A History O Maratha People
October 30, 2017 | Author: Anonymous | Category: N/A
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Maratha People The Life of Shivaji Maharaj, Founder of the Forgotten Books Mediation ......
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A H I S T O RY O
M A RAT H A P E O P L E
C A K l N C Al D .
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Auth or of “ Th e I n d ia n He roes De ccan Nu rs e ry Ta l es Th e Ou t l a ws of Ka th i awa r Ta l e s fro m th e I n d i a n Ep i c s Ta l e s o f Pa n d h a rp u r S h ri Kris h n a of Dwa r k a e tc Ta l es of Ki n g V i k ra m a e tc ”
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RAo BAH AD U R D B PARAS N IS .
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Au th or of
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i of j h a n si “ Ma h a b l e s h w ar itor l ti h as Sa n gra b a ”
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VOL ll .
AT H O F S H I V AJI D EAT H O F S H A H U
F RO M T H E D E TO T H E
? 4 E a I
H U MP H R E Y M I LF O R D OXF OR D U
NIV E R S ITY PR E S S
L O N D O N B O M B AY
C AL C U TT A M AD R A S
1 922
P R I N TE
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AT T H E
KAN AR E S E M I S S I ON PR E S S AND M AN GAL O R E PNNTED ININDIA
B OO K D E P O T,
T O TH E
M A R A T H A P E OPL E T H I S W ORK IS
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R E S P E C T U LLY
D E DI C AT E D
OL U M E A E W words only are needed by way o f introduction to the S econd volume The main authorities for the lives of S m b h j and Rajaram are the Chitnis Ba k har the S h d g k Bakhar Khafi Khan the Musulman works translated by S cott and k nown as S cott s Decca O rme s F ragments and the Papers I must also express my grateful i P k History of Aurangzeb k t to Professor S w l d gm Vol IV and to Mr Irvine s translation of the S toria do Mogor F or my account o f the Maratha wars against the Portuguese my warmest than k s are due to the Goa Govern ment who with admirable generosity and k indness sent me a quantity of specially chosen boo k s and papers on the subject The authorities for the reign o f S hahu are the Chitnis Ba k har the Peshwa and S h d g k B k h the S iyar l M t kh i the P i Papers M l l History of the F rench in India Orme and above all Mr S d i s Riyasat Vol III The mer its of this latter book are so great its learning so profound its style so clear that I can only compare it with Voltaire s S i ecle de Louis XI V Mr S d e i k indness moreover was equal to his erudition Hearing that I was engaged in writing the present work he placed at my disposal the proof sheets of his unpublished third volume I can only say that words fail me when I try to express my appreciation of his noble disinter P R E F A CE TO S E CO N D V F
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I am also greatly obliged to the Chief of Ichal k aranji Mr D y g d Chief k a b h i of Bhor and Mr Mah b l h w .
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P R E F AC E
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kar o f the Bombay E ducational Departme n t f or t h e a s s istance which they have freely given me Lastly I have to than k Mr C N S eddon I C S f or h i s translations of Persian letters a task which his pro f ound knowledge of the Persian language rendered him eminently co mpetent to perform C A K .
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CO N TE N T S CH AP TE R .
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seems to have returned to Panhala at once afte the burn ng of S h i ji body O his departure fro m Raygad S y b i a daughter of the great house of S h i k d the mot h er of Rajaram then a youth in his nineteenth ear began to plot to secure for her son the vacant t rone h y During her husband s l ifetime she and her kinsmen had used their influence to remove from t h succession S m b h ji one unfitted by his evil habits and proved treachery to ule over the Marathas A f ter the king s deat h she took more igorous action S h worked on the minds of her late husband s advisers and nobles by stating that S h i ji h d before his death made oral wil l w herein h had b equeat h ed to Rajara m the kingdom and had ordered imprisonment During the early years of Raj a S m b h ji ram s reign she would help him to govern t h kingdom d would be added by the advice of the Asht Pradhan or eight ministers Having thus tempted the ministers with ncrease of power that such a plan would give them th she next roused their fears by painting in vivid colours the gre at da gers that hung over t h kingdom A g ib had heard with infinite satisfaction the news of the great king s death and was about to lead into t h Deccan the whole power of Hindustan and subdue at once Ma h arashtra Golconda and Bijapur In such troubled times was not S A M B H AJ I
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Th e C h it is B ak h a r re l ates th a t S h i vaj i s de at h w as h idde n fro m S am b h aJ T h e l oc al tr adition at R yg a d w h ic h I h a ve foll owed i n V ol I of th is H istory is th at S am b h aji h ea rd th e ews an d rode with al l speed to R ayg ad a rrivi n g th ere t oo l a te to see hi s f a th er al ive ’
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H I S T OR Y OF T H E
M A R AT H A P E OPL E
the first matter for consideration the welfare of the S tate rath er th an t h claims of a prince whose past conduct sh ewed his unfitness to cope with t h coming danger ? S o deep however was the attachment felt by the Mara tha nobles and t h ministers to t h house of Bh l th at it was on ly with g reat reluctance and grave misgivings that they joined in the plot Had it been executed with speed and secrecy it migh t have succeeded ; but the lac k of goodwill in most of t h conspirators foredoomed it to failure I stead f at once seizing S m b h ji person they wrote a number of letters to various commanders to inform them of the queen s decision and to direct them to move their troops to favourable situations The late king s secretary Balaji A ji was ordered to write the letters He refused ; and h was with difficulty induced to consent to his son i writing them A j d t Among the letters sent was one to J p Raghunath H m t brother who had dis m t H t i g i h d himself in the Carnatic to move his troops from Kol h apur and to attack Panhala K h ji Bh d w l k the commandant of Raygad closed the fort gates and a force of ten thousand men was collected at P h d t h e illage below Raygad wherein Ji j b i had passed several years Lastly letters were sent to B h i ji Ingle S m ji Banki and H i ji F arzand the principal officers at Panhala calling upon t h em to seize the prince s person But by t h is time t h news of t h plot had reached S m b h ji ears Th common soldiers at Panhala were devoted to the great king s son At his orders they arrested first the messenger Kh d ji Naik who had carried t h letters and then Ingle Banki and H i ji F arzand Th prisoners were confronted and questioned T h ey confessed and were at once put in ch ains H i ji F arzand was so fortunate as to break from h i cell and escape to Chiplun with a bag of jewelry He was h owever taken la t er and again imprisoned The oth ers were tried and convicted Ban k i was afterwards t h rown from the top of Raygad S y ji Kank a kinsman ,
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S A M R H A JI S
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of Y ji Kan k the friend of S h i aji childhood was beh eaded on the spot S m b h ji was w in undisputed possession of the fortress and rapidly put it in a state of defenc e This done he awaited with confidence the arrival h of J d H m In t civil war that general t t p shewed none of the talents that had earned for him in t h Carnatic the great k ing s commendation He mov d so slowly that S m b h ji preparations had been completed several days before his arrival Than k ful perhaps for an excuse to take no active steps against the son of his late sovereign he arranged his troops so as to invest Panhala and returned to Kolhapur To adopt such a course was to court disaster In the general s absence the prince won o er his subordinates The bulk of the army declared for him He crowned his success by marching at nigh t with the Panhala garrison and seizing J d t p H m t in h i headquarters at Kolhapur O hearing the news the Raygad conspirators lost their heads and vied with eac h other in their haste to betray t h plot S m b h ji marched straight on Raygad There S b t and Y s ji Kank declared for him and pened the postern gate for S m b h ji to enter He arrested the commandant K h ji Bh d w l k who at once changed sides Moro Pingle the Peshwa and A ji Dattu the Pant S h i were arrested and t h eir h ouses sacked At the sa m e time the force at P h d declared for S m b h ji and confined Mal S avant the g eneral in command He was beheaded with ten to fifteen of his staff under S m b h ji orders Th garrison of Raygad was changed and Rajaram taken into custody S far S m b h ji had done no more t h an the heinousness of the crime dema ded His further conduct was prompted by cruelty and spite In a storm of passion he entered S y b i private room and in t h presence of his soldiers and her maid servants charged her with having poisoned S h i ji to secure t h throne for her son He then h d some bricks removed from the wall of h house and had her built in in the same way that the K ing esa
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of Bijapur had walled in his own grandfather S h h j The aperture left by a single unplaced brick gave her air to breath e Milk was the only food allowed her After th ree days she died and h body was burnt close to where h had been Two undred other Maratha nobles i Sh i j suspected of participation in the plot were either beheaded or t h rown from the edge of Raygad into the Konkan Th prince busy in establishing his authority over the whole kingdom did not celebrate his accession until the l ot h of t h bri g h t half of Magh S hake 1 6 0 2 ( F ebruary After t h date had been pronounced auspicious by the royal astrologers S m b h ji went in person to Parali fort to invite to the ceremony his father s friend Ramdas But old saint had heard of the cruelties that had marked th h i seizure of po w er and to mar k his displeasure at such conduct in a son of the great king pleaded ill healt h and refused to see the prince His disciples however begged h i m to send S m b h ji a letter of advice such as he had in the early days of their friendship sent once or twice to Sh i ji Ramdas consented and sent S m b h ji the follow ing finely worded letter Be always on your guard and never off your guard Control your temper and be tender and kind towards others F orgive your subjects th eir faults and bind t h em to your person by making them happy The h appier they are t h easier will be your task If they are against you your task will be hard I f y o and your nobles fall out your enemies will profit Let all of you live in unity S eek out your Musulman enemies and remove them from your path C r eate fear in others not by y our cruelty but by your valour O t h erwise your kingdom will be in danger Deal with each difficulty as it arises Keep your anger under control or at least do not betray it in the presence of ot h ers Make your subjects your friends Let them love rath er than fear you Make the people one ; fill their minds with the single thought of resisting the a
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S A M B H A JI S
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Guard what you already h ave ; add to it by your own exertions and so extend on all sides the K ingdom of Maharashtra Respect yourself and wear the sword of ambition That way lies t h path to success Bear King S h i ji in mind Deem your life a worthless trifle and try to live by y ur fame both in t h is world and the next for ever Keep before your eyes the image of S h i ji Think always of his valour and his deeds Remember always what he did in battle and h w he acted towards his friends Give up sloth and love of ease Keep before your eyes a certain goal and strive to win it Never forget how S h i ji won the kingdom If you call yourself a m try and do better even than he did S m b h ji took in excellent part the advice contained in Ramdas letter He gave the messenger a gift of clothes and a verbal message for the saint that he would t as he directed Later he sent Ra m das a written invitation to the coronation and the old man flattered at the prince s reply accepted it He d i d not however go in person to Raygad but sent a disciple Di k b h t j to represent him The ceremonial adopted for S m b h ji corona t ion resembled that of S h i ji The k ing weighed himself against gold silver brass iron cotton salt nuts cocoanuts molasses and sugar and distributed th em as gifts Royal salutes were fired from every fort in the k ingdom Moro Pingle Y ji F arz and S m ji F arz and and other conspirators who had not been executed were released F orty thousand Bra h mans were given food and money ; and so great was the crush of spectators that many were trampled under foot and k illed But in pite of the see m ing splendour of the festival there were not wan t ing so the Mar tha chroniclers relate clear signs of divine displeasure Th sun hid its face behind a bank of clouds and never once Ml e n c c h a
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M A R AT H A P E O PL E
H I S T O R Y OF TH E
lent its rays to brighten the spectacle O leaving his throne h or god of death ; K in g drove out to k ill t h K l p th as h did so t h pole of his carriage broke S m b h ji undismayed h d the pole mended and ended the coronation to t h satisfaction of the nobles by increasing the t i t m j md or official retinues of b h d and imilar officers of h i government T h first campaign of the new k ing was in his father s best manner In May 1 6 8 0 the emperor had sent for the seco nd time K han Jehan formerly known as Bahadur K h an Kok as iceroy to the Deccan S incompetent h d been his first tenure of office that he had in 1 6 7 2 allowed S h i ji to extor t a ransom from Golcond a ? Anxious to justify the emperor s indulgence Khan Jehan attacked Ah i t a fort in the Chandod range ta k en by some ont s before He failed in the attempt m h i Shi j lateness f the season prevented further hostilities Th but S m b h ji sent the Moghul general a challenge to meet him in the open field after the rains had abated At the Dasara festival early in O ctober 1 6 8 0 the Maratha horse in t h ree divisions moved out to make good the Maratha soverei g n s t h t i O division moved towards S urat one into Kh andesh a third skirmished with the imperial troops near K h an Jehan s camp at Aurangabad These perations however were subordinate to S m b h ji design of celebrating h i accession by the sack of a great Moghul city Immediately after his coronation the King collected th t h ree divisions and set out as if to plunder the Berar province S uddenly turning bac k h led his t roops by forced marches to Burhanpur t h capital of K h andesh and the wealthiest town in t h Deccan iceroyalty In the middle of F ebruary the Maratha horse were V sible n
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AC CE S SI ON
S A M B H A JI S
on the k y line to the sentries on the walls The com m andant whose garrison numbered only 2 5 0 dared not face the Maratha army and withdrew into the citadel There he gallantly resisted all attempts to scale it But the town and its ample suburbs of Bahadurpur and Hasanpur lay at the king s mercy S unexpected was the attack th at the merchants had no time to flee with their jewels and money A vast booty fell into the hands of the Marath as who destroyed all that they could not conveniently carry off Picked runners had carried the news of this disaster to Khan Jehan who hastened to the relief of the plundered town In twenty four hours he covered three days marches and so exhausted his f rces that h was co m pelled to rest it at F d p sixty four m iles from Burhanpur Profiting by his inactivity the Maratha divisions retreated through Chopra to S l h The Maratha raid and the inefficiency of Khan Jehan s pursuit so enraged the citiz ens of Burhanpur that they wrote to the emperor an account of th eir misfortunes and to emp h asise it they discontinued the mention of his name in their F riday prayers ; thus threatening to renounce their allegiance to a sovereign who did so little to protect them A i deeply affected by the letter recalled b g K h an Jehan and resolved to go in person to the Deccan The real cause however of this strange resolve must be sought i n Northern India Raj a Jaswant S ing the ruler of Jodhpur had during h i s life been one of the chief pillars of the Moghul throne In 1 6 7 9 D the emperor had sent him with reinforcements to Kabul S hortly after reaching it the Raj a died The Rajput nobles in his train sent to the emperor word of the prince s death and as k ed leave to take his sons back to Marwar In reply A g i b ordered that they should be sent to his court where they would be suitably cared for The Rajput nobles rightly guessed this order to mean that the boys would be b g t up as Musulmans E xasperated at the emperor s bi g otry and ingratitude t hey resolved to disobey S
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M AR AT H A P E O PL E
H I S T OR Y O F T H E
Moghul command They substituted for the youn g princes t w boys of the same age and lef t them at Delhi The real princes with their moth ers disguised in men s clothes they took to Rajputana and appealed for protection to the honour of Me w ar Th Rana of U daipur had give a reluctant submission to the emperor Jahangir Hi s successor welcomed gladly a pretext to throw f f the yoke of t h ha t ed Mogh ul ; and receiving t h princes w ith l l honour h gave to the eldest Ajit S ing the hand of his dau ghter The emperor sent his son Prince Az am S hah to inva d e Rajputana and followed later with his son Akbar The Rajputs shewed equal kill in battle and intrigue li They destroyed several Moghul battalions in the A d i b passes and seduced prince Akbar A f urth g favourite son by promisin g to place on h i head the crown of Delhi The plot was foiled by the kill and cunning f the emperor who contrived that a letter written by h i m to prince Akbar should fall into the hands of his Rajput w h allies In it A i t anked the prince for havi g b g over the Rajputs and directed h i m to crown his services by bringing th em to a pot where they could b e mown down by the cannon of both m i l The Rajput chief believed the lying letter and deserte d prince Akbar fleeing to the south with four hundre d th followers made h i way to P l i g d twenty five miles from Raygad ( May 2 8 t h There he appealed for help and friendship to the Maratha k i g j S m b h ji welcomed t h e royal exile and announced that he would himself seat him on the imperial t h rone He gave him a residence near Dh d and calle d it P d h p honours that h Th paid him were remarkable He sent his c h ief officers with a thousand gold mohurs by way of homage d publicly declared that he would always stand in the new emperor s presence E ncouraged by their k ing the whole countryside did t h exile reverence and by August 1 6 8 0 Akbar had in th e
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H I S T O R Y OF TH E
M A R AT H A P E OPL E
ave to Abyssinian fleet access to their Bombay harbour h t g alt h ough to S m b h ji t h ey professe d neutrality The S idis i h d U time taken outs de Bombay i h d in S h i i j In May 1 6 8 1 a force of 2 0 0 Marathas had tried to reta k e the island but were driven out with great loss The Abyssinian leaders were so elated at this success that they pl undered with perfect impartiality the lands of the E nglish Marath as and Portuguese alike In December 1 6 8 1 pposite Janjira with twenty S m b h ji came to the h ore t h ousand men and a powerful siege train His guns daily battered down the eastern defences of Janjira wh ile he h imself sought as Alexander had done at Tyre to build a mole from t h mainland to the island At the same time one of his officers K d ji F arz and pretended to desert to Janjira with the intention of blowing up t h S idis maga zine day fixed by S m b h ji for t h assault Th th Abyssinians believed K d ji tale and welcomed the fugi tive E mboldened by his welcome he bough t some women with wh ose aid he hoped to corrupt t h garrison These h distributed among the chief officers of Janjira Um happily for K d ji one of t h women had been at some former time the mistress of the officer who now bought h He extracted from her t h story of K d ji plot It was discovered and stamped out with merciles rigour F arzand was beheaded ; his accomplices were flung into the sea and drowned O the failur e of K d j F plot S m b h ji d renewed his efforts to build the mole and gathered for t h at purpose no less t h an fifty t h ousand workmen But th Abyssinians h eld t h command of the sea and hampered the work just as the Tyrian ships had hampered the wor k of Alexander S m b h ji moreover had to leave the coast to face a Moghul force under Hussein Ali Khan that was He drove the Moghuls g m g the Northern Konkan back to A h madnagar whence they had issued but by t h e time h h d gained this success the monsoon of 1 6 8 2 had e
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AC C E S S I ON
broken ; and the monsoon seas destroyed the unfinis h ed mole In August D d ji Raghunath whom S m b h ji left in command of the besiegers attempted to land on Janjira Those who have seen the Arabian S in the height of the monsoon can estimate justly the boldness f the attempt It was pressed with the utmost daring But the raging sea broke in pieces many of the boats O thers were sunk by the Abyssinian fleet Those that reached the hore were driven bac k by the garrison The Maratha attac k failed with a loss of two hundred men D d ji Raghunath withdrew his army but even so did not shake ff his misfortunes The triumphant Abyssinians raided the whole countryside and one nigh t entering Mahad a village below M h b l h w of which D d ji Raghunath was hereditary deshpande or revenue officer carried of f his wife and family to Janjira After this disaster S m b h ji realised that without the command of the sea he could not take Janjira The rest f August and all S eptember he spent in collecting warships and building others About this time an Abyssinian named S idi Misri a relative of S idi S amba ] who with S idi Ya k ut and S idi K h i i y t had deposed from his command the Afghan F atih K h an deserted to S m b h aj The k ing placed him in command of the Maratha fleet ; but ince h d been reduced for incompetence in Janjira S idi M the choice was not a happy one S idi Misri with thirty warships attacked the Janjira fleet outsi d e Bombay The Janjira vessels only numbered fifteen but they were com m d d by Yakut Khan the most skilful Indian sailor of his time The battle ended in a decisive victory for the Abyssinians F our Maratha warships including S idi Mi i flagsh ip were ta k en S idi Misri himself mortally wounded in the fight was landed in Bombay to die ; and the Maratha k ing once more foiled in his efforts to ta k e Janjira turned his attention to a new danger the recent alliance between the Moghuls and the Portuguese a
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H I S T OR Y O F T H E
M A R AT H A P E O PL E
A P P E ND I X I ( L ette
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sin ce hi s reign began it h as been Au r an gz i b s design to tramp l e on t h e Th is w as t h e c ause Of h i s q u a rrel with th e R ajputs Al l m en ar e God s H i n dus ch il dren an d th e ki n g is th eir protec tor I t is th erefore n ot righ t for t h e emperor to destroy th em Au ran gzi b s wick edn ess h as exceeded a ll boun ds an d I am certai n th a t because of th e sufferi n g h e h as i n fl icted on h i s peopl e th e domin ion w il l p ass from h i s h an ds S eein g th a t your coun try is f a r from t h e emperor s cam p I h ave resol ved to come to you With me is t h e R ath n D ur gad as F ree your mi n d from al l suspicion s about me If by t h e mercy of th e Most H igh I w i n t h e em p i r e I s h al l be i ts m as ter i n n a me on l y Th e empire wil l re all y be yours Togeth er we sh al l overth ro w t h e emperor Wh at n eed to write overmuch to th e ” wise ? “
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1 6 83
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W AR .
friendship had united the viceroys of Goa and the emperors of Delhi Akbar whose active mind sought to gather into one faith the various truths contained in several invited to F atehpur S ikri Portuguese priests and listened with interest to their preaching and to their con tentions with the holy men of Islam He she w ed still f rther his appreciation of the Portuguese by adding to his zanana Maria Mascarenhas and by building for her at F atehpur S ikri the house on which can still be seen painted the head and wings of the angel announcing to the Virgin the birth of the S aviour It occurred to the resourceful brain of A g i b that the Portugu ese migh t be induced to let him use Goa as a n aval base for the conquest of the Deccan The S idis held the command of the sea and with Goa open to the Moghul transports the emperor would have a second line of communication wit h the south In return for the use of their harbours the emperor offered to let the Portuguese hold whatever they could conquer from the Marathas by their naided arms Th Portuguese had long dreaded the rise of the Maratha power ; and not realising that to allow the emperor to m ke Goa a naval base was possibly to lose it for ever the Viceroy F rancesco de Tavora Conde or Count of Alvor foolishly agreed to the emperor s proposal A
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Don a P or ti g u e z a n a corte do grao mogol p 4 1 c i s eq by J A I sm ae l Graci as I k n ow th at t h e l ege n d of Ak b ar s Portuguese wi fe w a s stren uous l y refuted by t h e l ate Mr Vi n cen t S mith B u t with al l deferen ce to th a t emi n en t writer I thi n k th a t Mr Gr aci as st atemen t of t h e c ase is con cl u sive Th e dis c u ss i on h owever of th is q uestion is outside th e scope of th is wor k Um
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H I S T O R Y OF T H E
News of this alliance soon reached S m b h ji The latter had in January 1 6 8 3 bribed si x Arab warsh ips to attack an E ast Indiaman the President commanded by Captain Hyde But t h President admirably sailed by captain san k t h ree Arab ships and beat off the others h Wh en t h E nglish complained S m b h ji stoutly denied all knowledge of the incident and learning the plans of Alvor made peace with the E nglish by granting them trading privileges in Jinji In June 1 6 8 3 S m b h ji descended the Ghats with thirty thousand men and laid iege to the Portug ese fortress at Chaul But both in attac k and defence S m b h ji engineers were far behind the Portu h In the cold weat er the initiative passed to the g King s enemies ; and with twelve hundred E uropeans and twenty five thousand natives Alvor r a vaged the Maratha territories near Goa U nable to cope w ith the Portuguese wh en covered by t h g uns of their fortress S m b h ji planned to lure them into the pen country where his cavalry would be able to act with freedom To attain this end he sent agents into Goa T h ey tal k ed openly o f a vast store of treasure concealed by the Marathas in Phonda fort and expressed wonder at the Portuguese not attempt ing its capture The iceroy fell into t h snare ; and with eigh t h undred E uropeans and eight thousand Canarese sepoys he set out to storm Phonda The garrison defended itse l f vigorously but in ten days the Portuguese iege train h d battered to pieces its stone walls The assault fixed two days later would certainly have carried all before it At this point S m b h ji appeared to raise the siege He h d fourteen thousand foot and eight thousand cavalry He soon cut Al communications with Goa and t h e viceroy s army had either to starve surrender or retreat But to retreat in face of a Maratha army was to court disaster His every step was h arassed by charges of horse wh ile Maratha sharpsh ooters fired continuously from the h ills at t h retiring enemy Alvor left behind him his a
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baggage and his siege train ; and before h reached C mb i m island he had lost two hundred E uropeans and a thousand Indian sepoys At C m b i m the Goa garrison came out to cover his retreat and a number of boats con infantry likewise S m b h ji y d his soldiers to safety got boats and followed ; but the Por tuguese k nowing bette the reaches of the Goa river rowed round the island and cut f f and destroyed three thousand Marat h as who had established themselves on it In this way t h hattered army of Alvor reached in safety the walls of Goa ( S eptember S m b h ji however was not disposed to leave Goa to be the emperor s naval base without a serious attempt t ta k e it O the advice of prince Akbar he first tried fraud The young Moghul had by this time grasped that it w beyond the power of the Maratha king to place him on the throne of Delhi He w therefore anxious to go by sea to Persia and take refuge at the S hah s court F th is purpose he wished to build a hip in the Goa dockyards and asked for and obtained leave to send workmen to help in the building His plan was to send daily large bodie of soldiers disguised as labourers and in this way to collect a strong force inside the city The plot was discovered i a Venetian adventurer who happened to be at by M Goa ; and the iceroy frustrated it by insisting that every n i ght all t h prince s workmen hould leave the town and that next morning the same number only hould return Akbar t h en made a further attempt on S m b h ji behalf He was a friend so he wrote to Alvor both of the Portu and the Marathas and before he left India he wished g to mediate between t h em Let him but enter G as arbi trator and he could soon smoot h away every difficulty to the satisfaction both of the iceroy and t h king Alvor was at first duped but he afterwards perceived the Mogh ul s desi g n It was to enter Goa with a large escort attack t h garrison and open the gates while the Marat h as assaulted e
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H I S T OR Y O F T H E
M A R AT H A P E O PL E
walls from with out The iceroy foiled this second plot by insisting th at the prince s escort s h ould not exceed seven men U nable to succeed by fraud S m b h ji made vigorous effort to succeed by fo r ce He overran t h pro vinces of Bardes and S alsette and on the 2 5 t h November The 2 5 t h Novem 1 6 8 3 took t h island of S anto E t ber was t h anniversary of Albuquerque s capture of Goa and t h population and most of the garrison were cele Goanese churches At 1 0 p m S m b h ji t i g it in t h b ent across at low tide four thousand men Taking the garrison by surprise t h Marat h as put them to the sword and occupied t h island fortress Next day t h iceroy tried to retake it but the Portuguese were d riven back with h eavy loss S everal weeks passed in furious attac k s by t h Marath as and desperat e resistance by the Portuguese T h forts of Rachol Tivim and Chapora fell int o S m b h ji hands and t h town of M g surrendered At last it seemed certain that t h Marat h a ar m y would force a way t h rou gh th at part of Goa known as the quarter of S aint J oh n Despair seized the soul of the chivalrous Alvor Deat h on t h field f h onour had no terrors for a noble of Portugal But the fear of losing t h is ancient possession of h i master s house weigh ed on him deeply and led h i m to form a strange resolve Instructing his officers to fight to t h last he called together several monks and with them entered t h church of Bo n Gesu wherein lie in plend i d state t h earth ly remains of F rancis X avier T h is famous man the scion of a noble S panish house was one of t h first seven disciples of Ignatius Loyala the founder of the Jesuits At first ordered to conver t to C hristianity the Musulmans of Palestine X avier was afterwards chosen by Loyala to be the head of the mission sent by John I I I of Portugal to convert the east F rom 1 5 4 2 to 1 5 4 7 he preached in southern India and the S pice Islands and then left for Japan Death overtoo k him in 1 5 5 2 w h en about to attempt the conversion of C h in Hi th e
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H I S T O R Y OF T H E
M A R AT H A P E OPL E
the Maratha commandant S hah Alam was to harry t h south Directly the iege of Goa bega the Viceroy sent i to call to his aid the Moghul fleet that w s M cruising f f V g l The Moghul admiral who had strict orders to prevent Ak b flight by sea would t leave his post but he seems to have sent word to S hah Alam of the danger in which Goa stood S hah Alam had in the m eantime crossed the Krishna and entered the Belgaum district He had stormed S hahpur a little fort close to Belgaum and S m p g o a town eigh teen miles south east of Belgaum It was here that the prince seems to have received the message of the Mogh ul admiral At once he led his troops through the Ramghat Pass twenty six miles west of Belgaum ; and overcoming a Maratha force sent against him by S m b h ji then struggling furiously to take Goa his army poured into S avantvadi and hastened by forced marches to the relief of Alvor It was the vanguard of this army that the despairing Portuguese saw on the s k y line It must however be admitted that t h Portuguese were soon almost as frightened of their heaven sent allies as they had b een of the Marathas Th Moghul commander wished to bring his fleet into t h Goa harbour while his army camped inside the walls But on the advice of M i who as S h ah Al m doctor had had a long experience of his patient s character t h e iceroy refused the Moghul fleet e
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admission ; and by firing on their leading galliots forced them to flee into the river Nerul to the north of the city S hah Alam revenged himself by plundering Bardes and other Portuguese villages and by carrying ff their women and children F rom Goa S hah Alam marched on V g l where he burnt a ship belonging to prince A k bar and sacked t h town for having sheltered it F rom the surrounding districts he gathered in the cattle reaped the standing corn and burnt the villages In this way he soon ate up the Konkan and then realised the folly of his quarrel with the Portu g uese The viceroy no longer allowed the Moghul foodstuffs to use his harbours The river Bardes wherein they were forced to discharge had no f acilities ; and harassed by the Maratha horse the victorious army was soon on the verge of starvation S hah Alam broke his camp and began to retreat along the Konkan shore His real difficulties now began S m b h ji troops were amply supplied f rom the grain stores in his forts very few of which S hah Alam had ta k en S hah Al m army had no resources whatever A pestilence b r oke out among the starving Musulmans and took a daily toll of five hundred men and of unnumbered horses elephants and camels The prince sent a messenger to A g i b imploring help The emperor sent to his relief R h l l Khan the imperial paymaster with part of the army at first entrusted by him to Azam S hah After the capture of S l h that prince had in vain tried to take the Maratha fort R m ej or Rama s couch It is on a hill near Nasik and the divine Rama is supposed to have sometimes slept on it when .
