALAJI TRIUMPHS OVER DE BUSSY
43
force to reduce Mysore ; for on the departure of the main Maratha army the Dalwai Nandraj had broken the treaty and had driven the Marathas out of the fourteen ceded districts. On the way he intended to reduce Bednur. But, when Shah Nawaz Khan made his attempt to depose Salabat Jang in favour of Nizam Ali, the Peshwa ordered the expeditionary force to effect a junction with his own army and march on Haidarabad. The expedition, however, against Mysore was only postponed. At the beginning of 1759, the Peshwa despatched a Maratha army under Gopalrao Patwardhan to recover the fourteen districts.
The family to which Gopalrao Patwardhan belonged gave so many famous men to the Maratha empire, that it is only fitting that we should enquire into their origin. They claimed descent from one Balambhat, the son of a Chitpavan Brahman, Haribhat, who lived in Kotawada, a village in the Ratnagiri district. Balambhat had three sons, of whom the eldest, Haribhat left his native place for Pula, a famous shrine near Chiplun, where he obtained by arduous penances, performed unremittingly for twelve years, the favour of the god Ganpati. The god's favour became manifest by Haribhat's appointment as family priest to Naropant Joshi, the founder of the
The following is the family tree of the Patwardhans
Haribhat
I Balambhat
Haribhat
Keshavbhat Shivaji
Vithalbhat
I
Krishnabhat Balambhat
I I
Narayanrao Moro Ballal
I I I
Trimbak Govind Ramchandra
I Parashurambhau
Pandurangrao Gopalrao
Mahadev
Bhaskar
(Rao Bahadur Paraanis. The Sangli State and the Harivansha Bakhar.)
44 A HISTORY OF THE MARATHA PEOPLE
Ichalkaranji State. When Balaji, the first of the Bhat Peshwas, married his daughter Anubai to Naropant's son, Vyankatrao, Haribhat's fortunes rose with those of the house of Ichalka- ranji. Haribhat died in 1750 at Poona, and one of his sons, Govind founded in his father's honour the village of Haripur, on the banks of the Krishna, not far from Sangli. Besides Govind, Haribhat had six other sons — Krishnabhat, Balambhat, Trimbakpant, Mahadevbhat, Ramchandrapant and Bhaskarpant. Trimbak, Govind and Ramchandra rose to high military office and from them are descended the chiefs of Sangli, Jamkhandi, Miraj, and Kurundwad. Gopalrao Patwardhan was the son of Govind Patwardhan and although a young man was already distinguished as a soldier.
At first all went well with the expedition. The fourteen districts fell again into Maratha hands ; and the main army besieged Bangalore, while a detachment took by storm the fort of Chennapatam, forty miles to the east of Seringapatam. It was then that the Marathas were first thwarted by the talents of Haidar Ali. This extraordinary man claimed descent from the race of the Holy Prophet himself, the famous tribe of the Koreish. One of his ancestors named Hasan, the descendant of Yahya, left Baghdad and came to Ajmir. There a son, Wali Mahomed was born to him. Wali Mahomed had a son, Ali Mahomed, who migrated to Kolar in eastern Mysore, where he died, leaving four sons. The youngest of these, Fateh Mahomed was a soldier of fortune and was killed in fighting for the imperial cause against Sadat Ulla Khan, the Nawab of Arcot. The latter confiscated the fallen soldier's wealth and turned his widow and two sons adrift. The elder, Shahbaz became an officer in the Mysore service and was later joined by his younger brother, Haidar Ali. The latter soon attracted the attention of his superiors by his energy and courage, and he was now given the command of the Mysore army. By skilfully surprising Chennapatam, he forced Patwardhan to raise the siege of Bangalore. There- after he so harassed the Maratha leader, that the latter was glad to come to terms. Patwardhan agreed to give up the fourteen districts for a sum of thirty-two lakhs. Half was paid in cash and half was advanced by the Maratha bankers with Patwardhan's army on Haidar Ali's personal security.
J3ALAJI TRIUMPHS OVER DE BUSSY 45
Early in 1760, Haidar AH returned in triumph to Seringapatam and received from his grateful king the title of Fateh Haidar Bahadur, or the brave and victorious lion. Gopalrao Patwar- dhan, on the other hand, was reprimanded by the Peshwa. " Haidar ", so he wrote to the unfortunate general, " has des- troyed your prestige." After making peace with Mysore, Patwardhan tried to take advantage of the struggle then proceeding between the English and French round Madras. As neither side would buy his support, he seized the rich temple of Tirupati, proposing to appropriate the offerings due to the gods at the annual festival (January 1760). Even this he failed to achieve. During the rains of 1760, Patwardhan was recalled to Poona ; and, before the detachment which he left behind could plunder the pilgrims, it was driven out by Mahomed Ali, Nawab of Arcot.1
Thus in the year 1760, we see the Peshwa on the point of overwhelming the last fragments of Moghul rule in the Deccan ; and, if in the Carnatic his troops were not so uniformly victorious, it yet seemed certain that in a year or two it also must succumb. For, on the disappearance of the Nizam's dominions, Mysore, although guarded by the genius of Haidar Ali, could certainly not have withstood the combin- ed attack of the Peshwa's armies. That these glorious hopes were not fulfilled was due to a disaster so tremendous, that from it the Marathas never recovered. It eventually led to their subjugation by a foreign power. The events which led to that disaster will be narrated in the next chapter.
1 Khare's collection of historic documents, vol. 1, para; 24.
46 A HISTORY OF THE MARATHA PEOPLE
APPENDIX A
Pedigree of the Mysore rulers
Vijayaraj (1399)
Raj Wodiar (1577-1616)
Chikka Devraj (1671-1704)
Kanthi Raj (1704-1716)
Dodda Krishna Raj (1716-1733)
(adopted) Chamraj (1733-1736) died in prison
(adopted) Chikka Krishnaraj (1736-1766) j
I I I
Nanjraj (1766-1771) Chamraj (1771-1776) Chamraj (1776-1796)
strangled chosen by
Haidar Ali I Krishnaraj the third
(1799-1868)
BALAJI TRIUMPHS OVER DE BUSSY 47
APPENDIX B
Family trees of the Nawabs of Arcot
(a) Chanda Sahib's branch
Sadat Ulla Khan (1710-1732) Dost Ali Khan (his nephew) 1732-1740
|
1 Safdar Ali Khan |
daughter « |
1 Hussein Dost Khan |
|
|
assassinated i |
commonly called Chanda Sahib |
||
|
Mahomed Sayad Khan |
|||
|
(1742-1743) |
|||
|
(6) Mahomed Ali's |
branch |
||
|
Anvar-ud-din 1 |
(1743-1749) |
I I
Mahfuz Khan Mahomed Ali (1749-1795)
I
Umdat-ul-Umar (1795-1801)
48 A HISTORY OF THE MARATHA PEOPLE
APPENDIX C
Family tree of the Nizams of Haidarabad Nizam-ul-Mulk (1713-1748)
I I I I I
Ghazi-ud-din Nasir Jang Salabat Jang Basalat Jang Nizam Ali
(1761-1803)
I
I I I
Mir Ahmad Khan Sikaudar Jah Faridun Jah
(Ali Jah) (1803-1828) and 5 other sons
I I
Mughal Ali Khan daughter of Nizam-ul-Mulk
son of Nizam-ul-Mulk |
Muzaffar Jang (1750-1751)
BALAJI TRIUMPHS OVER DE BUSSY 49
APPENDIX D
As the events of the preceding chapters are rather confusing, I have prepared the following synopsis for the benefit of my readers, of those events from 1750 to 1760. The synopsis does not include events in the succeeding chapters.
1751, Balaji attacks the Nizam in January, 1751, but makes peace
on hearing of Damaji Gaikvad's rebellion. March and April. Damaji Gaikvad's rebellion. September. Clive takes Arcot. November and December. Balaji renews the war against the
Nizam. Battles of Kukadi and Ghodnadi. Marathas take Trimbak.
1752, January. Truce of Shingwa with the Nizam.
March. Agreement between the Peshwa and Damaji Gaikvad.
June. Surrender and execution of Chanda Sahib.
September. Tarabai and Balaji take mutual oaths of friend- ship at Jejuri.
October. Murder of Ghazi-ud-din.
November. Treaty of Bhalki with the Nizam.
December. Raghunathrao invades Guzarat and besieges Jawan Mard Khan Babi in Ahmadabad.
1753, March. Capture of Ahmadabad by the Marathas.
October to December. Sayad Lashkar Khan's plot against de Bussy.
1754, October. Dupleix leaves India.
December. Treaty between M. Godeheu and the English. December, to June 1755. Balaji's first Carnatic expedition.
1755, April. Capture of Suvarnadurg in alliance with the English. October to May, 1756. Balaji's second Carnatic expedition
and siege of Savanur.
1756, April. Capture of Vijayadurg.
June. The Nawab of Bengal storms Calcutta.
July. De Bussy dismissed by the Nizam.
July. The Moghuls and the Nawab of Cambay retake
Ahmadabad. August. Return of de Bussy to the service of the Nizam.
1757, January 2nd. Clive retakes Calcutta.
January to June. Balaji's third Carnatic expedition. Shri-
Rang temple injured. March. Fall of Chandanagore. 7
50 A HISTORY OF THE MARATHA PEOPLE
1757, May. Conspiracy of Shah Nawaz Khan and Nizam Ali against
Salabat Jang. June. Carnatic campaign under Balwantrao Mehendale. It
lasted until February, 1758. June 23rd. Battle of Plassey. August. Battle of Sindkhed. De Bussy foils the conspirators.
Death of Shah Nawaz Khan. September. Victory of Balwantrao Mehendale at Kadapa and
death of the Nawab. October. Recapture of Ahmadabad by the Marathas.
1758, July. Recall of de Bussy from Haidarabad. Spread of Nizam
Ali's rebellion.
1759, January to June, 1760. Carnatic campaign under Gopalrao
Govind Patwardhan.
1760, January. The battle of Udgir.
BALAJI TRIUMPHS OVER DE BUSSY
51
APPENDIX E
Genealogical tree of the Nagpur Bhosles Mudhoji
Baptiji
I Bimbaji
I 3 Raghuji (died 14-2-1755)
I
(by elder wife)
Mudhoji (died 19-5-1788)
I
Bimbaji
I 5 Raghuji (given in adoption)
Vyankoji (Manya Bapu)
I
7 Mudhoji
(Appa Sahib)
1 Parsoji
I
2 Kanhoji
(by younger wife)
4 Janoji (died 21-4-1771) adopted
I
— 5 Raghuji
I 6 Parsoji
I 8 Raghuji
Sabaji
Janoji was born before his brothers, but his mother was the younger wife. The numbers mark the members of the family who succeeded in that order to the Bhosle estate.
CHAPTER LII
EVENTS AT DELHI FROM 1748 TO 1760
At the close of chapter xlv we left Ahmad Shah newly seated on the throne of Delhi. Of the few provinces that still acknowledged his sovereignty, Oudh was under the government of Safdar Jang, the nephew of Sadat Khan. The latter, originally a merchant from Khorasan, had first risen to eminence during the successful plot woven by Mahomed Shah and his mother against the Sayads. In 1737 he had, as governor of Oudh, defeated Malharrao Holkar 1 when the latter crossed the Jamna. He was succeeded in his office by Safdar Jang, his nephew. The country round Farrukabad was in the hands of an Afghan jaghirdar, Kaiam Khan Bangash. The province, known now as Rohilkhand and then as Kuttahir, was in the occupation of a band of Afghan mercenary soldiers known as Rohels or Rohillas, from " Roh", the Pushtu or Afghan word for mountain. The Whig historians have depicted the Rohillas as little, if at all, lower than the angels. They were really a set of faithless and blood-thirsty mountaineers, who had made themselves especially hateful to the Hindus by their plunder of the holy places at Allahabad and Benares. About 1673 two brothers, Shah Alam and Hussein Khan, left their native hills and obtained some petty office under the Moghuls. Shah Alam's grandson, Ali Mahomed, a man of resource and courage and quite devoid of scruple, was eventually appointed governor of Sirhind. Taking advantage of the invasion of Ahmad Shah Abdali, he added in 1748 to the lands already acquired by him those formerly owned by officers absent on field service. In this way he acquired the whole of Kuttahir and changed its name to Rohilkhand. The provinces of Lahore and Multan were under the government of Mir Mannu, the son of the vazir Kamar-ud- din, who in 1748 had been killed in battle against Ahmad Shah Abdali.
