CHAPTER 4* EXPANSION of MARATHA POWER (1741—1761) BALAJI BAJI RAV Early Succees in the North
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CHAPTER 4* EXPANSION OF MARATHA POWER (1741—1761) BALAJI BAJI RAV Early succees in the north. BAJI RAV DIED IN APRIL 1740 AND WAS SUCCEEDED in the Pesvaship by his son Balaji then twenty years old, The Chief Minister, by now, ruled in the Raja’s name the central region of Maharastra, north Konkan recently wrested from the Portuguese and levied cauth on Khandes, Malva, Bundelkhand and territories beyond. He commanded the largest army in the Maratha State and his resources were very great. This gave the Pesva family a preponderance in the Raja’s council and therefore the succession of the son to his father’s post was never in doubt. The story of the opposition of Raghuji Bhosle and Babuji Naik to the succession of Balaji Rav first accepted by Grant Duff and implicitly followed by later writers on the authority of Bakhars, appears to be an attempt made by the Pesva’s protagonists to defend his attack on the Nagpur Chief three years later and has little basis in fact. The succession of Balaji Baji Rav marked no ostensible change in-policy. The new Pesva indicated that he would follow his father’s expansionist policies in all respects and expressed his desire to maintain cordial relations with Rajput princes who had facilitated Maratha entry into Malva and their subsequent successes in Hindustan. The Nizam’s humiliating defeat at Bhopal (1738) had brought the whole of Malva under Maratha control, but the imperial grants which would put the seal of authority on the transfer had been delayed. Young Balaji, therefore, within four months of his investiture marched into Hindustan to renew friendly contacts with the Rajput Chiefs and undo the mischief created by the Nizam during his three years’ stay in the imperial capital. The Nizam’s influence at Delhi, however, was on the wane and the old man, powerless for mischief any more, was hard put to hold his own against his son in the Deccan. He was coming south to meet the threat of Nasir Jang’s revolt and his position looked almost hopeless. The Pesva was anxious to obtain the wizard’s good-will for his northern projects and instead of exploiting the situation of a civil strife in * This Chapter is contributed by Dr. V. G. Dighe. 1 Grant Duff, Vol. II, pp. 3-4 (1912 Ed.); 2 Hingne Daftar, Vol. I, pp. 15-19. 68 MAHARASHTRA STATE GAZETTEER the family of his neighbour, he went out of his way to call on the Navdb at Edalabad (on the Purna) on 17th January 1741 and assure him of his support to quell the revolt. The friendly assurances caused dismay in the ranks of the rebels and helped the Nizam to overcome his son without difficulty. The Pesva marched northward levying Couth on his new conquests and arrived at Dholpur on 12th May. Here he met Savai Jai Singh and concluded with him a pact for mutual aid. Both parties swore loyalty to the imperial throne; Jai Singh presented the Pesva a sum of fifteen lakhs of rupees to meet his expenses and promised to obtain for him imperial sanads for the subhedari of Malva. The Pesva on his side agreed to present himself before the Emperor, prevent other Maratha chieftains from crossing the Narmada and raiding imperial territory and send four thousand troops for the imperial service 1. Jai Singh’s negotiations were approved and the grants for Malva were issued in September. The whole of the province now passed into Maratha possession. The Pesva’s chiefs put their seals to the treaty later in 1743. The Pesva however was not satisfied with the Subhedari of merely one province. As expressed in one of his famous declarations he desired the golden river from the north flow southward to enrich the regions of Maharastra, to utilise the resources of the empire to make his country strong and rich. Next year he again appeared in Bundel-khand and sent envoys to claim cauth for Agra, Allahabad, Patna and Bengal. The imperial court afraid to refuse the Pesva, called on him to fulfil the promise of protecting imperial domains from the disturbances caused by Raghuji Bhosle’s invasion of Bengal and involved him in a dispute with that chief. The Bengal episode is narrated in greater detail later and need not detain us here. In 1744 there was again trouble in Bundelkhand. The Bundela chiefs were not very happy about the growing demands of the Pesva and rose all over. Two years back they had with great audacity attacked a Maratha revenue collector and put him to death. The terrible retribution this called on them did not prevent these chiefs from revolting once more. Military posts at Jhansi and Sagar were permanently established in this rugged region and put under able Commanders. Bhilsa was recovered from the Navab of Bhopal in March 1745 and Jaipur, the storm-centre of Bundela disaffection, was stormed in 1746 May. In 1748 the Pesva visited Hindustan for the last time. Abdali had invaded Punjab and there was rift among Pesvas chiefs about the policy to be followed in respect of Jaipur succession. The Pesva visited Delhi and then entered Jaipur territory to bring about a settle ment in the dispute of Jai Sing’s sons. The expedition was barren of results. 