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20
H I S TOR Y OF TH E
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living with S ita on the banks of t h Godavari After this failure Azam S h ah had retired to the imperial headquarters At the same time as the emperor sent a force by land he sent by sea from S urat a fleet of foodstuffs to relieve his son s immediate wants U nhappily for t h Moghuls the food h ips fell into Maratha hands The troops however under R h l l K h an successfully reach ed their goal O army 1 8 t h May 1 6 8 4 the remnants of S hah Al m th found t h welcome helter of the walls of Ahmadnagar In spite of S ha h Al m retreat his own failure to take Goa seems to h ave weighed h eavily on the Maratha King s mind S ince the discovery of t h S h i k plot he distrusted Maratha officers with t h single exception of his hi cavalry commander H m b i Mohite a blunt and gallant sol d ier whose nature somew hat resembled his own U willing in view of his great services to S h i ji to dismiss Moro Pingle from the post of Pesh wa he yet would not give him eit h er power or responsibili t y These he gave in full measure to a certain Kalash a by caste a K j or K anauj Bra h man He was a member of an bscure clan who near Alla h abad lived on the offerin gs of certain Deccan families These employed as priests the members of K l h caste whenever they made pilgrimages to Allahabad or Benares Among the clients of K l h family were the Bh s l s and Kalas h a seems to have been privy to S h i ji escape from Agra and to have been intimate with S m b h ji whi l e the latter remained behind at Mathura With the charming manners of Northern India he won a great influence over the young prince which lasted until his death S hortly after S m b h ji b came king he made Kalasha his chief executive officer with the t itles of Kavi Kalash a or of Kalasha the poet and Ch d g m ty fi But K l h j i admirably suave and e
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TH E
P OR TU GU E S E W AR
21
courteous towards his mas ter w arrogant towards his Maratha colleagues and subordinates and crassly stupid about questions of Deccan administration He was still less competent to manage the royal possessions in S outher India He tried to hide his incapacity by blaming the diffuseness of the official reports and gave out publicly that the king s power would increase if he abandoned all Sh i ji distant conquests He used to tell S m b h ji t h at a k ingdom hould be like the jewel in a ring at all times wholly visible to its owner s eye The Marathas who hated Kalasha both as a fool and a foreigner believed that he retained his influence over S m b h ji by charms and magic and by hideous rites in which the blood of cows and buffaloes flowed abundantly It seems however probable that the minister kept and increased his power by the methods commonly used in India by those who wish to subject a prince to their will He plied S m b h ji with wine bhang and opium ; d as Cardinal Dubois did for the Regent O rleans he procured for him an endless suc cession o f pretty and lascivious women But whatever the ecret of K l h domination it was disastrous to the Maratha state The finances fell into disorder S h i ji treasure was exhausted ; and unable to pay his troops S m b h ji gave them leave to plunder at will thus relaxing the iron discipline by which S h i ji had made his armies formidable The result was seen in the successes presently gained by the Mogh l commanders as
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1 6 84
1 6 86
To
D I R E C TL Y the rains of 1 6 8 4 had abate d the Moghul ar m ies began to move S hahabuddin Khan the father of Nizam l Mulk of whom much will be read herea f ter advanced with a great force to take Raygad He was burning to achieve distinction for he had been involved in Azam S h ah s failure take R am j That stronghold had been most gallantly t defended The Moghuls in vain built lofty to w ers from which to command the interior of the fortress The commandant w h ose name unhappily has not survive d built his walls still higher and repelled every assault When his cannon wore out he fired leather missiles from the trunk s of hollowed out trees ; and when t h ese failed h i m he drove bac k the storming parties with howers of stones burning grass and l d quilts steeped in naphtha and set on f ire S hahabuddin Khan was re l ieved b y Khan Je b a but neither cience nor patience c oul d overcome the dauntless courage of the besieged At last baffled by the garrison within d harassed without by H m b i M h it cavalry K han Je b an withdrew his force Be f ore retiring he burnt S hahabuddin K h an s wooden towers amid the moc k ery of the Marathas who begged of him not to run away but to h ide under the ashes of h i own e d ifices The siege o f R m j raised H m b i Mohite made a countermove a At P t h d i some forty miles south east of Poona were the emperor s elephant stables Mohite detached a body o f Marath a cavalry who swoope d down on P t h d i killed the ,
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garrison and drove off the entire herd of elephants Kha J h grasping the importance of their recovery rode night and day a f ter the raiders and in the end recovered all nearly all the missing elephants O his way to Raygad S hahabuddin Khan too k and g arrisoned Cha k an and S upa in the Poona district and then d escende d into the Kon k an A large Maratha force met h i m at P h d at th e foot of Raygad but in that hilly tract their cavalry had no room to deploy They were everely beaten and w ith the loss of their guns and equip ment retreated into the fort Raygad itsel f was impregnable ; and the Moghul general after magnifying his victory in his d e spatches to t h e mperor raised the iege As a reward for his success at P h d he was given the titles of Ghazi d din ( the Apostle of the F aith ) and F iroz Jang ( the sapphire o f battle ) In F ebruary 1 6 8 5 S am b h j to retaliate sent a body o f ten thousand cavalry to plunder Khandesh under N i l ji Pandit This force sacked Dh m g t and ravaged the eighbourhood ; but in its absence S hah Alam moved south and took one after the other Goka k Hubli Dharwar and Karwar In turn S m b h ji detached fi f teen thousand horse to harass S hah Al m s movement This duty they did so skilfully that once more S hah Alam had to retreat w it h the loss of h alf his army The forts however that he had taken remained in the hands of Moghul garrisons Believing that he had for the moment inflicted sufficient losses on the Marathas and confident from the reports that reached him that S m b h aji if left to himself would abandon himself to drin k and women the emperor applied himself to the darling project of his life namely the conquest of Bijapur and Golconda O of the last feats of t h great king was to force Diler Khan to raise the iege of Bijapur S ince the there had been no active e
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24
H I S T O R Y OF T H E
M A R AT H A P E O PL E
h i ostilities between A and Masaud K an the Bijapu b g regent Indeed both the emperor and his daugh ter i law S h a h r Ba u the w ife of Azam S h ah known to t h Marathas as Padsha h Begam had in 1 6 8 1 appealed to the Bijapur general S Khan to join in a combined crusade agains t But t h Adil S h a h i government knew well th a t S m b h ji the destruction of S m b h ji would be f ollowed by their i own ; and instead of sending help to A g b secretly sent every man wh om t h ey could spare to the Marat h a king s aid To pu ish Bijapur A g i b had twice sent Azam S h ah to raid its northern territories But it w not until t h 1 t April 1 6 8 5 that the ffensive against Bijapur began The difficulties f aced by the invadin g — army were three fold Th Adil S h a h i king S ikandar S ha h h d taken over t h government himself and Masau d former regent had retired to Ado i where he K han t h hoped to establish an independent state Rid of this worth less man S ikandar faced the Moghul invasion with calm courage He asked for and obtained promises of help from Golconda where the wise M d Pant was still first minister and from S m b h ji O the i 4t h August 1 6 8 5 a G olconda force under Am b ji Pandit reac h ed Bijapu and from December 1 6 8 5 H m b i Mo h ite with a body of Marath a horse began to hara ss the Mogh ul communi cations with t h north In O ctober 1 6 8 5 another body of Maratha cavalry imitating S h i ji raid on S urat appeared suddenly before Broach This historic city known to th e Greek mariners of E gypt as B g was one of the most ancient ports of India Its name is derived from t w words Bh i g and Kaccha Kaccha means field and Bh i g Kacch a means the field of Bh i g the name of the mighty rishi or seer w h o w ned it O one occasion so it i related t h rishis of India doubtful which one of the H indu triad they should honour most sent Bh i g to visit i p
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26
H I S T OR Y OF T H E
M A R AT H A P E O PL E
But t h fear th at his brother S h ah Alam might pay him back the cutting jests that he had himself made about disasters made the prince cling to his post S ha h Al m h i approving son s conduct determined to ib A g pen up h i son s communicatio s He himself was at But he ordered S holapur and had no provisions to pare S h a h abuddin Kh an hereafter known as F iroz Jang to set t from Ahmadnagar wit h twenty thousand bu l lock loads of grain Th Bijapur government guessed rightly that th fate of their city depended on the failure or success of F iroz Jang Kha and Abdur Raf with eight S t h ousand h orse threw t h emselves wit h the utmost valour on F iroz J g convoy F or some time the fate of the relieving force hung in t h balance But F iro z J g rose to t h height of h i recent honours T h rough his general hip and t h stimulating presence of Jani Bega m one of Azam S hah s wives who from the back of an elephant ch eered on her h usband s succours the convoy reached in safety the headquarters of the besieging army F rom t h is moment t h tide turned ; and no longer anxious about his son s safety A g i b was able to dam the stream of reinforcements that M d Pant was sending f rom Golconda Against the K t b S ha h i king the imperial government had valid grounds of complaint He had helped S h i ji in h i great southern campaign Alth ough warned by the emperor of t h consequences of such conduct Abu Hussein had continued to send to Bijapur troops equipment and supplies But it was ch aracteristic of A that he i b g advanced a wh olly different ground He sent one Mirza Mah omed to demand t w giant diamond s which so the emp eror asserted lay hidden among the K t b S hahi treasures With exquisite courtesy Abu Hussein ssured th envoy th at had he possessed such gems he would long have sent th em as a gift to his suzerain F oiled in g this attempt to pic k a quarrel A ent wit out i b h g e
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furth er pretence Khan Jehan and S hah Alam with large armies to punish Abu Hussein for the aid given by h i m to Bijapur Abu Hussein sent Ibrahim Khan with forty thousand men to oppose the Moghul advance Ibrahim Khan was an officer of high reputation and had t h full confidence of Abu Hussein and M d Pant He made a daring attempt to overwhelm Khan Jehan before S h ah Alam could send him help He man euvred so skilfully t h at he at last isolated a body of ten thousand men under Khan Jehan and with his entire army attacked it in front flank and rear Khan Jehan extricated himself by his own skill and courage He killed in ingle combat one of enemy s leadi g officers Thereafter he determined to th cut his way through the ever narrowing circle of the Golconda troops In front he put an elephant belonging to Raja Ram S ing the son o f Jai S ing and S h i ji com panion at Agra In the elep h ant s trunk its mahout put a heavy iron chain The sagacious beast used the chain wit h such terrible effect against the Golconda horsemen that he forced in t heir ranks a gap through which Kh an Jeh an and most of his men succeeded in escaping ( March .
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Khan Jehan celebrated his escape as if it had been a victory and sent a glowing account of it to the emperor But A a g i b was too killed a soldier to be deceived ; and h reprimanded for their inactivity both the general and t h prince They became more lothful than ever and were soon besieged in their own camp and exposed to t h rocket fire of the Kuth S ha h i general But other forces were working in favour of the emperor Ibra h im K han and many other Musulman officers of Abu Hussein regarded wit h envy the favou s conferred on M d Pant and on his brot h er Ak Pant Indeed it would seem that with the avarice of in creasing years t h ey appropriated to them selves large sums from the state f f rs j Ibra h im Khan .
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H I S T OR Y O F T H E
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in h i h atred of t h Bra h man broth ers listened readily t proposals made to him by Moghul emissaries Alth ough master of t h field he withdrew his troops and allowed K h an Je h an and h i army unmolested to leave their camp and to occupy t h fortress of Malk h ed t h chief bulwark of Golconda state Justly indignant Abu Hussein recalled th Ibra h im Kh an to stand h i trial Ibrahim Kh an retaliated by penly deserting to Khan Jehan with t h larger part of the king s army Rustum Rao M d Pant s nephew was appointed to t h ch ief command and rapidly restored discipline But Abu Hussein s mind had been affected by Ibrahim Khan s t reachery t h at one night in June he abandoned Haidarabad wh ich h had made his capital and fled to Golconda fort The flight of the king led to a tumult in t h city Th army retreated and fell back on Golconda in disorder F irst the cri m inal classes and then the imperial troops plundered Haidarabad and subjected t h inhabitants of both sexes to every kind of barbarity and outrage M d Pant tried in vain to restore Abu Hussein s courage But the king s only thought was to make peace with A O reaching Haidarabad S h ah Alam did his g ib best to quell t h disorder and to th at prince came the envoys of t h trembling monarch S hah Alam h d no wish to be over harsh to a Musulman sovereign S till more he feared h i father s jealousy if h took a fortress that had once defied A own arms He imposed a fine of g ib twelve million rupees and required the cession of Malkhed and t h surrounding districts M d Pant and Ak Pant were to be imprisoned and Abu Hussein was publicly i to ask of A ffence which the g b for g iveness for any imperial fancy might fasten on him T h ese disgraceful terms were eagerly accepted In silver chains Abu Hussein appeared in his oppressor s camp and prostrating himself in the dust implored and obtained pardon for numerous crimes very few of w h ich he h d m m i t t d j In regard e
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to M d Pant Ak Pant and th eir nep h ew a zanana intrigue forestalled the imperial wish es S ome women in Abu Hussein s harem sent to their houses a band of assassins and all three fell stabbed by the murderers knives T h eir prince s h eads were sent w ith many compliments to t h camp By treating with some leniency Abu Hussein S ha h Alam escaped t h jealousy of the emperor Neverth eless he incurred the censure of the commander i ch ief A g i b sent for both S h ah Alam and Khan Jehan and reprimanded th em for not completing the conquest of the kingdom ( O ctober The left flank of the imperial army was now sa fe from the attacks of Golconda S m b h ji inactivity secured the i safety of the emperor s right flank A g b therefore could co centrate his energies on t h reduction of Bijapur It took some months for S h ah Alam to extort from the wretched Abu Hussein the large indemnity wh ich he had agreed to pay But in June 1 6 8 6 all t h at could be squeezed out of Golconda h d been paid into t h emperor s treasury and the Moghul army of occupation now under the sole command of S hah Alam joined A camp outside g ib Bijapur But t h prince was in no h umour to work cordially either with his fath er or his brother Az am S h a h The censures of the former and t h gibes of t h latter rankled deeply and in order to ch eat them of the glory of conquest S h ah Alam pened secret negotiations with the Adil S hahi king S ikandar The prince s envoy was one d envoy was one S ayad Alam But S hah Kuli Si k S h a h K uli was fond of forbidden liquor and in his cups boasted that shortly his arts would reduce Bij apur His words were soon reported to R h l l Khan the head of the military police who repeated t h em to A i ah h b S g Kuli was arrested U nder torture h named h i accomplices and among them the prince S hah Alam repudiated t h c h arge and as even t h emperor could hardly order t h torture of a prince of the blood the emperor released but a
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H I S T OR Y OF T H E
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entirely ceased to trust him S ikandar S hah next tried an appeal to the emperor s religious feelings and sent his best i th eologians to convince A g b that to fight against a true believer was opposed to the teachings of Islam But h t religion was always under control of his i b A g political ambitions and h skilfully retaliated by charging If S ikandar wit h his alliance with the infidel Marathas S ikandar would join h i m in a crusade against S m b h ji h t would at once raise siege of Bijapur i A b g S ikandar knew t h at even so he would not save h i kingdom and hoped against h ope t h at S m b h ji would as S h i ji had done before lead a Maratha army to h i rescue He therefore continued t h defence wit h unabated vigour chief obstacle to t h besiegers was w the moat Th round t h city It was deep and full of water ; and in every direction it was guarded by flanking towers The emperor s aim was to fill it up with e arth but so deadly was t h musketry fire from t h walls th at no labourers could be hired for the duty At last by offering a gold coin for a ingle basket of earth he was able to proceed with t h work But earth was not the only material used Dead cattle h orses and men were hurled into t h moat ; and many an unfortunate labourer who had earned a few gold coins was robbed of his gains and thrown in alive by his broth er workmen At last the perseverance of the emperor and the skill of his engineers caused S ikandar S h a h to despair His garrison w numbered only a h andful In S eptember h opened negotiations with A g i b and on the i 2 t h S eptember 1 6 8 6 j the famous city surrendered A g i b entered it in triumph and at first affected t treat S ikandar S h ah w ith liberality But in later years the deposed king must often have regretted that h h d not trusted to the ch ances of war desperate though they were rather th an to the generosity of h i .
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GR E A T M OGH U L
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FF E N S I V E
31
Instead of the high office promised him by h he was given a dungeon in t fortress of A i b g Daulatabad After some years he was released and dragged about from place to place a prisoner in t h camp of t h emperor In 1 70 0 A D wh en only 3 2 he died during t h siege of S atara fort Th tide h d t h en begun to turn and the failure of the Moghul offensive was imminent It was h d i therefore not unfitting that then too A s oul b g lose t h pleasure h derived from the sorr ws of his captive u r an
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M A R AT H A P E O PL E
AP P END I X
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over to me a ccordi n g to an cien t practice t h e territory of t h e M or ee d Z ad u p ( S on of a spiritu al pupi l ) wh ich formed t h e j agh ir of S arja K h an a n d M an g al ved h a an d S an go l a wh ich ar e n ow i n th e possession of N aw ab e tc I f th e imperi al forces an d th ose of t h e n ob l es an d m i n isters q uit Um d at u l Mul k my territory it wil l remove th e misfortun es th at fol l ow a mil itary occup ation an d t h e peopl e of my vill ages wil l be h appy I f I be f a voured wit h t h e mo n ey w hi ch h as been l evied from th e serv an ts of t h e ex al ted court I s h al l be a bl e to p ay my sep oys an d a ccompl ish t h e object Of t h e expedition agai n st th e si n fu l in f idel .
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34
H I S T OR Y OF TH E
M A R AT H A P E OPL E
In spite of his treaty with Abu Hussein and the latter real efforts to keep it A g i b had no sooner conquered Bijapur than he determined to conquer Golconda H called a council of war ostensibly to consider in which direction the imperial armies should move S hah Alam who had signed the treaty with Abu Hussein proposed t h reduction of S m b h ji Kam Baksh however A g ib youngest son acting on h i fath er s instructions proposed the immediate conquest of Golconda S hah Alam protested that such a course would be a stain on his own honour and added th at the loss of a son s honour involved the loss of h i father s But the word honour had no meaning for The protest delivered in a spirited tone i b A g roused the emperor s anger He publicly reprimanded t h prince and threatened him with lifelong imprisonment ddi S h ah Alam wisely kept his temper but his son M drew his sword and was with difficulty restrained by Let us not S ha h Alam from killing his grandfat h er said S hah Alam set a pernicious example to posterity Th emperor with a magnanimous air affected to overlook the young prince s conduct but h i acts presently s h ewed that as was h i wont he had nursed and brooded over t h insult To t h ose present in t h Council he declared that work in the Deccan was over that his treaty with hi Golconda forbade its conquest and th at he would at once eturn to Delhi To give colour to th is story he sent offers of peace to S m b h ji who gladly consented to a treaty t hat would leave him free to enjoy strong drink and t h s ociety of pretty women But the emperor s intention was still to reduce Abu Hussein to t h same state as S ikandar S h ah and he concealed it merely to surprise the king He began to march north wards as if to Del h i ; on his way so he wrote to Abu Hussein he wished to do h omage to t h tomb of S ayad Mahomed Gisu a famous saint of Gulbarga and asked leave to visit it Abu Hussein begged t h emperor ’
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35
to do so and sent him gold mo h urs to distribute in charity The emperor accepted the money worsh ipped at t h saint s shrine until his army h d occupied a number of strategic points and th en repaid Abu Hussein s gift by marc h ing with all speed on his capital His pretext was the balance of t h tribute which Abu Hussein still owed The unhappy king did his best to avert disaster by raising in his city a forc ed loan Th amount so collected still fell short of h i debt to t h imperial exch equer He implored the emperor s envoy S adat Kh an to intercede for h i m and tripping himself and his wives of their jewels begged i The envoy did so ; S adat K h an to send them to A g b and the emperor s debt h aving been paid in full he was forced to invent a new pretext for his continued g g He wrote a long letter of reproach to Abu Hussein in which he repeated h i ch arge of alliance with infidels and added to it ch arges of drunkenness debauchery and injustice To none of A i b warnings had Abu Hussein paid g heed In t h insolence of intoxication and worthlessness wrote the emperor you have h d no regard for the infamy of your deeds and you h ave displayed no hope of salvation either in th is world or t h next After reading this hypocritical missive Abu Hussein s spirit rose to t h same height as in t h campaign of 1 6 7 7 when h defeated the combined armies of Del h i and Bijapur He withdrew i to fort of Golconda and fortifying it with all peed and th care sent fifty thousand men to delay as long as possible the emp eror s advance But I b rahim Khan wh ose treachery h d in the last war p roved fatal to his master commanded Moghul vanguard A traitor h imself he succeeded in th corrupting many of the Musulman officers th army opposed to h i m Nevertheless Abdur Razzak t h K t b S h a h i commander i — c h ief delayed t h investment until the end of J anuary 1 6 8 7 and then wit h drew into t h fortress to join t h garrison Th emperor tried to take it by a sudden assault But the leader of t h storming ,
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H I S T OR Y OF T H E
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party Kulich Kh an F iroz J g fat h er and grandfath er of Nizam l Mulk was killed by a cannon ball and the assault failed Both ides now prepared for a long siege and F iroz Jang was placed at the h ead of the besieging army Th pride of S ha h Alam had been deeply hurt by t h emperor s disregard of t h treaty and wh ile under t h walls of Golconda h i feelin g s led him to enter into separate negotiations with Abu Hussein The king plied the prince with presents in t h hope of securing h i inter cession and invited h i m to a personal interview within t h fortress S ha h Alam accepted t h invitation ; but before could act on i t news of i t reach ed t h emperor s ears h Next morning wh en S h a h Alam and h i two eldest sons M d d i and Mah o m ed Azim attended the daily durbar emperor asked t h em in t h kindest tones to g into an th adjoinin g room to confer matters of state with two of h i generals Not suspecting treachery the princes complied and were at once arrested The prisoners were treated with the utmost severity and for i x mont h s were not allowed even to dress th eir hair Gradually their imprison ment g rew less h arsh but it was not until seven years had i passed t h at A g b released S ha h Alam from c nfinement arrest in no way discoura g ed S ikandar S h ah S h ah A l m Th soul of h i defence was the gallant Abdur Razz ak A chiefs of g i b accustomed easily to corrup t t h opposing armies offered him almost regal h onours if he would betray h i master But Abdur R azzak called t him the leadin g soldiers of t h army read out in t h eir presence th emperor s letter and by way of ans w er tore it to pieces on one of t h bastions of Golconda S ikandar S ha h had accumulated vast stores of food and ammunition Th Golconda springs were abundant and perennial Outside famine raged ; for S m b h ji seein g t h at t h emperor s peace was merely a device to gain time sent Marat h a h orse to cut off t h imperial supplies Th emperor decided to fill in the moat as h h d done at Bijapur and fter purifying h imself sewed the seams an
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of the first cotton bag to be filled wit h earth and t h rown into the moat In spite of the fire from t h walls the Mogh uls filled it in and tried to build on it a mound high enough to overlook the city O the mound they intende d to place h eavy guns and loo k ed forward to a speedy surrender But increased fire from t h walls hindered t h erection of the mound And the besie g ers losses and the prevailing famine depressed dangerously their spirit The emperor recalled Azam S h ah from northern India and K h an from Bijapur and bade them come at once R h ll with all available troops and supplies T h ey obeyed t h command but the reinforcements ate up t h supplies whic h th ey brought In May therefore F iroz Jang attempted a night surprise He collected scaling ladders and ropes and h i attempt all but succeeded A few men h d reached the top when a pariah dog barked at t h em and gave the alarm The garrison rush ed to t h spot t h rew down t h ladders killed th ose who had mounted by them and drove ff the rest of the storming party by musket fire from t h walls Th next day Abu Hussein visited the spot and th anked the defenders F or the pariah dog he reserved special honours He gave it a gold collar a gold chain and a gold coat He created it a noble of Golconda and kept it thereafter as his constant companion Next day t h garrison counterattacked At Abdur k R orders a picked force sallied from the fortress carried t h mound ble w it up and destroyed both its garrison and t h artillery to be mounted on it With i domitable perseverance A mound rebuilt g i b had t h and fresh cannon made ready for it But w another ally came to the aid o f the besieged In t h middle of June t h monsoon broke and th ree days h eavy rain washed down the half finished work and flooded the trenches Once again Abdur Razzak led out h i men and either killed or made captive every soldier inside them Amon g th prisoners was S b h Khan one f A most g ib e
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38
H I S T OR Y OF T H E
M A R AT H A P E O PL E
trusted officers Abu Hussein received kindly the veteran Mogh ul and shewing him h i vast stores of food and a m munition tried to convince him how hopeles was the siege He then sent him back to the emperor with a letter in wh ich he deplored the mutual slaughter of the faithful and offered to pay as tribute ten million rupees as well as a present of ten million rupees for each attempt that had made to storm the fortress If the emperor i A b g preferred it h would pro vision t h besieging army so as to facilitate its r tirement A g i b angrily refused to cross t h golden bridge He sent back a message that he would never pardon Abu Hussein until he had seen him stand in front of him with clasped hands E xasperated at h i failure to raise batteries to command t h fortress To the skill of A g i b decided to undermine its walls engineers t h emperor added h i s own cunning He th drew up h i army as if to assault a spot where th ree mines had been dug under the walls By this device he wished to draw there a large number of the garrison and blow t h em up together with the fortifications But Abdur R k skill was superior to t h at of the imperial engineers Countermining h discovered the mines and wetted the g powder the side of t h fortress The result was that wh en the mines were fired only one ignited It blew out wards and h armless to the garrison killed a number of th besiegers The garrison instantly sallied out and in th confusion inflicted h eavy loss on t h eir enemies The besiegers h d no sooner driven back t h sallying party t h an the second mine exploded unexpectedly and proved also far more fatal to the Mogh uls than to t h fortress The emperor resolved once again to build the mound and raise on it h eavy batter es But ill fortune attended h i every enterprise O the completion of the mound and the erection of the batteries he ordered a general assault But a violent storm broke and in a few minutes turned t h countryside into a sea of mud In t h water logged g round th Moghul battalions could neith er advance nor retire .
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fell in heaps under t h fire of the fortress At last Abdu r Razzak sallying out cut t h em to pieces spiked their uns and blew up their earthworks He removed at leisure g beams and bags of earth used in building the mound th d employed them successfully to repair suc h damage as Amon g t h e explosion of the mines h d caused to the walls the wounded was F iroz Jang the commander of the b ieging army Disgusted at his repeated failure the emperor agai had recourse t treachery He made further overtures to Abdur Razz ak but received the reply that Abdur Razzak would figh t to t h death like t h gallant men w h died round the prophet s grandson at K b el An Afgh an named Abdulla Khan received A proposals more g ib favourably O the 2 7 t h S eptember Abdulla Kh an pened t h g ate over wh ich he held command The Mogh uls passed through and overpowered the surprised garrison But the lofty soul of Abdur Razzak refused to accept defeat With only a dozen fol l owers he t h rew him self the Moghul army His foll wers were soon cut down But Abdur R k swordsmanship was as rivalled as h i courage Leaving behind him a lane of d ead and dying h cut h i way through a thousand enemies ; and with the blood streaming from seventy wounds he strove to reach the upper citadel wherein h h oped to organise a fresh defence But the dauntless pirit that had triumphed over ill fortune pain nay even deat h itself body s failing strength H e c ould no longer sustain t h swayed in his saddle then reeled and fell under a cocoanut tree in t h garden of the citadel Two days later he was found and carried to the house of R h l l Khan who h ivalrously cared for the fallen leader In course of time Abdur Razzak recovered and although at first he refused ventually accepted high ffice in the imperial army Abu Hussein met calamity with the same spirit wit h w hic h he h d borne t h siege O hearing of Abdull
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H I S T OR Y OF T H E
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Kh an s treachery he went to his zanana and there took leave of his wives and asked their par don for any offences that he might inadvertently have committed T h en going to the great room wh ere he had for many years h eld royal state he seated himself on h i throne and with unmoved face awaited t h coming of t h Moghul leaders As t h ey delayed he sent for and ate his evening meal When Rp h l l K h an the first Mogh ul captain to enter t h palace arrived h greeted h i m with exquisite urbanity When Azim S h ah came he threw round his neck the rich pearl necklace that he himself w wearin g E scorted to h presence so i h was his bearin t h at he ex A i b g g g con queror civility if not humanity Like t t d from t h S ikandar S hah Abu Hussein passed from a throne to a dungeon in Daulatabad His treasures were va l ued at nearly seven millions sterling in coin alone His jewels probably amounted to another million Of this sum one lakh only was diverted from t h imperial treasury Before Abu Hussein was sent to Daulatabad he spent an evening listening to the imperial band S pleased was he at the skill of the bandsmen that h said with a sigh that had h still been a king he would have divided among them a hundred thousand rupees The words were repeated to A g i b and he at once ordered the sum in question to be paid to the fortunate m i i s j The siege of Golconda lasting as it did for eigh t months caused to t h imperialists vast losses both in men and material Nor was there any real corresponding gain The cost of t h siege far exceeded the treasures found in the fort Th rich country round Golconda had been so plundered t h at it was no longer cultivated and it paid to Delhi very little of what it had formerly paid to t h K t b h h i kings It is true th at the prestige acquired by the conquest both of Bijapur and Golconda was immense and t h state maintained at this time by A was i b g ’
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CHAPT E R
XX
VIII
GR E AT M O GH U L O F F E N S IV E T H E CAPT U R E O F S A M B H A J I
TH E
A D .
.