1 See vol. 2, p. 222.
EVENTS AT DELHI FROM 1748 TO 1760 53
Upon the death of Kamar-ud-din and the refusal of Nizam-ul- Mulk to be vazir, Ahmad Shah appointed Safdar Jang as his vazir. The first aim of the new administration was the destruction of the Rohilla power. Safdar Jang attempted nothing until the death of Ali Mahomed in 1749. He then induced Kaiam Khan, the Jaghirdar of Farrukabad, to invade Rohilkhand, but the Rohillas defeated and slew him. Safdar Jang found consolation in seizing the lands of his late ally, Kaiam Jang. The latter's brother, Ahmad Khan inflicted two severe defeats on Safdar Jang, who, beside himself with anger, called in the help of Malharrao Holkar and Jayappa Sindia, the eldest son of Ranoji Sindia, who had died in 1750. * Ahmad Khan in vain allied himself with the Rohillas. The allies were defeated and the Marathas according to the author of the Tarikh-i-Ahmad Shah, " ransacked the whole country, not allowing a single man to escape, and every article of money they carried away as booty." In the following year, 1752, Ahmad Shah Abdali again invaded the Punjab, and Safdar Jang and the Marathas agreed to evacuate Rohilkhand on the condition that the Rohillas paid five lakhs a year to the emperor and signed bonds for fifty lakhs payable to Safdar Jang. These bonds Safdar Jang in turn handed over to Holkar and Sindia in part payment of the subsidies due by him. As these bonds were never honoured, they formed the basis of future Maratha claims on Rohilkhand.2
Early in 1752 Ahmad Shah Abdali entered the Punjab and sent an ambassador demanding the formal cession of that province. Safdar Jang, who might have induced the emperor to resist the demand, was absent in Rohilkhand. The emperor's favourite, a eunuch named Jawid, induced him to yield, and Ahmad Shah reappointed as the governor of his new possession Mir Mannu. Safdar Jang, exasperated at the cession, and at the favourite's influence, had Jawid murdered. The emperor turned for help to Ghazi-ud-din, the son and namesake of Ghazi-ud-din, the eldest son of Nizam-ul-Mulk. The father was at the time aspiring to the throne of the Deccan, and Safdar Jang got rid of his Maratha allies by
1 See Appendix A, pedigree of the house of Sindia,
2 Hamilton's Rohillas, p. 112.
54 A HISTORY OF THE MARATHA PEOPLE
sending them with the elder Ghazi-ud-din to Aurangabad. There, as we have seen, Ghazi-ud-din the elder was poisoned by the mother of Nizam Ali. Ghazi-ud-din the younger was only eighteen years old, but he was capable and energetic. Safdar Jang had secured him his father's titles and estates, and he repaid his benefactor by joining the emperor against him. Ahmad Shah supported by Ghazi-ud-din dismissed Safdar Jang and called in the help of Surajmal, the chief of the Jats.
For six months the troops of the contending statesmen fought daily through the streets of Delhi. At last Ghazi-ud- din called in Malharrao Holkar and Jayappa Sindia.1 Fearing the Maratha leaders, Safdar Jang made his peace and was formally appointed viceroy of Oudh and Allahabad. Intizam- ud-Daula, the uncle by marriage of Ghazi-ud-din, was made vazir, and Ghazi-ud-din marched with Holkar and Sindia against Dig and Bharatpur, the fortresses of Surajmal. The allies failed to take either stronghold. In their absence the emperor, who had grown to hate and fear Ghazi-ud-din worse than he had hated and feared Safdar Jang, began to plot with Surajmal against his young supporter. Surajmal agreed to help the emperor with an army, provided he would leave Delhi for Sikandra near Agra. The emperor foolishly set out without either informing Safdar Jang or providing himself with a proper escort. Before he could reach Sikandra, Malhar- rao Holkar surprised his camp and plundered it. The imperial insignia and baggage, the widow of Mahomed Shah and several other princesses fell into the hands of Holkar. The emperor and a few attendants escaped back to Delhi. There worse befell him. Ghazi-ud-din raised the siege of the Jat fort- resses, returned to the capital, made himself vazir at the expense of Intizam-ud-Daula, and blinded and deposed the emperor Ahmad Shah. In his place he raised to the throne a son of Jehandar Shah with the title of Alamgir II (May 1754). Shortly afterwards Safdar Jang died and was buried in the beautiful mausoleum that bears his name, not far from Delhi. His son Shuja-ud-Daula became in his father's stead viceroy of Oudh and Allahabad.
The restless Ghazi-ud-din, having provoked a mutiny among
1 For the family tree of the Sindias, see Appendix A.
EVENTS AT DELHI FROM 1748 TO 1760 55
his troops and quelled it with reckless daring, planned the recovery of the ceded provinces of Lahore and Multan. The occasion was favourable. Mir Mannu had fallen from his horse and died. His son had predeceased him and his widow carried on the government ; her daughter was betrothed to Ghazi-ud-din. The young vazir, leaving the emperor under a guard at Delhi, proceeded to Lahore to celebrate his wedding. The widow was preparing a royal welcome for Ghazi-ud-din, when he had her treacherously seized and usurped her govern- ment. In a fury of rage the injured matron called down curses on Ghazi-ud-din and contrived to communicate with Ahmad Shah Abdali. The Afghan king flew to her rescue. Ghazi-ud-din threw himself at the invader's feet and on the widow's intercession obtained a pardon. Ahmad Shah, however, demanded money as a salve for his outraged feelings. He marched first to Delhi, where he repeated the atrocities of Nadir Shah. From Delhi he sent detachments into Oudh, and against the Jats. But it was at Mathura that Afghan cruelty reached its zenith. This holy spot attracts pilgrims from all parts of India ; for there the divine Krishna, the eighth incarnation of the god Vishnu, was born. To save the infant god from the murderous hatred of his uncle Kansa, 1 his earthly father, Vasudeva carried the babe across the river Jamna ; to give them passage the waters of the great river parted, and Vasudeva was able to hide the child in the waggon of Nanda, a cowherd of Gokula. Beyond his uncle's reach, the boy grew to manhood and in due time returned to Mathura and slew his uncle. At the time of Ahmad Shah Abdali' s invasion the town was crowded with harmless pilgrims of both sexes ; the Afghans slaughtered the men, outraged the women, and sacked the holy city and its beautiful temples. Happily a plague broke out among the Afghan soldiery, which forced Ahmad Shah to return to Kabul. Before he left, he married a princess of the house of Delhi and gave another in marriage to his son, afterwards Timur Shah. To protect the emperor from Ghazi-ud-din, Ahmad Shah appointed Najib-ud-Daulat as vazir. The latter was an Afghan of the Kamar Kel tribe, who had risen to eminence under Ali Mahomed. He was a
1 Hamilton's Rohillas, p. 131.
56 A HISTORY OF THE MARATHA PEOPLE
man of great courage and capacity and was eminently fitted for the post. But as soon as the Afghan king had left India, Ghazi-ud-din sent an appeal to Raghunathrao, Balaji's brother, who in 1756 was levying contributions from the chiefs of Rajputana and Malwa. Raghunathrao at once joined Ghazi-ud-din and the confederates besieged Delhi. The only thought of Alamgir II was for the safety of his son Ali Gohar, and he contrived his flight, first into Rohilkhand and after- wards to the court of Shuja-ud-Daula, the viceroy of Oudh. Najib-ud-Daulat effected his escape by giving a handsome present to Malharrao Holkar, and he fled to his own jaghir at Saharanpur. The emperor then threw open the gates of Delhi and perforce took Ghazi-ud-din back as his vazir.
Raghunathrao now cast his eyes northward. Ahmad Shah Abdali had left behind him as governor of the Punjab his son Timur. Mir Mannu's deputy, Adina Beg, resented the appoint- ment and invited Raghunathrao to Lahore. In May 1758, Raghunathrao entered Lahore, driving before him Timur's army of occupation. A second army of thirty thousand men under Dattaji Sindia and Malharrao Holkar drove Najib-ud- Daulat to take post at Shukratal, a defensible position on the Ganges. A third army under Govindpant Bandela x invaded Rohilkhand, but it was defeated with heavy loss by Shuja-ud- Daula and driven across the Ganges. Ahmad Shah Abdali had learnt with the utmost indignation of his son's expulsion from the Punjab. He could not act as soon as he could have wished ; for he was engaged in quelling the revolt of Nasir Khan, the Khan of Khelat. By July 1759 the Baluch rebellion had been quelled, and Ahmad Shah took the road to Shikarpur in Sind. From Upper Sind the Afghan army marched up the right bank of the Indus and in September 1759 crossed that river at Peshawar and the Jamna opposite Saharanpur. From his prison at Delhi, the unfortunate Alamgir II sent him an appeal for help. Unhappily the letter fell into the hands of Ghazi- ud-din, who at once had the emperor murdered, and raised another member of the imperial house, Mohi-al-Sunnat, a son of Kam Baksh and a grandson of Aurangzib, to the Moghul throne, with the empty title of Shah Jahan or Lord of the Universe.
1 For an account of Govindpant Bandela see vol. II, p. 225.
EVENTS AT DELHI FROM 1748 TO 1760 57
In the meantime Ahmad Shah Abdali reoccupied Lahore, while the Maratha army under Dattaji Sindia and Malharrao Holkar retired before him. Malharrao Holkar, anxious to win Surajmal to the Maratha cause, withdrew his contin- gent from Sindia's force and moved southward. Dattaji Sindia retreated to Delhi, but refused to go farther in spite of the prayers of his wife Bhagirthabai, who was about to be confined. He posted a guard under Janrao Vable and Maloji Sindia at the crossing of the Jamna known as the Badaon Ghat. He himself with the bulk of his army cantoned at Delhi ; but he sent southward the ladies of his family under the escort of Rupram Katari, one of his officers. On the 10th January, 1760, Dattaji Sindia celebrated at Delhi the festival of the Makar Sankrant with prodigious ceremony, just as if no active and resolute foe was in the field against him. The Makar Sankrant is the Hindu equivalent of the Christian Christmas. On that day is celebrated the winter solstice. The sun has reached the southernmost point of its course. From this moment begin the six lucky months, known as the Uttarayan, during which time the sun's progress is northward. In honour of this fortunate season, Hindus of both sexes rise early, worship the family gods, dress in holiday attire, and visit their friends.1 As they enter a friend's house they present him with sugared sesamum and repeat the rhyme, " Til kha tilse ya, gul kha godse bola " (Eat the sesamum and come towards me little by little ; eat the sugar and let your words be sweet).2 The smallness of the sesamum seed represents the tiny changes that occur in the length of the day during the early part of the Uttarayan. The day, so the Hindus say, lengthens only " til til ", or the size of a sesamum seed.
On the morning of the 10th January 1760, Dattaji Sindia held a parade of his forces at Delhi and distributed sugared sesamum to his higher officers. It was his intention throughout the day to receive and to pay a series of formal visits. In the meantime the Abdali's spies had brought him
1 The Makar Sankrant now falls on the 14th January. This difference between the Christian and the Hindu calculations is due to the dis- regard by the latter in modern times of the precession of the equinoxes.
8 The present practice is to say only, " Tilgul ghya aani god bola." 8
58 A HISTORY OF THE MARATHA PEOPLE
news of Dattaji Sindia's position and also of his negligence. Effecting a junction with Najib-ud-Daulat, the Abdali forced the Jamna river at the Badaon Ghat, cut to pieces Janrao Vable and his men, and marched on Delhi. Dattaji Sindia, on hearing of the disaster, led, with more courage than prudence, the rest of his contingent from Delhi, and attacked Ahmad Shah. His force was outnumbered and overwhelmed. He himself and his illegitimate brother Jyotaba were among the slain. Jankoji, his nephew and the son of Jayappa Sindia, was wounded but escaped with two or three thousand men, and was hotly pursued by the Afghans for several miles.