1 S.P.D., Vol. XV, p. 97; 2 Rajwade Vol. VI, p. 267. HISTORY – MARATHA PERIOD 69 The province of Bengal requires our attention now. This rich province in Moghal times comprised Bengal proper, Bihar and Orissa and had so far fortunately escaped the welter of anarchy and misrule that had engulfed the rest of the empire. Mursid Quli Khan had ruled the province wisely till his death in 1727 and after him his son Suja Khan till 1739. With Suja Khan’s death in 1739 the peace of Bengal was disturbed and the revolt and usurpation of Alivardi Khan, the deputy governor of Bihar brought the Marathas on the scene. Alivardi led an army from Patana into Bengal, defeated the successor of Suja Khan and by heavy bribes to the imperial court obtained its consent to his own appointment as Governor of the province. The followers of the family of the old Navab however refused to acknowledge the title of the usurper. They challenged his authority and invited the neighbouring Maratha chief, Raghuji Bhosle, to their aid. Thus started the Bengal incursions of the Marathas which dried up the resources of the province and brought Moghal authority in the eastern region to the lowest level and made Bengal a fruitful field of conquest. Bengal lay contiguous to the territory of Raghuji Bhosle who had established himself in Berar and Gondvan (modern Madhya Prades) and in the general scheme of Maratha expansion, was marked as the Bhosle’s field of conquest. Raghuji could with little difficulty send his horse into Orissa or pour them into the plains of Bihar through the jungle-paths of Chattisgad. The local populace was altogether docile and the army which sustained the usurper’s power was composed of mercenary Afghan soldiery which was disloyal and ready enough to sell itself to the highest bidder. The family of Mursid Quli Khan was bitterly opposing the new Navab’s rule and the Bhosle’s advent into Bengal promised early results. But Raghuji had counted without the opposition of the Pesva. He was a typical Maratha, a dashing soldier and a skilful leader of cavalry. His resources compared to that of the Navab of Bengal were meagre, but the general situation favoured the Bhosle. The Maratha also had an overweening pride in his own prowess ; he failed to recognise the political change that had come over the Maratha State and affected to ignore the Pesva’s supreme authority. He claimed equal rank with the Pesva and only succeeded in inviting the latter’s hostility. The differences of the two Maratha chieftains were cleverly played upon by the Moghal Court and the Subhedar, and the province of Bengal which looked like a ripe fruit ready for the plucking, slipped out of Maratha hands to be swallowed by the East India Company. The first revolt against Alivardi Khan occurred in Orissa. Rustum Jang, the deputy Governor of the Province and son-in-law of deceased Suja Khan refused to acknowledge the authority of the regicide and declared his own independence (1741). He was however routed by the Navab’s troops and fled southward. Here he obtained the 70 MAHARASHTRA STATE GAZETTEER aid of Raghuji Bhosle,and marching back with a small Maratha detachment, reoccupied Cuttack, but was again defeated and fell back on Nagpur with his Maratha allies (December 1741). Raghuji Bhosle by this time had returned from Karnatak. His resounding successes in that region had greatly added to his strength and raised his prestige at the Maratha Court. He immediately plunged into the Bengal adventure. In April 1742 a strong force under Bhosle’s Divan, Bhaskar Ram, advanced swiftly into Bengal through Pacet and entered the Bardvan district. Alivardi Khan in an effort to save his capital threw himself across the invader’s path, was promptly surrounded and barely escaped with his life. The whole of Bengal West of the Ganga passed into Maratha hands; Mursidabad, the Navab’s capital, was raided on 6th May and Hughli, Bengal’s chief port, was seized in July. The Marathas spread over the country demanding tribute wherever they went. A lurid picture of Maratha atrocities during the period of occupation is drawn by the Bengali poet Gangaram in Maharastra Puran. The picture is obviously painted in deep shades and has done grave injustice to Maratha character.