1 6 87
1 6 89
TO
closing years of S m b h ji life have long perplexed F or some months he would neglect his duties h istorians suffer his armies to disperse and his horses and elephants to die for want of food wh ile h hut himself up in some fort or palace Then he would once more appear at the Mogh ul forces wherever h ead of his army and defeat t h he met t h em The k ey to the riddle is t h is Two opposing factions were ceaselessly struggling to obtain an influence over the king s mind O the one ide was Kalash a with h i band of panders and harlots trying to reduce the k ing to the imbecile inertness wh ich suited their purpose O the oth er side were S h i ji old comrades who were t i noble and manly feelings not yet g to rouse t h extinguished in S m b h ji heart S ometimes one faction sometimes the oth er faction gained the victory and the varying fortunes of t h struggle were seen in the chan ging conduct of t h king E arly in S m b h ji reign a remar k able incident occurred In 1 6 8 1 R gh t h p t H m t the governor of Jinji and of S h i ji south ern conquests arrived in state to pay hi respects to the w king With h i m came five t h ousand cavalry and ten thousand infantry and a train of TH E
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43
carts and elep h ants that carried between th irty and forty la k h s in gold coins t h surplus income of his provinc e S m b h ji received him in a specially prepared camp on the ban k s of the Bi w d i river and graciously accepted an invitation to a banquet In return t h k i g h l d a reception in R gh t h p t honour and invited to it the viceroy s h brother J h unlucky commander of t d t t p force that had invested Panhala Among the other guests were Nilo Pingle the Peshwa s son H m b i Mohite the cavalry commander i chief N t ji P l k and U maji Pant After t h k ing had than k ed R g h t h p t for his care of the distant province t h latter rose to reply But instead of the usual ceremonial words H m t recited a formidable list of grievances against the new administration Why asked t h daring viceroy w the kingdom shrinking daily ? Why was t h S idi still unsubdued ? Why were the peasants discontented ? Wh y were Brahmans beheaded and not imprisoned Why were not S m b h ji enemies won over rather than executed ? Why was t h administration not in the king s hands instead of those of Kalasha S m b h ji bore t h viceroy s rebu k e with outward calmness and merely protested th at t h labour and cost of the administration had grown since h i father s death But he deeply resented wh at h deemed H m t breach of etiquette and Kalasha did not fail to fan his resentment H m t saw t h at it w no longer safe for him to remain at court In a private interview he warned the king against the coming Moghul invasion and begged him to meet it by an offensive and defensive alliance with Bijapur and Golconda But his advice was treated with contempt ; and a few days later h ask ed for and obtained leave to return to Jinji O t h way he fell ill and died Never th l the courage and sincerity o f the viceroy were not lost on the king ; and the Maratha nobles added to the strictures of H m t their own respectful counsel To their advice were no doubt due t h vigour and activity S m b h ji early years e
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H I S T OR Y OF T H E
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But S m b h j had to fight an enemy from which h i f at h er had been free namely t h treason of his w officers I have already mentioned the g reat plot o f t h But the intrigues of A Sh i k g i b and the intense dislike felt by the Marath as for Kalasha were t h cause of many fresh cons piracies S l h and even R m j gallantly defended th ough it had been against F iroz Jang and Kh an Jehan fell in the end by treach ery In N ovember two t h ousand of S m b h ji cavalry tried to desert to the Moghuls They obtained leave to bathe in the Godavari the ho l y river t h at runs past Nasik T h ey intended to loiter there until they could conveniently join t h Moghul army But S m b h ji received information of t h eir design and turning back massacred th em to a man S uch treachery instead of furthering the Marath a cause only led the king to rely more and more on t h smooth tongued Kalash a But the obvious peril which threatened t h state on the fall of Bijapur and the siege of Golconda roused t h k ing and enabled for t h time H m b i M ohite to overcome the evil influence of the alien minister In the precedin g chapter I have mentioned the attac k s of t h Maratha h orse on the army investin g Golconda But they were never pressed h ome ; for t h true Maratha policy was to prolong and not raise the siege By lengthening the arduous campai g n the Marathas would gai for th emselves freedom to overrun t h southern provinces of Bij apur and thereby increase in size and in resources t h sanctuary whic h Sh i ji g enius had made ready f or h i people In 1 6 8 7 Harji M h d i k was viceroy of t h Maratha possessions in the south and south east To Harji M h d i k Sh i ji had given in marriage Am b i k b i h i daughter by his first wife S aibai and S m b h ji full sister After the great southern campai gn Harji M h d i k was made governor of the fort of Jinji O R gh t h p t H m t death S m b h j raised Harji M h d i k to the post of viceroy of the south V y k ji S h i ji half brother and R aja of a
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Tanjore h d on S h i ji death repudiated the suzerainty of the Maratha king and as S ikandar S h ah s vassal had sent forces to aid h i m during the siege f Bijapur Not only that but he and his son S hahaji had added several of Sh i ji conquests to the S tate of Tanjore To safe g uard his possessions in southern India and above l l the great fort of Jinji S m b h ji in June 1 6 8 7 sent to reinforce Harji M h d i k a body of twelve thousand h orse under the com mand of K h Pingle Moro Pingle s broth er and a Marath a fficer named S t ji Gh p d The latter was a distant connexion of t h Gh p d w h ose treachery to Mudhol S h a h aji was so terribly avenged by S h h ji son was t h fief of th at branch of the Gh p d Another branch had established themselves at Kapshi and Mh l ji of Kapsh i was the contemporary and friend of Gh p d He died in Sh i j i w h om h outlived for nine years defence as captain of his guards Mh l ji left S m b h ji t h ree sons S t ji B h i ji and M l ji and all three served in the armies of the great k ing S t ji and B h i ji won distinction by taking Colar Gajendragad and other strong places in the Carnatic As their reward they received Gajendragad in fief Kalash a had insinuated to S m b h ji that Harji M h d i k wish ed to make himself independent Pingle and S t ji S m b h ji therefore advised K h to arrest Harji M h d i k and seize and hold Jinji Gh p d in the king s name Harji M h d i k harboured no disloyal feelin g s towards one who was at once his brother i law and master But his agents at court had warned h i m of th royal intention and he naturally regarded w ith d isli k e th commanders sent to reinforce him Instead of operating with them cordially h spent several weeks in strengthening h i hold over Jinji fortress The emperor wh had learnt alike of the despatch of the troops and of the dissensions between the Marath a leaders sent a force to attack Bangalore still in Maratha hands Th straits to w h ich Bangalore was soon reduced led Harji M h d i k and K h Pingle to forget t h eir jealousies and marc h to its va
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relief But in August 1 6 8 7 it fell before the relieving army reached it Harji M h d i k retired to Jinji and sent Pingle and S t ji Gh p d with eighteen thousand K h horse to invade Mysore After the battle f T l i k t in 1 5 6 4 d the subsequent brea k p of the Vij ayanagar kingdom the viceroy of Mysore had made himself an independent ruler and had recently grown greatly in power Harji M h d i k design was to reduce Mysore to a Maratha possession while the Moghuls were still engaged in the siege of Golconda But before he could achieve anything the military ituation entirely changed The fall of the beleag ered fortress had freed the Moghul army to conquer southern India Nor was the emperor slow to profit by his success S i x thousand Moghul horse under Asad Khan seized the country from Masulipatam to the Palar river The Golconda viceroy at C d d p on the north P e river at once accepted service under the conqueror Nor were t h e Hindu m and P m l i less read y to governors of C j secure their posts by c h anging sides Th latter indeed justified his conduct by a picturesque illustration Th e world he said was constantly turning on its axis and altering the side which it presented to the sun It was therefore not strange that an inhabitant of the world should follow so excellent an example The Moghul suc cesses produced among t h Maratha leaders quarrels and despondency Harji M h d i k recalled K h Pingle and ordered him to invade the countries on the eastern coast between the North P and the Palar rivers and to drive out t h Moghul garrisons and partisans K h Pi gle refused to obey Harji M h d i k orders S M h d i k with great daring sent instead a part of the Jinji garrison Th governor of P m l i true to his principle once more revolved on his axis and owned S m b h ji as his suzerain The res t of the province followed suit and the mall Marath a force without difficulty collected t h revenues of P m l i Arcot and C m j ,
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H I S T O R Y OF T H E
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robbing and torturing t h unfortunate peasantry While t t us neutralised the Mara ha successes in the h i b A g south east h d i d not overlook the advantages of carrying war into the enemy s country In December 1 6 8 7 he sent S arj a K h an a B japur officer who had joined t h Moghuls to recover the western provinces of Bijapur At first successful S arj a Kh an recovered the pen country and penetrated the Kris h na valley as f as W i T h ere his army met t h f t e t h at had befallen Af l Khan s H m b i Mohite sent by S m b h ji to ppose S arj a K h an drew him into t h de se forests round M h b l h w and after a fierce struggle gained a decisive victory But severe as the disast r was to the Moghuls the vict rious Marathas suffered eve greater loss Among those slain in the battle of W i was the gallant H m b i Mohite The warworn cavalry leader added to skilful generals h ip an intimate kno wle d g e of the Deccan and Konkan hills O the battle field t h sound of the veteran s voice was worth fifty squadrons In the council chamber he alone ventured to beard t h infamous Kalasha or recall to his master a fitting sense of h i exalted duti s Had H m b i lived it is probable that with his hold firmly established on J inji and wit h t h resources of much f s uthern India at his command S m b h ji would have repelled t h Moghul offensive B t on H m b i death Kalasha M hit became l l powerful and S m b h j became more and more a slave to profligacy and intemperance ; and the effects of the king s vice and sloth were soon isible in the disasters f his armies The Mogh ul troops recovered the Bijapur and Golconda provinces recently occupied by t h Marathas including P m l i of which t h volatile g overnor completing his revolutions a d her d finally to the Mo g hul cause At the same time A armies issuing fro m their head g ib quarters t Bija p ur swept t h rough t h Maratha Deccan and reduce d S h i ji line of fortresses between T t h d d Panhal It is interesting to note that in this campaign e
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49
an outburst of b bonic plague caused severe loss to the imperial m y f It had been imported from Ah m adabad and S urat but it disappeared when the emperor moved his camp from Bijapur to A k luj in the S holapur d istrict resolved to take one after the other the Maratha i b A g strongholds above the S h y d i Nevertheless so long as S m b h ji remained at Raygad the emperor s successes could not be decisive T h at was the heart of the Maratha kingdom Therein lay S h i ji treasures his trophies and It was there t h at the Maratha leaders gathere d h i relics to worship the d eparted hero S long as the Marath sovereign dwelt at Raygad the Maratha pirit would live and t h embers o f Maratha independence burn xt i g i h d Rayga d if properly defended was impregnable The giant crag rising out o f t h e Kon k an to a height of n arly four thousand feet defied ali k e the M oghul engineers and the imperial artillery But in the rainy season the climate of Raygad is unpleasant The monsoon bursts over it with exceptional violence and f rom June to S p tember its summit is veiled in fog and mist T Kalash born and br e d in the Gangetic valley its climate was peculiarly repell e nt He therefore induced S m b h ji in the summer o f 1 6 8 8 to exchange the shelter of Raygad for the comforts of S g m h w p j a small township twenty miles north of Vi halgad and twenty two miles n orth east of Ratnagiri It is built at the S angam or junction of the d and Varuna rivers and as the name implies is Al k sacred to t h god S hiva There Kalasha had built himself a palace surrounded by beautiful gardens and f or t h summer months he placed it at the k ing s disposal The family mansion of the S d e i § was o ffered him for the rainy season Trusting to the forests that lay between S angameshwar and the Moghul forces S m b h ji passed u
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m o soon o f 1 6 8 8 in an orgy o f very kind of i t m p ance Nor would any evil result have ensue d had h amended his ways when the rains died down But the mini ter unwilling to return to Raygad artfully detain e d h i s master by the constant addition of new beauties to h i zena a At last he induced S m b h ji to seize the comely bride of a Maratha noble on the way to join her husband ? Thereafter it is probable that he persuaded his master to linger on t S angamesh w ar ntil the storm raised by h i act had ab ted Ho w ever this m y be the ill fated king instead of returning in S eptember to his impregnabl e stronghold lingered n in S angameshwar until the last days of December 1 6 8 8 This delay proved his ruin Among t h nobles who during the siege of Golco da deserted k ing Abu Hussein was S hai k h Niz am H i d b d i § A s a s oldier he had a high reputation and as the reward of his treachery he received the command of five thousand horse His son I k l Khan was made a commander of four thousand In the cold weather of 1 6 8 8 father and son were sent by A Another force unde g i b to besiege Panhala F iroz Jang was sent to take the f ortresses round Raygad and af t er isolating that f ortress to reduce it by famine But S hai k h Nizam was an enterprising soldier and hearing reports of S m b h ji inactivity at S angam shwar he con i v d the daring plan of seizing the king in his w chosen hiding place He first ecured hillmen who k ne w the paths through the wild forests that surround it Then starting from Kolhapur with his son I k l Khan h i nephew and two or three thousand horsemen he rode t full speed f o S angameshwar Where the paths were t o steep for the horses their riders alighted but they rested only so long as was needed to save their animals from exh ustion Behind the raiding party followed at a mor leisurely pace two thousand horse and a thousand trained th e
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infantry They were S hai k h Nizam s supports in case the scheme faile d It was impossible that so large a force should entirely escape notice and on the morning of the 2 8 t h December scout brought to the k ing word that a body o f Moghul horse wer e approaching at full gallop But S m b h ji was leeping ff the previous night s debauch and referred him to Kalasha Kalasha is a magician said the drunken king and he will by his magic destroy our enemies The scouts tried in vain to make the king realise his danger ; but S m b h ji losing all patience drove t hem from his room threatening to cut off their noses i f they told him any more wild tales of Moghul horsemen The scouts went to the officers of the king s guar d They saw S haikh Nizam only a mile or so aw ay and implored the king to d ress promising him t h at they would cut a w y for him to the shelter of Raygad But nothing could rouse S m b h ji from his drunken stupor Little ti m e was now left ; for the Moghul squadrons were circlin g round the illage or galloping at breakneck pace t hrough the streets to the palace S ome Maratha officers despairing of their k ing too k flight and succeeded in reaching Raygad O thers faithful unto death remained by their master When S haikh Nizam saw fugitives leaving S angameshwar he s ent on I k l s Khan and his fastest troops with a letter in which he offered to enter into negotiations with t h e k ing By this ruse S hai k h Nizam hoped to detain S m b h ji until he could arrive with the main body But no r se was needed The k ing slumbered on heedless ali k e o f war or peace I k l s Khan presented his letter to the sentrie ; but learning that the kin g was still inside the palace he forced his w y in S uch guards as resisted were at once cut down Kalasha shewed un uspected courage He fought until an arrow pierced his right arm w hen he fell to the ground S m b h ji whom his attendants had for ced to mount his horse immediately dismounted ’
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H I S TOR Y OF TH E
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and carried Kalasha to a little temple of S h iva attached to the palace There the k in g as his father h d done t M thura tried to escape in t h g ise of a S hivaite ascetic The priests had the king s hair and beard rapidly shaved and smeared him wi t h ashes There was ho w ever no time for t h king to conceal his ornaments ; and when K han saw on this strange ascetic a pearl necklace Ik l he at once seized his person O S haikh Nizam s arrival He w put in chains S m b h ji admitted his identity and when t h supports arrived he was seated on an elephant alongside of S haikh Nizam O ther elephants carried Kalash a and the remaining prisoners ta k en by the raiders and the victorious procession started f or the emp e ror s camp ( 2 8 t h December .
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A PP ENDI X Th e d ate of S am b h aj r s c ap t ure is a con troversi a l q uestion an d h as bee n very Gran t D q h as n ot given ab l y discussed by Mr P a n d u r an g N a rs i n g P atw a rd h an but h e h as given as t h e d ate of h i s execution th e t h e d ate of S a m bh aj r s c apture begi n n in g of August 1 6 8 9 Gran t Duff h owever did n ot a rrive at th is d ate by “ e l l I n i n depen den t en q ui ry H fo owed O rme N ote l xxviii to h i s H istoric al fragmen ts of t h e Mogh u l E mpire O rme h as given h i s re ason s A l etter wr itten by th e Govern men t of M a dra s to t h e C omp an y at h ome d at ed t h e 2 0 th J ul y 1 6 89 m ak es n o me n tion of S am b h aji s de ath But t h e abstra ct of a l etter d ated Augu st 2 7 t h con tai n s t h e fol l owin g H ave n ews from t h e Moors c am p th eir forces h ad su r prized S am b h aji brou gh t hi m prison er to t h e Mogh u l : w as mou n ted on a camel h i s eves put out ” a n d be h e aded ; hi s q u a rters dispersed as a traitor I f twen ty d ays be al l owed for t h e comi n g of t h e n ews S a m b h a ji must h a ve been tak en at th e e n d of J u n e or t h e begin n in g of J ul y I f it be a ssumed th at t h e M adr a s Govern me n t did n ot a t on ce w rite to t h e C omp a n y on recei vi n g th e n ews S am b h aji w as prob ab l y executed tow a rds th e e n d of J u l y or t h e begin n i n g of Aug ust With al l respect to th a t emin en t h istori an h i s re ason i n g abl e th ou gh it be is more or l ess i n t h e n a t ure of surmi se Agai n st it we h a ve t h e d ate of S am b h aj r s c apture give n by t h e M ai sur i Al am gi ri as th e 2 8 th December ( see footn ote to p 3 1 2 v ol I I S to ri a do Mogor) Th is d ate fi n ds support i n th e cl im ate of S an games h wa r Th e cou n try rou n d Vish al ga d woul d i n Augus t be i m p ossib l e to ca v al ry Th e rai n fal l i n August is extremel y h e a vy an d t h e fo r est p a th s ar e ragi n g torren ts Th e k i n g th erefore must h a ve been c ap tured some tim e i n th e col d we ath er Mr S ar k ar ( vol LV p 4 0 1 ) f in d s t h at h e w as captured as l ate as t h e e n d of J an u a ry 1 6 8 9 Th e re a l d a te a ppe a r s to h a ve bee n 2 8 th December 1 6 89 ( S e e Bur gess p Th e residen ce of S am bh aji i n t h e h ouse of th e S ar d es ai s is establi sh ed by t h e l etter 2 8 9 of vol 2 0 of Mr R ajw ad e s col l ection I t is a l etter writte n by on e of t h e S ar d e s ai s t h e f am i l y w h o ow n ed t h e V i ll age of S an g amesh w a r an d t h e h ouse wh ere S a m b h aji w as l a te r Lo n g af ter th e occurren ce a q uestion ar ose w h eth er th e h ouse w a s th eir priv a te property or st ate property a n d i n t h is l etter S a r d e s ai cl aimed th a t t h e h ouse w as h i s Th e l etter con t ai n s th is impor tan t p ass age : Ou r m an sio n a t S an gam esh w a r is an h eredita ry p roperty H i s H igh n ess t h e l ate S am b h aj i of b l essed memory w h e n h a rassed by t h e Mogh u l s an d misl ed by K ab ji ( K al a s h a) we n t to S an ga mesh w a r H i s H igh n ess p as sed th e s u mmer of S h a k e 1 6 1 0 n e a r our m an sion t h e n th e r ai n y se ason p a ssed Af terw ards th ere w a s a gre a t disturb an ce everywh ere S eei n g th at our m an sion w as a Sp acious buil di n g H is H igh n ess a fter con sul ti n g us occupied it Two an d a h al f m on t h s l ate r S h ai kh N iz am subed a r of t h e Mogh u l s seized h i m ’
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C H A P TE R TH E
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X XI X
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soon as he found leisure S hai k h Nizam sent a formal m despatch to A infor in him of his brilliant feat i b g g of arms But the news had already been conveyed by news writers to the imperial camp E verywhere there was immense rejoicing The regular troops looked forward to a speedy peace d a triu m phant return to the capital The Rajput contingents h oped t h t they would soon see again the wild plains of J d h p or those gloomy fastnesses in the A l l i from wh ich chie f after chie f of U daipur had defied successfully t h Moghul arms The nobles o f Bijapur and Golconda w officers the i mperial service loo k ed forward to the enjoyment of the f iefs acquired by their recent treachery The wretched peasantry hoped that after years of warfare they would for a time at any rate get a breathing space in which to repair the havoc ca sed by the contending armies Duri g the five days that it took S haikh Niz am to go f rom S angameshwar to Aklu j the countryside hardly lept at all busy were they celebrating the success and g ettin g ready a welcome for the hero who had achieved i t Nor was the emperor niggardly in the bestowal o f honours He sent to point four miles from A k luj a large body o f troops to escort in AS
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riumph t he general and his prisoners A the processi on neared the c amp it passed through densely c rowded la es d s treets while a vast multitude of both sexes gaz e d from the roofs on the spectacle of successful daring and fall e n maj esty The events of th e last few days had sobered the k i g ; and free f rom the fumes of wine and the evil influence of Kalasha he recovered the courage with which nature had abundantly endowed h i m With undaunted brow he returned the gaze of the spectators and met their gibes Once or twice he d jeers with scornful indif f erence begged the Rajput soldiers whom he passed to k ill him and so spare him further humiliation But though they pitied deeply S m b h ji condition they yet f eared more deeply still the wrath of the inexorable emperor A g ib had summoned a durbar and into the assembly room f illed with the captains of Delhi and the nobles o f Rajasthan As they entered S m b h ji and Kalasha were brought A g i b descended from his throne and humbly bowed his head to shew his gratitude to the Almighty Kalasha p rofited by the occasion to display a wit and courage that half redeemed his honour His hands were so tightly bound that he could not stir them H i s head was so fastened that he could not move it Nevertheless he succeeded in catching his master s eye and quoted to him a Hindi couplet o f which the meaning was as follows 0 Raj a at the sight of thee King Alamgir ( the official title of A g i b ) cannot keep his seat but has perforce descended from it to do thee honour The emperor had not as yet determined the f ate of h i captives He ordered their removal to prison and turned to the more pleasing task of rewarding their captors He g ave S haikh Nizam the titles of Khan Jaman ( the chief of the time ) and F ateh Jang ( the victorious in battle ) He bestowed him an immediate g ant o f Rs and a hors e and an elephant from the imperial stables ; and he raised his command from one of five thousand to one of t
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six th o s and horse I k l s Khan w promoted from a comm a d o f four tho sand to one of five thousand and l l S hai k h N iz m s nephew s who had t a k en part in t h expedition received rewards F or some w e k a f ter the Durbar t h e emperor discussed the ituation with his leading advis e rs They pre s sed A i to spare b S m b h ji g li f e on condition that he ordered his o fficers to surrender the fortresses sti l l held by the Marathas At first A i g b s e em to have inclined to this merciful course forei g n though it w to his nature But S m b h ji steadily refused to accept these shame f ul terms Wit h a courage surpassed by his f ather he told the imperial messengers that he did not tru s t t h emperor s word and t hat even wer it kept he f or his part pr e ferred death to li f elong captivity At last weary of their importunity he broke out into passionate abuse both of the emperor and of the prophet whom he revered When his speech i was reported to A g b the emperor gladly made it an excuse to rejec t the humane suggestions of his nobles He moved his camp to T l p a town s ixteen miles north e ast of Poona built nea the spot where the I d y i river flows into the Bhima It was at one time k nown as i was changed by S hahaji S h i father t b N j g g to T l p ; or the place o f weighing O e day so the story runs S hahaji wished to weigh an elephant belonging to his friend Murar Jagde the minister of Bijapur The latter had made a vow to distribute in charity the weight in silver f his riding eleph t In vain the learned men of the Adil S hahi court rac k ed their brains to devise a pair of scales strong enough to bear the animal S h h ji i genious mind solved the problem He put t h elephant in a flat bottom e d boat on the I d y i river Marking the waterline on the boat he had the beast removed d the boat filled with stones until it again sa k to t h former waterline Lastly removing the stones he weighed u
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them and t h us correctly if laboriously ascertained the weight of Murar J a g d e elephant The emperor resolved to ma k e T l p memorable t the Maratha people by a spectacle f ar more terrible than the weighing o f an elephant He had S m b h ji and h i s favourite Kalasha dressed in the garb of wandering anchorites In their hands they carried rattles and t h eir heads were caps sewn with bells They were then tied on camels with their faces to the tail In this guise they were led in triumph through the mar k et place of After he had feasted his eyes on the degradation T l p of his enemy the emperor sent S m b h ji a m essage that even yet he would spare his life if he accepted Isla m He S m b h ji fearless to the last met i sult with insult replied s cornfully that if the emperor gave him in marriag his daughter he would turn Musulman but not otherwise To this reply he added several words in praise of the god learnin g S hiva and in foul scorn o f Mahomed O S m b h ji s answer Au g i b determined to give full rein to his vindictive t e mper He had S m b h ji brought b e neat h his throne and there ordered his tongue to be cut out as a punishment for his blasphemy His eyes wer gouged out of their soc k ets by the court surgeon His heart was torn out his l imbs separated f rom his body and all save his head thrown as food to the village dogs of T l p After S m b h ji Kalasha and the other prisoners were tortured to death F inally the heads of the k in g and his minister were stuffed with straw and paraded by beat of drum in all the chief cities of t h Deccan ( 1 1 t h March S o died at the age of 3 2 the eldest son of S h i Th ji misfortunes o f his reign are chiefly to b traced to his own treason to his father But for that the great k in g would never have been estranged from him Nor would S oy b i and her S h i k k insmen have dared to plot ,
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H I S T OR Y O F T H E
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his supersession by Rajaram Their edition led him to trust Kalasha rather than his own subjects and in the end Maratha e nslaved him to a lewd and scheming priest hroniclers have painted S m b h ji a monster o f iniquity But the king was not that ; and in other circumstances his areer might h ave been very different Alth ough he spent most of h i life campaigning he was by no means averse He employed a learned man called K h f rom study Pandit Ad h y k h a friend of the great king to read with him Valmiki s celebrated epic the R m y As a reward h gave K h in 1 6 8 4 A D sixteen h undred small silver coins known as ladis The king was moreover no mean versifier He is known to have written two books of Hindi poetry Th first was called N k h h i k h in wh ich h described t h pleasures of love The second was named In it h sang the varying charms of t h N y k bh d His excesses b eauties who beguiled his leisure moments bot h in wine and women ever blinded h i m wholly to the claims of religion I a letter written in 1 6 8 8 A D which is still extant he rebuked severely a subedar for trying i at to extor t money from t h temple of Morya G C h inch wad What need h ave you wrote t h angry kin g to h i subordinate to raise trouble in t h village of C h in c h wad ? How can t h k ing suffer such conduct If continue in your evil courses there will be no y forgiveness for you He who raises trouble li k e this will d i at t h king s h ands In caste matters S m b h j h d t h liberal views of t h soldier A certain Bra h man by name Gangadhar R g t h Kulkarni of Harsul was in t h service of the Moghuls Incurring t h eir displeasure h was forcibly conver ted to Islam and compelled to eat and drink with his new oreligionists After his conversi on h was again restored to favour d raised to high ffice In cou se of time he amassed a fortune but he gre w l d h wished to nter t h faith f h i anc stors He abandoned his wealt h his oppressors and ma k ing h i way to Raygad he begged t s
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to help him To the strictly ort h odox Gangadhar i h had sinned beyond hope of pardon But S m h t b R j g by u s ing his influence induced the priesthood to prescribe a penance by whic h he might once more become a Brahman The unhappy T h penance prescribed was no light one pervert was ordered to wal k t h ree h undred and sixty t imes roun d a holy mountain and make two pilgrimages to distant sh rines Gangad h ar R g t h however performed penance The king thereafter obtained the signatures th f a number of leading Bra h mans to a document t h at pronounced t h sinner to be pure and declared that any who doubted his purity was himself guilty of an ffence not only against the Brahmans but against the gods them selves That S m b h ji committed grave faults cannot be denied ; y t great as they were his punishment was greater still ; and when the Maratha l d h d of his cruel execution of his dauntless bearing in the face of torture of the c ourage with which he had silently borne hideous torments all resentment against the king left their breasts Th e y remembered only the gallant youth who had seized d t at Panhala had defeated Alvor at Phonda J p and had hunted from the Kon k an the shattered army of S hah Alam To decide what steps should now be taken the Maratha l eade r s assembled at Ray g ad S m b h ji had left a widow Y b i and a son S h i b i like S y a b i was a ji Y daughter of the patrician house of S h i k Her maiden name had been Ji b i which she changed ccording to Hindu custo m her marriage Her father was Pilaji Shi k Sh was married to S m b h ji in December 1 6 6 7 s hortly after the prince s return from Delhi Her son i h Shi d been born in December 1 6 8 0 ( M g h i h S d j 10 shortly after S m b h ji ccession ; and in honour f his birth S m b h ji had given lar g e sums in charity and had completed the da n of a lake left unfinished by his S am b h aj i
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father Y b i with prince S h i ji at her si d e presided at the council and round her sat a group of men whose names were in the next few years to become immortal origin has alread y been related Next S t ji G h p d to him sat D h ji J d a cousin of the prince In 1 6 2 9 as it will be remembered L k h ji J d the father of order of Ji j b i was as assinated at Daulatabad at t h Murtaza Nizam S h ah the second With him perished h i s A h l ji left an infant son named S t ji A h l ji whom Ji jabai adopted as her own He grew up the companion of S m b h ji S h i ji eldest brother and fell with him before walls of Kanakgiri S t ji left a son called S hambhu th sing whom S h i ji brought up S h m b h i g only son w t h renowned Dh ji Jadav He was already distinguished by his courage and soldierly talents and h d won the praise and esteem f P t p Guzar Bey ond Dh ji sat Kh Dabhade He w the son of Y h p t i l D b h d j d a small landowner of Talegaon Dabhade a illage on t h road between Poona and Bombay Y h p t i l h d for som years been the personal attendant of S h i ji and af t erward of Rajaram Y h p t i l t w sons K h d and S h i ji first entered the service of the royal family ; then they received com m ands in the army S h i ji afterwards lost h i life in saving R j Dabhade lived t m Kh d conquer G t Beyond the m artial faces of t h Maratha captains could be s een the t h oughtful brows of t h Brahman and Prab h u statesmen H m t was there now fully restored to t h royal favour Beyond h i m sat P l h d Ni ji t h son of N i ji R N y y d h i h or C h ief Justice ji S h i ji S Beyond him again were Khando Ballal C h itnis and Ramchandra N i l k t h B d k Khando Ballal was the younger son o f Balaji A ji Chitni s the great king private secretary His f ather and h i elder brother had at S m b h ji orders been trampled to death under t h e su
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ansk rit equivalent Am t y That office R mchandra had troubl d re i gn h eld with distinction through S m b h ji to the present t i me Deeply incensed at the cruelties inflicted on the dead king none present th ough t of ma k ing peace with the Moghuls Th first question discussed was wh ich member f t h B h l h ouse was best fitted to succeed S m b h ji and avenge his deat h S hould prince S h i ji be crowned and Y b i appointed regent ? S hould S h i ji be crowned and Rajaram appointed regent ? Y b i herself suggested a solution of t h problem Let t h ere be no coronation ere mony h said but let S h i ji be cousi dered king and Raj aram regent T h is q estion decided council debated on the plan of campaign P l h d th weighty eloquence won alike the minds of t h N i ji statesmen and the soldiers Discipline should be at once restored to the army and S h i ji regulations as to t h deposit of all plunder in t h royal treasury strictly enforced The forts sh ould be armed w ith artillery and t h eir walls repaired They should be amply provisioned and strongly garrisoned Wh i l at h Mogh uls wasted t h eir time in sieges a field army sh ould be formed by local levies and reinforcements from t h Carnatic Let Rajaram ommand t h army wh ile Y b i and prince i remained behind h impregnable defences of Sh i t j Raygad Wh en P l h d plan had been approved Raj aram rose to address t h queen and h council He had been born in 1 6 6 1 and was t h us his t w enty ninth year but t h great kin g was ten years younger when h planned the liberation of t h Maratha people In every quality save experience Raj aram was eminently fitted to bear the mighty burden now placed upon his shoulders His person was noble and commanding his manners courteous and pleasing F rom the accession of S m b h ji and the failure of S y b i plot h had lived a prisoner in Raygad His confineme t h d been neither close nor harsh But S
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nares lay all around him and his every word was reported to his jealous brother A single false step would have ruined h i m but like his contemporary William of Nassau h learned so to bridle his tongue that it never di closed the secret of his heart A captive during adolescence h was not exposed to t h temptations that ruined S m b h ji T h us when called upon to save his fath er s kingdom he brought to h i tas k a cautious discerning mind a vigou unimpaired by vice and a spirit that no danger could appal no disaster dismay Part of R j m speech has been preserved He begged his hearers to abandon any resentment that they still might h ave against the dead king Let their t h ough ts dwell on S h i ji rath er t h an on his son and let t h em transfer to the young prince all the love and loyalty wh ich t h ey or their fathers had once felt for t h great king F or in truth their young sovereign was t h reincarnation of the dead hero Had not S h i ji foretold that h would be born again as Y b i son j Had not Bh avani told Sh i amesake would rule long and gloriously ji that h i and conquer all India from Attock to R m h w m ? I am but the prince s servant ; continued Raj aram you t it is true give me your obedience but your loyalty and devotion you must keep for my master Do b t this and I am confident that we shall not only save the kingdom but bring to pass t h prop h ecy of t h goddess With th ese inspiring words he bound h imself by an oath to serve t h prince diligently and faith fully The other councillors did likewise and left the council chamber T h at evening Raj aram and his two wives left Raygad He h d been fi rst married to J k i b i a daughter of P t p o Gujar but h had died in giving birth to a daugh ter named S y b i afterwards the w ife of B j j Nimbalka of P h altan Thereafter Rajaram married t w ladies one th famous Tarabai the daughter of H m b i Mo h ite ; S
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the ot h er R j b i daugh ter of Gh t g of K agal Wit h Khando Ballal C h itnis R aj aram went P l h d Ni ji t ji G h Dh D abhade S p d ji J d a and K h d Before descending t h sides f the steep cliff Rajaram paid a last visit to Yesuba They h d always been tt a ched to each other and Y b i kindness had done much to soften t h rigours of R j m prison He laid But the brave h i head at her feet and his voice broke lady sternly repressed her own sorrow and placin g her h ead said to him m T h ere is no cause h and on R j for grief Victory will surely be yours and you will re conquer your fat h er s kingdom Raj aram rose embraced prince S h i ji and said farewell Just as S h i ji would have done Rajaram first went t P t p g d to invo k e the blessing of Bhavani But as he went he inspected the for t resses that lay on the ro d and had them provisioned and arm e d E verywher e the The cha m g arrisons hailed wit h enthusiasm his advent f his address won all their hearts and from his name men drew fortunate omen Through the countrysid e the aying ran that just as in olden tim s Raja Ram of Ayodhya h d onquered the demons of L n k a so the new Raja Ram would drive from t h land the demons of Del h i At P t p g d the prince prostrat d himself before Bhavani s image and prayed earnestly for her benediction When he had ended his prayer so the story runs a h andful of f lowers fell from the goddess hand upon the young man s head The prince confident th t he had been vouchsafed a i g n gathered t h flowers and left P t p g d filled with fresh hopes His next visit was to Ramdas sh rine at Parali Ramdas had died in 1 6 8 1 a d after his de th S m b h ji had erected on the summit of P rali a shrine in h i honour He had also allotted money f or an t w or religious festival from the first to the t enth o f the dar k half of t h Hindu month of Magh in remembrance of the saint s deat h The conduct of the festival h had assigned to Akk a c hild widow w h om Ramdas had ta k en as a disciple Akka a
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TH E
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O
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65
eceived the prince and led him to the shrine where lay exposed for worship the sandals worn by the saint B e neath t h em Rajaram prayed to t h dead man s spirit to i m counsel no less precious than that which during i h g h i life he had given to the great king Here again so it is said flowers fell on t h prince as a token that his prayer had been heard Ak k a p k d them up and put them wit h a cocoanut into R j m hands S ure now of the goddess help and the sain t s advice the prince bent all his e ergie to the task before him
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Th e th e
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A
H I S T OR Y O F T H E
M A R AT H A P E O PL E
A P PEND I X 1 L et
t r wri t t n D e s h p an d e
r d r t K i h ji D a d I t gi v s i n i g h t i nt t h f r nk tu us h aract r f S m b h ji
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As a wa tan d ar it w as your duty to be faith ful to th e m as te r wh ose s al t you h ad e a te n so l on g ; yet you joi n e d t h e Mogh u l s w h e n th ey c ame h e re a sh ort ti m e But your brot h er S h i vaji w h o h as al s o joi n ed th e Mogh ul s is your en emy ago Th us you h ad better h ave stayed with t h e k in g You wou l d th ereby h ave s h ewn your good faith an d l oy al ty S til l it m atte rs n ot S tay with t h e Mogh ul s if you stil l w an t to do so Wh o ca res wh at you do ? But remember th at wh e n ever we decide to do so we sh al l cut you an d t h e Mogh u l s your f r ien ds to pieces i n n o ti me If you re al l y s h oul d care to joi n t h e k i n g do n ot sen d mess ag es to th e comm an d an ts of our forts We c an n ot pe rm it th is I f you h a ve an y mess age to sen d us sen d it direct We sh al l th en con sider wh a t you s ay an d issue o rders as ” we th i n k fit Do n ot write to oth er peopl e address us i n pe rson ,
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Pa r a s n i s Pap er s , qu oted i n th e Ri ya s a t
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APP E NDI X I I Th e f ol B a v d e k ar
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C H A P TE R X X X
GR E A T M O GH U L O F F E N S IV E CAPT U R E O F RAYGAD A N D T H E F L IGHT RA J ARAM TH E
TH E
A D .