Malharrao Holkar on hearing of this disaster retreated towards Sikandra, forty miles east of Delhi and five miles from Agra. He had heard that the Rohilla chiefs had stored grain and money there to aid Ahmad Shah in his eastward march, and he hoped to seize the store. He found, however, on arrival that the Rohillas had removed their granary and money ; so he rested his troops and renewed his efforts to win over Surajmal. No spot could be found more suited for repose than Sikandra ; for there, in a mausoleum in the midst of a beautiful park thronged with deer and antelope, rests in an endless sleep the great Akbar. The calm of his surround- ings led Holkar to neglect his usual precautions. The Shah of Afghanistan, learning his whereabouts, sent against him an active officer called Pasand Khan with fifteen thousand horse. In twenty-four hours this mobile body marched a hundred and forty miles to Delhi. Halting at the capital for a single day, Pasand Khan marched that night to Sikandra, which he reached just before dawn. Malharrao Holkar was taken completely off his guard. He fled almost naked from his camp, with only three hundred companions. The rest of his contingent was dispersed, taken or slaughtered. Ahmad Shah followed up his advantage by moving his main army to Sikandra, where he prepared to pass the rainy season.
These were not the only misfortunes that befell the Maratha leaders about this time in Upper India. On the death of Abhai Sing, Maharaja of Jodhpur, his son Ramsing succeeded. At his installation, Abhai Sing's brother Bakhta Sing, although first prince of the Rahtor house, absented himself and sent by way of proxy his aged foster-mother
EVENTS AT DELHI FROM 1748 TO 1760 59
to put the red mark of Rajput sovereignty on the brow of the new prince. Ramsing in a fury drove her forth, asking insolently whether his uncle took him for an ape, that he had sent a female monkey to present him with the tika. l This insult, deeply resented by Bakhta Sing, led to a war between uncle and nephew, in which the former was victorious. Ramsing retaliated by poisoning his uncle, and the dispute became one between Ramsing and Bakhta Sing's son Vijayasing. Ramsing asked for and obtained the help of Jayappa Sindia, who after defeating Vijayasing besieged him in Nagore. Unable to obtain the help of the other Rajput chiefs, Vijayasing stooped to assassination. Two soldiers, one a Rajput and the other an Afghan, disguised as camp followers, contrived to get close to Jayappa's tent. There they feigned a violent quarrel and implored the Maratha chief to decide between them. Sindia, interested in their concocted story, let them come close to his side. Suddenly rushing at him, they drove simultaneously their daggers into his body. " This for Jodhpur ! This for Nagore ! " they cried and fled. The Afghan was killed, but the Rajput, by mingling in the crowd and calling, "Thief! Thief!" as loud as he could, diverted attention from himself and escaped. Sindia's army raised the siege ; but Raghunathrao returned to Jodhpur to avenge Jayappa's death. Instead, however, of deposing Vijayasing,2 he deserted the cause of Ramsing and acknowledged Vijayasing as Maharaja, accepting by way of mund kataiy or blood-money, the town and fort of Ajmir.
The news of these calamities reached the Peshwa in the Deccan after the great victory of Udgir. Sadashivrao, whose head had been turned by recent success, begged that he and Vishvasrao might be given the command of an army to expel Ahmad Shah Abdali and establish Maratha rule as far as Attock. Raghunathrao's experience of northern warfare gave him the better claim. But, although a skilful com- mander, he was profuse and unbusiness-like ; and his last campaigns had brought nothing but debts to the Maratha treasury, whereas the expeditions of Balaji and Sadashivrao
1 Tod's Rajasthan, vol. 2, p. 944.
2 The name of Vijayasing is often corrupted to Bijaysing or Bijesing.
60 A HISTORY OF THE MARATHA PEOPLE
had filled it to overflowing. When taunted by Sadashivrao with his extravagance, Raghunathrao bade Sadashivrao take the command and do better, a challenge that Sadashivrao readily accepted and Balaji unwisely approved. Having appointed the general, the Peshwa spared no pains to equip the army. It was the most splendid array that ever followed a Maratha leader. From Poona, Sadashivrao and Vishvasrao set out with Balwantrao Mehendale, Shamsher Bahadur, Naro Shankar, Vithal Shivdev Vinchurkar and Trimbak Purandare, twenty thousand picked cavalry, ten thousand disciplined infantry and a strong corps of artillery under Ibrahim Khan Gardi. At various points along the line of march Malharrao Holkar, Jankoji Sindia, Damaji Gaikwad, Jaswantrao Powar and Govindpant Bandela joined them with strong contingents. The Rajput chiefs sent them irregular horse and Surajmal of Bharatpur met them with thirty thousand Jats. The tents and equipment of the army were of the most splendid kind ; for, while Sadashivrao was willing to reprimand his cousin Raghunathrao for his reckless expendi- ture, he was not unwilling to profit by it or to occupy the gorgeous tents and to ride the noble horses, the cost of which had led Raghunathrao into debt. But, in spite of its great size and its glorious record, the Maratha army had one fatal weakness. It was suffering from a change in its tactics. It was forsaking the old guerilla tactics that had won the battles of Balaji Vishvanath and his son Bajirao, for new methods copied from the French, which neither the generals nor the soldiers properly understood. Such a situation proved fatal to Soubise's army at Rossbach and to Mackay's army at Killiecrankie ; it was soon to prove even more fatal to the grand army of the Marathas.
EVENTS AT DELHI FROM 1748 TO 1760
61
Jayappa
(killed at
Nagore
1759)
I
Jankoji
(killed at
Panipat)
APPENDIX A
Pedigree of the Sindia Family Ranoji Sindia (died 1750)
Dattaji
(killed at
Badaon
Ghat)
Tukoji
(killed at
Panipat)
illegitimate
Madhavrao (died 1794)
I
Jyotaba
(killed at
Badaon
Ghat)
Kedarji Anandrao
I
Daulatrao
= Baizabai Ghatge (1794-1827)
I Janakojirao (adopted 1827-1843)
I Jayajirao (adopted 1843-1886)
I Madhavrao (1886)
CHAPTER LIII
PANIPAT AND THE DEATH OF BALAJI PESHWA
Sadashivrao, full of self-confidence, led the confederate army to Delhi. On the march Surajmal saw with the eye of an experienced soldier the confusion and disorganisation behind the splendid appearance of the Grand Army. He urged Sadashivrao to leave his camp followers and his trained infantry at Bharatpur, and to harass the Afghans in the old Maratha way, until they started to retreat towards their native mountains. During the retreat they could be easily overwhelmed. Surajmal's advice was supported by Malharrao Holkar and the older captains. But Sadashivrao had seen the effect of Ibrahim Khan Gardi's cannon at Udgir and could not believe that against another enemy different tactics might be needed. He slighted Surajmal as a petty zamindar and taunted Holkar with his low birth. No un- toward event, however, disturbed the Maratha march before they reached Delhi. The fort was held in the Afghan interest by Yakub Ali Khan. Ghazi-ud-din, on hearing of the Maratha advance, had fled to the camp of Surajmal and disappeared from history. After the battle of Buxar in 1765, he joined Shuja-ud-Daula with a handful of followers. In 1779, he was found at Surat in the garb of a pilgrim and ordered to quit the jurisdiction of the East India Company.
Yakub Ali Khan's force was too small to guard the vast peri- meter of the Delhi fort effectively, and a Maratha leader named Vithalrao with five hundred men scaled the walls near the lion bastion and forced his way to the doors of the imperial zanana. Some Afghans rushed up and shot twelve Marathas dead. The remaining Marathas were seized with a panic and threw themselves over the walls. The siege was now begun in regular form. Ibrahim Khan Gardi battered the fort with his cannon for several days ; then the supplies of the garrison failed and Yakub Ali Khan offered to evacuate the fort, if allowed to join Ahmad Shah Abdali's camp across the Jamna.
SUKAJMAL, KING OF THE JATS
To lace page 63.1
PANIPAT AND THE DEATH OF BALAJI PESHWA 63
His offer was accepted and the Marathas entered in triumph the palace of the Moghul emperors. The city and neighbour- hood of Delhi had been exhausted by a succession of plunderers, and Sadashivrao' s army soon consumed what remained. Unable to raise cash levies from the inhabitants, the Maratha general stripped the tomb of Nizam-ud-din of its treasure and ornaments. This saint was the contemporary and intimate friend of Mahomed Tughlak ; and his sepulchre is still venerated throughout upper India. The tombs of the emperors were next plundered, and lastly Sadashivrao seized their golden and silver ornaments, the imperial throne and the gold canopy above it. These acts procured for him only seventeen lakhs of rupees, while they caused the greatest scandal among the Rajput and Jat princes. Accustomed as they were to regard the empire, even in its humbled state, with profound venera- tion, they protested strongly against this insult to fallen majesty. Neither to protests nor entreaties would Sadashivrao pay heed. He had formed the design of declaring Vishvasrao, on his father Balaji's behalf, the Hindu emperor of India, and he had only postponed its execution at the instance of Malharrao Holkar, until he had defeated Ahmad Shah Abdali and driven him out of India. In the meantime he took a pleasure in degrading the government that he intended to supersede. Surajmal had indeed offered to ransom the Moghul throne and canopy for five lakhs of rupees, but this had only confirmed Sadashivrao in the belief that they were of immense value. Surajmal and his Jat officers, deeply hurt, conferred with the commanders of the Rajput contingents ; and one morning Sadashivrao learnt that in the night the Jat and Rajput forces had left his camp and were marching home. Sadashivrao affected indifference. Towards the end of the monsoon he deposed Ghazi-ud-din's nominee, Shah Jahan, and put on the throne Shah Jawan Bakht, the son of the fugitive heir Ali Gohar. He appointed as the emperor's vazir Shuja- ud-Daula, whom he thus hoped to detach from the Afghan cause and with whom he began a prolonged correspondence.
At the same time the town of Kunjpura, some sixty miles up the Jamna from Delhi, offered a tempting bait. Kunjpura, being interpreted, means the crane's nest. It had been built by Najabat Khan, an Afghan soldier of fortune, whom
64 A HISTORY OF THE MARATHA PEOPLE
Nadir Shah had in 1739 created Nawab of Kunjpura.1 He now held it with twenty thousand Afghans in the interests of the Abdali, and the latter had stored there a large treasure and a quantity of grain. On hearing of the Maratha advance, the Shah became anxious about its safety, but the Jamna in flood prevented him from relieving the garrison. Sadashivrao had been anxious to plunder Surajmal's lands as a punishment for his desertion ; but Holkar and the Sindias pressed on his notice the unguarded state of Kunjpura. On a day pronounced fortunate by the Hindu astrologers, the Maratha army marched against the doomed fortress. The Afghans made a gallant defence ; but on the 17th October 1760 the Marathas, attacking in three divisions, one led by Sadashivrao, one by Shamsher Bahadur and one by Ibrahim Khan Gardi, took Kunj- pura by storm. The garrison were put to the sword, except two kinsmen of Najabat Khan, who were tortured to reveal the secret treasure-house of Ahmad Shah Abdali. When they had shown to the Marathas fifteen lakhs of rupees, their lives were spared. No other prisoners were taken, Sadashivrao excusing his ferocity on the ground that Najabat Khan had been present at the death of Dattaji Sindia. Indeed, among the spoils of the capture was Javhergaj, the favourite elephant of Jankoji Sindia, which had been taken in the subsequent pursuit. This easy success so increased the pride of the Brahman general, that he and Balwantrao Mehendale taunted Malharrao Holkar with his defeat at Sikandra. The scarred old warrior was deeply incensed and left Sadashivrao's tent, muttering that jackals roared loudly until they had seen the lion.2
In the meantime the Abdali had helplessly witnessed the fall of Kunjpura and the massacre of the garrison. A fanatical Musulman, he now regarded the approaching struggle with the Marathas as a holy war, and sent Najib-ud-Daulat to appeal to Shuja-ud-Daula to join his ranks and to fight by his side in the sacred cause of Islam. Although Najib-ud-Daulat was a Sunni and Shuja-ud-Daula a Shia, the latter was won over, and the confederate Musulman and Hindu armies faced each other across the swollen waters of the Jamna river. After the