16 89
.
OF
169 0
TO
deat h t h emperor regarded t h conquest of the Deccan as all but completed He discharged numbers of h i Hindu soldiers who at once floc k ed round m standard Neverth eless A R j g i b did not mean return to Del h i until Ray g ad h d fallen He sent I t i k d t Khan a son of h i prime minister Asad K han wit h h eavy guns and a large army to reduce it A daring plan Th o curred to the fertile mind of S t ji Gh p d talents of Ramchandra t h finance minister had enabled h i m to equip an army of forty t h ousand men This force was under t h immediate command of Dh ji J d It was h owever too small to achieve anyt h ing in open battle against t h innumerable battalions of the emperor S suggested t h at it sh ould establish itself S t ji G h p d at Ph altan and from that base draw to itself by a series of false attacks the attention of t h Moghul generals t ji himself with a body of h orse would raid the S emperor s camp at T l p and if possible kill A i g b in the middle of his army Dh ji J d approved t h plan and gave S t ji t w t h ousand troopers with V i t h ji Chavan as h i second in command V i t h ji Chavan was th son of one B anoji C h avan who had long served under Shi ji He fell on field service at a place called Gh l m t a l eaving a baby son called V i t h ji But the Ch were U P ON S a m b h a ji
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M an u ec i ’ s S tori a
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68
H I S TO R Y OF TH E
M A R AT H A P E O P L E
k ins m en
of the house of Gh p d e d M l ji Gh p d obtai ed for V i t h ji Chavan while till a boy a ch arge in the army There he won the close f riendship of his cousin and on that account was now appointed his t ji S lieutenant t ji and his daring band starting at dus k k e p t to S as far as Jejuri the famous shrine o f t h e g od hill th Then descending by the Diva pas they r e ted Kh d b by day in the woods below the hills At midnight th ey They had ridden but six miles when s e t out for T l p they met a large body of Moghul horse To these they explained that they were a body of Maratha cavalry f u rnished by the S h i k nobles many of who m had fter i the failure of their plot taken s ervice under A g b Allowed to pass on they met no further obstacle and in the early dawn reached t h e imperial camp S lipping through the s leeping sentries they made a sudden ru s h at t h e emperor s tent They cut the tent ropes and killed Luck ily f or A sleeping e veryone in s ide g i b he w elsewhere but the Marathas cut the gold top s off his tent p les d carried them away in triumph S t ji Gh p d e too prudent to retur by the road h e h ad c ome He w fell bac k on S i h g d then held for the young king b y He taye d i S i d ji Gujar a son of P t ap o Guj a r d ay s Th leavin g th e r h i s wo d e d Si h g d f o t w h e too k h i s troo p e s d o w t h e Bhor Gh a t and f a lling upo n th e r of I t i k ad s ar m y ound Ray g a d carri d off fiv e of the imperi l w a el phant With this booty S a t aji Gh p d t Panh a l a p r e s ent e d him s elf be f or e R aja a m R ajaram di s tribut e d to the s cc e s s ful c omma der a d his fficers ric h cl oth s d titl e s To S a t aji Gh p d he to h i broth e r s B ah i ji g a v e the title o f M m l ak a t m d d M l oji G h th titles of H i d l a d Amir p d Um r a V i t h ji Ch a van was s tyled Himat Bahadur La s tly the r e ge t appointed d k p rompted by Ramachandra B t ji Gh S commande r i c hi e f in t h e place o f the p d Mohite This raid h d gre at indirect g allant H m b i or
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TH E
69
OF F E N S I V E
The raiders it is true failed to compass death their chief object But the gain in the A g ib army s moral was immense and every Maratha soldier from Jinji to Raygad deemed t h stro k e a fortunate be ginning to k ing S h i ji reign While the s e honours w ere being distributed at Panhala Dh ji Jadav with the mai army repulsed an attac k on his position at P h altan and w ith some of the enemy s captured guns rejoined at Panhala There he received the title S t ji G h p d of J y i g or Lion of Victory U nhappily this success was soon overs h adowed by a terrible calamity l y the capture of Rayga d together with king Sh i ji and his mother Y e b i Determined at all costs to take Raygad the emperor continued to send reinforce ments to I t i k d Khan who was soon able to invest Panhala as well Rajaram who was in Panhala slipped just as his father had done through the besieging lines and fled to Vishalgad But fresh reinforcements enabled I t i k d Khan to invest Vishalgad also and so prevent Rajaram f rom ma k ing any further efforts to harass the besiegers of Raygad The great preponderance of the Moghul forces and the vigour With which t h siege was conducte d affected the pirit of the defenders At the same time I t i k d Kh an sent messages to Y b i that if the fortress surrendere d he would guarantee her safety and that of h son Y b i still uncertain whether or not to yield made I t i k d Khan swear on the Koran that he would pro t ect h and S h i ji against th cruelty of the emperor I t i k d Kh an did so But before Y b i could surrender Raygad h was forestalled by the military governor S y ji Pisa ] He had or pre tended to have claims t o be D h m k h or h ereditary revenue officer of Wai He sent word to I t i k d Kh an t h at i f he promised to get h i m made D h m k h ld h w t h row open the gates of Raygad I t i k d Kh an gave his promise and secured the fortress 1 9 t h O ctober He c
onsequences
GR E A T M OGH U L
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Burgess gives
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A
70
H I S T OR Y O F T H E
k ept h i s
M A R AT H A P E O PL E
word b oth to Y e s b i and to S u y j Pi s al Th latter I t i k ad Khan too k t o the emperor and a s k ed him t o ive i Pisal the price of h i treachery A b S a i j y g g received him graciously but insisted upon h i s adopting Isla m S y ji did so and was made D h m k h of Wai ; but he lived to regret his i famy E ighteen year s late O of his first acts was to put S hahu returned from Delhi to death S y ji Pisal and several o f his f ami l y in rev e nge for the long captivi t y whic h he had h imself endured sworn faith of I t i k d Khan would h ardly have Th shielded Y b i and her son h d she n t found a friend in the emperor s second daugh ter Zi t i Bet w een death of S h ah Jehan and her own deat h in S eptember th h d been the first lady sister J h 1 68 1 A g ib at court S h controlled the emperor s seraglio and bore the title of Begam S ahib or the Princess Royal O h r demise the emperor appointed to the vacant post his second daughter Z i t i who had never married Zi t i greeted Y b i as a sister and adopted prince S h i ji as her son The Maratha chroniclers love to repeat a strange ex p lanation of her kindly conduct In 1 6 6 6 she had as a girl seen S h i ji gallant bearing in the imperial hall at Agra and from that time on had onceived a regard f or the Maratha leader Afterward when S m b h ji as k ed for her hand as the price o f his po s tasy she treated the request as a genuine offer of marriage and thereafter deemed her f aith plighted to the dead k ing In memory of him she treated Y b i as her wi f e and S h i ji as her own child However this may be her help proved of the utmost service to the young k ing The emperor wished to convert t h e boy to I lam but on Zi t i entr e aty agreed to accept i his u
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Pis al is n ot me n tion ed i n th e B ak h ar s b u t is every wh ere bel ieved i n an d repeated Gran t Duf f ri gh tl y ac cepte d th e story Th e M u sul m an descen d an ts of S u ryaji Pis al stil l l ive at Oz ar d e n e ar Wai on good te r ms with th eir Hi n du ki n smen S e e R iyas at vol I p 6 1 7 S e e al so S an ad at p 1 9 5 S an ad s an d Let te rs by P u r u sh ot am M aw ji an d R ao B ah adu r D B P ar as nis S u r yaj i
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G R E AT M O G H U L
TH E
O
F FEN SI VE
71
place K h d n Guj ar a son of P t p Gujar who to save h i master s religion o f fered h imse l f as a convert emperor loo k ed with a kin d ly eye on h i T hereafter t h enemy s son whom h called S ahu or the good one as opposed to his grandfather and fath er whom h always bused as thieves and robbers This nickname S ahu pronounced S hahu t h young king afterwards adopted as h i s royal t i tl s j O t h capture of Raygad all that remained of S h i ji treasure all t h records of the Maratha government the royal h orses and elephants with their state trappings and the golden th rone made by t h great king for his corona tion fell into I t i k d Khan s hands S did a mistress of i g As a reward S m b h ji and h i natural son M d f or this splendid success I t i k d Khan was given the title of Zulfikar Khan and ordered to reduce Panhala Th Maratha commandant was Gh t g of Kagal t h ancestor of both the present chiefs of that name He made a gallant defence He repulsed numerous assaults and so the tale runs he once made so terrible a slaughter of the storming party that he was able to make a platform of their heads and f ire cannon from it into the Moghul trenches At last the mperor w ith la rge reinforcements joined Zulfikar Khan d k for help But the Gh t g wrote to Ramchandra B F inance Minister had no troops to send him and advised his surrender on the best terms he could get O receiving t h is message Gh t g opened negotiations wit h the emperor h i weary of the siege offered to confirm G tg b A g as chief of Kagal and to g ive him a post on the imperial staff with the title of S j G h t g accepted offer and surrendered t h fort ; but to convince t h th an
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ter wards g ave K h an d op Guja r th e d esh m u kh i ri gh t of sixty vil l ages n e a r P a r al i Hi s desce n d an ts stil l profess I sl am al th ough th eir customs an d m an n ers ar e H i n du TM r R ajw ad e h as tried un successfu l l y as I thi n k to refute t hi s story an d to prove th a t th e word S h ah u is a corru p tion of S h ah aji th e boy s re al n ame B u t i n an extan t S an a d give n by S h ah u i n 17 1 0 th e ki n g is referred to as S h i vn arp a ti Hi s na me th erefore cou l d n ever h ave been S h ah aji *
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72
H I S T OR Y O F T H E
M A R AT H A P E O PL E
regent that he meant on t h first c h ance to return to his allegiance he sent to Jinji his brot h ers with all his va l u bles and personal effects The fall of Miraj followe d s h ortly on the fall of Panhala ( April In his strongh old of Vish algad Rajaram h d foresee th at as soon as Panh ala fell the emp eror would lead h i ent ire army to t h s ege of the former fortress T h us t stay at Vishalgad was merely to court capture and a cruel death He held a council of h i chief officers and told them that the time h d come to carry out t h great king strategic plan and leaving Maharashtra to fall bac k on Jinji T h at fortress would be defended to t h last wh il the field army would strike blow after blow at the long line of the emperor s communications Ramchandra B d k would remain in the western Deccan to organise such resistance as was still possible It was a momentou occasion To realise t h e desperate character of t h g t plan the reader must imagine for a moment that the F rench arm y had been beaten on the Marne and that t h F rench government had decided to evacuate F r nce and withdraw to Gibraltar leaving bands of francs tireurs to h arass as best they could the German communications An even closer parallel will perhaps be found in the retre t of t h S ervian army to Corfu and its subsequent advanc from S alonika The Maratha chiefs hesitated as well th ey mi g ht even though R j m plan h d been handed down to him by S h i ji h imself F inally it was settled th at t h garrisons of Vishalgad and of suc h other strong places as still h eld out for t h k ng should be left to defend them Raj aram and h i ch ief officers hould split up into small groups and disg ised as reli g ious pilgrims go on foot from Vishalgad to Jinji Ahead of them went run ers to warn the viceroy Harji M h d i k and Nilo Pingle Moro Pingle s son and now Harji M h d i k lieutenant of th eir comin g so that they could send bodies of cavalry to meet t h em when they reached their neighbourhood O nigh t R j r m with S t ji G h p d D h ji Jadav K h d e
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GR E A T M O G H U L
TH E
O
FF E N S I V E
73
Dabhade P l h d Ni r ji and Khando Ballal C h itni all d ressed as L i g y t pilgrims left Vishalgad fort Th e y clung long as they could to t h S h y d i h ills G oi g due south t h ey halted at S onda Thence th ey went t o B d where the Rani a feudatory of t h Maratha k ing welcomed the fugitives But the news of R j m flight h d reached t h e ears of t h emperor All the imperia l officers in south e rn India were warned and their vigilance commanded S ome of the groups were surprised and killed R ajaram and his party reached Ba galore safely This place as I have already mentioned had fallen int Moghul hands durin g the dispute between Harji M h d ik and K h Pingle ; and a close watch was kept for the Maratha fugitives The royal party halted at the rest h ouse There R j m servants began to was h t h eir master s feet O e servant poured water over them anoth er brough t a towel and got ready to dry them T h d eference paid by t h ese ser ants to Rajaram so inconsistent with the equa l ity of pilgrims aroused the suspicions of some other travellers T h ey were Canarese and began in their own tongue to discuss t h incident and the possibility that the party were political fugitives In t h end they resolved to go to the fort d tell the Musulman commandant their suspicions Happily one of R j m comrades understood Canarese and when the travell ers left the rest house he informed the regent and his companions of their peril The devoted loyalty of Khando Ballal Chitnis found a way of escape The regent he said S t ji Gh p d Dh and K h d Dabhade s h ould go by ji J d route ; P l h d N i ji and one or two o thers should go by another route He one P and the regent s servant i would stay behind and stoutly maintain their character as pilgrims When they h d baffled t h enquiries of the imperial officers they would all meet at a g iven pot The generous offer of Khando Ballal was accepted and the regent and P l h d N i ji left by different ways An hou ra
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74
H I S T OR Y O F T H E
M A R AT H A P E O PL E
lat e r t h e commandant of the fort with a ba d of rmed men came to the rest h ouse and seizing Khando Ballal and the servants began sharply to question them Khando Balla l w ith an assurance as admirable as his d evotion pleaded that he and the three or f our men with him were poor pilgrims t Rameshwar The others w h h d left were chance acquaintances made on the road As their destination was different they had now taken a d ifferent path The commandant still doubted and had Khando Ballal and his companions flogged and then made them stand in the sun with stones on their heads F inally h h d bags full of h t ashes tied over their faces Neith er pain nor fear extorted anyth ing from t h pilgrims The c ommandant began to t h ink that their tale migh t be true H threw them into prison T h ere they refused food on th plea t h at as pilgrims th ey could not eat in confinement Convinced at last of the truth of t heir ple he let them all go In a few days they caugh t up the regent and the rest of t h fu g itives F rom Bangalore onwards no further m ishap befell t h em Near Jinji t h ey met a Maratha force led by Harji M h d i k and Nilo Pingle Th viceroy greeted the regent wit h every mark of respect and escorted him with great p p and ceremony to Jinji which ow became the w capital of the Marathas ( April two
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under S h i ji and S m b h j was relieved of it and creat ed viceroy o f Maharashtra with t h title of Hakumat Panha which implied that within the viceroyalty his powers were equal to the king s The Pant S h i or Accountant General was 3 dk S han k ar Malhar N g The post of Mantri or Home Member was con 4 ferred on S h m ji Pinde The office of S m t or F oreign Minister was 5 given to M h d ji Gadad h ar l P K k was made d i t h a Sh ik 6 g y d given charge o f all ecclesiastical matters The post of S Ny y d i h or Chief Justice was 7 bestowed on N i ji R ji post of S enapati or commander i chie f was 8 Th He had already been appoint t ji G h p d g iven to S ed to t h chief command by Rajaram But h had in the int e rval been guilty of gross insubordination He had been ordered by Ramchandra B d k to raise the sieg of Panhala B t leaving Pan h ala to its fate he had swept along the valley of the T g b h d and finally occupied His intention was to create a sanctuary for h i m G ti self i case Jinji fell As a punishment for t h is d i b d i ence Ramchandra B d k summari l y degraded S t j mb l from his high office and g ave it to M h d ji P a brave but old and unenterprising soldier He had since d ied and Raj aram restored S t ji G h p d to his former command None of the eigh t seats in council was given to P l h d N i ji But Raj aram h d not for g otten his eminent merits He created especially for him the office of P t i i d h i or the king s mirror and gave h i m a prece denc s uperior to seven of the eight ministers d equal to that of t h Peshwa h imself Having thus formed his cabinet Rajaram bestowed a n umber of minor offices and d i g i t i and sent messengers t hro ghout Maharas h tra to announce h i safe arrival at va
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Jin j and his assumption of t h royal title The news of safety and the establishment of the monarchy m R j gave fresh vigour to Ramch andra B d k and those who with him were loyally struggling in Ma h arashtra for the royal cause Ramchandra h d less difficulty in collecting revenue and in obtaining s pplies His chief tas k now wa s the reor g anisation of the Maratha army Its head h t uarters were partly at Jinji and partly in Deccan q But the country between was overrun by Hindu oldiers f all castes deserters from S m b h ji troopers discharged f ro m t h e imperial service or the remnants of the old armies of Bij apur and Golconda They caused some losses to the Mogh uls but far greater losses to the peasantry and by plundering the countryside in the name of the Maratha k ing were ma k ing the name of the Marathas h ateful l l ver southern India The most prominent of the free were two brothers Babaji and R p aji Bh l t b T h ey had once been captains in S h i ji ser ice but had turned marauders and they harried the Moghul posts with merciless perseverance As they and their follow e rs carried no w eapons b t pears t h word Bh l i or pear rule came into use to designate the depredation s of f r elanc e s Ramchandra B d ek managed to attach th brothers to t h royal cause O ther bandits were tw h ted do wn by S t ji Gh o p d e who gave them the c h oice of death or enrolment in R j m s army The emp e r or halted f r a time between two pini ons a mel y w h ther he should rem a in in the Decc a n until h e h a d c onquered fort by fort or whether he should f ollo w R aj a r m to Jinji The wisest c ourse would probably h av e b e e n at on c e to be s iege Jinji But had he don e s t h e whole Deccan would a gain h ve burst into flame O t h e other hand i f h e left Rajaram alone in Jinji the k ing would s oon conquer the whole rich eastern seaboard d m ak e J inji an impregnable stronghold The choice w s a di fficult one The emperor in the end decided to contin e th subjugation of t h e Deccan but at the same time to e
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nd a small force to k eep Rajaram in check until t h e army This e mperor could engage him with his main cheme might hav succeeded but for t h activity o f These enterprising t ji Gh S ji J d p d e and Dh commanders a ided by P l h d Ni ji soon collected fr e sh b odies o f tr p of d raised them to a high stat efficiency When the Moghul force appeared that w to keep in check Rajara m S t ji Gh p d and Dha maji at once attacked and destroyed it J d Relieved of immediate danger Rajaram resolved to send for his wives from Vishalgad to J inji S ince his flight h i t called S g b i by whom h d been living wit h a h had a natural son afterwards well known as Raja Kar a But Y b i in one of her letters from t h Moghul camp urged h i m to send for h i family If he himself led an irregular life he could not restore to t h army the disci pline wh ich it needed It was impossible that the roya l ladies h ould travel across all southern India overrun as it was by soldiers and f l Tarabai moreover had recently given birt h to a son named S h i ji It was t h erefore resolved to send t h em by sea Th e t h queens Tarabai R j b i and Am b i k b i in c h arge of V i ji Prabhu hipped at Y h w t g d on t h Konkan coast and d oubling R ameshw r landed near Pondicherry whence t h ey went by la d to Ji ji There in 1 6 9 3 R j b i gave birth to a son named S m b h ji and Am b i k b i to a daughter who d ied few days later In t h meanti m e for t une h d i l d but coldly the emperor s operations in t h Deccan Th effect of Ramchandra B d k vigorous viceroyalty and of the successes and reorganisation at Jinji was seen in the gallant defences of the Maratha strongholds In t h cold weather of 1 6 9 1 t h emperor it is true reduced S i h g d and P d r but his every movement was harassed by the Maratha h orse After they h d destroyed the detachment sent gainst Jinji R j sent S t ji Gh p d and Dh ji se
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to command the Maratha forces in the Deccan t ji G h first surprised the Moghul garrison t S p d Wai He soon followed up this success by t h recapture of Miraj fort At the same time Rajaram distributed among his nobles large grants of land formerly occupied by These Sh i w in the possession of the emperor ji but ants encouraged the Maratha leaders to equip troops at g their own expense and with them to establish stron g places in the midst of the Moghul possessions Bands of Marat h as appeared in Khandesh S outh Guzerat the Central Provinces and the country now known as the Niz am s Dominions to enforce grants bestowed at Jinji P t k establish ed him self i the valley of Patan and levied Ch t/ and Sd d h all round Wai and K h d Pawar ravaged the m l hi Central Provinces so successfully that R j conferred on h i m the title of V i h w or t h man of trust Atole plundered the valley of the Godavari At t h same time Ramchandra B d k raised large levies from the D h g or hepherds of t h western h ills with which he retook a number of Deccan walled villages At last the emperor saw that so long as any member of S h i ji h ouse i d at large his plans of conquest would never be realised He therefore sent a considerable army under Zulfikar K h an to besiege Jinji The Marathas aw are of his coming tried to bar h i passa ge But Zulfikar Khan was a skilful commander Defeating the Marath as h continued h i march towards Jinji O the way he took several fortified places and at last sat down before the Maratha capital Zulfikar Khan s forces were not large enough to invest Ji nji and it was too strong to be battered down by the Moghul artillery Indeed from t h first he t have perceived that t h capture of that fortress was beyond his resources for h soon entered into a compact with t h arrison that t ere s h ould be no real hostilities between h g t h em His object seems to have been the foundation of independent kingdom on t h death o f t h aged emperor regent readily accepted and observed the compact Th
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A H I S TOR Y OF T H E
80
M A R AT H A P E O PL E
ince it allowed him to send the bulk f h i garrison a s reinforce m ent to t h Decc an In t h year 1 6 9 2 the recapture f Raj gad and Panhala were the most important Marat h a successes As it will be remembered t h great king had in 1 6 4 7 D fortified a h ill called Morbad and had changed its name to Raj ga d During the monsoon of 1 6 8 8 it had been taken by the Mo ghuls d one Abu Khair K h an was appointed its T h fort was a very strong one hardly less c ommandant than P d or S i h g d and probably on that account h d only a slender garrison S uddenly a Maratha force appeared before it and demanded its surrender F iroz Jang had received intelligence of the Maratha moveme ts and at once d t t h d a large contingent to elieve Abu Khair It came too late for the fortress h d alre a dy been betrayed by the craven fears of its governor Dreading an assault i whic h he migh t have perishe d he had surrendered t h fortress on the promise of a safe onduct for himself his family and his property The Maratha general gave him a pass through his lines and proceede d to occupy Raj gad But his sol d iers less relieved Abu Khair of his s crupulous than their master money d clothes and his women of their j ewelry I this plight he met F iroz J g rel i ving colum The justly incensed dismissed him from the army e mperor Me c c a Th a d ordered h i m to go on a pil g rimage to ucce s ful Marath a leader w a S ha k a Nar yan G a d k f Naro Mu k und the heredit ry Kulk a rni He w a t h vill g e countant of G a dapur He took s ervic e a c lerk under Moro Pingle a d after w ard s under R mch nd a B d ek In 1 6 9 2 the viceroy ordered him to raise a corps f Maval infantry Thi s he did with such success that h w rdered to surprise Rajgad My reader s w ill be i terested to learn that he w the ancestor of that loyal nobleman H H the Pant S c h i of Bhor T h e captor of Panhala w another clerk in the service s
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of Ramchandra B d k The story runs t hat in K i h i a mall village in the Wai taluka lived a pious D h th Brahman amed K i h ji He was a devout worshipper o f the goddess Parvati and yearly used to visit A d l where h had an ancient temple As the y ears passed and he gre w too l d for t h journey he pra y ed t Parvati i her temple at Aund h to come and stay near h i m at Ki h i That n i gh t the goddess appeared in a dream to K i h j and promi ed to follow him to K i h i provided t hat on the w y h did not turn round to loo k at her K i h ji promised ; and when he awoke he started to walk b c k to K i h i A he went the go d dess followed him He did not loo k back until he reached t h top of ome hills O vercome by fatigue he sat down and without thinking looked back the way he had come Instantly the goddess changed her form to that of a Maratha woman It chanced that just then a bania came up driving a bullock cart filled wi t h bags of sugar The disguised h oddess asked him w at he had in his bags He rep l ied g that they were full of salt He went on his way but on eaching home found that t h e sugar actually had changed to alt In the meant i me K i h ji rose and resumed h i s march But the goddess no longer followed him Hearing h knew that the t K i h i of the bania s misfortune M aratha woman must have been Parvati and both returned to the pot where they had seen her The bania prayed f ervently to the goddess S h relented and turned his bags of sal t bac k into sugar K i h ji fee l ing sure that P rvati would not go beyond the spo t where he h ad loo k ed back built on it a temple with a wall round it and called it S k h g d or t h F ort of S ugar There he dwelt until his death His piety was rewarded by the birth of a son called Trimbak who as his fat h er had d one spent his life Parvati s service Trimba k had two sons M d h i In 1 6 7 4 when in his fifteenth year d Parashuram P rashuram entered as a lowly paid cler k the service o f There he became the close friend of Nilo de N ilo S av
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82
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amchandra Ni l k t h He ro s e in time to b Afterw rds he received t h e latter s co fidential secr e tary a military command d disti guished h imself by t h e esc lade o f P anh ala F this and many ubsequent f eat s o f arm Rajaram honoured him with the title of S hamshe Bahadur or the S amson of bravery This gallant soldier w s the ancestor of that admirable artist and courtly gentleman the Pant P at i i d h i chief of Aundh In 1 6 9 3 the Marathas destroyed or took a number of detachments S everal o f these actions have been grap h ically descri b ed by Kha fi Khan In turn S t ji Gh p d captured and held to ransom I i l Khan Rustam Khan Ali Mardan Kh an and J i Khan According to the Musulman historian so great w s the terror of h i ame that there was no imperial A ir bold enough to resist d him and every loss he inflicted the imperial forces quake The emperor was at h i wits end and aid in public that Th creature could do othing for everything was in the hands o f God After this con f ession of impotence he decided to relieve Zulfikar Khan f his command i front of Jinji This he did in t h cold weat h er of 1 6 9 3 and ordered Zulfi k ar Khan to ser e under his youngest prince Kam Ba k sh w h om he ent there w ith a fres h army The veteran general was in furiated at h i super sessio Although h and his staff went out with all respect to receive the prince he did his utmost to frustrate his plans and to inflame against h i m the minds of h i s brother fficer He was especially successful in excitin g against K m Baksh J m d t l Mul k who was in charge of t h e civil government of the surroundi g country and Nasrat Jang whose duty it was to collect the revenue Th e y decli ed to recog ise the authority of the prince d took upon themselves to reprimand him for some youthful indiscretion Kam Ba k sh appealed to the emperor but h e S on d e v
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H I S T OR Y O F TH E
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twenty miles nor th o f Jin j lay a Moghul division under Ali Mardan Kh an S t ji Gh p d decided to destroy it before attacking the prince s main army Al i Mardan Khan unused to Maratha warfare moved out to meet h i s enemy At a critical m oment in the fight some e w levies that he h d raised deserted He at once ordered a retreat on Jinj He was soon surrounded and his division with its entire transport arms and equipment fell into the hands of the Marathas Having thus cleared their flanks the Maratha com manders moved to w ards Jinji By th is time the prince exas p erated by t h insubordi ation of Zulfikar Khan and his confederates had in turn begun to listen to R j m envoys T h ey assured h i m that the emperor was on t h point o f death and that i f Ka n Baksh would but join Rajaram the Maratha armies would secure h i m the succession to the imperial throne The ass rances of the envoys were confirmed by the rumours a d the gossip of the d K m Baksh agreed to desert with the troops p upon whom he could most confidently rely F ortunately for the emperor h had shortly before s ent his prime mi ister Asad Khan Zul fi k ar Kh an s father to report on the progress of the siege He came to hear of the plot and informed his son They k ept a careful watch on the prince s movements O e night they noticed unusual preparations in his quarters At the same time the garrison sallied vigorously against other parts f the Moghul lines Certain th at the prince was about to betray his fa t her th ey went to his tents and as k ed the cause f his preparations He replied vaguely that he expected a ight attack and was getting ready to meet it Asad Khan assured him that his information was faulty and sternly directed him to countermand his order The prince seeing th at his treachery had been detected sullenly obeyed In the night Zulfi k ar Khan brought f rom another part of the siege wor k s a large body o f loyal troops and i
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massed th em round Kam B k l quarters Next morning Asad Khan and Zulfikar Khan went on elephants inside the prince s a ana and seizi g his person imprisoned h i m the fort of Bh i d w i be t ter k no w n under its E nglish i orruption W d w h While Zul fi k ar Khan was trying to restore order in the imperial camp S t ji Gh o p d ceaselessly attac k ed it f om without In no long time the besie g ing army was itself besieged d forced to enter into a truce with the garrison The terms were that Zulfikar Khan should retire unmolested to W d w h d await further orders from the emperor Both Asad Khan and S t ji Gh p d pposed the truce The latter was confident t hat in its present state he cou l d take or destroy the entire investing army But Rajara m hoped that the aged emperor would at last make peace and release S h a h u Asad K han d i d t wis h to cease hostilities w i t hou t the e m peror s orders But while he was trying to win over to his own views Zulfikar Kha the imperial artillery m uti ied and forced on h i m the acceptance of the armistice When the e m peror learned that the siege f Jin j had been raised he indi gnantly summo ed to h i presence both Asad Khan and the prince and repri m anded Asad Khan severely The prince he pretended to pardon but sometim e l ter ordered his strict confine m ent He sent Zulfikar Khan reinf rcemen t s and commanded him to renew the siege Th truce had already been broken S t ji Gh who had strongly pposed it was det r p d mi ed to inter p ret it strictly He ma d e no attack on the retreati g Moghul ar m y But when it had reached W d w h he deemed himself freed fro m his obligations Hearing that a Moghul force under Kasim Khan the governor f the Bijapur C t i j was escorting a quantity of supplies to W d w h he resolved to intercept it Gh came up w ith the convoy near C i p k on p d ’
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Palar river Kasi m Khan took shelter beh i d i t s Zul fi k ar Khan hearing of his straits marched t w alls t aji h i relie f a d escort e d him s afely to W d w sh S t t acked d too k u m be r Gh o p d b aulk e d of his prey o f f orts with their Moghul garrison s Zulfikar Kha t o ce turned back retook the fort d entering Tanjore too k f rom S hahaj V y a k ji s son a large indem ity Returning northwards he led out his army from Wa de w ash and renewed the siege of Jinji Unable to cope w ith Zulfi k ar Khan s m ilitary s k ill and the large forces at his disposal S t ji G h p d entered the southern provi ce of Bijapur Th e m peror ordered K asim Khan to inter cept him His recent successful revic t alli g f the Moghul army had turned Kasim Khan s head Near B udh e ri fort twenty five m iles north east of Cl i t l d g he allowed his dvance guard to be surprised He has t ened to their help but was soon himsel f surrounded All that day he fo ght passed the nigh t under arms After a three days a d battle he was driven into D d h i fort which S t ji at once invested The iege lasted a month and the Musulman sol d iers lived on the flesh f their h d baggage camels The Hindus starved or desert d At las t Kasi m Khan poisone d himself and his second in command R h l l Khan pened negotiations w ith the besieging force who had no wish to be encumbered Sa t j Gh p d with prisoners d emanded and btained a promise of seven lakhs of rupees ransom He let the officers ta k e with them their h orses and clothes The soldiers he let ta k e such effects as they could carry The guns treasure a d transport were t h spoils of war S t ji Gh o p d had no sooner dispersed K i Kh an a rmy than he heard of a large Moghul force under Hima t Khan advancing at all speed to Kasim Kh an s relief R aj aram and the Jinji garrison had skilfully delayed its a dv a nce until the other Moghul force h d been rendered harmless He then let it proceed to its dest uction
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P E O PL E
let the regent d o s if some plan could b e c : At t h e d by w hich no blame would rest on him ei d it began t o s ame time he vigorously pressed the siege loo k as if Zulfi k ar Khan would carry the d e f ences w hil e Raj aram was still in the town Khando Ballal w s at h i s wits end At last he thought o f G ji and R m ji S hirk s w h o co m manded the iege wor k s to the sou t h west of Jinji They had escaped f rom the S h i k mass acre d had take service with the e m peror At first they haughtily refuse d any assistance But Khando Ballal would not be rebu ffed He pleaded earnestl y R j m innocence and their own k in hip to the unhappy S y b i the regent s mother At las t G ji and R m ji S h i k e gave way on the condi tion of r e ceivi g a grant of the revenues of Dabhol in th Kon k an They in turn won over certain officers of t h Mohite clan to which R j am eldest wife Tarabai b e lo ged Another helper was found in N g ji Mane He was the son of one Rataji Mane who had held a great c ommand in the Bijapur army w here he had won a high reputa t ion for courage During R t ji lifeti m e his son s hared wi t h his father the favour of t h k ing o f Bijapur But on R t ji death N g ji quarrelled with the Bijapur cour t and entered the Delhi service He now commanded f ive thousand horse opposite the western gate of Jinji Khando B l l l s plan w that N g ji sh ould ma k e a f e i g ned attack on the western gate In the confusion Rajara m and his attendants should es c ape to the S h i k e s l i nes Zulfi k ar Khan approved the plan and it was c arri e d t The s ame night N g ji Mane attack ed the w s tern gate and Rajaram fled t his k i s e camp Ne x t morning the S h i k pretended to go on a hunting e x pedition With them they too k the regent and his a ttendants di s g uised as huntsmen ight of the O t of Moghul army they galloped to a spot fifteen miles a way a gr
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89
where a large Maratha f orce commanded by Dh ji J d waited for th e fugiti e Dh ji too k charge of R j m s person and escorted him to Vellore There S t ji Gh o p d joined them with his division and after som e sk irmishes with Moghul horse t h regent r e ached Vishalga d m in December flight Harji M h d i k s O R j son too k command of the garrison But the igour of Z lfi k ar Khan s at t ac k s soo af t erwards carried the oute walls In Jan ary 1 6 9 8 Daud Khan ca e by chance t learn of a path through a small wood up t h side of the fortress S obe for the moment he examined it d w ithout in f or m i g Zul f i k ar K h an decided to storm it He joined with h i m in the enterprise a Rajput chief called D lp t The garrison thought the assaul t t be o ly one of Daud Khan s drunken outbreaks and paid little heed to it until D l p t o had carried the main defences The But the Moghul forces w g arrison f led to the cita d el l l si d es and the citadel surrendered e ntered the town on to Zul fikar Khan A he had previously pro m ised to do he handed over R j am wives and their t w sons to t h who arranged for their return to the western Sh i k Deccan ended the great iege of Jinji S storm f the fortress it might E n d ing as it did by t h see m that the emperor had been the gainer in the struggle The contrary h owever was the case By the time Jinji had f allen its iege h d eaten deeply into the resource of the empire Th Maratha troops had repeatedly shewn themselves equal or superior to Moghul rmies Th sanctuary created by the g reat k ing had done its work The endless ch ain of the Moghul communications h d been strained to brea k ing point Th time was at hand when the Maratha counter o ffensive mig h t be gin an a
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H I S TO R Y OF TH E
M A R AT H A P E OPL E
che m e of conquering all India in the very hour of i t consummation ? Where the infidels to deride the crowned the moment of V ictory ? The empero s aint of Isla m i had it is true passed the allotted pan of human existence But was that t a sign that t h Almigh ty was prolo ging his life that he might win the goal which Asad Khan w urged h i m to abandon ? The emperor was shrewd enough to guess the m otive of the military chiefs But with senile obstinacy he clu g to his hope to bring as Alauddin had done all India be eath the canopy of Del h i Asad Kh a however pre vailed him to pen negotiations But the loyal Rajara m asked for the liberation of S ha h u before he would cease operati ns Th emperor l ost his temper at this t reasonable de m and and gladly made it an excuse to d ismiss rudely the Maratha envoys He was confirmed in his iews by an event that too k place about this time namely the murder of S t ji G h p d F or a long time pas t there had been a feud between this distinguished soldie m ig R j and D h ji J d It began early t ji G h w hen S p d was promoted to the c h ief command pite of claims which to Dh ji at any rate seemed i superior S long as P l h d N i ji l ived h i high i fluence and charact r curbed the passions of the angry captains But in 1 6 9 7 during the S iege of Jinji P l h d Ni ji had incurred the d ispleasure of the regent and broken hearted by his rebuke had gone on a pilgrimage to Pandharpur and had commi t ted suicide before the hrin e of Krishna P l h d N i ji control removed Dh ji J d resolved to destroy h i rival At this time S t ji Gh at the head of a f orce numbering twenty five p d thousa d men was m p d l so m e eighteen to twenty miles south f Bijap r F iroz Jang with a l a rge body of Moghuls was advanci g against him from the north When till four or five marches away he heard of D h ji J d s
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intentions He at once pressed forward to pro fit by t h In the very presence q uarrels of the Maratha generals o f the ene m y D h ji J d attacked S t ji Gh p d s f orce The latter s strict d iscipline and cruel punishment had m ade him unpopular w i t h his officers and m O ignal the bulk of t h em deserted to Dh ji a concerted western hills f o l lowed S t ji fled alone into t h J d by F iroz Jang on one ide and on the other by his own troops and D h ji J d army He might have escaped but for the tireless pursuit of N g ji Mane A will be remembered N g ji Mane had helped Rajaram to escape from Jinji and thereafter he had deserted the Moghul cause He was by birth the d e h m k h or hereditary revenue officer of M h w d and he had a bitter private f eud with S t ji G h p d As a punishment for so m e military ffence S t ji had ordered N g ji Mane s brother to be tra m pled to death by an elephant This act N g ji either forgot nor forgave When the others gave up t h e Mane relentlessly pursued the fugitive S t ji c hase thinking that he had sha k en off his enemies dismounted to bathe himsel f and his horse in a small stream As he bathed N g ji Mane and his men came upon h i m and k illed him Mane cut f f the dead man s head and putt ing it in a b g tied the bag to his saddle meaning to take it to Dh ji J d a As he rode the b g became unfaste ed It was picked up shortly after a d fell to the ground wards by some of F iroz J g scouts who pened it and recognised the head as that of S t ji G h o p d They c arried it bac k to F iroz Jang who sent it by a messenger to A The l tter was delighted and gave the g ib m esse ger the ti t le o f Khush Khabar Khan or lord among The head was paraded by t h e bearers of glad tidings f b eat of drum through the army and through several the chief towns of the Deccan S a t j death was a great l oss to the Maratha cause F or seven y ears he had been e
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A H I S T OR Y O F T H E
94
M A R AT H A P E O PL E
terror of t h Moghul armies d s great was the f ar t hat prev a iled among t h em both o f him and of Dha maji Jadav that t h e Mu s ulman troopers use d when their horses r e f us e d to drink to as k them whe t her they saw the face o f S t j o of Dh ji in the water The emperor greatly encouraged by the deat h of t h is brilliant soldier devoted himself more zealously than ever to the subjugation o f the western Deccan He determined to take one by one the Maratha forts ; and having driven the Maratha troops into the plains to overwhelm them in th open Had this strategy been adopted earlier it might have succeeded But the imperial troops had been weakened by death and disease discharges and desertions that they did not w g reatly outnumber the f orces f the regent Ca p tured fortresses needed garrisons to hold them and the creation of garrisons meant the further diminution of t h i m perial army During the iege of Jinji t h emperor h d been compelled in order to reinforce Zulfikar Kha to reduce to a dangerously low number his army in the Decca The result was that a number of Deccan for t s h d passed into Maratha hands I have already mentioned the recapture in 1 6 9 2 of Rajgad and Panhala b y S h ankar Na rayan G d k and Parashuram Trimbak In the following year 1 6 9 3 S hankar Narayan too k Torna and R h i d close to R ajgad and occupied effectively t h country between t h ese forts S i d h ji Gujar the Maratha S k h l or admiral took S and Vij aydurg on h Konkan d t e g coast O S i d l ji death the regent conferred t h post and title of S k h e l on K h ji A g re The original name of the Angres was S angpal and t h ey claimed app ar e ntly w ith justice that they were of pure Raj p ut descent K h ji father T k ji h d been a sailor in t h Great Ki g s fleet d K h oji had from boyhood served in t h M r a tha navy He c aptured the Kolaba district from the Aby s sinia s d in course of time recovered a l a rge part of the Ko kan seaboard Vish lgad was reta k en by Parashuram Trimbak After R j am flight the sie g e th e
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96 “
M A R AT H A P E O PL E
Ramchandra said in a g rave clear 0 c During y o r Highness absence f rom Maharashtra we so f ar s our humble powers permitted guarded and administered your possessions N w w ith your leav we return to you your k i gdom The regent ack nowle d ged the viceroy s peech by praising the man er in which he had discharged the He lauded the s ervices of d uties of his high office d P t k Atole Dabhade Pawar and distributed to them and to others dresses of honour suited to thei rank and achievements He then disclosed to the council his plans He meant to l t the emperor wear out his army besiegi g the Deccan f ortresses while he and h i s lieutenants invaded with large bodies of horse the Moghul territories f urther than they had been invaded for many ye rs Thus while the emperor was trying to destroy his bases the Marathas would retaliate by destroy ing his The enemy s po w er is weakened co cl uded Raj aram our troops no longer fear to meet the emperor s O task is reaching its close By the blessing and m erit o f my father the d ivine S hiv n f ort ne w i l l crown our fforts w ith victory He then raised Ti m aji H m a t e d t H m t son of J to the o ffice of P t i i d h i p an d appointed Ramchandra B d ek to his old post o f A m t y or F inance Minister Both sides were anxious to strike the first blow But A preparations were hindered by the x t di g ib nary rise of t h Bhima ri er F or some years past he had e stablished his headquarters at Brahmapuri It had been f ortified as became the residence of the e m peror and his h i gh o fficers had built t h emselves costly and luxuriou s houses I the mo soon of 1 6 9 9 the Bhima river which flowed past Brahmapuri rose to an unprecedented height and overflowing its ban k s caused immense loss to the imperial army Between ten and twelve thousand men p erished ; vast quantities of horses and cattle tents arm s a d equipment were swept a way by the raging river I d espair the emperor wrote on s craps o f paper verses from v
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the Koran and with his own hand threw them into the water When in due course the Bhima subsided his courtiers ascribed its fall to the holy erses thrown into it While A g i b Koran in hand was thus battling with the elements the Maratha counter of f ensive began death Rajaram had appointe d t ji Gh O S p d to the chief command As before the Dh aji J d Maratha arm y was form ed to three divisions Dh ji J adav in addition to his supreme command led one division Parashuram Trimbak led the second and S han k ar Narayan led the third E arly in 1 6 9 9 Raj aram too k the field with the combined divisions a m ounting at least to sixty thousand men ; and as the ar m y advanced northwards it was joined B l by brigades under P i h the f ounder of the e j l Bh house of Nagpur H i b t o Nimbal k ar N m ji S india and Atole This mighty force moved towards the Godavari valley The Moghul garrisons who tried to resist were overwhelmed Dha maji J d de f eated one large body of imperial troops near Pandharpur S han k ar Narayan cleared ano t her contingent under S arz e Khan out of the Poona district E ntering the valley of the Godavari Rajaram publicly proclaimed his right to levy from it the h th and the d h m k h i the taxes of fi th and th which S h i ji h d created F rom those villages that could not pay bonds were taken F rom the Godavari valley Rajaram marched into Khandesh and Berar This time he came not as a mere raider ; and to convince the l habitants that he would give them protection and exercise sovereignty he divided the country into military districts and left in them strong detachments under distinguished generals K h d o Dabhade took command in Baglan and northern Nasik P ji Bh l was made governor of Berar N m ji S india governor of Khandesh and H i b t o Nimbalkar governor of the valley of the Godavari Rajaram himself led a large body of cavalry to plunder the rich ,
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A H I S T O R Y O F T H E M A R AT H A
98
P E O PL E
city o f Jalna some miles south east of A After gb d the departure of the regent N m ji S india won an import ant success near N d b a large town some eighty miles east of S urat Hearing that a Maratha army was in the neighbourhood a Moghul commander called Hussein Ali Kh an with seven or eight hundred horse and three thousand foot went out with more courage than prudence to meet it The Moghuls fought well but they were S i dia fixed their ransom at s urrounded and captured two la k hs o f rupees Hussein Ali Khan managed to find among his f riends security for one lakh and eighty thousand Twenty thousand rupees remained still t standing He begged the help f the merchants of But relying on a Moghul garrison the b N d merchants re fused to pay anything to the Marathas eithe as ransom or tribute Hussein Ali Khan found an ingeniou way out of his dif ficulties He induced S india to release him on parol that he might enter N d b and person ally interview the reluctant traders S india was then to besiege the town Two days a f terwards Hussein Ali K han would open the gates to the Marat h as E verything happened as Hussein Al i Khan planned He found shelter inside N d b and Opened the gates to the Maratha army He then led S india to the houses of t h chief merchants and too k an active part in torturing them until they disgorged their treasures S e ffective was the joint action of the Moghul and Maratha commanders that instead of twenty thousand they soon extorted from the rich men of N d b a hundred and seventy thousand rupees Of these S india took a hundred and forty thousand Hussein Ali Khan was allowed to keep the remainder himself In the meantime the emperor had begun his new campaign Leaving a garrison at Brahmapuri wh ich he renamed I l m p i he led out his grand army in O ctober 1 6 9 9 to reduce the Maratha strongholds His first object w V s a large fort between the Krishna and Koyna tg d u r an
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P E OP L E
the god S h iva and called it Y t e h w or the god of the bamboo trees The temple is still to b seen and both it and the mountain on which it stands are familiar to residents in S atara as Y t s h w The fort however was only provisioned for two months and must have yielded f rom hunger had the Ma r athas not f ound an ally in the corruption of the emperor s son Azim S hah Directly he had realised the emperor s design Parashuram Trimbak had thro wn himself into Parali only six miles away By means of large bribes he persuaded Azim S hah to let convoys of food d munitions pass from Parali into S atara At the same time clouds of Maratha horse circled con l y round the besieging army U nable to red ce ti S atara by famine and threatened with scarcity himself A g i b tried to make a breach in the fortifications F rom a radius of several miles he attracted labourers to his camp by offering them a gold coin for every bas k et of earth they removed When two of the borings had reached a sufficient depth they were filled with explosives A large storming party was held in readiness and a number of guns trained on the fort to support their attack In order to attract the garrison to the spot where the mines would explode the emperor dec k ed himself in his state robes and j ewels and accompanied by a splendid retinue had himself carried on a portable throne below t h north east corner o f the fort The garrison including t h commandant P y gji P h e thinking the procession to be some religious celebration crowded to the edge Instantly the first mine was fired A vast mass of stone rose in the air carrying with it two hundred of t h garrison U nder cover of the smo k e and confusion and the fire of their own batteries the t m i g p t y climbed up the hill When they were half way up the second mine was fired and the emperor hoped that its explosion would open a further breach for the attac k ing force U f t the mine exploded in the wrong direction t el y Q uantities of great boulders rose i the air but falling to
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out w ards showered on the heads o f the unhappy Moghuls The entire storming party was swept away S ome two thousand were buried nder the falling stones Hundred o f others were s hot down by the garrison Greatly cheered by this success the garrison loo k ed for their commandan t He had been sitting under a tree near the north eastern bastion and had been blown up when the first mine ex By great good luck some roc k s as they fell p l d ed formed an arch over his body He was able to call his men who after considerable labour dug him out unhurt The loss of his storm ing party as the Maratha chroniclers relate so enraged the emperor t h at lo s ing his usual self command he ordered his l p h t d all his transport cattle to be killed and the i r bodies piled up outside the walls as stepping stones by which his army might climb into the fort Asad Khan however persuaded him to countermand thi s ridiculous order and hinted that a better way would be to censure Azim S hah and make him stop his treacherous compl isance with the enemy A g i b recovered his self control and sending for A im S hah repriman d ed him so severely on the want of discipline that allowed convoys to pass through his lines that the prince saw that further treachery was impossible He accordingly wrote to Parashuram Trimbak warning him that in future he woul d seize all supplies meant f or the besieged This warni g was communicated by P ash ram Trimbak to P y gji P h No sooner had t h e commandant heard it than he received other and still more depressing information This was the sudden death of the regent After holding out for a wee k or two longer P y gji opened negotiations O the 2 i t April 1 7 0 0 he surrendered the fort Although provisioned for only two months it had stood a siege of six The gallantry o f its defence had f oiled the emperor s design of reducing in the dry season the Maratha forts and of attack ing during the monsoon R j m unprotected armies ,
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Nevertheless heartened by the news of the regent s death which he proclaimed every where by beat of drum i To soothe A g b at once moved against Parali feelings hurt by the recent reprimand and to A im Sh h stimulate him to more vigorous eff rts in the coming siege A g i b changed the name o f S atara to Azim Tara or star of Azim S h ah He also announced that t h whole credit of its fall was d to the tireless efforts o f of his gallant son O the March to Parali the emperor boasted to his soldiers that now Rajaram was dead his arms would soon overcome the regent s helpless widow and children ’
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mentioned in the last chapter Rajaram had ta k en with him a l arge force to attack Jalna His march was t f irst successful He plundered the city and then set it on fire E ntering the Godavari valley he plundered Paithan Bhid and other towns along the ri er ban k s F earing to penetrate further east h turned bac k meaning to deposit his plunder within the walls of S i h g d He had no sooner turned than he was surprised and defeated by Zulfi k ar Khan That talented captain had in a series of s k ilfully fought actions worsted repeatedly Dh ji J d and had d riven the Maratha tr 0 ps out of south eastern India He then hastened north west and inflicted on R j m army a severe reverse The regent f ell bac k with all speed but he never shook off t h e Moghul pursuit In this disastrous retreat the regent s resource and courage alone saved his army Although half dead with fatigue he f ought for fifty miles a continuous series of rear guard actions and at last brought his command reduced but not destroyed to the welcome s h elter of S i h g d Unhappily the hard ships and exposure aggravated a weakness of R j m s lungs contracted a t Jinji He at first seemed in good spirits at the fortunate end of his enterprise received modestly the congratulations o f Ramchandra B d k and the other ministers But after some days high fever set in with frequent hemorrhages Knowing that his end was near he called to his bedside his ministers and forgetful of his own sufferings he commanded them not As
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H I S T O R Y OF T H E
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to relax their e ff ort s i t h e war o f liberation until King S hahu had been freed and the Moghul driven from t h e land of t h e Maratha He raised Ramchandra B d ek t o t h e pre s idency of the council and bade the othe mi ister s be guided by the old t t m wisdo m and Then dismissing them he composed his mind e xperien c e met death w ith the firmness with wh ich h e had so a d o f ten f aced h i s enemies ( 5 t h March 1 7 0 0 F al g W d y n
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nglish historian s have united in praising the placable temper the regular li f e and the Open h anded generosity of Rajar m B t h e has been charged with complicity in the murder of S t ji Gh p d e The only original seen that f astens on Rajaram a a uthority that I have that gallant soldier s death is S cott s Deccan s hare in But the Mus lman historian therein translated has explained that S t ji Gh o p d e according to the regent s in f orma tion entered into a treaso able plot against him This t ji previous conduct w s ot u li k ely in vie w of S Nor did the time s allow of f ormal investigation Thus at be s aid tha t Rajaram actin g on evidenc e m o s t it c a b e f ore him ord e red S t j execution But there is no r e aso to s uppose that thi s hi s torian is correct Kha fi Kh n a far more reliable a uthority has laid no blam e th e H e h as ascribed the general s murder to o e gent th e mity of D h a ji J d and Nagoji Mane This iew d rive s s upport f rom the fact that these o fficers made a c ommon cause w ith t h e Moghul F iroz Ja g a course whi c h Rajaram would certainly not have tolerated It m ay b e urged th a t the regent hould at least have punishe d Dh a Against a settled government this charge ji J d wo ld h ave had some weight But in times as dif ficult t h os e i which Rajar m ruled it is impossible to expe t p r f ec t ju s tic e Rajaram had just lost h i best general To h v e puni s h e d Dh a ji J d as he d e served would h ave involved the los s of the only other Maratha captai wh h d s o f ar shewn himsel f of outstanding ability whose E
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this would ta k e several hours and the sun was low on the horizon But confident in her powers as a ti Am b i k b i put a twig on the ground and forbade the shadows to pass ver it until she had fulfilled her vow Obedient to her command the sun stood still in its course until the wood from Malkapur had arrived and the pyre had been built Then taking in her hands a favourite turban of her husband h entered the pyre and with unflinching courage burnt herself to ashes Tarabai the chief queen of the dead regent shewed a summoned a Sh d ifferent but no less ardent spirit council of state on be h alf of her son S h i ji and demanded his recognition as k ing of the Marathas Ramchandra protested that the true king was S hahu on B d k wh ose behalf Rajaram had ruled S h i ji could not have inherited from his father a better title than his fat h er had possessed At the same time he readily agreed to serve under Tarabai as re g ent for K ing S hahu But the high spirited Tarabai impatiently brushed aside his objections and insisted th at her son S h i ji should be crowned as k ing He i s the S h i ji she added of whom t h pro ph y runs that he will conquer all India from Attoc k to to R m h w m had already won to her son s Sh cause Parashuram Trimbak and S hankar Narayan who appreciated the advantage of serving a present rather than an absent king no matter how strong t h latter s laim Relyi g on their support Tarabai reduced T m j Raghunath from the office of P r t i i d h i and gave it to Parash uram Trimba k who had already held it for a short time in 1 6 9 8 S h reduced S hankar Malhar from the post of Pant S h i and gave it to S hankar Narayan G d k The other ministers r w d by h vigour agreed to Sh i ji coronation E arly in 1 7 0 1 the child was crowned with the customary splendour at Panhala and married to Bh w i b i a daughter of the house of Gh t g At t h ame time Tarabai threw her wife R j b i and her son S m b h ji into prison sa
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While this question of state was being settled the emperor had ta k en Parali It had been fo tified and provisioned b y Parashuram Trimbak and according to the Maratha chroniclers it received supernatural aid from the spirit o f the dead saint Ramdas The vulgar belief had been that he was the incarnation of the monkey god M t i who had h elped the divine Ramchandra in the conquest of Lanka S ent by the dead saint crowds of mon k eys hastened to the defence o f Parali and hurled down rock s on the besieging Moghuls Nor were they the only aid that the Marathas received f rom the animal kingdom Clouds of wasps flew round the Moghul storm ing parties and maddened them with their stings However this may be an attempt by F ateh U lla Khan the general in command of the sie g e perations to carry the place by escalade failed d isastrously Th scaling ladders were d t ps perished y d } and three hundred picked tr But it was o part of P m policy to sustain a h lengthy siege All he wished to do was to engage the imperial army until the rains fell when the monsoon would he knew cause it greater losses than any he and his garrison could inflict He waited until t h monsoon had burst He t h en removed from Ramd as temple the saint s images of Rama and S ita sealed the saint s shrine and skilfully evacuating P rali fell back on W t a great fortress in the Koyna valley ( June The emperor garrisoned Parali and pleased w ith its comparatively speedy fall renamed it Nauroz Tara or the star of the new day His pleasure however was short lived Th U m d i or Breast breaker river which runs past the foot of Parali came down with the violence which has given to it its name and destroyed quantities of baggage and animals But when the army reache d the Krishna a dis ster § of the first magnitude occurred S violent was ,
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H I S T OR Y OF T H E
M A R A T H A P E O PL E
the current that A a g i b s rear guard was com pletely cut off Nine out of ten of those who tried to swim t h e Krishna were drowned The remainder staye d on t h e further ban k without food or shelter They perished to a A m g i b and the bul k o f the army reached W d h g d in afety There the emperor justly attribut ing the sufferings of his troops to the corruption and treachery of his son Azim S hah relieved him o f his com mand and appointed him governor of U jjain When the rain had abated the emperor led his army o t of t h e hills and camped at K hawasp ur on the banks of the Man river There he sent for reinforcements from Burhanpur Bijapur Haidarabad and Hindustan But even at Khawas pur t h unhappy Moghuls were not free from misfortune The rainfall at Khawaspur is as a l l i gh t But unluckily in O ctober 1 7 00 the rains fell W ith unusual violence and the Moghul camp was inundated by the sudden rise of a torrent which passed close to it Numbers of soldiers and o f transport cattle perished and the emperor who was in dj bed with a sore foot was with some difficulty With senile obstinacy A g i b continu ed to besieg e His next objective was Panhala t h e Maratha f ortresses This f ortress as it will be remembered had in spite of gallant defence been taken by the Moghuls and Gh t g afterwards recovered by Parashuram Trimba k Th once more laid siege to it Dha maji J d e mperor harassed in the usual Maratha w y the besieging army h m But P tactics were now adopted by the com mandants o f all the forts After a two months siege during which the garrison inflicted as much loss as they could on the investing army they cut their way through it d on the 2 8 t h May 1 7 0 1 abandoned to the emperor the empty f ortress In the same year the emperor won the barren glory of reta k ing Chandan Wandan ne r S tara He met however a more vigorous resistanc ur
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government Tarabai had inherited the military talent and energy f h father H m b i Mohite With the tireless vigour wi t h whic h Hera strove to rouse agains t Priam the princes f Hellas the Maratha queen flew from camp to camp and fortress to fortress Living the life f a common trooper exposed to t h sun sleeping on the groun d Tarabai was everywh ere encouraging her officers planning campaigns organizing victories Nor did the soldier s resent her interference S clear was her vision so unerring her ju d g m ent that she w equally welcome on the battlefield and in the counci l chamber ; and in no short time the Maratha counter ffensive at first halting and ineffective began to threaten the very heart of the Moghul empire Nor could the invaded provinces ffer any resistance The emperor to reinforce his grand army had left behind only feeble garrisons and had disarmed the landowners to prevent th em rebelling against the garrison F inding nowhere any organised pposition Marathas ceased to be mere raiders E verywhere th th at their armies penetrated they created permanent administrations for the collection of revenu e “ E verywhere could be found their agents their bh d and their In t h year 1 7 0 5 two Maratha armies K m wisd multaneously crossed the Narbada O led by N m ji S india forced the Vindhya mountains and ravaged Central In d ia as far as S j some fifty miles north of Bhopal The other led by K h d Dabhade turning aside from f the wealthy S urat and Broach threatened the whole viceroyalty f Guzera t The Moghul government sent from Ahmadabad one Mahome d Beg Khan at the head of thirteen or fourteen t h ousand regular horse and a levy f ten thousand K l i or hillmen But Mahomed Beg Khan was no match for the experienced Maratha commander F irst Dabhade sent a few squadrons to meet Mahomed Beg s army Mahomed Beg thought them to be the entire force w ith which he had to deal and attacked them with twenty thousand men The Maratha troopers fled at their s
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approach leaving as they fled some led h orses a few spears and umbrellas Mahomed Beg Khan congratulated himself and his men on their easy victory and collected triumphantly the spoils f war As t h day grew warmer th conquerors camped on the banks f the Narbada ; t h ey unsaddled their horses laid asi d e their arms and wer e soon asleep dreaming of t h eir recent tri mp h S uddenly eight thousand Maratha horse whose spies h d been watching the Moghul movements burst on the u prepared enemy A wild panic seized Mahomed Beg and his troops The whole mass fled hoping to put between them and the enemy the Narbada river But a strong tide was sweepin g up the estuary and men and horses were d rowned by thousands Th e remainder were cut down by the Marathas Before evening the Mogh ul army had ceased to exist and Guzerat as f a north as Ahmadabad was plundered by Kh d Dabhade These continual disasters broke the spirit of the i m perial soldiery Worn out by twenty years of war they could only if led by Zulfikar Khan be made to face the Maratha horse O the Moghul side were slackness disorganisation and dismay O the Maratha side was t h e confidence born of repeated success Indeed so great had become the contempt f the Marathas for the aged emperor that to m ock the Musulmans who every F riday ffered up i prayers in A name the Maratha captains also g b ordered their own men every F riday to offer up prayers to heaven to prolong indefinitely the li f e of one who pposed them so f b l y j At last on the representations Of i his Officer A youngest son Kam Ba k sh who g b not long before had been released from cap tivity btained his father s leave to open negotiations with Dh ji J d i As Rajaram had done J d demanded as a preliminary ,
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ondi t ion t h release o f S hahu The king was to be e trusted to Kam B k sh s care and led by him to the Maratha camp where he would receiv and c onfer with the Maratha leaders Thereafter the latter would present themselves before A g i b and receive recognition o f the right of the Maratha government and levy h th and d h m l h i ver the southern provinces of the empire N O less than seventy invitations to Maratha fficers had been written when the emperor bro k e f f negotiations Taught by f his son b itter experience he mistrusted the good faith d formed the belief that the negotiations were only a screen for his impending treachery It was the prince s intention to join with S hahu the Marathas and with their aid to depose A f Del h i g i b and usurp the throne The emperor dismissed the Maratha envoys recalled his and leavi g the Maratha country led his grand army ow t the siege f W k i k After the fall f Bijapur the Moghul generals reduced the fortresses owned by S ikandar Adil S hah O f these S agar between the confluence of the Bhima and the Krishna was held by one Pem Nai k the chief f a wild tribe called B d a name which the Musulman historians c orrupted into B d or fearless ones O the approac h of the Moghul army Pem Nai k at once submitted and presenting himself at court was raised to the ran k of a commander of five thousand But the savage hieftain oon pined for his own wild highlands and asked for and O btained leave to go to W k i k a walled village fifteen miles from S agar O his dea t h shortly afterwards Pi y Nai k setting aside the claims f Pem Naik s son lso called Pem Naik succeeded to the headship f the Berad tribe He presented himself at court was giv en a command of five thousand and did excellent service under R h ll Khan at the siege f Raichur After the fall f that place he withdrew to W k i k and fortifying it became a robber chief He collected round him fourteen e
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sight o f the garrison led the Hindu sepoys to admit him Inside the f ort he made no attempt to hide but built hi m self a straw shed wherein he lived on so harsh a diet that he convinced the Moghul commandant that he w indifferent to the thi gs of this world and cared on l y for his w future in the next With careless contempt the Moghul let the anchorite roam as h would By money and eloquence Anaji artfully corrupted the Hindu soldiers among the garrison At the same time he k ept in constant touch with Parashuram Trimbak until one night the latter at the head of a storming party took S atara by escalade and put the garrison t o the sword A few days later Parashuram Trimbak took Parali by es calade This was the signal f or a great religious rejoicing Ramdas images were brought b ack in triumph from Of Rama and S ita W s t and Ra m das own shrine was Opened and purified About the same time as S atara and Parali were r ta k en retook S i h g d Rajgad and d k S han k ar Narayan G i f Torna Having thus robbed A b the fruits g of his recent campaig the Maratha ca ptains concentrated Pi y their divisions in the neighbourhood f W k i k e Nai k had made a gallant defence and from guns f every calibre had fired cannon balls and showered rockets on the Moghul lines Nevertheless the emperor pressed the siege with vigour and seemed on the point f taking when he was compelled to meet a general W ki k attac k by Dh ji J d at the head of largely increased forces Dh ji J d and several other Maratha leader had in 1 7 0 3 entrusted their wives to P i y N i k keeping They now f ormed a bold scheme for their rescue The Maratha army pressed home a vigorous attac k on the besiegers and were with difficulty beaten f f During t h battle a body of three thousand horse cut their way through the investing lines and into the fort There they mounted the generals wives on spare horses and once more cut their way out In spite Of this success the emperor s progress continued so the Berad chief had ,