1 Karnal Gazetteer.
2 Bhausahib's Bakhar,
PANIPAT AND THE DEATH OP BALAJ1 PESHWA 65
storm of Kunjpura the Marathas camped at Pasina Kalan, some miles to the south and the scene of hard fighting during the civil wars that followed the death of the emperor Feroz Shah. They seem to have expected Ahmad Shah to try to cross the river higher up-stream, but after a brilliant feint he crossed the Jamna at Bhagpat,1 between the Maratha camp and Delhi. He lost a number of men during the crossing ; but, to make the waters abate, he threw into the stream sheets of silver with verses of the Koran engraved on them. His guns he put on rafts or on the backs of elephants. He himself swam his horse across, and by the 25th October the whole Afghan army was on the right bank of the Jamna. On the 26th October, the Maratha vanguard attacked the Afghan outposts, but were repulsed with the loss of twelve hundred men.2 At this point the weakness in the Maratha high command showed itself. If Sadashivrao intended to fight in the European manner, it was vital to him to keep open his communications with Delhi. If he fought in the old Maratha way, he needed no line of communications ; but he could not fight in the old Maratha way so long as he kept with him Ibrahim Khan Gardi's trained artillery and infantry. Malharrao Holkar begged Sadashivrao to stick to Maratha tactics, but that meant the sacrifice of Ibrahim Khan Gardi and his men ; and that soldier of fortune threatened to fire on the Maratha army if he was deserted. Sadashivrao rightly refused to sacrifice Ibrahim Khan Gardi ; but he did not grasp the difference between the two systems of tactics. Instead of retiring southward past Ahmad Shah's left flank and thus reopening his line of communications, he marched northward towards the town of Panipat, Ahmad Shah following him. In Panipat he fortified himself ; while the Afghans established themselves across the Delhi road. From that moment the Maratha army was in the gravest danger. Ahmad Shah was between them and Delhi. The fertile provinces on his right flank were in the hands of his allies, Shuja-ud-Daula and Najib-ud-Daulat. Behind the Marathas was the Punjab held by Afghan governors in Ahmad Shah's interest. For a short time,
1 Karnal Gazetteer, p. 20. * Bhausahib's Bakhar. 9
fcjti A H1STOKY OF THE MAKATHA PEOPLE
however, the Maratha army suffered no privations. The tourist who now visits Panipat can gaze from the highest point of the town over an endless succession of wheat-fields irrigated by the Jamna canals. So prosperous, indeed, are the inhabitants that they are accused by their neighbours of unduly wasting their time in pigeon races and quail fights.1 Even in 1760, it was a thriving town and the Marathas found stores of grain and other supplies, which they promptly requisitioned. Their next care was to fortify themselves. Under Ibrahim Khan's supervision they built an immense ditch fifty feet wide and twelve feet deep, and constructed ramparts to guard the Maratha camp and the town : of this ditch traces are still visible. Opposite the Maratha camp and barring the road to Delhi, Ahmad Shah Abdali fortified himself. Neither side was willing to attack the other, and both sides strove to obtain a superiority in light cavalry actions. It was clear that, so long as the main armies chose to remain stationary, the force whose light cavalry held the command of the open country would starve the other force out. At first the advantage lay with the Marathas. Govindpant Bandela,2 who was in charge of the Maratha light cavalry, had a marked advantage over the Afghan horse by his superior mobility.
On the 22nd November, Jankoji Sindia, the son of Jayappa Sindia, made a brilliant attack on the Abdali' s camp, drove in the outposts, inflicted severe loss on Najib-ud-Daulat's Rohillas, and captured several guns. He returned to Panipat, his war horns sounding a paean of victory. The Abdali moved his camp a considerable distance back and seriously thought of withdrawing altogether. He eventually decided to stay, and on the next new moon, which fell on the 7th December 1760, he sent a picked body of Afghans under Najib-ud-Daulat to make an attack on the Maratha centre. Balwantrao Mehendale surprised the Afghans and drove them back with great slaughter. Unhappily in the moment of victory Balwantrao Mehendale fell shot through the body. His fall caused considerable confusion in the ranks, and a band of Afghans
1 I heard this gossip on the spot when inspecting the battle-field. 8 For an account of Govindpant Bandela see vol. II, p. 225.
PANIPAT AND THE DEATH OF BALAJI PESHWA 67
rushed up to cut off his head. His body was saved from mutilation by Kbanderao Nimbalkar, but the Marathas with- drew. The Afghans, pursuing their advantage, followed them as far as the great ditch. There they were counter-attacked by both Jankoji Sindia and Malharrao Holkar, and driven back with a loss of three thousand men. Although the Marathas had thus the advantage, Sadashivrao felt deeply the loss of Balwant- rao, who was the brother of his first wife Umabai ; and the army mourned an officer distinguished in the Carnatic wars. Balwantrao's widow Laxmibai committed sati and was burnt with her husband's body.
On the 22nd December, a far graver calamity befell the Marathas in the death of Govindpant Bandela. This enter- prising officer had cut off the Abdali's foraging parties with such skill that there was a famine in the Afghan camp. Both Najib-ud-Daulat and Shuja-ud-Daula pressed the Shah either to fight the Marathas or to retreat across the Jamna. But the Shah, who, although a ferocious barbarian, was yet a great captain, rejected their advice. " This is ", he said, " a matter of war with which you are not acquainted. Do you sleep ; I will take care that no harm befalls you." At the same time he rode about fifty or sixty miles a day, constantly visiting his outposts and reconnoitring the enemy. In this way he ascertained the movements of Govindpant Bandela. On the 22nd December, he sent ten thousand Afghans under Atai Khan, the nephew of his vazir, Shah Vali Khan, to surprise the Maratha light cavalry camp. The Afghans reached Govindpant' s camp just after sunset and as they approached they displayed striped standards copied from Holkar' s. The Marathas, thinking the newcomers friends, let them come close to the camp. The Afghans then made a sudden rush and cut Bandela's force to pieces. Three thousand Marathas lay dead on the field. Many more died in the pursuit. Govindpant Bandela escaped on horseback, but, falling and breaking his leg, was taken prisoner. He was taken to Najib-ud-Daulat, who had him beheaded and his head sent to the Abdali. The Abdali in turn sent it to Sadashivrao.
The destruction of the Maratha light cavalry division was followed by the worst results. The Afghans now obtained command of the open country and drove in the Maratha outposts
68 A HISTORY OF THE MARATHA PEOPLE
and stopped all their supplies. The two armies had eaten up the entire country-side and food could be bought in Panipat only at famine rates. A long succession of easy victories had led the Peshwa to allow the officers and soldiers to take their wives with them on field service. With Sadashivrao was his active and daring wife Parvatibai, a daughter of the house of Raste, and Panipat was crowded not only with soldiers and their servants but with thousands of soldiers' wives and maid- servants. The cold, too, became intense. The horses and cattle died in hundreds, reducing the efficiency of the cavalry and poisoning the air of the town. Sadashivrao bore himself with calm courage ; yet he clearly saw the increasing danger of his situation. Through his agent Kashirai, a Brahman in Shuja-ud-Daula's camp, he made every effort to secure that general's intervention. But Najib-ud-Daulat would not hear of any treaty with the Marathas. His country had suffered from their raids and he feared their vengeance when the Abdali had departed. The high price of food exhausted the money in Sadashivrao's treasury, so he, the Sindias and Holkar erected mints in the camp and, melting down all the men's and women's gold and silver ornaments, they coined a quantity of rupees, which they stamped with the words "Bhaushahi", "Jankoshahi" and "Malharshahi", but this money lasted for only fifteen days. Sadashivrao organised cavalry patrols to accompany the foragers, and used to offer prizes and rewards for good work ; but, as the forage failed, the cavalry horses were too weak to go on escort duty. When the foragers went out without an escort, they were pitilessly massacred by the Afghans.
On the 2nd January 1761, a determined attempt was made by the son of Govindpant Bandela, Balaji, to convey treasure from Delhi to Panipat. He took with him three hundred horsemen and tied to each horseman a bag containing five hundred rupees. Another body of five hundred horse were sent to protect those who carried the treasure. Un- happily the relief party wandered by mistake into the camp of a strong Afghan patrol. They were instantly attacked and only a few made their way to Panipat. Although the suffer- ings of the Maratha army were intense, Sadashivrao celebrated on the 10th January the Makar Sankrant with such pomp
PANIPAT AND THE DEATH OF BALAJI PESHWA 69
and circumstance as he could. Three days later, namely, on the 13th January,1 the Maratha leaders begged to be led into action. They were ready, they said, to die on the battle- field; but they could no longer bear to starve in Panipat. Sadashivrao agreed and a council of war was held. Jankoji Sindia and Holkar urged the commander-in-chief to abandon his guns, his followers and his women, and under cover of a feigned attack to escape as best he could to Delhi, where there was a garrison of seven or eight thousand men under the command of Naro Shankar. The other Maratha chiefs supported Sindia and Holkar. Ibrahim Khan Gardi said nothing, and Sadashivrao, assuming his consent from his silence, ordered that all the leaders should make their way as best they could to Delhi and re-form there. After the council of war had broken up, Ibrahim Khan sought an inter- view with Sadashivrao and, showing him letters received from Najib-ud-Daulat, threatened to desert to the enemy, fire on the Marathas and disclose their plans, unless the previous orders were countermanded and a general engagement ordered with the object of driving the Abdaii into the Jamna, which flowed at the back of his camp. Sadashivrao was overcome by the anxieties of his situation and could not bear deserting the Hindu women to be a prey to the Afghan barbarians. He can- celled his previous orders and directed that next day, the 14th January, the Marathas should make a general assault on the Afghan camp. At the same time he wrote to Kashirai, his agent with Shuja-ud-Daula, " The cup is now full to the brim ; it cannot hold another drop. If anything can be done, do it or answer me plainly at once. Hereafter there will be no time for writing or speaking." This letter betrayed the Maratha plans ; for Kashirai shewed it to Shuja-ud-Daula, who at once took it to the Abdaii. That evening the food
1 The dates are those given by Mr. Sar Desai. Grant Duff gives the 6th January as the date of Panipat ; but the celebration of the Makar Sankrant shews the 6th January to be incorrect. The Musulman historians give the date as the 12th. Elliott and Dawson, vol. 8, p. 51.
Indeed Mr. Sar Desai must be correct ; for in a letter written by Anupgir Gosair to Balaji Peshwa (Parasnis collection) he gives the Hindu date as Budhwar Paush Sud Ashtami, which corresponds with Wednesday, the 14th January.
70 A HISTORY OF THE MARATHA PEOPLE
that still remained in his granaries was distributed by Sadashivrao to his army. Next morning his troops, as a sign that they would conquer or die, donned the saffron robe that Rajput warriors don under such conditions. They had some miles to go, and the Abdali's spies, warned of their approach by Sadashivrao's letter, watched their movements all the way. Neither side made effective use of its artillery. Ibrahim Khan opened the action on the left wing, where he commanded, by attacking together with Damaji Gaikvad the main body of Rohillas under Ahmad Khan Bangash that formed the Afghan right wing. The Abdali's centre was formed by the Afghan army under Shah Vali Khan, the vazir. On his left were Shuja-ud-Daula with the Oudh troops and another body of Rohillas under Najib-ud-Daulat. A picked body of Afghans under Shah Pasand Khan held the post of danger on the extreme left of the Afghan line and barred the route to Delhi. In the Maratha centre were Sadashivrao and Jaswantrao Powar and their right wing was formed by the Sindia and Holkar contingents. Everything that could in- spire the soldiers of the two armies was present on that day. The Musulmans remembered with pride that on that very field the lion-hearted Babar had won the empire of India. There, too, the great Akbar, when only a boy of fourteen, had defeated Hemo and had seen his Hindu rival thrown mortally wounded at his feet. On the other hand the great plain was full of memories of Epic India. It was at the village of Basthali (Vyas sthal) that the sage Vyas had lived and dictated to the god Ganpati the myriad lines of the Mahabharata. It was at Gondar that Gautama rishi, to punish them for seeking to rob him of his bride Ahalyabai, had sent a thousand sores to torment the god Indra and had darkened for ever with his curses the till then unsullied beauty of the moon. Panipat, the town in which the Marathas had lived for two months, Sonpat, a village visible from its walls, and Bhagpat, the spot where the Abdali had forced his way across the Jamna, were three of the five villages which Yudhisthira, rather than plunge all Bharatvarsha into warfare, had asked for as a meagre fief for himself and his four brothers. To the north stretched the field, where to settle the claims of the sons of Pandu and Dritarashtra, the chivalry of India had fallen
PAN1FAT AND THE DEATH OF BALAJ1 FESHWA 71
almost to a man in the slaughter of Kurukshetra. There the generous Kama had died at the hands of his brother Arjun the archer. There Bhishma had lain on his bed of arrows while the contending chiefs guarded him from wild beasts and listened reverently to the wisdom of his lips. It was in the Parasir tank at Balapur that the brave but wicked Duryodhan had hidden from the wrath of Bhima ; and it was at the Phalgu tank at Bharal that the Pandavas had celebrated the funeral rites of the warriors who had fallen in the most terrible of all Indian wars. Nor were the prizes that hung before the eyes of the opposing leaders less brilliant than those that dazzled the eyes of Duryodhan and Yudhisthira. The Musulman armies fought to retain the last shreds of the Delhi empire, that had once stretched from the snow mountains of the north to the southern seas round Ramesh- waram. The Hindu warriors fought to throw off now and for ever the foreign yoke that had pressed on them since the fall of Rai Pithora, and to seat once again a Hindu prince on the throne of Dushyanta and Dasharatha, of Bharata and Ramchandra.