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1 15
course to a ruse His brother S m S hankar presented himself at the Moghul headquarters and asked forgiveness for P i y Naik d a week s truce His erring brother so S m S hankar said had gone m d and jumped from the fort walls If nothi g was heard of him at the end f a wee k he S m S hankar would surrender The week passed and a small force un d er M h t h m Khan entered Wa k in kera to take possession f it in the emperor s name But the shriek s and screams f B irya s mother for her missing son so distressed the new commandant that for several days he did not dist rb her possession At last he insisted that she should hand over the citadel The l d lady with streaming eyes consented but prayed that S om S han k ar should be sent bac k from the Moghul lines as he alone kne w Wh ere his brother had buried his treasures Her prayer was granted and S m S hankar returned N sooner h d he done so than B irya Naik emerged from hiding seized M h t h m Khan and the men with him and once more closed the gates in the face of the enemy The delay gained by the arts f B irya S m S hankar and their mother had enabled fresh bodies of Marathas to join Dh order d Zulfikar K han to i e b ; so A ji J d g hasten to him with all available reinforcements The arrival of this talented comman d er restored confidence in the investing army and once again the siege progressed Zulfikar K h an skilfully seized the wells on which the garrison depended and following up this success he pushed hi trenches so near the main works of the fortress that the emperor fixed the following day for a general assault B irya Naik realised that W k i k was no longer tenable He left three thousand pic k ed troops with orders to defend the walls to the last With the rest of his army he left fortress by a number of secret tunnels which he had th dug for such an emergency and joined D h ji J d Wh en Zulfikar K han next day made his way into Wa k in kera over the bodies of B irya Naik s rearg ard he found o
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an empty for t ress ( 2 7 t h April The g ns had been destroyed the provisions burnt and everything o f value ta k en away by the fleeing garrison The emperor a ffected to be pleased by the f all of W k i k and renamed it Rahman Ba k sh or the g i f t l f the Merciful O But the e s cape Of P i y Nai k following as it did the loss Of S atara Pa ali Raj gad S i h g d Torna and Panhala for the cap tur e f which he had sacrificed his grand army preyed on his mind He fell seriously ill and for ten or twelve days his life was despaired of He recovere d but he knew himsel f a beaten man He had b t one desire and that was to withdraw safely his army and hi m self from the cou try which he o longer hoped to conquer ( D ecember u
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train was ta k en Indeed had Dh ji J d pressed h i uccess h could have captured A himself But i b g when the Marathas had cut their way to the emperor s bodyguards the near presence and pomp Of majesty so overawed them that they did not dare advance TO this ircumstance alone A g i b owed his escape from their arms At last t h e walls Of the great fort built by Ahmad Niz am S hah offered a kindly refuge to the war worn autocrat T w enty one years be f ore he had camped th re con fident that in a few months time he would lik e Ala d din have a d ded all southern India to his dominion He reached it now in January 1 7 0 7 bankrupt in hopes and power his army shattered his treasury empty conscious that his sons were but waiting for his death to begin anew the struggle for the Del h i throne All around him were Maratha armies led by D h ji J d N m ji S india and U d ji Pawar and for a time it seemed that even Ahmadnagar could not long protect him Happily for A g i b he had with him I k l Khan the son f that S heikh Nizam H id b d i who had shared with his father the credit of capture I k l Khan who had been honoured S m b h ji by the ti t le f K han Alam or lord of the known world reorganised the troops dismissed such fficers as had particularly disgraced themselves and inspired in the cowering fragments of the grand army some f his own courage E arly in F ebruary 1 7 0 7 h led a Moghul force out f the shelter of Ahmadnagar and inflicted a severe reverse on Dh ji Jadav The respite thus gained enabled i b Zulfi k ar Khan to effect a junction w ith A The g arrival of t h is able soldier restored f or a time at any rate the Moghul fortunes He was at once put in chie f command and I k l Khan sent to guard Central India Zul fikar Khan stored his baggage in Ahmadnagar fort and organised a strong flying column With it he pursued D h ji Jadav and driving him first across the Bh ima and then across the Krishna encamped at Miraj an a
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But a more powerful foe than any Maratha leader had risen up against A About the 1 5 th F ebruary g ib 1 7 0 7 the emperor was attacked by fever He aggravated his illness by unceasing prayers ; and although he shewed himsel f daily to his fficers they could see on h i s t nance the stamp of death Hamid d din Khan who in spite of h i recent cowardice in the field really loved his master sought counsel o f some Hindu astrologers They after the manner of their k ind prescribed that A g ib should give in charity a rich jewel and a royal elephant The emperor contemptuously wrote on the bac k Of the prescription that to give away an elephant was not the custom of a good Musulman but the accursed practice f Hindus and star worshippers Then he sent a letter with four t h ousand rupees to the chief K azi of Ahmadna g ar and as k ed that they should be distributed among the deserving poor He ended the letter with a Persian couplet which being interpreted ran as follows u r an
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persisted in his petitions n d at last btained leave He r ached Ahmadnagar a few d ays be f ore the emperor s death and at once pic k ed a qua rel with K m Ba k sh his i fath er s youngest and f avourit son At last A b to g separate them sent Kam B a k sh to Bijapur and appointed Azim S hah to be governor Of Central India Nevertheless he k new that a f ter they had le f t their partisans were intri g uing scheming canvassing among the soldiers to secure the succession In despair the emperor drew up a will by which he divided his empire between his sons and entrusted it to Hamid d din Khan O the morning f 3 d March 1 7 0 7 A i g b rose as usual and s id as strictly as ever his morning prayer An hour later he was dead He had reigned for forty nine years and was in his e ighty ninth year It is difficult i f not imposible for a historian O f the Maratha people to do justice to A His conduct i b g towards S h i ji and S m b h ji was treacherous and cruel His every relation with the k ings o f Bij apur and Golconda was stained with inhumanity and perfidy His kindness towards S hahu was prompted by politic al rather t h an charitable motives S till it must be conceded that of all the Delhi emperors the memory of A g i b is dearest to Indian Musulmans If to Hindus he was cruel and i ntolerant to the orthodox followers of Islam he was gracious and indulgent Yet his excessive par tiality to Musulmans convicts the emperor of folly The Moghul throne was guarded by the swords of the Rajput clans Conquered and conciliated by A k bar honoured alike by Jahan gi r and S hah Jehan the chiefs f Rajasthan had during their three reigns been the b lwark f the house f Timur The soul f chivalry they h d poured out like water in the service o f the empire the best blood f their kingdoms It was not until they had suffered a succession f insults from the bigoted A i b that their heart g a
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Guzerat But t h younger brother contemptuously refused the ffer bserving th at for the son of a Moghul emperor th e e was no choice save between a coffin and a t h rone The contending arm es met at Jaju fifteen miles from Agra Azim S hah was defeated Refusing to urrender he died on the battlefield After the death of his more serious rival S hah Alam ffered to confirm Kam Baksh in his governorship of Bijapur and Gol c onda But the Mo gh al prince thought that to refuse battle would tain t h honour f a descendant of Timur Zulfikar Khan who after Azim S h ah s defeat had been pardoned and promoted by the kin d ly S hah Alam was sent with an army against Kam Baksh The general d t h prince h d been inflamed by m utual enmity since the siege f Jinji and Zulfikar Khan fell upon Kam Baksh his talents wh etted by the fury of his hatred Th result f t h battle was ever in doubt Kam B k h army was destroyed and prince wounded and taken S h a h Alam tried to console th his brother but the proud youth could not endure his misfortunes and he died a day or two after the downfall f his hopes He was buried near the tomb Of his ancestor Humayun After t h deat h and defeat of his two brothers S ha h Alam under t h title of Bahadur S hah became emperor The quarrels f the dead Of Delhi in F ebruary 1 7 0 8 A D mperor s sons had given Tarabai a chance of increasing the Maratha conques t s Poona and C h akan were at this time held for the Mogh uls by an fficer named Lodi Khan H i m Dh i attacked and defeated and Tarabai d J j began to wea e fur th er sch emes for the extension of her son s dominion T h ese sch emes were frustrated by t h release of S hahu As a condition f his release h had agreed to rule as a feudatory f Azim S hah and to leave behind him as hostages his surviving wife his mistress Vi b i a pretty slave girl whom A g i b had give him at the time f his marriage his mother Y b i and his illegitimate half brother M d i g O the other an d
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hand Azim S hah had granted S hahu the d h m k h i a d the h th over the six Deccan subhas S hahu was also of Gondwana Guzerat and Tanjore a ppointed governor during good behaviour F or S h h escort Azim S hah detached a few B angad j troopers His personal attendant Jy t ji K k the patil o headman f Punal near Panh la went with Y b i to Delhi in order that he might get t h sanad from the hands of the emperor E vents however had turned out contrary to Azim S hah s hopes and by the time Jy t ji K k reached the capital S hah Alam was emperor A quarrel now arose between Zulfi k ar Khan and Munim K h an the vazir as to whether the new emperor s h ould reco g nise S ha h u or T b i son S h i ji At last Zulfikar Khan contrived t h e recognition of S h a h u Zulfikar K han was b h d or viceroy f the Deccan and h had p pointed Daud Kha the captor f Jinji as his deputy Zulfikar Khan made Daud Kh an agree to gr nt the claims of S hahu to the h t/ and d h m k h i over the six subhas f the Deccan provided they were collected and paid by Daud K han s own lieutenants S ha b u s re t urn was not greeted by the re j o c ngs that had welcomed the return f S h i ji or indeed of Rajaram Sh h situation resembled that f Herod Agrippa Both p inces h d been brought up in a foreign capital and had all but wholly lost touch wit h their own countrymen But S ha b u s case was even worse than Herod s for Tarabai h d in his absence usurped his throne for her own son Sh i Indeed had the latter been a boy of ordinary ji nderstanding it is probable that S h a h u would never have regained his throne Rajaram had indeed c h ivalrously tyled himself S h h deputy But for political purposes s ar
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he had assumed t h e ro y al insignia and the Maratha peopl e had all regarded him as their kin g They therefore deem ed the succession of his son S h i ji as t h natural descent f the crown But S h j i was an idiot and R j b i wife was sedulously pushing the claims o f T b i her son S m b h ji Many therefore f the Maratha nobles were ready to support S hahu to avert a civil war between m widows Tarabai however proclaimed t h at R j son h d died S h a h u was an impostor and that S m b h ji many years before Not to lose a weapon against t h Marathas A dead prince g i b had substituted for t h another boy of the same age T b i proclamation was not inherently improbable since A g i b had adop t ed this very course when on J t S ing s deat h his two sons had escaped from Delhi to U daipur Tarabai com fficers to swear on milk and boiled rice m d d her fidelity to her son against all claimants Three only obeyed They were Parashuram Trimbak who owed to her the ffice f P t i i d h i Ramchandra B d k w h had been won over entirely to T b i cause and S hankar Narayan wh ose reverence for Ramchandra B d k i m h l l him to adopt the views of h i former master w at d p ever they were The others would only swear fidelity t h t provided hahu proved to be an impos or T us S Sh i i j the question really narrowed itself to this was S hahu son or not S m b h ji As S hahu rode through the mountain passes to Burhan pur he for the first tim e learnt of T b i designs I a hilly tract not far from Burhanpur lived a zamindar d i g by name F rom him S h ahu begged arms S jj men and indeed he eeded them for his only troop s were his escort f fifty B angad horse S jj i g promised E ncouraged by the zamindar s S hahu his support ad h esion S hahu sent letters to the chief Marat h a leaders appealing to their loyalty The first to join him w P The next was a robber bar on named ji Bh l Am i t K adam Bande w h had a castle at K ok m d .
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a man and became the ancestor of the well known Raja of Akalkot F rom Parad S hahu marched to Khed a town in the Poona district on the Bhima river There he met the large army which Tarabai had sent against h i m under t h leadership f Dh j J d and Ma sing More With t hem better to serve h interests she had sent Khand Ballal Chitnis S h a h u was unwillin g to risk a battle against so redoubtable a capt in as Dh j J d so he resorted to other means Taking with him his personal attendant Jy t ji K k h a d overtaken him at wh Burhanpur he mounted his elephant and went boldly toward s the enemy s lines until he could distinguis h Dh ji Ja d av and Mausing More He t h en called on them to join t h eir lawful master Their allegiance to Tarabai had already been shaken by S ha b u s letters His resolute action w convinced them that the prince was no impostor They went over with their troops to S ha h u and by their desertion enabled S hahu to defeat and disperse T b i forces After the victory S h ahu marched th rough Chakan Poona Jejuri and laid siege to C h andan Wandan a great doubl fortress visible from S atara town It surrendered after a short siege Parashuram Trimbak wit h t h remains f t h Khed army threw himself into S atara fort and refused t admit that S hahu was king S m b h ji son U nwilling to press ma t ters against his aunt S hahu engaged in a desultory siege of the place He was moved to more vigorous action by the unsolicited advice of an l d Maratha woman O day he had gone h unting and overtaken by darkness he took shelter in a village called B di The p t i l wife an aged lady offered him for supper some boiled rice S ha h u with a h unter s appetite h astily took a mout h ful and burnt himself His hostess ignorant f h guest s identity bserved You are behaving [like King S h ahu Instead f reducing the countryside he wastes h i time trying to take t h capital In t h same way you instead s
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FF E N S I V E
127
of taking the rice at the edge of your plate where it i cool take it f rom the middle where it is still too h t t eat Ne x t day S hahu returned to his army and followed l d lady s excellent advice Leaving an investing force th round S atara fort he reduced the Krishna and Yenna h m valleys and th en returned to crush P resistance The commandant f S atara fort was a Musulman named S hahu S heikh Mira whose wife and children were at Wai h d t h em arrested and brought below the walls f S atara There he tied them to guns threatening to blow them t pieces unless S heik h Mira s urrendered Th threat proved too much for the commandant He seized Parashuram Trimbak and handed over to S hahu the fortress f S atara The king entered the great stronghold in state and flung Parashuram Trimbak into a dungeon S heikh Mira w deeply concerned about the fate of Parashuram Trimba k whom he warmly liked and respected Before surrendering S atara he had m ade the king promise to give him in return for the fortress a yth ing he as k ed for When S hahu had secured it he asked S heikh Mira to name h i reward S hei k h Mira threw himself at the royal feet and begged him to release Parashuram and ma k e him his P The k ing unwilling to break his word sent ti i d h i for Parashuram and ffered to confirm him in his post The latter f elt deeply grateful to S heikh Mira but he would not abandon Tarabai The k ing sent him back to prison but to honour him had his iron fetters changed to silve ones S hortly after S atara Parali and M h i m g d surrendered to S hahu Th prince had wished to ma k e Ahmadnagar his capital but Zulfikar Khan would not permit its occupation by t h Marathas S h ah t h erefore selected S atara which since R j m time had been the Ma r atha headquarters Now master of it he though t the time favourable for his coro nation In January 1 7 08 he ascended the th rone with all s
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the ceremonial adopted by S h i ji S ince Parashuram Trimbak would not desert Tarabai S hahu g ave the post lh d f P t i i d h i to Gadadhar P He gave the post Of Peshwa to Ba h iro Pingle the o f Moro P i gl e j He gave to H m t e the ffice f Pant Am t y held by t h who after a quarrel with Tarabai R amchandra N i l k was now more devoted to her than ever The queen had been greatly disturbed by S h h s success at Parad S h vented her ill temper so violently on Ramchandra Ni l k t h that in his wrath he sent a friendly message to the young k ing This came to t h k nowledge f the queen S h promptly put Ramchandra in silver chains and threw him desertion i nto a dungeon O hearing Of D h ji J d and Of the f all of S atara she grew desperate S h pened the door Of Ramchandra Ni l k t h prison and had h i m escorted with great honour into her presence O his rrival she placed in his lap her son S h i ji and her step son S m b h ji and imploring him to protect them made him her chief minis t er F rom that time on Ramchandra The k ing left vacant N i l k a t h remained her loyal servant the post Of Pant S h i held by S han k ar N y who stood by Tarabai The ffice of commander i chie f he gave to Dh ji J d Having thus settled his Government S hahu resolved to visit Parali in person and win to his cause the powerful spiritual aid f Ramdas followers The saint on his death had resigned the management of R m h d temple to his female disciple A kk a S h e received S hahu and ack nowledged h i m S m b h ji son S h next begged that he would free her in her l d age from the arduous tas k assigned to her and give it to Gangadhar S wami the va
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most importan t eve n t i n hi s reign I t w as tak e n on a S a turd ay an d it w as al w ays t h e c u s t o m of t h e M ah ar aj a s of S at ar a — n ow it is t h e c u stom of th eir desce n dan ts t h e S ar d ars of S atar a— to soun d drums on S aturd ay i n h on our Of t h e even t S h ei kh Mira w as th e an cestor of t h e presen t S ard ar Of Wai i N i l o Pin gl e B ah i r o s el der broth er rem ai n ed with T arab ai
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H I S T O R Y OF T H E
1 30
M A R AT H A P E O PL E
AP P E NDI X
f ll wi n g M arat h a Offi c rs Th e
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C H A P TE R
XX X V
CIA L C U S T O M S O F T H E H IGH CA S T E S IN M AHARA S HTRA SO
pr e sent stage in our History is a s it seems to m a suitable one in which to examine for a m oment the cus t oms and bservances o f the people whose story I am relating The E nglish reader will greatly err if he thin k s that t h ey in any way resemble those of western E urope The Hindu s life is bound up in an intricate ceremonial quite foreign to the experience of E nglishmen Indeed in his mode of life in his demeano ur in his mental outlook when unaffected by contact with E uropeans the Hindu f ar more resembles the Hellene or Roman of classical times than the westerner of to day Nor is this extra ordinary Hinduism is the eldest f three great sister Aryan civilisations The younger sisters were Hellenism and Mazdaism In the first century before Christ Hellenism was mistress of the Mediterranean and the E uxine and from Marseilles to Trebizon d the populations worshippe d the gods of Attica In Iran flourished still the w orship of the great Ahura Mazda whose ears had once heard the prayers of Cyrus th e king the Achaemenian In India Hinduism had reigned supreme for at least ten centuries But if w e pa s s over six hundred years what do we find ? Hellenism has vanished completely S h has given place to Christianity an offshoot f Judaism If we pass over yet another six hundred years we find that a second offshoot f Judaism Islam has swept a w ay Mazdaism But the onslaugh ts of both these S emitic TH E
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Th is ch apter is Cam pbel l s Gaz etteer ’
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fai t hs were successfully resisted by the eldest of the three sisters Hinduism Nor does she shew at the present hour any signs of senile decay S h still lives in the full vigour f her eternal youth ; and her acolytes nu m ber at least three hundred millions It has thus happened that while the E uropean has in the last two t h ousand years changed entirely the Hindu f to day worships the same gods h serves the same ritual leads the same home life a s he did when Pericles in oked Pallas at Athens or when Mars and Jupiter received at R ome the sacrifices of E m i l i s and S cipio Now in all India there are probably no more orthodox Hindus than the Maratha p eople and the Hinduism which they profess is f the most austere and puritan type The extravagances which find a place in the religion o f some o t her Indian nations are loo k ed on with dis f avour by t h e sober simple minded dweller s in the Deccan In this chapter I shall try to give m y E nglish readers a more vivid idea f their private lives by s k etching as briefly s Ic some f the f amily bservances of t he h i gh caste Hindus o f Maharashtra F or her first confinement the young Brahman wife generally goes to her father s house As soon as her baby boy is born he is laid in a winnowing f an Mother and child are bathed in hot water a fire is lit in the room myrrh is burnt and an iron bar laid across the threshold Wh en the father hears of his son s birth he hastens to his father i law s house to perform the J tl a m or birth ceremony Before he begins it he bathes care fully dons a rich il k waistcloth pours a ladle full of water on the ground saying I throw this water to cleanse the child from the impurity of its mother s body The mother then brings the child in her arms and sits on a stool close to her husband The father takes a gold ring passes it through some honey and clarified butter and lets a drop fall into the child s mouth He touches the child s sh oulders with his right hand and pre sses the ring in his ,
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married woman mar k s the child s brow with red powder All then bow to the house gods and the elders f the family ; and the deities are asked to g ve the ch ild a long life The boy drinks from a silver cup some m ilk mixed w ith molasses and sesamum and then he is f ree to enjoy h i s birthday as only healthy little boys The m j or thread girding ceremony corresponds in some measure with the Christian confirmation By the one the high caste man is a d mitted to the caste By the other the Christian becomes a fully responsible member o f the Christian community The thread girding ceremony is very elaborate indeed and a detailed account Of it would be both too long and too tedious I S hall mention o n ly a f e w of the m ore important incidents When the little boy is between seven and ten a day f or the great occasion has to be fixed by the astrologer in one Of the months when the sun is going northwards i January to June This settled a b and is hired a porch built in front of the house and invitations sen t to relatives living at a d istance O ther rel ations the house gods the village gods caste men and friends in the neighbourhood are invited orally O the morning of the thread girding ceremony twelve low wooden stools are set in a row and twelve nmarried thread wearing Brahman lads ta k e their seats on the stools Dinner is served and f or the last time the boy dines with his mother After a variety of most comp l icated rites the boy tells his f ther that he wishes to become a Brahman and be told the sacred verse He nestl e s close to his father and the priests cover them with a shawl That no one else high caste or low caste man or woman may hear t h e verse everyone present goes to a little d istance The father three times whispers the sacred verse into his son s right ear d the boy repeats it after his father The hawl is then removed the priests invoke blessings on the boy s head and the sacred thread is tied with three knots round his waist A staff is put in his hand and his father addresses his son — Till now ’
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1 35
M A H AR A S H T R A
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have been a S udra ( low caste ) now you are a Brahman and Brahmachari ( Brahman The boy is w upposed to become a be g ging Brahman That evening he goe to the village temple worships the village god and on h i return begs alms f rom his mother and other close relations F or ten or t w elve days he learns the d hy or evening prayers worsh i ps the tulsi plant or h oly basil and then rejoins his family A number f i ntricate eremonies follow O their completion the family priest flings a waistcloth over his houlders bids him never b a the in the evening never loo k at na k ed women never commit adultery never run never climb t rees never go into a well never swim in a river Up to this time the priest continues you have been a B rahmachari now you are a t l or householder This point reache d t h e boy starts out as i f to go on a journey His maternal uncle or other near relation feigns urpris and as k s him where he is going He replies To B enares ; in other words he proposes to become a reli The g ions anchorite on the ba nks O f the holy Ganges boy s relations crowd round h i m and beg him not to go promising to find him a wife He consents to put f f h i s pilgrimage goes bac k to his house and the thread girding c eremony ends with a feast Th family have now to keep their promise and f ind th lad a wife Negotiations are pened with the parents of a girl of a suitable age and rank A good deal f haggling ensues and the negotiations ften fall through If they are success ful the family astrologer is called in to fix a lucky day The marriage ceremonies extend over a long perio d but I hall at once co m e to the day before th e wedding In the evening the boy dresses himself in a new turban and shawl given him by his betrothed s relatives and his sister ties to his headdress a garland of flowers With a cocoanut in his hand the boy worsh ips his house hold gods and gives t h em the cocoanut He next bows y
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1 36
A
H I S T OR Y OF TH E
M A R AT H A P E O PL E
low to the elders of his house He is ta k en to t h h ds door h i cheeks are touched with lampblac k d/ d d powder he is seated O a horse and his relativ friends go with him in procession to the hous e f hi betrothed T quiet evil spirits cocoanuts are fro m time t time broken and thrown to them ; and as the b y pa ses the nei g hbours come out f their houses and w ve lamp before h i m O arrival at the house of his inten d ed brid the girl s father carries t h boy into the marriage hal l and seats him on a high wooden stool After a number Of marriag m inor ceremonies the astrologer draws up t w papers reads t h em aloud and hands them to the father s f the two families Th really essential part f the marriage is the p t padi or the ta k ing of seven steps The sacrificial fire i kindled To the left of the fire are put seven small heap f rice The boy and girl leave their seats and the boy throws three handfuls f rice into the fire He lifts p th girl and carrying her on his left arm walks twic round it S h then with the help f the bridegroom wa l k in turn over all the seven heaps of rice The boy the again lifts her and for the third time walks round the fire The seven steps have now been taken and the priest lead the boy and girl out of the house and points out to them Dhruv or the Polestar They gaze at it bow to it and return to the house A pretty ceremony then ensues In turn the boy and girl take a roll of betel between thei teeth and the other one bites off the end The marriag festivities end with the throwing of coloured water ove the boy by the bride s relations Presents of clothes are exchanged and the bridegroom returns to his fat h er house The death of a high caste Hindu is as elaboratel y ordered as his life When he is on the point of death spot in the women s h all is heaped with w d g Tulsi leaves are scattered over the spot and a blanket is sprea d over t h leaves O the blanket the dying man is lai d s
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ther male mourners follow the bier bareheaded and barefooted repeating in a low voice Ram Ram " Jay " Jay " Ram " N woman goes to the burning ground When it is reached a funeral pile is built and the bier placed on it with the feet of the body to the south The heet over the body is pulled aside the cloths that bind the thumbs and the loincloth are cut O that the body may return as it first came upon earth The chief mourner lights the pile at the head and fans it with the end f his houlder cloth When the kull bursts the chief mourner stands near it with an earthen jar full f water Anoth er mourner makes a hole in the jar with a pebble The chief mourner walks round t h e pyre the water trick ling from the jar A second hole is made in the j ar and the chi f mourner wal k s again round the pyre A third hole is made and a third round completed The chief mourner throws the pot bac k ward over his shoulder pilling the water over t h ash es He nex t calls aloud stri k ing his mouth with his hand The procession is w ready to return home Before starting each mourner flings a pebble towards the nearest hill or mountain to relieve his feelings Mourning is observed for ten days during which the deceased s family eat neither betel nor s gar and drin k no milk They neither have their heads nor wear shoes nor turbans O t h third day the chief mo rner collects t h e dead man s burnt bones and either throws t h em into a neigh bouring stream or pond or buries them in a jar to be taken a year later to t h Ganges or Godavari O the elevent h day the chief mourner if he can afford to do so brands and sets free t w calves The bellowing f the calf when branded is believed to carry the dead man to heaven and its first cry opens the celestial doors for the dead man to enter If the chief mourner cannot afford to set free t w live calves he ma k es and sets free two calves made out f dough A cow called the V i t i w is given to a priest so that the dead man may cross the river of blood and filth that separates earth and h eaven by O
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M A H AR A S H TR A
holding on to the co w s tail A number of other presents are th en g i ven to t h priest and as h bestows them t h e chief mourner says I ma k e you these gifts that the dead man may be freed from his ins and reach heaven in safety ; and th at all h i life there he may have a cot to lie on a packet f betel to eat a maid to wait on him an umbrella to shade him from the sun and a stick to help him when walking The priest after receiving these gifts is supposed to become the ghost of the deceased Th e inmates therefore pelt him away from the house with earth and w d g A few other ceremonies are performed and the mourning rites are over ’
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1 7 08
R E O RGANI S ATI O N 1 7 14
To
hould at once have followed up his victory b y attacking Pan h al the seat Of T b i government But he passed the monsoon of 1 7 08 at Chandan Wandan try ng to increase his forces Among those to whom he appealed for arms and men was S i Nicholas Waite the Governor f Bombay who politely regretted his inability to help h i m The king did not again take the field until O ctober 1 7 0 8 after celebrating the Dasara festival He first too k V tg d and next led his troops against Panhala Tarabai fled from that fortress to R g S hahu invested Panhala and besieged it with vigour In S pite Of its great strength he soon forced the commandant to co m e to terms Th latter offered to join S ha b u s cause if retained as the governor o f the fortress S hahu accepted the ffer and early in 1 7 09 moved against Vishalgad The commandant surrendered it on the same terms that the Pan h ala com mandant had done The mighty stronghold of B angna still remained in T b i possession In it were Ramchandra i Ni l k t h Tarabai her son and stepson S h i m h and i S b a j j R m h d first care was to send the royal party by a secret path to Malwan which had once been S h i ji naval base He himself stayed and defended the fort with resource and resolution Nevertheless he was soon reduced to the greatest straits Had t h S iege been begun earlier R must have fallen S hahu himsel f directed the g perations and nearly lost his life in doing so O day a s he inspected the work s f the besieging army h i horse S H AH U
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1 42
A H I S T OR Y OF TH E
M A R AT H A P E OPL E
nex t sent her agents everywhere to corrupt the loyalty of those Maratha Chiefs who had adhered to S h i ji S h e urged the chiefs to make themselves independent or even join the Moghuls rather than serve under the banner o f a proclaimed impostor Her advice fell on willing ears S long as the Moghuls threatened their independence the Maratha chie f s willingly combined against them under the lea d ership f Tarabai or Raj aram But the Moghul danger had past The emperor and S hahu were friends Of the tw services that f t h emperor ffered more attractions Mili t ary distinction could more easily be won on the far f lung Moghul fron t t h an in the narrow Deccan Moreover th captains who served the emperor were in their own fiefs independent princes S h i ji and h i successor hith erto had given th eir nobles grants f money rather than assignments f land This rule had no doubt been relaxed after the great K ing s death but it still held good and S hahu firmly seated on the throne would no doubt enforce it The first to join the imperial service w During T b i regency h had establish ed N m ji S india himself in Central India or M l w f O t h death of A g i b Zulfikar Khan had won him over to the cause of Bahadur S hah and he had aided Zulfikar Kh an in the battle wherein fell t h un h appy Kam Baksh His services were handsomely rewarded and he w made a commander of horse while high posts were also bestowed on h i s sons and grandsons O ther chiefs proclaimed themselve independent Th e m ost notable of these was the Maratha Admiral K h ji Angre f whom a full account will be given hereafter A Brahman named K i h o established f S undar Mahadev at h imself near the great temple a town less than twenty miles from S atara After Kh t the capture and e x ecution of S h i ji son S m b h ji K i h had joined the Moghul cause and had received f rom the emperor the title of M aharaja and as f ie f or jagir the pargana or district of K h t j During the siege f Sh e
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AN D T H E R E O R G A N I S AT I O N
1 43