Ibrahim Khan Gardi had said to Sadashivrao before the battle joined that, although the latter had often complained because of his insistence on regular pay for his troops, they would now prove on the battle-field that they were worth it. This promise he nobly fulfilled. Charging the Rohillas with the bayonet, his disciplined troops destroyed their formation, killing and wounding eight thousand of them. This brilliant action laid bare Shah Vali Khan's right flank, and Sadashivrao charged the Afghan centre with the flower of the Maratha army. The Maratha cavalry broke up the enemy's centre and it seemed as if the day was lost for the Afghans. Ahmad Shah, however, had in hand a reserve of ten thousand heavy cavalry and these he now sent against the Maratha left wing. Ibrahim Khan Gardi had turned back his left flank to meet such a manoeuvre ; but in the fighting the left flank had moved forward, and Ibrahim Khan, severely wounded, was in no state to restore the formation. At the critical moment a bullet struck Vishvasrao in the forehead and he died at once. To Vishvasrao Sadashivrao was deeply attached. The boy had inherited his grandfather's looks, which had been famous
72 A HISTORY OF THE MARATHA PEOPLE
throughout India ; and at this time he was one of the come- liest of the children of men. Sadashivrao had trained Vishvasrao himself and had been his constant guardian and companion in the Carnatic wars. The boy had returned his uncle's affection and seems to have loved him more deeply than even his own father. The sight of the gallant youth dead beside him in the same howdah was too much for a mind oppressed by the unceasing labours and anxieties of the preceding three months. He said to his wife Parvatibai that he could never again face his cousin, and, leaving her in the howdah, he mounted his favourite charger, a splendid Arab stallion. He sent a message to Malharrao Holkar, telling him to do as he had directed. His message conveyed, as it was probably meant to convey, the meaning to Holkar that he should revert to the earlier plan of battle and cut his way through to Delhi. Holkar rode off the field as fast as he could. Damaji Gaikvad followed. A body of Afghans got in among the camp followers and cut them up. A sudden panic spread through both wings. The centre still stood firm where Sadashivrao was fighting. He disappeared in the melee,1 shot through the side, and then the centre broke too. Except the Holkar contingent, which followed their leader to Delhi, the routed army took the wrong direction and rushed back to Panipat, the spot which they had that morning meant to leave for ever. Behind them followed the Afghans, cutting them down by thousands. Great numbers crushed each other to death, trying to scale the high fortifications which they had built to check the Afghans. The survivors crowded into Panipat, round which the Afghans placed an investing force. Next morning the Afghans entered the town without opposi- tion and made all inside prisoners. They took the men outside the town, ranged them in rows, gave each one a few grains of parched corn and a drink of water, and then slashed off their heads, which they piled in heaps. The women they reduced to slavery, regardless of their birth or rank. In this way many hundreds of high-born southern women disappeared and were never heard of again. Jankoji Sindia, who had been
1 The spot where Sadashivrao was last seen is marked by a monumen •rected by the Punjab Government.
PANIPAT AND THE DEATH OP BALAJI PESHWA 73
held to ransom by an Afghan, was killed in cold blood, and the gallant Ibrahim Khan Gardi, who had fallen wounded into the hands of Shuja-ud-Daula, was demanded by the Abdali and treat- ed so evilly that he soon died. Naro Shankar,1 who had some seven or eight thousand men at Delhi, on hearing the news of the disaster, should have done his best to cover the retreat of the remnants of the army. Unfortunately, although an officer of high reputation, he seems completely to have lost his head. On the 15th January, he fled from Delhi with such precipitation that he left behind some forty lakhs of treasure. Naro Shankar' s flight added to the sufferings of the Marathas. The stragglers who escaped from Panipat had no place of refuge. When they wandered starving to Delhi, they were robbed by the mob. When they fled across country they were attacked by the peasantry and slaughtered. Others were stripped, robbed of their horses and plundered by the stalwart northern women, and sent to find their way naked, penniless and on foot to the Deccan. Malharrao Holkar made his way to Mathura and thence to Bharatpur, where he was hospitably received by Surajmal. In time some three to four thousand fugitives, including Shamsher Bahadur, reached the Jat country. There Shamsher Bahadur died of his wounds at Dig. The rest were hospitably entertained by Surajmal for eight days and given money to take them home.2 Damaji Gaikvad and Naro Shankar reached Baroda and the Deccan in safety. Parvatibai, Sadashivrao's wife, and Laxmi- bai, the wife of Vishvasrao, were taken to Gwalior by Janu Bhintade.
The corpse of Vishvasrao was easily found and was sent for by Ahmad Shah. The Afghans crowded round it and wished to have it stuffed with straw and sent to Kabul. This inhuman proposal did not commend itself to the Abdali. Eventually Umravgir 3 Gosavi, a noble in the train of Shuja-ud-Daula,
1 Naro Shankar's family name was Dani. He was a Deshasth Brah- man and the first Subhedar of Jhansi, which he founded. He was given the title of Raja Bahadur by the emperor, and is known in the chronicles as Raja Bahadur of Malegaon.
2 Surajmal is said to have spent ten lakhs in helping the Marathas. Sardesai's Panipal, p. 205.
3 Umravgir was the Gosavi's title. His real name was Anupgir.
10
74 A HISTORY OF THE MARATHA PEOPLE
ransomed the bodies of Vishvasrao, of Tukoji Sindia, a full brother of Madhavrao, and of Santaji Wagh and Jaswant- rao Powar for three lakhs of rupees and had them cremated according to the Hindu ritual. For the body of Sadashivrao religious mendicants, sent for the purpose by Trimbakrao Purandare, searched long in vain. At last Ganesh Pandit saw beneath a heap of dead a corpse on which were some precious jewels. The head had been cut off, but some scars on the feet and back enabled Ganesh Pandit and the men with him to identify the body as Sadashivrao's. Thereupon Kashirai, Sadashivrao's agent with Shuja-ud-Daula, obtained leave from the Abdali to cremate it.
Sadashivrao was greatly gifted by nature. He was an admirable financier, an able administrator and within certain limits a competent general. It was his country's misfortune that, after easy successes against the Nizam's armies, he was pitted against the warlike highlanders of Afghanistan, led by a skilful and experienced captain. His judgment was disturb- ed by the new tactics introduced by the French, and he neither grasped their limitations nor understood their advantages. He rejected Holkar's advice, but for this there was some excuse, as only shortly before both Dattaji Sindia and Holkar had been well beaten while following the tactics the latter advocated. The worst fault that can be ascribed to Sadashiv- rao is that on the day of battle he allowed his sorrow for Vishvasrao to overcome his sense of duty as a general. Had he not abandoned his elephant to fight as a common trooper, he could, if he had not won the day, at any rate have saved the army. A skilful retirement on Delhi would have enabled him to re-form and again to hazard the fortunes of battle. By acting as he did, he left the Marathas without a commander either to direct the retreat or to compel Damaji Gaikvad and Malharrao Holkar to share with their comrades the full burden of the day. Sadashivrao must also be blamed for postpon- ing a general action until hunger had wasted the number and strength of both men and horses. He had, it is true, sent for reinforcements to the Deccan, but his messages fell into the hands of the Abdali and his letters were destroyed. He waited too long ; he should at once on the death of Govindpant Bandela, either have fought an action or retired
PANIPAT AND THE DEATH OF BALAJI PESHWA 75
on Delhi. It is, however, impossible not to praise as well as blame. As the anxieties and the dangers of the siege grew, so grew his serene fortitude. Aware, better than anyone else, of the gravity of the situation, he hid his fears with a resolution so stern that the Abdali's spies never reported to their master the real misery of the Maratha camp. If he committed mistakes, he at least feared not to face certain death ; and our censure of the general's errors must be softened by our admiration for his endurance in adversity and his physical courage in disaster.
Most of the letters sent by Sadashivrao and Vishvasrao to the Peshwa had miscarried. Nevertheless sufficient news came through to warn Balaji to send help to Sadashivrao. Unhappily he was engaged in the arrangements of his second marriage,1 which, much to his first wife, Gopikabai's disgust, was celebrated early in December 1760. This delayed the Peshwa ; but after the wedding he moved northward as fast as he could. When he reached the Narbada, a letter was brought him by a banker. It contained the words, " Two pearls have been dissolved, twenty-seven gold mohurs have been lost, and of the silver and copper the total cannot be cast up." From this the unhappy prince learnt the fate of his cousin, his son and his army. It was not long before the fugitives confirmed the news. The Peshwa showed his displeasure to those leaders who had escaped the slaughter. He censured Vinchurkar and Powar, and he attached Malhar- rao Holkar's jaghir, which remained under attachment until after Malharrao's death. Unhappily Balaji was suffering from consumption, and the shock added to the disease soon killed him. He returned to Poona, stopping on the 16th May to perform on the banks of the Godavari the shradh or anniversary ceremonies of his father Bajirao. He reached Poona early in June, and built the first bridge across the Muta to bear the name of Lakdi Phul 2 or wooden bridge. On the
1 Mr. Sar Desai's Panipat, p. 235.
2 There is still a Lakdi Phul to the west of Poona city, but it is entirely of stone. The Peshwa's family were short-lived. Sadashivrao was 31 when he was killed. Chimnaji Appa died at 42; Madhavrao I at 27 ; Bajirao I died at 43 ; Raghunathrao died at 49 ; Balaji Vishwa- nath, however, lived to the age of 76 and Bajirao II to the age of 80.
76 A HISTORY OF THE MARATHA PEOPLE
18th June, he went to his house on Parvati Hill. There his mind began to fail and he became thinner daily. In a few days, although barely forty years old, he died in the arms of his brother Raghunathrao.
English historians have dealt scant justice to this eminent prince. And yet they of all others should have been generous to him ; for, by helping to destroy Tulaji Angre and by paralysing de Bussy in the Deccan and so giving Clive a free hand in Bengal, Balaji did the English the best turn ever done them by a foreigner. Without the real greatness of Bajirao, Balaji was a wise and far-sighted politician. He met with rare skill and firmness the crisis caused by Tarabai's intrigues and Damaji's rebellion. He reduced to a shadow the power of the Nizam, and, but for Panipat, would have added the whole of Southern India to the Maratha kingdom. Occupied in the south, he never found time, while Peshwa, to go to Delhi. Had he done so, he would better have under- stood the Afghan menace. Balaji's name was long cherished by the Maratha peasants for his success in improving the revenue system and the administration of justice. In the former he was aided by Sadashivrao ; in the latter his chief associate was Balshastri Gadgil. Balaji was an untiring letter-writer and no less than fifteen hundred of his letters have survived. In every campaign he sent to Poona a continuous stream of epistles, which show his unremitting zeal in the public service. In 1750, he founded in Poona an institution for the training of revenue clerks and officers. He made great efforts to improve the food and the transport of the army, and unquestionably equipped it and cared for it better than any Maratha ruler since the days of the great king. For one innovation, however, he must be blamed. He allowed, even encouraged officers and soldiers to take with them on active service their wives and families.
Of all his cities Balaji loved Poona best. He spent vast sums in attracting to it learned scholars, devout Brahmans and famous poets. He encouraged trade, built fountains, improved roads, and created fresh peths or quarters. To one he gave the name of his cousin, to another he gave the name of his youngest son ; and Sadashivpeth and Narayanpeth are still populous and fashionable. He greatly improved the
PANIPAT AND THE DEATH OF BALAJI PESHWA 77
lake at Katrej and planted innumerable trees on the roads to Theur, Alandi, and Ganeshkhind. But the monument that to-day most vividly recalls to the visitor's mind this magnifi- cent prince is Parvati Hill. Before Balaji's time a tiny temple to Parvati crowned its summit and the shrine had acquired the reputation of curing sick people. Once Gopikabai, suffering from a sore heel, went to see the hill goddess and was cured. Her husband, to show his gratitude, erected the noble temple now known as Devadeveshwar. After Shahu's death Balaji placed in it Shahu's padukas or sandals, and thus the hill became a monument of the Maratha king. In the plain to the south the Peshwa gave great feasts and distributed charity ; while to the north he built a beautiful lake that for many years was one of the chief glories of Poona. Not only did Balaji honour the god Shiva's queen, he built also a temple on Parvati Hill to the god Vishnu, and on the eleventh of every Hindu month he went regularly to worship at Vishnu's shrine. Indeed, he so loved the hill that he built a palace there ; and when he felt death coming near, it was to Parvati Hill that he went to die. Nor has the Peshwa's choice been disapproved by later generations. A constant stream of visitors still go up and down the stone steps that lead to the summit of Parvati. Thence can be seen, like a map unrolled, Poona city, her sister rivers, the Muta and the Mulla, the shrine of Alandi, and the silver thread of Tukaram's Indryani ; while far away to the west the dark hill forts of the Sahyadris recall the days when Maratha armies rode forth to Delhi, and the fame of Balaji the Peshwa resounded from the Indus river to the southern seas.
78 A HISTORY OP THE MARATHA PEOPLE
APPENDIX A
Letter from Vithal Shivdev Vinchurkar to Raghunathrao,
complaining that the Peshwa had censured him.
To Shrimant Dadhasaheb, with respectful compliments from Vithal Shivdev, Camp Gangruni, District Malwa, where the undersigned is doing well.— Letters from you are received by Subhedar Malharrao Holkar. We two are living together in the same camp, which you must have learnt from other sources. The reason that the Peshwa does not write to us seems to be his displeasure that we did not die on the battle-field. It is true that nobody can escape death. But one cannot help escaping it during the fated period of one's life. It was only the mercy of Providence that we recovered when severely wounded. How true it is that " Life means duty and that life provides for food ". Nevertheless we are smarting under a bitter sense of mortification. It is not that we have forgotten what happened. But the truth is, that all our efforts in the battle-field, good or bad, proved in vain, through the wrath of the Almighty.
(Parasnis Collection.)
PANIPAT AND THE DEATH OF BALAJI PESHWA 79
APPENDIX B
Letter from Holkar' s diwan complaining of the attachment of the Holkar estates.
To Shrimant Dadasaheb (Raghunathrao Peshwa), with respectful compliments from Vinayakrao and Krishnarao Gangadhar.— Your Lord- ship's despatch of the 11th to Tatya was received at Gangruni on the 9th and its contents greatly delighted us. We note with pleasure Your Lordship's several directions about the affairs in Hindustan. The Subhedar (Malharrao Holkar) has sent Gangadhar Yashwant to Vazier Ghazi-ud-din Khan and Thakur Surajmal with a view to restoring peace and order in Hindustan. Your Lordship's observation that the Subhedar is the backbone of our policy in Northern India, is quite true. In days gone by, the late Peshwa Bajirao entrusted his interests to Malharrao Holkar. But this year, since the return of Shrimant (the Peshwa) from Sironje, it appears that the Subhedar no longer enjoys his confidence. There has been no neglect of duty on the part of Malharrao Holkar. The fugitives that took part in the Battle of Panipat must have seen Your Lordship and related the true account. What is the use of praising a defeat ? It is well known how Scindia and Powar, the old servants of the Sarkar, fared in the battle ! The news com- municated by Your Lordship about the confiscation of the Subhedar's mahals in the Deccan has brought on him a feeling of despair. He often complains that, if this be the fruit of his past services, what of the future ?
{Paras nis Collection.)
CHAPTER LIV
THE ACCESSION OF MADHAVRAO BALLAL
The disaster of Panipat and the death of the Peshwa were followed by a series of plots and disturbances. Tulaji Angre, although in prison, contrived to communicate with a nephew of Ibrahim Khan Gardi and to plot a rising on the day of the Peshwa' s death. Some eight thousand disciplined infantry entered Poona unperceived ; but at the last moment a letter from Angre was betrayed into Raghunathrao's hands. He acted with energy, disarmed the conspirators and confined Tulaji Angre with greater strictness than ever.
Although the unfortunate Ramraja had for ten years taken no part in the government, such was his prestige as the descendant of the great king, that it was felt necessary to obtain his investiture for the new Peshwa. As Vishvasrao was dead, the next heir was Balaji's second son Madhavrao, known in history as Madhavrao Ballal. He was then sixteen years old, and nature had bestowed on him a ripe judgment, a high spirit and the talents both of a soldier and a statesman. His uncle Raghunathrao had hoped to conduct the administra- tion in Madhavrao's name until his nephew reached man's estate. In this ambition he was aided and abetted by two persons, his wife Anandibai and his friend Sakharam Bapu. Anandibai was a beautiful but wicked woman, whom Raghu- nathrao had married in 1755, on the death of his first wife Jankibai. Raghunathrao remained all his life deeply in love with her and still more deeply in fear of her. Sakharam Bapu's real name was Sakharam Bhagwant Bokil and he was Kulkarni of Hivare ; he was descended from Pantoji Gopinath, who had helped Shivaji to defeat Afzul Khan at Pratapgad. Madhavrao, although conscious of great powers, at first acquiesced in his uncle's self-formed regency. Indeed, the affairs of the state were in the greatest disorder. There was litttle or no danger, it is true, from the north. For the Musulman confederates had no sooner won Panipat, than they began to quarrel among themselves. Ahmad Shah Abdali had taken in his victory all Ibrahim Khan Gardi' s artillery, five hundred elephants, five thousand horses and twenty thousand
MADHAYRAQ PESHWA
\To face page 57.];
THE ACCESSION OF MADHAVRAO BALLAL 81
bullocks ; but of treasure he captured little or none. The result was that when he reached Delhi, which he did on the 21st January 1761, and proposed to his Afghans that he should crown himself emperor, they broke into a formidable mutiny. They demanded their arrears of pay, which had accumulated during the previous two years. He contrived to appease them for a time by a forced loan of forty lakhs from Najib-ud- Daulat. But thereafter he confined his ambitions to the pro- vinces of Sind and the Punjab. He acknowledged the fugitive prince AH Gohar as emperor with the title of Shah Alam or " Sovereign of the Known World", appointed Shuja-ud-Daula, who had gone back to Oudh, vazir of the empire, and entrusted Delhi and the royal family to the care of Najib-ud-Daulat. On the 22nd March 1761, he struck his camp and returned to Afghanistan.
But, if there was no fear from the conquerors of Panipat, the gravest danger threatened from the east. Nizam Ali, who had usurped from his brother Salabat Jang the entire admi- nistration of the Moghul Deccan, prepared to take full advan- tage of the situation. In his design he was favoured by Tarabai, who openly rejoiced in the misfortunes of Balaji and the deaths of Sadashivrao and Vishvasrao. The Maratha chiefs were at variance with the Brahmans, and the Brahmans from above the Ghats sided with the Marathas against the Brahmans of the Konkan. Nizam Ali marched with all speed towards Poona, destroying and defiling, as he did so, the Hindu temples in his line of march. This conduct, as well as the judicious offer of the post of Senapati or commander-in- chief in the Maratha service, induced Ramchandra Jadhav to leave Nizam Ali and to join his own countrymen. In spite of this desertion, Nizam Ali pressed on as far as Urali, a few miles from Poona, demanding as the price of peace the can- cellation of the cessions made after the battle of Udgir. After continuous fighting from the 11th November, 1761, to the 8th January 1762, the Nizam was glad to confirm the treaty of Udgir and return to his own dominions.1
1 Grant Duff, vol. 1, p. 5, says that Raghunathrao relinquished 27 lakhs of rupees out of the sixty-two lakhs granted by the treaty of Udgir ; but the Bakhars do not support him. Mr. Sar Desai in his 11
82 A HISTORY OF THE MARATHA PEOPLE
In the course of the year 1762 Madhavrao determined to assert his rights. He was now seventeen and in every way fitted to conduct successfully the administration. Early in the year he had been as far as Sira, in command of a Maratha force, to collect the southern tribute. With him had gone Trimbakrao Vishvanath Pethe, the maternal uncle of Sadashivrao, affectionately known to all as Trimbakrao Mama, Baburao Phadnis and Gopalrao Govind Patwardhan, and they had urged him to beware of his aspiring uncle. Madhavrao now demanded a fuller share in the government. Raghu- nathrao at first scorned, and afterwards resented, the demand. On the advice of Sakharam Bapu he resigned his office as regent, and Sakharam resigned his as diwan, confident that without them Madhavrao would be helpless to govern. But they entirely misjudged the spirit of the young prince. He at once assumed the supreme control of the government in place of his uncle, gave the vacant office of diwan to Trimbakrao Pethe, and appointed Hari Ballal Phadke and Balaji Janardhan Bhanu as his private secretaries. Balaji Janardhan Bhanu is better known in history as Nana Phadnavis. According to the Peshwa's Bakhar, his grandfather Balaji and his great uncle lived at Velas in the Konkan, and gave shelter to Balaji Vishvanath when he fled from the wrath of the Sidis. After- wards the brothers went with Balaji Vishvanath to Shahu's court. It is, in any case, certain that for three generations his family had held high office ; and he had himself been brought up in the companionship both of Vishvasrao and of Madhavrao. Although only nineteen, he had seen considerable fighting and had been on field service both in the Carnatic and Hindustan. He had taken his mother north, as she wished to make a pilgrimage to Mathura ; and in this way both had been caught up in Sadashivrao's army. Nana Phadnavis escaped from Panipat but lost his mother there. He made every effort to recover her, meaning to take her back if pure, or to drown her, according to the stern Brahman creed, in the Ganges if defiled. At last he learnt from her servant that she had been killed by a fall from her horse, as she strove to escape from the
article on Madhavrao in the July number of the Vividhdnan Vistar says that Raghunathrao granted nothing. This seems the more likely in view of the precarious state to which the Moghuls had been reduced.