Jin j Ramchandra N i l k t h viceroy of Maharashtra had given as appanage to a Maratha noble called Damaji Thorat the district f S upa north f Poona and that f Patas on t h main road between Poona and Baramati At Hi g a village close to Patas Damaji had built g himself a strong castle and with a body f freelances used to levy contributions from the peasants up to t h very walls of S atara North f S at ra S hankar Narayan the Pant S h i h eld for Tarabai Poona and the great forts f Si h g d P d Rajgad and Torna in t h is way cutting S hahu f f from all communication with K handesh and Nasik Thus by the end f 1 7 1 0 the k ing s cause which in 1 7 0 8 had seemed so prosperous again began to flag His territory was reduced to the land round S atara and a few hill forts garrisoned by loyal fficers S low indeed had his cause sunk that but for a ingular piece f g ood fortune it is doubtful whether he would not himself h ave been forced to invoke Moghul aid and to become a petty subordinate Of t h empire The fortunate event w the strange collapse f S hankar Narayan G d k After S hahu resolved to try and his failure against R g reduce the ring f forts round Poona It was with their capture th at the great King had begun his wonderful career and they were regarded by the Maratha people as the k eys f the Maratha Kingdom S long as t h ey were in T b i hands her son might well be deemed t h true successor of S h i ji and S m b h ji O the other hand Tarabai w h had carefully provisioned and garrisoned them and had entrusted their defence to the skilful hands of S hankar Narayan looked forward with confidence to t h eir prolonged resistance Long before her fortresses fell h armies would be able to attack wit h effect S h h rear and retake S atara Neither side foresaw nor could Lovers h ave foreseen h w S hankar Narayan would act f Walter S cott will remember h w in Ivan h oe Brian de B i Guilbert in the fulness f his stren g th and man h ood and unhurt by Ivanhoe s pear fell to the ground slain by an
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violence o f his own contending feelings A similar Trusting to T b i word f ate overtook the Pant S h i that S h ahu was a pretending k nave S hankar Narayan had worn to defend her son s cause against all comers He was now convinced that S hahu was no impostor but son Devotedly loyal to the house of S h i ji S m b h ji h imself a hero f the war of independence S hankar N ar ayan ould not bear to fight against the great King s grandson At the same time he had sworn an oath f loyalty to T arabai w h ic h he could not as an honourable man break dilemma in which he found himself was too great f or Th that loyal brave and imple soul While he hesitated wh at course to pursue S h h troops stormed Rajgad and threatened S i h g d and Torna F orced at last to a decision h chose a course f conduct that would present itself more readily to an eastern than a western mind He resigned his charge and h i powers ; and donning the garb f an anchorite went to reside at A m b d a h o l y place on the Nira river But even thus he did not escape f rom the vexations f li f e Ramchandra Ni l k t h incensed at what he regarded as desertion sh arply reprimanded The S hankar Narayan and accused h i m of cowardice harge weighed heavily on one who had taken cities and won stricken fields O way remained by which he migh t prove to his l d master that fear of death had not prompted his action He built for himsel f a small raft To each d he fastened earthen j ars in the bottoms f which holes had been bored S eating himself on the raft he had it towed to a deep pool in the Nira river As the water ntered the jars the raft sank carrying with it the gal l ant S hahu with a magnanimity worthy b t misguided soldier f Charles II of E ngland took no action against S h ankar Narayan s infant son Naro S hankar He confirmed him the
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ing bare the Kon k an This reclaimed tract P Ram h bestowed on the fourteen Brahmans They went to dw ll there and built themselves a town called Ch i t p ol or t h e town Of the burnt heart wh ich in course f time becam e Chiplun To themselves they gave the name Of Ch i t p or Brahmans purified by t h funeral pyre Whatever truth may underlie this romantic tale Balaji V i h t h Bhat and his brother J ji were t h hereditary D h m k h or revenue fficers of S h i d h f Ban k ot creek d Harihar two villages to the north The ffice of D e h m k h or Desai was a creation f t h Musulman government The headman of the village w a Marath a patil ; and under the ancient Hindu rulers h acted directly und r the supreme government Th Musulman governors sought to decentralise the administr a tion by appointing an intermediate fficer — k nown D h m k h — and usually a Brahman — to supervise the wor k Besides acting as D e h m k h the Bhat f the p t i l family administered in S h i d h the revenues of the temples f S m ji L x m i Baheri and K l h i ; ya and they yearly distri b uted among the Bra h mans of t h e neighbourh ood thirty two and a half measures ( K h d i ) of rice In t h year 1 6 4 8 the ffice of D h m k h of Danda Rajpuri fell vaca n t and was conferred on t h e ancestor f Balaji and J ji and remained in the Bhat family until 1 8 1 8 According to the author o f the Peshw Bakhar the S idis f Janjira on becoming masters f S rivardhan confirmed Balaji and J oji in their offic e Afterwards the S idis came to suspect the brothers of intrigue with K h j Angre They first seized J ji sewed h i m up in a sack and rowing out a m ile from la d dropped the sack into the water Balaji succeeded in escaping to the neigh bouring town f Velas on t h southern a r as
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1 47
side f the Bankot creek In Velas lived a Ch i t p family called Bh anu It consisted f three brothers Balaji Ma h adev Hari Mahadev and R m ji Mahadev They received the fugitive kindly and on hearing h i story solved to flee with him They f eared t h at if they stayed behind the S i d is would punish th em for having harboured an enemy They made their way to Rahimatpur w here Balaji had a friend in Gh a h y m Narayan S h e i an fficer in Dh ji service who had once been hospitably th Gh hy m entertained by B l ji fat h er V i h welcomed the party and introducing them to Dh ji J dh btained for Balaji and two f the brothers pos t s under the commander i chief R m ji Mahadev took service with S hankar Narayan T h is account was accepted by Grant Duff and until recent times was regarded as the true account of the origin f the B h at Peshwas Modern critics however doubted this fantastic story They could not believe that within six years any one however fortunate could even in those troubled times rise from a humble clerkship to the post of first minister Their suspicions were confirmed by a d in an re f erence to Balaji V i h fficial th S b h Marathi paper dated 1 6 9 6 The title S b h d corres ponding with that of Privy Councillor was only conferred on men who h d been some years in the royal s ervice Balaji V i h t h must therefo re have entered it some years before 1 6 9 6 The discovery of this paper w s followed b y the discovery f several others They sh o w ed Of the bh d that from 1 6 9 9 to 1 7 0 2 Balaji acted as S bh d Poona district and from 1 7 0 4 to 1 7 0 7 as S of Daulatabad But just as to d ay a Civil S ervant does not become a Commissioner until h has served for many years as Assistant Collector d Collector Balaji before he became must have served as S h ekhdar K m i d S bh d and S b h d Thus in all probability Balaji entered the royal service in S m b h ji reign or at any rate in the early years of R j m regency F rom this it does not O
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follow that the legend in the B k h is wholly untrue It may well be that Balaji or his father fled from S rivardhan in circumstances similar to tho e therein described But the S idis victim could not have been J ji for an entry in his h a ndwriting discovered by Mr h ows that in 1 7 0 6 he was still alive R jw d In the troubles provoked by S h h return to the t h found his Deccan Balaji V i h pportunity He was then in high ffice under Dha maji J d h and according to Mr Khare it was Balaji w h at the battle f Khed persuaded that commander to give to S hahu his valu able s pport Thereafter Dh ji J d h esteem f or B l j Vi h th and his confidence in his capacity aroused t h bitter jealousy o f the former s son Ch d J dh E nraged that his father should prefer to his son s counsel the advice of a Kon k an Brahman Ch d e began to intrigue with Tarabai Upon his father s death was invested with the robes and the dignity Ch d the commander i chief ; and King S hahu releasing Of from prison the P t i i d h i j Parashuram sent him and Dabhade to convey to the young noble the Kh d By this act f courtesy S hahu no doubt r oyal condolences He failed in his d h oped to retain Ch s loyalty bject for not long afterwards Ch d boasted in a let ter to Tarabai that he had won to her cause K h d Dabhade M i g More and H i b t o Nimbal k ar The k ing at last aware f Ch d intrigues appointed Balaji V i h t h nominally to control his collection but really to watch his conduct The appointment of his nemy to such a post sufficed to turn Ch d jealousy into murderous hatred ; and he now only sought an ex cuse to destroy him Late in the year 1 7 1 0 Ch d a
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A
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of Khando Bal l a l Chitnis G i d o listened attentively to the story and sympathised with Balaji He advised P to enlist the sympathies of one L i g the maid d servant of S h h mistress V i b i P d followed his advice L i g told the tale to V i b i who repeated it to Sh h queen S g b i and the two ladies won the royal ear S ha h u sent force to P d g d to escort Balaji in afety to his capital and ordered Ch d to present himself at S atara and lay his case before him The turbulent noble nstead of obeying the order sent back a message that unless the k ing at once handed over Balaji to his vengeance he ( Ch d ) would renounce h i allegiance S uch language no sovereign could tolerate He ordered H i b t Nimbal k ar to reduce Ch d J dh to bedience H i b t Nimbalkar attacked Ch d at Adarki in the Phaltan S tate now a station on the S outh Maratha Railway and severely defeated him Ch d with the remains of his army retired t o Panhala where he penly joined the cause f Tarabai ( April Worse was yet to follo w In spite f his victory over Ch d Nimbalkar began also to J dh H ib t pen negotiations with Kolhapur Large detachments of the royal troops were at this ti m e on field service in Kh andesh and Berar Th only high fficer on whom the king could for the moment rely was Balaji V i h at h and h i contingent had just been dispersed S hahu however sent for Balaji and sought his advice how to suppress the disorders of the kingdom With the ptimism of greatness Balaji undertoo k to raise a fresh army He soon collected round him two thousand f his old soldiers and with these as a nucleus soon created a respectable field force The king howed his gratitude in a fitting way O the 2 ot h August 1 7 1 1 he conferred on his capable servant the well deserved title of S ena K t or Ma k er of Armies While Balaji was thus forging a weapon with which t o ov n
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meet in the field his master s enemies he turned against Tarabai her own armoury f intrigue As long as that daring and active woman remained in power t Kolhapur i t was impossible to restore Sh h authority It S O chanced that late in 1 7 1 1 a fresh quarrel bro k e out between Tarabai and her wise l d counsellor Ramchandra Ni l k t h latter relaxed his control over the affairs of his Th mi stress and gave Balaji the chance for which he sought He instantly sent a message to R j m s younger widow R j b i and offered her S h h support if she overthrew Tarabai and substituted for the rule Of the imbecile S hi ji that of her own son S m b h ji E agerly R jas b i a ccepted the o f fer In 1 7 1 2 with the aid f several of the Kolhapur nobles — Gi j ji J d h A t ji T i m l T l ji S h i t ol and others she corrupted the garrison of Panhal a verthrew T ab i government and f lung her and her h Sh i i into prison then had m h i crowned b S e S j j i Shi b i ji stead Ramchandra N i l k t h escaped T fate but was dismissed from his ff i c j Ch d e fearing that S m b h ji might surrender him to S hahu J dh ent his lieutenant Ap p to Nizam l Mul k the e w viceroy Of the Deccan The Nizam gladly welcomed the vertures f O distinguished a commander He Offered him a fief with twenty five la k hs a year on condition that he k ept fully equipped fifteen thousand men Ch d s e ccepted the ffer and f rom that time on was the unrelent ing enemy of the Maratha cause F or a f w years S m b h ji and R j b i grateful to Balaji for his help and advice eased openly to make war against S hahu Those f e w ’
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A H I S T O R Y OF T H E
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year sufficed ; and when S am b h j again became actively hostile Balaji had restored order in S h h dominions It must however be admitted that B l ji new troop did not meet with immediate success But that was rather the general s fault than theirs In the cold weather of 1 7 1 1 the k ing ordered Balaji to reduce Damaji Thorat Bala j with Am b ji P as his lieutenant led out h i s d troops against the robber baron f H i g g But they a llowed themselves to be outwitted Dama j Thorat pro fessed himself willing to lay dow his arms and invited the two co m manders to enter his castle at H i g g and discuss w ith him the terms Of surrender He swor b y the holy B l tree and the hardly less holy B h d turmeric that he would allow them to enter and leave Hi g unharmed Balaji and P thinking d g that no Hindu would dare brea k so binding a contract went to the freebooter s castle and were at once t h rown into a dungeon T their remonstrances Damaji Thorat with odious levity replied that the B l was after all but tree and that every day all of them ate turmeric F himself he attached no importance to such a promise At the same time he threatened to put over th ir heads bag o f hot ashes unless they speedily paid him a large ra so m The news of their co nfinement reached the k ing who pai d the ransom and obtained their release Balaji undaunted by this mishap planned next t h eduction of K i h of Khatao Before however he set his forces in motion he resolved if it were humanly possible to w i over to S ha b u s ide Parashuram Trimbak the P t i i d h i E ver since t h fall of S atara that gallant soldier had languish ed in prison F or on his return from his mission to Ch d the k ing had m ade him J d go back to his dungeon in S atara At B l ji advice t h king released P h m and entrusted to him the great fort of Vish algad and the surrounding country Parash uram w i h to assu e c arge of his m s ent his eldest son K i h j s
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A
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This time Parashuram accepted it In his judgment the appointment o f his son K i h ao to the post of f Kolhapur P P ti i d h i m own o ffice released sh him from his allegiance to S m b h ji He was no longer a Kolhapur fficer and was free to take service with S hahu The king never again entrusted Parashuram with an army but he greatly esteemed him and Often acted on his advice ; and he showed his appreciation of the gallant old man by frequent gifts f land and money In the cold weather of the same year ( 1 7 1 3 ) S hahu resolved to reduce K h ji Angre K h ji Angre was the son Of T k ji Angre who had during S h i ji s reign become famous as a sailor The real name of the Angr f amily was S angpal but as their native village was Angar wadi they had come to call themselves Angre T k ji died in 1 6 9 0 leaving a son K h oji Angre who w s des tined to advance still further the family fortun e s He had long been reputed a skilful seaman and in S am b h ji reign he had been promoted to high command in the royal fleet At that time the chie f Maratha strongholds hi on t h coast were S g g d under M k ji S y Kh d e i under U d ji P d l Raj k ot under S b h j Kh t e and Kolaba under Bh i ji Gujar O the capture l and h i Ud ji P d f King S m b h ji M k ji S y t deserted their charges and fle d to t h e S bh ji K h fort of P b h l g d Bh i w aji Gujar and K h ji Angre divided between themselves the coast fortresses In 1 6 9 7 the t w Marat h a leaders quarrelled and Bh i w ji Guj ar imprisoned by K h ji A gre soon died leaving Angre supreme in the Maratha Kon k an A gre received from Tarabai the title f S k h l or admiral o f the Maratha fleet and availed himself of her quarrel with S hahu to make himsel f independent F eigning to act under T ab i orders he had seized the town f Kalyan and the surround ing districts as well as the great fort of R jm h i below the Bh or Ghat and that f L oh g d just above it To sub due this powerful noble S hahu despatched a large forc e .
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1 55
under his Peshwa Bahiro Pingle Unhappily Pingle w as a man f mediocre talents K h ji Angre was one o f the He de f eated Bahiro Pi gle in a f irst soldiers of his time pitched battle and too k him prisoner and throwing him into a dungeon in L h g d penly talked of an advance on t h with S hahu in alarm ordered Balaji V i h S atara fresh troops to ppose his march But Balaji wisely trusted diplomacy rather than arms He f ormed the view that t the royal government was no longer strong enough to adhere to S h i ji l d constitution under which the k ing aided by his eight ministers was the sole ruler in his dominions The time had come wh en that ideal must be put aside as an impossible counsel o f excellence Let the king give his nobles grants of land instead f money and allow them within their confines to act as vassal princes rather than salaried o fficers S hahu accepted his minister s advice and consented to the change Balaji invested with full powers met the Maratha admiral at Lonavla The two had kindly feelings for each other from the days when Bal aji V i h at h lived in the Konkan Balaji po k e elo quently of the danger which the Maratha people ran under rulers divided against each other His eloquence touched the war worn sailor s heart and Angre agreed to accept Sh h terms He was confirmed in t h title f S k h l or Admiral f the royal fleet and was allowed to retain h i and a number of lesser forts in the Konkan R jm At the same time Balaji joined his forces with Angre s and the combined armies invaded the S idis possessions on the western coast The S idis were rapidly driven out f Sh i dh B l ji birt h place and several other points on the coast wh ich An g re added to his fief Thereafter Angre released Bahiro Pingle and became an allied confederate of the king In this way the Maratha confederacy was born .
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hahu delighted with B l j success removed Bahir Pingle from t h post f Peshwa wherein he had so ignally f ailed and on the 1 6 th November 1 7 1 3 conferred it on th Balaji V i h At t h same time he directed Balaji to unite the force f the k ingdom against Damaji Thorat After the failure f B l ji expedition S hahu had called on the Pant S h i to reduce the graceless filibuster Naro S hankar the Pant S h i was still a tiny child but his m t l i k or agent took him on field service to encourag the troops U nfortunately Damaji Thorat proved formidable in battle as in low intrigue He overthrew the Pant S h i troops and took the little boy and his m t l i k prisoner These al o t h king ransomed Before Balaji started on the third expedition S ha h u anxious to give Damaji Thorat a last chance of returning to his allegiance invited him to meet h i m at J j i and pr mised him a safe conduct There he graciously received t h rebel hieftain and ffered him the most favourable terms Confident in the strength of the castle and in his numerous and well trained bands Thorat bore himsel f with such overweening pride a s to m ake reconciliatio n impossible The k ing dismissed him and the royal commanders converged on Da m aji Th t castle Damaji met the k ing s troops in the pen but for all his skill he was b eaten and driven into H i g g He defended himself bravely behind his castle walls but they were breached and the place stormed Damaji Thorat was ta k en prisoner and sent to a dungeon in P His fortress was utterly destroyed d and the pot where it had stood was ploughed up by donkeys The king was more pleased than ever with Balaji To reward him and at the same time to how his displeasure at t h Pant S h i failure S hahu took from the latter the fort of P and the town f S asvad d and conferred them on Balaji V i h Balaji in turn th S
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AFT E R the death o f A g i b Maratha h istory becomes once again connected more or less closely with that o f Delhi As I have related S hah Alam under the ti t le f Bahadur S ha h became a f ter the defeat and death of his brothers emperor f Hindustan S hah Alam was the kindest and most humane f men but he lack ed the vigour t h at was needed to ma k e secure the tottering throne Of the Moghuls He succeeded his father at the age of sixty S even and for nearly fi f ty years he had never known a moment fr ee from the fear f death or imprisonment He ruled for less than five years most of wh ich he passed in fighting the S ikhs who had now become a formidable power In F ebruary 1 7 1 2 h e suddenly issued a peremptory order to destroy every dog both in his own camp and in La h ore city An order so needlessly cruel in the mouth Of so k indly a prince raised fears that h i mind had failed The fears were justi fied and on the l 6 t h F ebruary 1 7 1 2 he fell into a swoon from which he never recovered The emperor s second son A i m h was his father s favourite and at once seized the royal treasure and proclaimed him self emperor But Zulfikar Khan lent his powerful support to Bahadur S ha h s other three sons A i m h was defeated and fell on the battle field Before his defeat h i three brothers had agreed to divide the empire But with the death Of their rival their amity vanished M i d d i th eldest fought in turn his two brothers and with Zulfikar Khan s help e m erged f rom the struggle the sole u r an
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He mounted the throne under the title Of d S hah on the 9 t h June 1 7 1 2 J h Th new emperor was not without abilities but he was wholly under the sway f a pretty dancing girl Lal Koor After the manner of her k ind she sought to retain her d ominion over her lover by keeping him under the influence of drugs a d liquor Nor was Zulfikar Khan averse from He relieved his master J h d S hah s self indulgence f all affairs of tate and became in fact if not in name mperor f Delhi Lal Koor used her influence to exalt her brother Khosal and her former friends Khosal was made a commander of seven thousand men A woman alled Zahra who had been k ind to Lal Koor w hen a child became so rich that h a ssumed the state f the greatest nobles in c urt O day Zahra was passing with her retinue down the stree t when she met Mir Kamaruddin better k nown as Chin Kulich Khan a title given him by A He was the son of F iroz Ja g and the g ib grandson Of that Kulich Khan who in 1 6 8 7 had fallen before Golconda After A death C h in Kulich g ib K han had retired from court c ontent with the wealth which his father had amassed S eeing Zahra approach on her elephant he made his retinue move aside to let her pass With the insolence of an upstart Zahra rebuked C hin Kulich Khan for not ma k ing way for her sooner h C h in Kulich Khan cried you must surely be the f a blind father not to move out f the road The hot blood Of Turkestan boiled in t h soldier s veins at the insult At his ignal his retinue threw themselves upon the servants of Zahra beat them severely and finally dragged Zahra herself out f her gaily dec k ed howdah Realising his danger Chin Kulich Khan went straight to Zulfikar Khan implored and btained his protection T hereafter he returned to court and asked to be reinstated in t h imperial service S uch was t h e un p romising beginning of the career of the great Nizam l Mul k the K h fi K h Firo J g died i G i 1 7 09 ar
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willingly resigned to Zulfi k ar Khan the toils f ffice b t resented the tyranny Of his two allies Not F kh i daring to dismiss them he fawned on them to their faces but behind their backs wove scheme after scheme for their destruction O F k h i elevation he appointed Chin Kulich Khan to succeed Zulfikar Khan as viceroy f the Deccan and Chin Kulich Khan induced S hahu in return for imperial recognition to agree to suppor t F k h i with ten thousand horse The emperor now recalled C h in Kulich Khan and sent the S ayad Hussein Ali Khan to take his place Directly Hussein Ali Khan had left Delhi t h emperor begged Daud Khan to attac k and destroy him Daud Khan who had been Zulfi k ar Kh an s former deputy and had ince been named governor of G t accepted readily the task He enlisted a number of Maratha troops especially those under N m ji S india who had made himself master of the entire revenues f Aura gabad O t h 2 5 t h August 1 7 1 6 the two armies met on the plain outside Burhanpur Daud Khan was renowned through India for h i courage His gallantry had won the battle when a stray musket ball struck him in the forehead killing him on the spot F ortune at once changed ides and Daud Khan s victorious army became a routed mob N m ji S india of whom Daud Khan had expected great things took no part in t h action but galloping about with his cavalry on t h outskirts f the battle only joined in it when he saw Daud Khan s force finally dispersed He then rode up to Hussein Ali Khan congratulated him on his victory and applied h imself to plundering Daud Khan s effects Hussein Ali Kh an secure in the viceroyalty of th e Deccan tried to clear his province of Marath a marauders Dab h ade He h d Th e c h ief among t h ese was K h d actually built a number f mud block houses along the S urat Burhanpur road and kept a revenue fficer there to levy the h th which the Marathas now claimed t only over the Deccan but over G Hussei t as well O
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Ali Khan sent eight t h ousand men under one Zulfikar Beg to drive away K h d Dabhade and destroy his block But the general had neither the skill nor t h men h ouses to achieve his purpose K h d Dabhade w h had between ei g ht thousand and nine thousand veteran troopers and six or seven thousand local levies met Z lfikar Beg near t h edge of the Baglan forest Zulfikar Beg instantly attacked him The Marathas dispersed on all sides into th wooded hills Zulfika r B e g divided his army into small parties so as to pursue them When the Moghuls had penetrated deeply into t h mountains detachments f Marathas closed the path s beh ind them ; Zulfikar Beg was slain and his entire force either killed or taken Hussein Ali Khan attempted to avenge Zulfikar Beg by sending a large army unde r his minister Raja Mo h k am S ing to G At the same time he sent another force under t his own brother S f d d i Ali K han to support him Kh Dabhade was too wary a soldier to fight at d a disadvantage He clung to south G t by means f his chain f for t s w hich the Moghuls failed to take and successfully declined a general engagement Hussein Ali Khan s ill success against Dabhade wa s learnt by the emperor with great satisfaction F k h i wrote privately to various Maratha leaders urging them to ma k e war without respite on his own viceroy The Maratha leaders were only too willing to comply wit h the emperor s request and broke the truce that they h d more or less Observed since S h h accession E verywhere in the Moghul possessions in the south appeared bands of horsemen who with justice announced that they were acting for the emperor Hussein Ali Kh an had no alternative but to buy off the Marathas on their own terms He sent as h i ambassador to S h a b u s court at S atara a D h t h Brahman named S hankar Mal h a r He had been a clerk under S h i ji and had been appointed Pant S h i by Raja Ram ; but he had been removed from that ffice by Tarabai He had then joined the Moghul service an
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and h d acted at the viceregal court as the agent f the Marat h a captains in the pay of the emperor Balaji Vi h t h conducted the negotiations on S ha b u s behalf th O h i release S hahu had btained a promise of the h S b and d h m k h i in the six Deccan provinces quently by a private arrangement between S hahu and Daud Khan t h Maratha king h d waived his right to the d h m k h i provided Daud Khan guaranteed the regular payment of t h h th Th first demand therefore f the Maratha plenipotentiary was that the viceroy hould guarantee the d h m k h i as well as the h th This was at on ce acceded to by S hankar Malhar But t h is was only a small part of t h Marat h a demands Balaji t h next asked for sovereign righ ts over all the Vi h territory except Kh andes h which had belonged to S h i ji In lieu of K h andesh S h ah u should receive compensation round Pandharpur The Moghuls should evacuate S hivner which had twice defied the great king s assaults restore mother and Sh i ji Carnatic conquests and send S h h family back to the Deccan With pecial vehemence Balaji a devout and orthodox Brahman demanded the surrender of Trimba k It is a place dear to every Deccan Hindu and is yearly visited by thousands f pilgrims It was there that the saint N i t t i brother of D y d ended his earthly career But above all it is renowned as pot where the Godavari river rises T the Marathas th the Godavari is the holiest f all southern streams and by the dwellers on her banks h is usually called Ganga or the Ganges Indeed a current legend claims for her a holiness even greater than that of her proud northern sister When King B h g i t h by his prayers and penances brought down from heaven the divine Ganges t h god There he held her imprison S hiva caught her in his hair ed f or a year Parvati S hiva s wife grew jealous f the stately lady whom her husband carried always with him S h called to her aid her son the elephant headed Ga pati Now it o happened that near Trimba k a great sage called O
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Hussein Ali Khan Both F k h i and his former allies now prepared for war ; but while the S ayad brothers collected men and guns with vigour and resolution the wretched emperor could not decide on any settled plan At last a Kashmiri called Mahomed Murad won the imperial f avour by suggesting to him a variety f futile designs by which he might destroy the S y d In return for this worthless counsel F k h i ennobled Mahomed Murad with the title of I t i k d K han F k h h h i Ru k n d daulat which being interpreted means the confidential noble of the court f the emperor F k h i and pillar of the state At I t i k d Khan s advice the emperor recalled S arbuland Khan the governor of Patna Chin Kulich Khan now nobled with the title Of Nizam l Mulk or deputy f the empire and governor of Moradabad and Ajit S ing the son f Jaswant S ing Maharaja of Jodhpur whom as a child A g i b had wished to detain in Delhi and convert to Islam After A j t S ing s successful flight the Maharana f U daipur the first f the Rajput princes had bestowed on him the hand f his daughter ; and Bahadur S hah had publicly acknowledged him as Chief of Jodhpur He was w governor f G Ajit S ing however correctly gauged t the emperor s vacillating and treacherous nature and not only refused to help in the destruction of the S y d but disclosed to S ayad Abdulla Khan who was still at Delhi F kh i intentions Nizam l Mul k and S arbuland Khan had relinquished their high ffices when recalled to Delhi but h d been assured that they would be promoted the one to be vazir t h e other to be commander i chief O these terms they were ready to attack the S y d s But when th ey asked f the emperor the fulfilment of his promises they learnt that he i ntended to make I t i k d Khan both vazir and commander i chief They vainly protested that since they had ceased to be governors they could not help F k h i unless he gave them high posts at Delhi ; but they received the reply that I t i k d Khan alone h d the necessary talents to be head either of the civil or s r
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military administration S eeing that the emperor was bent on his own destruction Nizam l Mulk and S arbuland Khan wisely made their peace with the S y d The d ays of F k h i reign were now numbered Of all his f Jaipur alone stood by his f riends Jai S ing the raj a ide and ffered with his Rajput troops to atta ck and destroy Abdulla Khan before Hussein Ali Khan could join him But fear now dominated the wretched successor f Without an effort to resist he allowed Hussein A g ib Ali Khan with t h troops of the Deccan and a contingent of ten thousand Maratha horse under Balaji V i h th to march on Delhi and join Abdulla Khan The emperor was lost He tried in vain to conciliate the brothers but t h ey had gone too far for pardon They replaced his g uards by their own soldiers and insolently repeated to F kh i face the various orders which he had given to compass th eir destruction The emperor lost his temper and broke into passionate reproaches The S y d at once seized his person A few nobles touched by their master s fall tried to rescue him but in vain The attempt ended in a street riot during which the mob fell on the Maratha contingent and killed fifteen hundred f them including t ji B h l a son of P S ji B h l and Balaji Mahadev one of the three B h anu brothers When the S y d had restored order they had their unhappy m aster blinded and t h rown into a gloomy dungeon where he soon afterwards d ied ( F ebruary Nizam l Mulk and S arbuland Khan were rewarded for their inaction the former by the governorship of Malwa the latter by the governorship f Kabul th
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body of the deceased emperor was buried in t h tomb of Humayun the pot where lie the remains f t h murdered Dara S h k h and where many years later the heirs of the last Moghul emperor sought in vain a sanctuary In h i place the S ayad brothers seated on the throne one R f i d D y t the son of one of prince A k bar M h m d daughters and therefore the great grandson f A The g ib emperor was only twenty years f age but h was alread y stricken with a mortal sickness He was sufferin g from consumption and three months after his coronation he followed F k h i to the grave At the dying boy request his brother R f i d Daulat was crowned in h i stead ; but a victim to the same pitiless malady he als o exchanged in three months time the throne for a grave During the reign f these two princes the S y d were masters f the empire Abdulla Khan selected for h i own z anana the favourite beauties f F k h i and t h e Musulman chroniclers relate as a symptom of the decay f th empire that Maharaja Ajit S ing took back t h daughter whom he had given in wedlock to t h lat emperor and reconverting her to Hinduism sent h back to his own palace at Jodhpur Th nex t prince whom the S y d seated on the throne was Roshan Akhtar the son f J h d S hah In S eptember 1 7 1 9 he becam nder the title of Mahomed S hah emperor of Delhi TH E
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vacillation he would willingly have destroyed them He now entered readily into a plan f or their discomfiture He first established himself firmly in his governorship Of Malwa and having reduced that province to bedience b resolved to make himself master of the Deccan He knew a good deal about Deccan warfare and had in 1 7 1 3 and 1 7 1 4 when viceroy for a short time protected it with success against Maratha encroachments His daring mind conceived the plan of sing t h resources f that province which others regarded as nearly lost to the empire to oust the S y d dominion He assembled twelve thousand veteran horse at S ironj and then without warning crossed the Narbada and marched southwards The S y d who had expected him to march on Delhi were dismayed by this unexpected move The rebel s march was at first a triumphant progress The giant fortress of A i g d which had for many years withstood the arms f Akbar surrendered on payment f two years arrears f pay Burhanpur capitulated on the same terms Anwar K han th governor f Khandesh at once handed over his charge Rao Rambha Nimbalkar Ch d e J d h and other Maratha leaders discontented with S hahu and a cont i ngent from Kolhapur presented themselves at Nizam l M l k s camp L astly Ghaus Khan the governor of Berar and a Tur k li k e the Nizam himself brought to his fellow countryman a body Of veteran troops and a train f artillery The Niz am s head was not turned by these easy successes He knew that he would soon have to face Alam Ali Khan a nephew f the S y d s and for the moment viceroy of the Deccan T Alam Ali Khan s help too were marching Dilavar Khan a S ayad like the two brothers d a Maratha contingent under K h d Dabhade f interior lines Th Nizam however had the advantage and h resolved to destroy his enemies b efore t h ey could unite His tactics were those which he had learnt in Deccan warfare O the approach of Dilavar K h an the .