THE ACCESSION OF MADHAVRAO BALLAL 83
mad stream of fugitives that raced back to Panipat. Hari Ballal Phadke was about the same age as Nana Phadnavis. He was the son of a poor Brahman called Balambhat Phadke, a priest in the household of Baburao Bhanu, Nana's uncle. Nana and Hari had been close friends from childhood and this friendship lasted all their lives. Besides Nana Phadnavis and Hari Phadke, Madhavrao appointed Ramshastri Prabhune, of Mahuli near Satara, head of his judicial department. Ramshastri's1 name is still remembered as a model of learning, uprightness and equity. Lastly, Gopalrao Govind Patwardhan promised his full support to the new administration. Raghu- nathrao had retired to Nasik on the Godavari and was hiding his wrath by the devoutness of his worship in the temple of Kapileshwar. That temple is the only known shrine of Shiva where no stone image of the bull Nandikeshwar will be found seated opposite the mystic sign of the godhead. The bull's absence is explained by a whimsical and charming story. On one occasion the goddess Parvati, it is said, put her hands over her husband Shiva's eyes ; but the great god was in no humour for fun. He opened bis third eye and with it burnt up the sun, the earth, and last, but not least, the god Brahmadev's fifth head. When Shiva had recovered his temper, he restored the sun and the earth, but he was not able to restore the fifth head of Brahmadev. As a punishment for burning off another god's head, he was condemned always to see it dancing before his eyes. The punishment was a very severe one, and, to rid himself of the vision, Shiva wandered all over India, visiting in vain shrine after shrine. At last he came to the banks of the Godavari, and sat down to rest under a tree. As he sat, he overheard a conversation between a young bull and a staid old cow, its mother. " To-morrow " said the old cow " our master will put a ring through your nose and, yoking you to a plough, will make you work for the rest of your life ". The young bull answered scornfully that, if its master acted so, it would gore him to death. The mother remonstrated that the master was a Brahman. " Never mind," said the young bull, " I know how to purify myself even from the deadly sin of Brahman-murder ". The god Shiva was
1 For a fuller account of Ramshastri see appendix B to chapter 68,
84 A HISTORY OF THE MARATHA PEOPLE
deeply interested. He thought to himself that, if the bull could purify itself from Brahman murder, he (Shiva) could, by doing what it did, purify himself from the sin of having burnt off one of Brahmadev's five heads. He went away, but next morning returned to the spot where he had heard the conver- sation. In a little time the Brahman came and tried to fasten the ring in the young bull's nose. The graceless beast threw him on his back and gored him to death. From being pure white, it became black with sin. Galloping off with its tail in the air, it plunged into the pool in the Godavari river where the divine hero Ramchandra had performed the obse- quies of his dead father. Such was the holiness of the water that the bull became pure white, save only the tip of its tail. This it had held in the air to shew its defiant spirit. The god Shiva watched the incident closely and immediately afterwards plunged into the same pool. The same moment the vision that had haunted him disappeared. To commemorate the punish- ment and the release of the god Shiva there was built close to the place where these events occurred the temple of Kapileshwar or the god of the head. It is the only temple in India, as I have said, where no bull kneels reverently in front of the god. For, whereas in other spots the bull is regarded as Shiva's servant, there the bull is regarded as the great god's teacher. The charm of this delightful legend was, it is to be feared, lost on the Maratha Achilles, as he sulked on the banks of the Godavari. Less fortunate than his prototype, he found that his absence produced none of the calamities that he had anticipated. Sakharam Bapu was deeply hurt at his super- session by Trimbakrao Pethe. Lastly, the beautiful and ambi- tious Anandibai resented her husband's descent from the regency to private life. Yielding to his anger and the counsels of his friend and his wife, Raghunathrao sought the help of the Nizam against his own nephew. Leaving Nasik. he went to Aurangabad, where the governor, Murad Khan received him in state and gave him a large contingent of Moghul troops. A treaty known as the treaty of Pedgaon was entered into between Raghunathrao, and Nizam Ali, who in 1761 had deposed his brother Salabat Jang1 and was now Nizam of
• Nizam Ali murdered Salabat Jang in 1763.
THE ACCESSION OF MADHAVRAO BALLAL 85
Haidarabad. The price of Moghul help was the reduction by fifty-one lakhs annually of the cessions made by the treaty of Udgir, and the surrender of Daulatabad, Shivner, Ahmadnagar and Asirgad. Many Maratha chiefs, including Janoji Bhosle, despised Madhavrao as a child and supported Raghunathrao. Madhavrao equipped such forces as he could, and the two armies fought on the banks of the Ghodnadi river a series of actions between the 7th and 12th November 1762. At last Madhavrao, despairing of successful resistance, went unattend- ed to his uncle's camp and gave himself into his uncle's power, rather than continue a quarrel profitable to his country's enemies. To do Raghunathrao justice, he took no unfair advantage of his nephew's act. He put him under surveil- lance, but treated him with every courtesy. He made no effort to depose him, but took over the administration in Madhav- rao's name, giving out that his young nephew had been misled by the advice of interested intriguers. He displaced Trimbak- rao Pethe and restored Sakharam Bapu. With him he asso- ciated Balwantrao Mahadev Purandare, to whom he gave back the great fort of Purandar. He degraded Nana Phadnavis' cousin Moroba from the family office of the Peshwa's phadnavis or chief secretary, and gave it to Chinto Vithal Rairikar. He attached the estate of Bhavanrao (also known as Shrinivas) Pratinidhi, who had succeeded his uncle Jagjivan, and gave it to Naro Shankar Dani, who had disgraced himself at Delhi, to manage for his own infant son Bhaskarrao, born to him and Anandibai on the 26th February 1762. Lastly, he took Miraj by storm from Gopalrao Govind Patwardhan and confiscated his entire estate.
The evil example set by Raghunathrao was now followed by his opponents. The Nizam's diwan was at this time a singularly astute individual named Vithal Sundar Raje Pratapwant, a Yajurvedi Deshasth Brahman.1 He invited all the discontented Maratha leaders to join Nizam Ali, and Gopalrao Patwardhan, Bhavanrao Pratinidhi, the Nimbalkars, Moroba Phadnavis and his father Baburao, Janoji Bhosle and
1 He was one of the 3| wise men of the Deccan. Sakharam Bapu was another and Divaji Pant was the third. Nana Phadnavis was the half. It was a case where the half proved greater than the whole.
86 A HISTORY OF THE MARATHA PEOPLE
a host of others accepted the invitation. Indeed, of all the recent adherents of Madhavrao, only Nana Phadnavis and Hari Phadke remained loyal to their country. With this formidable accession of strength, the Nizam believed himself capable of overthrowing the Maratha state. He denounced the treaties of Udgir and Pedgaon, and proclaimed his intention of removing from the regency the Chitpavan Bhats and sub- stituting for them Janoji Bhosle of Nagpur. The kingdom of Shivaji would then once more be in the hands of a Bhosle. The Nizam would have been better advised had he declared himself the champion of Madhavrao ; for, by threatening the removal of the Chitpavan Bhats, he drove Madhavrao into his uncle's arms, who then had the help of his nephew's clear and resolute mind. Raghunathrao had also the experienced aid of Damaji Gaikvad and Malharrao Holkar, and at their advice he opposed to the invasion the old Maratha tactics. Evading a general action, he slipped past Nizam Ali and besieged Aurangabad. Failing to take it, he led his army into Berar, where they plundered the estates of Janoji Bhosle. From Berar they roamed up and down, laying waste the Moghul territories and extorting contributions of grain and money. Nizam Ali at first pursued them in vain. He then changed his tactics and marched straight for Poona, while Raghunath- rao, in turn, marched against Haidarabad. The threat did not divert the Nizam from his goal. He marched unopposed to the Maratha capital, whose inhabitants fled panic-stricken to Sinhgad. Camping outside Poona, he allowed his army to plunder it, and pulled down or burnt every house not ransomed by its owner. He then marched eastward, devastating the country between Purandar fort and the Bhima river. In the meantime Raghunathrao had reached Haidarabad, but had made no impression on its fortifications. After levying two lakhs from its suburbs, he followed Sakharam Bapu's advice and entrusted to that statesman the task of winning back to their duty the Maratha officers in the Nizam's army. Sakharam Bapu was first successful with Janoji Bhosle, to whom he disclosed the treachery of Nizam Ali. The latter, while Vithal Sundar had promised the regency to Janoji Bhosle, had himself offered it secretly to the Raja of Kolhapur.
THE ACCESSION OF MADHAVRAO BALLAL 87
Instead of a doubtful chance of the regency, Sakharam Bapu offered Janoji Bhosle an estate worth thirty-two lakhs a year out of the territory ceded after Udgir. Janoji, in turn, corrupted the other Maratha leaders with the Nizam and they agreed to desert on the first favourable opportunity. Elated by the success of Sakharam Bapu's negotiations, Raghu- nathrao hung on the flank of the Nizam's army, as he retired to Aurangabad, where he proposed to pass the monsoon. On reaching a spot calied Rakshasabhavan, or demon land, on the banks of the Godavari then in flood, Nizam Ali crossed with half his army, leaving his diwan on the other bank with a considerable force, including a chosen body of seven thousand Afghans and all the Maratha contingents. At this point Janoji Bhosle, whose troops were in arrears, picked a quarrel with Vithal Sundar and withdrew. The other Maratha leaders pleaded the monsoon as a ground for returning to their fiefs. These desertions were the signal awaited by Raghunathrao. On the 10th August 1763, he attacked Vithal Sundar's isolated force with the utmost fury. The Afghan troops defended them- selves bravely, and Vithal Sundar's leadership so inspired his men that they repulsed the attack and surrounded Raghu- nathrao and his favourite officer, a Prabhu called Sakharam Hari Gupte, who were seated on the same elephant. In the rear of the Maratha army was Madhavrao in nominal command, but really the prisoner, of fifteen hundred household troops. At this point the day seemed lost and the battle of Rakshasabhavan a mere repetition of Panipat. Malharrao Holkar, whose corps was in flight, came up to Madhavrao, who asked his advice. "Come with me to Poona " was the reply, "there a throne awaits you." The old soldier little guessed the heroic spirit that flamed within the breast of the young Peshwa. Turning furi- ously on Holkar, he said in a white heat of passion, " They spoke the truth then, who said that you were the cause of Sadashivrao's defeat and death at Panipat." Calling on his fifteen hundred men to follow him, and rallying every fugitive he met, the boy-prince charged Vithal Sundar's Afghans ad- vancing in the disorder of victory. Fortune instantly changed sides. The household troops cut their way to Raghunathrao's elephant and he once more took command of the army. Vithal Sundar, trying to re-form his men, fell shot through the chest.
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Nizam AH tried to re-cross the Godavari, but in vain ; and half his army, a moment before victorious, was slain, driven in headlong flight, or drowned in the flood of the swollen river. Nizam Ali withdrew to Aurangabad, which Raghunathrao tried unsuccessfully to storm, and then besieged. Nizam Ali was in grave peril. At any moment a conspiracy might free his elder brother Salabat Jang and restore him to the throne. He therefore took the step of visiting Raghunathrao in person, imploring his pardon and throwing the blame of his late errors on the unfortunate Vithal Sundar. Rughunathrao, save when under his wife's influence, was the simplest and best natured of men. He was completely deceived by the feigned penitence of Nizam Ali, forgave him everything and was still willing to give him the lands ceded by the treaty of Pedgaon. Of these, however, lands yielding thirty-two lakhs had been assigned to Janoji Bhosle, so that only land yielding nineteen lakhs remained in Raghunathrao's gift. These he gave ; but afterwards he was induced by his own advisers to limit the grant to one of only ten lakhs.1
The claims of Madhavrao, whose gallantry had changed the battle of Rakshasabhavan from a defeat into a victory, could no longer be ignored. Raghunathrao, genuinely grateful, freed his nephew from surveillance and accorded him a large share of power. Madhavrao's first step was to correct the errors that had estranged so many Marathas from the Peshwa's cause. He restored Miraj to Gopalrao Patwardhan and, on Bhaskarrao's death later in the year, the office of prathinidhi to Bhavanrao. The post of phadnavis was not given back to Moroba, but it was bestowed on Nana Phad- navis, his undivided cousin. As head of the state, it fell to Madhavrao to bestow on Janoji Bhosle the title-deeds for thirty-five lakhs' worth of territory. As he did so, he openly and vehemently upbraided the recreant Maratha, and con- demned in the harshest terms the recent treacheries of Bhosle and his accomplices. Having thus in no uncertain way in- augurated his accession to power, he proceeded to exercise it with a genius and vigour that placed him in the affections of his countrymen only second to the great king himself.
1 This is known as the treaty of Aurangabad.
CHAPTER LV
MADHAVRAO'S FIRST AND SECOND MYSORE WARS, AND SECOND CIVIL WAR
While the Maratha power had been reduced by the defeat of Panipat, the war with Nizam Ali and internal dissensions, Haidar Ali's power had grown in the most extraordinary manner. We have seen how in 1760 he returned to Seringa- patam after the not unsuccessful contest withGopalrao Govind Patwardhan. After his return the young raja, Chikka Krishna- raj of Mysore and his mother sought to use Haidar Ali to displace Nandraj, the all-powerful Dalwai. This difficult task, Haidar Ali, aided by an able Deccan Brahman called Khande- rao, successfully accomplished. But, having seized the power, he declined to relinquish it and kept the raja as dependent as before. The king and his mother then won over Khanderao, who allied himself with Visaji Krishna Biniwala (commonly known as Visaji Pandit), the commander of the Maratha troops in the fourteen districts. But in 1761, the disaster of Panipat led to Visaji Pandit's recall, and thereafter Haidar Ali, by a combination of trickery and military skill probably never equalled, overcame Khanderao1 and, confining him in a cage, became sole master of the Mysore kingdom. Subsequently he seized Bednur and, in consideration of a payment of three lakhs, induced Basalat Jang, the brother of Salabat Jang, to
1 Khanderao proved Haidar Ali's equal in the field, but he was overcome by a strategy worthy of Aurangzib. Haidar Ali first won over to his cause Nandraj, the displaced minister, and then fabricated letters in Nandraj's name to Khanderao's officers, desiring them to surrender Khanderao in accordance with the pre-arranged agreement. The bearer of these letters let himself be caught. When Khanderao read the letters he fled in terror to the raja, leaving the army to shift for itself. Haidar Ali then attacked it and won an easy victory. The raja surrendered Khanderao on Haidar Ali's promise to care for him as he would a pet parrot. This promise Haidar Ali kept. On his surrender Khanderao was confined in a cage and fed on rice and water until his death. Bowring's Haidar Ali, p. 33, 12
90 A HISTORY OF THE MARATHA PEOPLE
confer on him the Nawabship of Sira, which had become a Maratha dependency. In 1762, Haidar Ali on the strength of this grant drove the Maratha garrison out and installed himself as Nawab of Sira with the title of Haidar Ali Khan Bahadur. He had also tried to win to his alliance the Nawab of Savanur. On the latter' s refusal to break his treaty with the Marathas, Haidar Ali laid waste his lands and drove the Maratha garrison from Dharwar. In the end Haidar Ali's lieutenant, Fazl Ali Khan extended his frontier as far as the Krishna river. These continual insults to the Maratha flag forced Madhavrao to make his first campaign in the Carnatic.
Madhavrao ordered Gopalrao Patwardhan, whose frontier as chief of Miraj extended to the northern bank of the Krishna river, to check Fazl Ali Khan's advance ; and for this purpose sent him a strong reinforcement from Poona. Patwardhan' s army was superior to Fazl Ali Khan's in numbers, although not in quality ; and in April 1764 he was tempted to engage Fazl Ali Khan in a general action before the arrival of the Peshwa, and was severely defeated. Madhavrao had been delayed by Raghunathrao's insistent claim to command the army. This claim Madhavrao with the utmost courtesy heard and rejected. In this difference Sakharam Bapu supported the nephew against the uncle, and Raghunathrao, overruled, again left Poona in disgust and went back to Nasik. Madhav- rao was now free to lead the army of the Carnatic. Early in May 1764, the gallant young Peshwa with thirty to forty thousand horse, an equal number of infantry and a great train of artillery, crossed the Krishna. Fazl Ali Khan fell back on Haidar Ali's main army, which lay in an entrenched camp between Savanur and Bednur. Haidar Ali's force, which consisted of twenty thousand cavalry, twenty thousand discip- lined infantry and twenty thousand irregulars, was greatly outnumbered. But Haidar Ali hoped that his enemy might be induced to attack his entrenchments, and concentrated his men within his camp. Madhavrao wisely declined to send his men against a fortified position, and, by sending his cavalry in every direction, soon cut Haidar Ali's communications. At the same time he sent detachments which rapidly recovered the Maratha districts seized by Haidar Ali Khan. Haidar Ali then changed his tactics and led out in person twenty thousand
SECOND MYSORE WAR, AND SECOND CIVIL WAR 91
men, intending by a feigned retreat to lead his enemy to attack his camp. Madhavrao used Haidar Ali's own ruse to compass his defeat. Swarms of Maratha cavalry led Haidar Ali several miles from his camp, while the main Maratha army closed in on his flanks and rear. Only with the greatest difficulty and after suffering immense losses did Haidar Ali succeed in extricating himself. He fell back on his camp, which Madhavrao invested. A few days later Haidar Ali, in the hope of cutting off one of Madhavrao's detachments, moved out with a thousand cavalry, two thousand picked infantry and four light guns. He was attacked and so severely defeated that of his force only he and fifty cavalry escaped.
The investment of the camp continued until the middle of June 1764, when the violence of the monsoon forced Madhav- rao to raise the siege and to canton his troops to the east of Savanur. But before the monsoon ended, Madhavrao passed large detachments over the Tungabhadra river and reduced the eastern districts of Bednur and the western districts of Mysore, while the dispirited army of Haidar Ali helplessly watched his operations from their camp. Early in 1765, Madhavrao renewed the investment with such vigour that Haidar Ali abandoned his camp and retreated on Mysore. He experienced the usual fate of those who have retreated before a Maratha army. Three days after the retreat had begun Madhavrao intercepted it and forced Haidar Ali to a general action. The result was a great Maratha victory. In killed alone Haidar Ali lost three thousand cavalry and six thousand infantry, and the shattered remnants of his army fled in the utmost disorder to the woods. The garrisons of the Bednur fortresses, Ikkeri and Anantpur surrendered after a feeble resistance, and Haidar Ali with such troops as he could rally took refuge in Bednur. By this time Raghunathrao had on Madhavrao's invitation taken over the command of the army, and to him the desperate adventurer made overtures of peace. Now, if ever, was the time to have destroyed this formidable foe. But the treacherous Raghunathrao was anxious to secure a retreat for himself, should his ambitious spirit find no scope in his own country. He therefore granted a most favoura- ble peace. All that Haidar Ali was required to do was to restore to Murarirao the fortress of Gooti and the surrounding
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districts, which he had taken from him on Murarirao's recent desertion to the Peshwa ; to give up all claims on Savanur, and to pay thirty-two lakhs of rupees by way of indemnity. On Murarirao the Peshwa was to confer the title of Senapati or commander-in-chief, in honour of his gallant kinsman Santaji Ghorpade. Madhavrao was not consulted as to the terms of peace, which were conveyed by Naro Shankar Dani, who at the same time entered on Raghunathrao's behalf into a secret understanding with Haidar Ali. Nevertheless the honourable boy, although rightly incensed, would not repudiate the treaty ; and in February 1765, upon receipt of the thirty- five lakhs, he began to withdraw his troops from the frontiers of Mysore. By June 1765 he was back in Poona.
Madhavrao had acquiesced in the grant of lands worth thirty-two lakhs a year to Janoji Bhosle ; but he had not forgiven the treachery by which it had been acquired. Nor had Janoji' s subsequent conduct been such as to merit for- giveness. Resenting the public rebuke given him by the young Peshwa, he had been in constant communication with Raghunathrao's wife Anandibai in the hope of instigating her husband to a fresh rebellion. The secret service of Madhav- rao was excellent and he was fully aware of Janoji Bhosle's seditious correspondence. Determined to punish him, he found an ally ready to hand in Nizam Ali, who felt justly indignant at the perfidy that had cost him the defeat of Rakshasabhavan. Nizam Ali, too, was free to act with vigour. He had murdered one brother, Salabat Jang, and had reduced to obedience his other brother, Basalat Jang, who, after his dismissal from the post of diwan, had tried to carve out for himself a kingdom in the Carnatic. He readily listen- ed to Madhavrao's proposals, and in the cold weather of 1765-1766. a combined army of Marathas and Moghuls invaded Berar, and on the 4th January 1766 forced Janoji to surrender three-quarters of the grants of thirty-two lakhs given him for his desertion. Of the twenty-four lakhs thus sur- rendered, Nizam Alisecured fifteen lakhs in return for a secret understanding to help Madhavrao in a campaign against Haidar Ali. Nizam Ali, however, was a broken reed. So far from giving Madhavrao any assistance, he entered into a secret understanding with Lord Clive to compass not only the
SECOND MYSORE WAR, AND SECOND CIVIL WAR 93
downfall of Haidar Ali but the defeat of the Marathas. Nor was this all. Nizam Ali, at the same time, allied himself with Haidar Ali to conquer Arcot from Mahomed Ali. These facts were soon known to Madhavrao, and in the cold weather of 1766 he determined to act without his perfidious con- federate. Haidar Ali feared to meet the Marathas in the field, and tried to stay their advance by destroying the reservoirs, poisoning the wells, and laying waste the country. But his orders were not properly carried out. Madhavrao's force, hardly distressed by Haidar Ali's measures, overran the countryside, and by the end of March took Sira, Ouscotta and Mudgiri. At the same time Nizam Ali and the English threatened to cross Haidar Ali's northern and southern front- iers. Haidar Ali sent a Brahman called Appaji Ram to throw himself on Madhavrao's mercy. The envoy's ready wit and diplomatic skill won the fancy of the young prince and he agreed to evacuate the occupied districts on payment of thirty-five lakhs of rupees. Half was paid in March 1767. For the remaining seventeen and a half lakhs the district of Kolar was pledged. The balance was duly paid in May 1767, and Madhavrao returned in triumph to Poona. The demands of the English and Nizam Ali to share in the spoils were very properly rejected.
While Madhavrao had thus been heightening in the Carnatic his reputation as a skilful commander, Raghunathrao had met with misfortune in the north. It was the young Peshwa's ambition to avenge Panipat and recover Delhi. But he held the wise view that he should finish his work in the Carnatic before attempting another more arduous task in the north. Raghunathrao, however, urged an immediate advance north- ward, and obtained from his nephew the command of a considerable force. In January 1766, he marched for Delhi, accompanied by Malharrao Holkar. Unhappily for the success of the expedition, the latter, wise and experienced in northern warfare, died on the 10th May 1766, at Alampur, leaving behind him the reputation of a dashing, and above all an open- handed, generous, leader.
Deprived of his counsels, Raghunathrao failed to achieve anything. The Jats successfully disputed the crossing of the Chambal river. Raghunathrao, to punish the Jats, turned from
94 A HISTORY OF THE MARATHA PEOPLE
the north and invested Gohad. It was successfully defended by the Rana, who from an obscure landholder had risen after Panipat to considerable power. At last, after a lengthy siege, in the course of which the lives of his men and the contents of his treasure-chest were alike squandered, Raghunathrao was glad to accept three lakhs of rupees as the price of his departure. He reached the Deccan in June 1767, after an improvident and futile campaign of eighteen months, shortly after his victorious nephew. Angry alike at his own failure and at Madhavrao's success, he again turned a willing ear to the poisonous counsels of Anandibai. He talked openly of becoming a religious ascetic and of retiring to Benares or Nasik, that he might pass his remaining years in penances and austerities ; at the same time he entered into correspond- ence with Janoji Bhosle. Madhavrao, aware of his uncle's treasonable activity, offered him a jaghir round Trimbak worth twelve lakhs a year, and the forts of Aundhe and Trimbak ; but nothing would satisfy Raghunathrao short of half the Maratha empire. This ridiculous demand Madhavrao sternly rejected and he watched his uncle's movements closely. Un- aware or disdainful of his nephew's observation, Raghunath- rao raised fifteen thousand men and obtained contingents from Damaji Gaikvad and Holkar's diwan, Gangadhar Yashwant. He also received promises of powerful support from Janoji Bhosle. Long before the latter could give Raghunathrao substantial aid, Madhavrao was on the march northward with a numerous army. On the 10th June 1768, he surprised his uncle's force in an open plain near Dhodap fort close to Nasik. Raghunathrao' s levies, outnumbered and outgeneraled, were driven into the fort and there forced to capitulate. Raghunathrao was taken prisoner and sent to the Shanwar palace at Poona. He was allowed to see his wife, and his recently-adopted son Amritrao ; but he was not permitted to leave the precincts of the palace or without permission to see other visitors. The charge of the state prisoner was entrusted to Nana Phadnavis.
Having crushed Raghunathrao, it remained for the Peshwa to reduce Janoji Bhosle to complete obedience. He first renewed his alliance with Nizam Ali and, skilfully masking his real intention both from Haidar Ali and the English, suddenly
SECOND MYSORE WAR, AND SECOND CIVIL WAR 95
led a combined Maratha and Moghul army into Berar by the road that leads past Basim and Karanja. Janoji Bhosle at first ordered his subhedar to oppose them, but his troops were beaten and their commander killed. Janoji then adopted different tactics. He conducted a guerilla warfare for some time with success, but came to realize that it was impossible for him to fight for ever against the immense resources of his enemies. He sued for, and was granted, peace.
On the 23rd March