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Niz am left on the wooded banks f a stream his lieutenant Inayat Khan with a pic k ed body of infantry and a large train of artillery With the bulk f his force he went out meet Dilavar K han The latter thin k ing that he h d t before him the entire army of his enemy c h arged impetu The Nizam skilfully retreated until h h d led ly Dilavar Khan close to his concealed reserves While the f fancied S ayad was pursuing his foe in the disorder victory there burst on him and his men a storm f cannon hot Dilavar Khan s soldiers fell in heaps and the rest taking advantage f the smoke fled in dismay f rom the battle ( 1 9 t h June In the meantime Alam Ali Khan had reached Aurangabad He had affected a junction with the Marat h a contingent under K h d Dabhade and with twelve thousand Marath as and his own army of thirteen thousand men he though t himself a match for Nizam l Mulk The latter feared most the Maratha contingent Against them he resolved to rely on massed batteries f heavy artillery a device used afterwards with still greater effect by the F rench general de Bussy He stripped A i g d and Burhanpur of their cannon and then sought his enemy Kh d Dabhade and his Marathas behaved in a way worthy of his high reputation But Ghaus Khan kept them at a d istance with the fire of his batteries and charged the m in the field with the squadrons under Ch d J dh The main action took place at a spot called Balapur in Berar a l most half way between Burhanpur and Aurangabad The Nizam s tactics were imilar to those f his recent victory but more artfully concealed In the evening before the battle he ostentatiously massed his entire artillery in front f his lines At night he withdrew the bulk f his guns and hid them in a copse a mile or t w in the rear Next morning the 1 ot h August 1 7 2 0 Alam Ali Khan attacked wit h the same fury as Dilavar Kh an h d done O
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and fell into t h same snare Nizam l Mulk slowly retreated f ollowed by Alam Ali K h an When the deluded commander had reached the desired spot the concealed batteries in a few minutes s w ept aw ay his troops by thousands Profiti g by their disorder Nizam l Mul k counter attacked Th Maratha contingent fought bravely until Alam Khan s death when K h d Dabhade seein g that the day was lost withdrew his detachment safel y t the Deccan Among t h fallen was S hankar Mul b ar Hussein Ali Khan s envoy to the court of King S hahu The rebel s victories were heard with dismay by the S ayad brothers but with secret joy by the emperor and his mother and they deemed the time propitious for rid ding themselves f their overbearing benefactors To this end they won over another Turk named Mahomed Amir kh i K han who had deserted F to the S y d and now that the S y d cause seemed to totter was ready t desert back from the S y d to the emperor The p i cions brothers forbade y private interviews but Amir Khan and Mahomed S hah conveyed to each other their plans by speaking penly in Turki a language unknown to the S y d but always diligently studied by the house f Babar As Hussein Ali Kh an was the abler of the brothers it was decided to remove him by assassination and in one Mir Haidar a Cha gatai Moghul was found a suitable instrument The assassin pretended to ffe Hussein Ali K h an a petition written in extremely bscure language Hussein Ali Khan accepted it and while he tried to unravel the tangled rigmarole Mir Haidar plunged a dagger into his heart O the death f their leader the bulk f his troops deserted and the rest were overpowered by the nobles attached to the imperial cause Abdulla Khan still remained to be dealt with He was at F atehpur S i k ri the beautiful city which A k bar built near Agra and afterwards abandoned O hearing o f his brother s murder he at once marche d on Delhi To give his advance a how f right he had crowned another grandson o f e
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t he contrived so skilfully master Marching into G to sow seditio in Haidar Kuli Khan s army that at a given moment it deserted in a mass to the enemy The wretched governor left with only a few personal friends saved h i life by pretending to be mad and fled to Delhi He was followed there by Nizam l Mul k who once more under too k his duties as vazir with the added prestige of his recent victory and a third viceroyalty His return was S O distasteful to the foolish boy who occupied the throne that Nizam l Mul k began to fear that if he stayed long at Delhi he would li k e Hussein Ali Khan be removed by the k nife f an assassin He begged leave to resign his ff ice as vazir and go to his governorships Of Malwa G t and the Deccan w here as he pleaded the fresh inroads of the Marathas demanded his immediate return With a igh f relief Mahomed S hah graciously granted his request and lavished honours on the departing minister Nizam l Mul k was given the title f Asaf Jah and Va k il i Mulk or agent general of the empire and permitted t leave court with every wish f or his future success The Nizam went first to Malwa and thence a fter a shor t interval to the Deccan But h i s master s enmity preceded him An imperial messenger had already reached M b a i K han t h commandant of Haidarabad fort begging him t destroy the viceroy and assume the ceroyalty himself Tempted by the offer M b i Khan won over a number of the leading Musulman officers and raised an army big enough to encourage h i m to attac k the emperor s enemy O the 2 d O ctober 1 7 2 4 the rivals met at S ha k ar Khera in Berar eighty miles from Aurangabad M b i Khan tried to outmarch the Niz am and turning his flan k to seize Aurangabad But he w Opposed to a master of the art of war Nizam l Mul k marched even more rapidly than he did and forced him to action In spite f the personal bravery of M b i Khan he was k illed and his army overthrown Nizam l Mulk knew as well as anyone t h e u z ar a
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B E OR leaving Delhi Niz am l Mul k had appointed his uncle Hamid Khan as his lieutenant in G t Mahomed S ha h was advised to release from prison Abdulla Kh an and send him to reconquer that province first and t h Deccan afterwards This plan was frustrated by Nizam successfully administered to the l M l k s friends w h fallen vaz r a dose f poison The emperor then chose S arbuland Khan t h governor f Kabul as his instrument The latter however w h aspired to be vazir did not at nce proceed to G t but sent there one S huj aat K h an with a body f picked troops Hamid Kh an s own force h was not equal to resistance fell back on Dohad t ji Kadam Bande w here he induced a Maratha leader K t join h i m promising him in return the h th f G t The allies advanced against S huj aat Khan and defeating and killing him at K p d w j entered Ahmadabad in triump h It so happened however t h at Rustam Ali Khan the Mogh ul governor f S urat was S huj aat Khan s brother He took up arms to avenge him and following his enemy s example induced anoth er Maratha leader named Pilaji had for some time past been G ik d with whom h onducting a more or less successful guerilla warfare to patch up a truce and join him against Hamid K h an and T h is Pilaji G i k d was the founder of K t ji Bande the great house of Baroda ; and since E nglish historians as a rule interpret wrongly the name G i k d to mean cowherd i t will not be out of place to narrate here the E
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rigin of the family The word G i k d is made up Of two Marat h i words — Gai a cow and K d a small door G i k d therefore means a cow s door The f amily came to adopt the name in this way the N d j great grandfather f Pilaji G ik d was in charge of Bher fort in that part f the Mawal tract which watered by the P avana river in the Bhor state is k nown as the Pavana Maval O day a Musulman butcher drove past the fort gates a herd f cows intending at the close Of his journey convert them into beef N d ji like a virtuous Hindu t rushed out and rescued the cows which ran f or helter Proud Of i nto the fort through a side door or K v d this meritorious f eat N d ji assumed the name of Gai or cow s door which has since been corrupted into k d d N d ji had a son K G ik ji and K ji had four sons Damaji Lingoji G j ji and H ji Damaji too k service under K h d Dabhade and so distinguished himself in the battle f Ba l ap r that his conduct was brought to the royal notice Damaji had no son but he adopted Pilaji the son of one f his brothers and btained D bh d e f him a small post in K h d household S hortly after his appointment Pilaji who was an efficient horse master was put in charge f some forty or fifty mares which had become too thin to carry K h d o D bh d troopers He took the mares to Narayanpur in the Nawapur p g of G t where they shortly recovered their condition Dabhade then gave him two or th r ee hundred other f oundered horses which also recovered health and strength ; indeed Pilaji not only sent them bac k in excellent condition but he also returned a part Of the money given to him for their keep As a reward Dabhade promoted Pilaji to the command f a squadron with which to garrison Nawapur This pargana and the neighbouring districts were then in the hands f the Bandes and the P w also subordinates f the commander i chief They
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a ff ected to believe that Dabhade had made a mista k e d refused to hand over to Pilaji his new grant TO com pensate him Dabhade gave him the command f two mo e squadrons and allowed him to establish hi m self at a f or t near S t t o which Pilaji gave the name f S ongadh o the golden stronghold He was now at the head Of considerable division and flattered by Rustam Ali s o f fe greed to serve under his c ommand An indecisive a cti was fought by the two pposing Moghuls on the banks Of the Mahi river Rustam Ali remained master o f t h fi eld But Hamid K h an worsted in battle proved more formidab l e in intrigue He induced his Maratha ally Bande to wi over Pilaji The next day Hamid Khan renewed the battle Pilaji G ai k d Obtained leave to guard the guns d baggage while Rustam Ali charged the enemy Aw y went the glittering masses f the imperial horse Pilaj i G ik d instantl y spiked his commander s guns and char g d into his rear Attac k ed O all sides Rustam Ali s f orc e was destroyed and the too trusting generals f ell on t h e battlefi eld In consideration of P i l ji timely treachery Hamid Khan divided the h th of G t between h i m and K t h ji Bande The two Marathas quarrelled ove the division but in the end they accepted Hami d Kh an ruling that the h th Of eastern G t shoul d g t Pilaji and that Of western G t to K t h ji The Mahi river was declared to be the boundary between them After this settlement Hamid K han returned in triumph t o A h madabad and made his headquarters in the S hahi Ba gh now the residence f the British commissioner H i s triumph however was short lived S arbuland Kha feeling that if he tarried longer t Delhi he migh t los everything determined to go to G t himself and driv out the deputy of Nizam l Mulk He succeeded in forcing his way into Ahmadabad but there he was besieged by thirty thousand Marathas and compelled to give them t d rafts for large amounts on the chief bankers Of G an
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1 80
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erecte d in his father s honour by S h i p t and may yet be seen at Mahuli on the banks of the holy K rishna A not less enduring monument is the collection f S ansk rit and Marathi verse which the soldier and statesman wrote in S atara fort to beguile the tedium of his imprisonment Balaji V i h t h died hortly after his return south wards The fatigues f the journey the anxieties of h i stay his vast labours to btain the confirmation f the treaty drafted by Hussein Ali Khan had exhausted even his enduring fra m e E arly in O ctober 1 7 2 0 he felt him self unable to carry on even the ordinary duties of his charge and btained leave to retire to S w d the little town below P d During the winter and summer his d family lived in P but to avoid the damp cold of the monsoon months it was their habit to descend into the valley below In his house at S w d surrounded by his family the great Peshwa tried to regain his strength and on the 1 1 t h March 1 7 2 0 he married his son B ji to the charming K h i b i but the hand of death was already on him O the 1 t April 1 7 2 0 after a few days illness he died f heart failure It is a great misfortu ne that more has not come down to us f this distinguished man Much ha s survived to us f his son B ji life and character Yet although B l ji exploits were less brilliant than those O f his more famous son it must be borne in mind that the latter began where the former ended The success which attended B ji was in truth the success f B l ji pru dent and far seeing policy It must be conceded that in the granting of lands instead f salaries to the k ing s fficers Balaji departed from the wise rule of S h i ji But the f ault was not the minister s but his master s Balaji saw that S hahu had not the commanding talents and energy which had made possible the great king s concentrated dominion S ince t h best was not obtainable Balaji chose the second best and substituted for the autocracy of the king the Maratha confederacy S uch a confederacy had the seed of weakness Nevertheless Mr R d has ’
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bserved it made its power felt all over India and endured for more than a hundred years Again it was to Balaji that the complicated Maratha system of collection was due To it as much as to their victories in the field the Marathas Owed the spread f their empire E verywhere were scattered their agents collectors and K m i d their G m t and S h i t d who by constant inter f erence with the Moghul fficials undermined their author ity hampered their finances fomented their quarrels and furnished to the S atara government a never failing excuse f or hostilities As a child Balaji had married R d h b i Barve a lady of extraordinary accomplishments In an age when few men were literate this talented lady could both read and write S h ruled her household with a rod of iron Yet in social matters she was large minded and tolerant At one time it came to light that a certain Brah man S ardar owned a lave girl of the Mhar caste The stricter citizens would have excommunicated the ffender But R d h b i induced the king to impose instead f a sentence of excommunication a trifling penance B l j eldest son was V i ji better known as B ji born in 1698 His second son was A t ji better known as Ch i m ji Appa born in 1 7 0 8 He left also two daughters O of them A b i married V y k t the founder f the house of Ichalkaranji The other Bh i b i became t h bride of Abaji Joshi f Barama t i t h brother f Balaji Naik a wealthy money lender and k nown to fame as B ji most harassing creditor The third great Maratha chief to die was K h d Dabhade In every campaign nay in almost every battle fought by the Marathas since the death of S h i ji he had played his part In his last great fight t h at of Balapur he was in no way responsible for defeat ; and h i courage in the field and his skilful retreat enhanced rather than lowered his reputation But on his return to the Decca he felt himself no longer fit for service and asked for and btained leave to retire He had won wide possessio s in O
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the rich plains Of G t ; but li k e a true Maratha he pre f erred to them all the little Deccan village which had seen his birth To Talegaon Dabhade as it is still called on the ban k s of the I d y i river the war worn soldier went Two picturesque lakes surrounded by hady trees adjoin the village and provide it with a never failing supply of water The neighbouring hills furnish it with a beautiful and ever changing landscape The summer is not more severe than that f southern F rance The winter is as bracing as that of A l geciras or S icily ; and if the rainfall is unduly heavy the temperature is never high and the air is always cool and pleasant But neither cli mate nor scenery could restore the old warrior s exhausted frame F or some months previously he had suffered from gravel and he lived only long enough to see his own title of S ena Khas Khel transferred to his son T i m b k and to receive the assurance that T i m b k would also on his father s death succeed to the post Of commander i chief ( May It was at one time commonly believed that B ji s accession to his father s ffice was delayed until the same month as T i m b k s appointment to the commandership i chief F or some time previous to Balaji V i h th death there had begun to form what for convenience sake may be called the Deccan Party — combination of D h t h or Deccan Brahmans and Marathas against Balaji or Konkan fellow c s t m Vi h t h and h i Ch i t p The most formidable leader f the Deccan Party was the son f Parashuram Trimbak T O him was Sh i p t joined F t i g Bh l the child whom S hahu had adopted after the capture f Parad village O B l ji s death S hahu had announced to h i council t h at he meant to appoint B ji in his father s place S h i p t artfully urged the king to be in no hurry Let the k ing wait and judge for himself whether the young man s abilities were u z ar a
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H I S T O R Y OF T H E
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The Moghuls had overrun S h i ji s southern conquests Let the Marathas retake Jinji and all its f ertile district and the provin c es torn by the great king from Bijapur This second a m bition realised it would be time enough t set in motion their arm ies against Delhi replied that the way to restore their finances B ji was to plunder the rich provinces of Hindustan and t to waste their strength and treasure in the barren plains f the Deccan He drew a vivid picture o f the deeds of Sh i ji who with far less resources had defied the Moghul empire in its heyday He excited S ha b u s cupidity by dwelling on the indolence the imbecility and above l l on the wealth o f the Moghuls ; and he stimulated his religiou zeal by urging him to drive from the holy land f Bharat varsha the outcast and the barbari an The orator reasoning migh t have been wasted but f or his transcend ent personal qualities The commandi g stature which all but reached the low ceiling of the royal palace t h rich clear voice the bold virile f eatures the dar k imperi ous eyes that f orc ed attentio and above all t h rare felicity of diction that f or centuries has be e n the peculiar gift of the Ch i t p Brahman produced an irresistible e ff e t At the close f a lofty peroration the minister f ixed on S hahu his glowing gaze and said ’
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1 85
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In 1 7 2 4 h owever he felt strong enough to invade Malwa This province as it will be remembere d had been bestowed on Nizam l Mulk But on the latter s invasion f the Deccan the emperor dismissed him from t h governorship The latter O f Malwa and conferred it on Raja G i i d h was ab l e since Nizam l Mul k had d rained the province to win it back with f his troops to conquer the Decca little difficulty to the imperial cause To resist the Maratha leader was a harder task B ji swept like a whirlwind through Central India Then leaving it he appointed H lk as King S h h agents Ud ji Pawar M l h and The first f these was the founder of the B anoji S india house of Dhar the second was the founder of the state of Indore and the third the ancestor of the Maharajas of Gwalior was of lowly origin His ancestors M lh H lk were D h g or herdsmen by caste and first lived in the village of W p h g Afterwards they moved to Ho ] on the ban k s f Ni a forty miles from Poona and within t h limits o f the Phaltan state Their original name was V i k but this they changed to H l k as a result of their w resid ence M l h father was one Kh d ji H l k who held in Hol the Office f Ch g l or Chaudhari a superior village servant He became the father of a baby boy to whom he gave the name of M lh i When the boy was only three years l d K h d ji H lk died T save her baby from the malice of his father s brothers his mother Jiwai too k him with her to her own village of Talode in Khandesh There M l h i or M lh as he now came to be called was brought up by his mother s brother Bh oj j who was in command of a troop of irregular horse under K t ji Kadam Bande O day when still a child he went to sleep in t h shade of a tree A he lept so the story runs the sun moved and its rays fell upon the unconscious boy When his mother came to fetch him home h saw a large cobra protecting his face with its hood expanded S h called .
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her brother to witness this strange spectacle and both agreed that it foretold the boy s future greatness Not long afterwards Bh j j had a vision of the goddess Lakshmi who told him that his nephew was destined to be a k ing Convinced by these two events that M l h o was reserved f or something better than a herdsman s life Bh j aj enlisted him as a trooper and gave him in marriage his own daughter G t m b i M l h courage soon brought him rewards but he once nearly th s ended his career by striking in the face Balaji V i h son B ji with a clod of earth because the latter objected to his cutting the peasants corn to feed his horses B ji o was generous enough to ask his father to spare the rough oldier This generosity H l k did not forget After the battle o f Balapur ( 1 7 2 0) in which he greatly d i t i g i h d himself he smoothed over a q arrel between K t h ji Kadam Bande and B ji This pleased the o young Peshwa much that in 1 7 2 5 he gave H l k a command f 5 00 horse in his own service and became greatly attached to him B anoji S india came o f an ancient Kshatriya family of which the original name was S d k They rose to the royal notice in the time of the Bahmani Kings and their name was corrupted into S hinde a word which the E nglish have further corrupted into S india They became p t i l or herdsmen of the village f K h e k h d about twelve miles from S atara In A time they held com g ib mands in his army and the emperor married to S hahu while in captivity S i t b i the daughter f a S india in i t i his service O A death father fell ib S b g fighting for Azam S hah B anoji S india was a scion of a younger branch His father was in Balaji V i sh th s service and he himself was brought up as a playmate of B ji When B ji o grew up he made B anoji his o orderly and it was R ji s duty to carry his master s found his orderly asleep but s lippers O e d y B ji ’
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Haidarabad and won the P t i i d h i good will by ff ering him a jaghir in Berar as an equivalent for the h th payable on his w capital B ji indignantly protested but in vain S hahu who did not penetrate the scheme s f his powerful neighbour was induced by t h P ti i d h i to approve the exchange since O he said the Nizam would feel deeply the payment of tribute on his metropolis the Nizam nex t affected E ncouraged by this success igno rance of the respective claims of S hahu and R j m son S m b h ji He declared himself unable to pay to t h e Maratha government its h th and d s l m l k i until the matter had been settled At the same time he removed agents from his dominions and invited both S hahu Sh h and S m b h ji to send envoys to Haidarabad where h would himself decide which Of the two princes had t h e better right to the crown of the Marathas The P t i i d h i blinded by his hat ed for B ji o urged h i sovereign t comply But the Peshwa laughed h i rival to scorn and wor k ed on S h h feelings that the king instantly S declared war The Niz am successfully invo k ed the aid of The latter joined the Nizam s camp with a S m b h ji large Maratha force and the Nizam flattered himself that he would be able to destroy the power of the Marathas forcing them into a civil war which would never i f his efforts availed anything be ended But he had counted without t h genius of B ji That aspiring statesman oon shewed h imself as great in the field as he had been eloquent in the council chamber O the 7 t h August 1 7 2 7 while rain was still falling B ji led his army into the f ield E ntering the Aura gabad district he first plundered Jalna and the distric ts round it The Niz am sent a force under E waz Khan to meet h i m A f ter an indecisive action the Peshwa outmarched his pponent and reached Mahur Again turning towards Aurangabad he gave out that he meant to plunder Burhanpur To protect t h wealthy city the Nizam hastened to join E waz Khan But B ji had already le f t Khandesh and plundering he went had ra
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ntered G t and had informed S arbuland Khan with grim humour that he was invading the province under the Nizam s orders The latter furious at being outwitted march ed with his whole strength on Poona B ji r whose plan was to exhaust the Nizam s soldiers before he attacked them left Guz rat and again invaded his enemy s dominion long the banks o f the Godavari The Nizam abandoned his plan of marching on Poona and went eastwards so rapidly that he crossed the Godavari lower down and waited for B ji astride the river The Nizam s cavalry was now tired out so B ji no longer fled before him Retreating slowly B ji tempted the Moghuls to follow him away from the river into the hilly country near the town of Pal k hed He then took the ffensive and soon forced the Nizam to ta k e post Thereupon B ji c ompletely surrounded him and but f or the Nizam s heavy artillery he would soon have been compelled to surrender together with S m b h ji The Nizam s big guns saved him F orcing his way by t h e f ire of his massed batteries through th investing force he succeeded in reaching the Godavari river near the town f Mungi S hevgaon He had ow water and a considerable store of provisions Nevertheless his was a besieged force and he sent his lieutenant E wa Khan to pen negotiations B ji demanded the i m m d i ate surrender f S m b h ji the payment of all arrears of th and d h m kh i the reinstatement Of the Maratha h revenue fficers the recognition f S hahu as sole king o f the Marathas and the grant of a substantial jaghir to B ji The Nizam honourably refused to surrender S m b h ji but he agreed to the remaining conditions E ventually it was settled that the Nizam hould send S m b h ji with his force to Panhala and that thereafter S hahu should be at liberty to take such action against him as he might deem necessary This treaty k nown as the treaty of Mungi S hevgaon was igned on the sixth March 1 7 2 8 The document executed B ji allowed the u z ar a
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Nizam to retire to his w dominions and turned h i s t where S arbuland Kha attention to G d eserted by the emperor and by the vazir Khan Dauran was anxiou s to come to terms with the Marat has Pilaji G i k d and K t h ji Kadam Bande were already livi g on the country A third f orce under Ch i m aji Appa the younger brother of the Peshwa now inva ded G t and plundered Dhol k a The two first S arbuland Khan regarded as little better than bandits but Ch i m ji Appa had behind him the authority both f the k ing and the Peshwa To Ch i m ji Appa therefore the distracted S arbuland Khan addressed himself and offered to give him the h th and d k t if he would protect him from other m l h i of G Maratha marauders This ffer w reported to the Peshwa d in 1 7 2 9 A D a treaty was executed between B ji a o t and the viceroy Of G S urat was wholly excepted f rom the treaty Of the Ahmadabad revenues the Maratha were to receive only five per cent O the rest Of the th t province S arbuland Khan agreed to pay h G m S and k the other hand hahu d h h O ) 1 ( was to provide two thousand five hundred cavalry for the imperial service and k eep in chec k Pilaji G i k d and K t h ji Kadam Bande In spite of the failure o f his first scheme the Nizam did not yet despair of sowing discord between the Marath a leaders He found ready to his hand a fitting instrument in T i m b k Dabhade He it will be remembered was the son of K h d o Dabhade and the commander i chief Pilaji G i k d was his lieutenant Of the Maratha army The recent treaty between S arbuland Khan and B ji o gravely affected his interests K h a d o early victories and Pilaji G i k d s later successes were to be wholly disregarded and the fruits were to be gathered for t h e k ing s treasury by B ji ao alone O the other han d as may be seen from a letter written to him by S hahu on t h e himself was debarred from 2 1 t May T im b k o
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Appa gave birth to a baby boy who on the 1 4 th August eceived the name of S d h i O the 3 1 s t August The sorrowing R k h m b i died of puerperal fever brothers passed S eptember in Poona O the tenth O ctober f ell the Dasara festival and on that auspicious day the tents f the two commanders rose at the S angam or junc tion of the M uta and Mula rivers now the residence Of O the 1 3 th O ctober the royal ar m y t h judge of Poona t Whatever efforts to concili b egan the march to G B ji may have wished to ma k e the at T im b k presence of t w armies in the field must have rendered their success unlikely ; and wh ile he conducted negotiations he had to take careful measures to prevent T i m b k s junction with the Nizam B ji troops umbered twenty five thousand while T i m b k had no less than f orty five thousand men But t h latter s force was com p osed largely f Koli and Bhil levies who as the Peshwa k new would be useless against Maratha troops The who s oldiers whom he feared were the Deccan veterans had served under K h d Dabhade But these did not utnumber his own and he had besides the prestige of the oyal authority Dabhade so B ji proclaimed was a rebel and was leagued with a foreign army to enslave M aratha f reedom won by the great k ing and to divide Sh i ji conquests between S am b h ji and the Moghuls The f irst encounter between the rivals was on the Narbada river when a body o f troops under Damaji G i k d i vanguard as it was f l i t d a severe reverse on B ji o But B ji with the main army c rossing the stream pressed on and on the first April 1 7 3 1 forced T i m b k o to a battle between D b h i and Baroda commonly known as the battle f D b h i AS B ji had f oreseen the new levies fled at the first charge of the Maratha horse K t h ji Kadam Bande who had joined T i m b k but whose interests were really opposed to his fled also But th soldiers of K h d Dabhade fought with desperate valour in defence of his son Nor was the general unw orthy ,
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B ALAJ I
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193
V I S H V AN A TH
his troops That his elephant might not be swept away in t h tide of fligh t h had its legs c h ained to a gun carriage F rom his howdah he shot many arrows that the skin peeled ff h i s fingers ; and he directed the battle with such resolutio that at one time it seemed to B ji that the day was lost To save it the Peshwa exchanged his elephant for a horse collected a number of pic k ed swordsmen and with them cut his way near to where elephant stood He then sent a camel sowar T im b k with a flag o f truce and a letter to t h e Opposing general he wrote should be shewn S uch gallantry as yours gainst t h Maharaj a s enemies Let us stay the fight and once more try to effect a compromise T im b k scorn fully rejecte d the offer and unchaining his elephant s legs ordered the mahout to drive it against B ji The Peshwa s swordsmen surrounded the beast and k illing the ma h out attacked the general U ndaunted the Maratha chief flung on the ground the mahout s body and ta k ing his place showered arrow a f ter arrow at the swordsmen B ji called to them not to kill Dabhade but to ta k e him alive This however was impossible as Dabhade refused to yield At last perfidy succeeded where generalship had failed At the moment that T i m b k was preparing to counterattack and was ordering a general advance his maternal uncle Bh i g To k e treacherously S hot him in the head f rom behind k illing him instantly O the death f their l eader T i m b k troops broke and fled The Peshwa s victory was complete J w ji Dabhade M l ji Pawar and a son of Pilaji G i k a d f ell on the battle field Pilaji G i k d escaped wounded f rom the fight but he was unable to ma k e any further resistance to the king s authority A f ter the battle B ji sent an account of it to his royal master S ha b u s reply shewed how deeply he felt the quarrels of his high commanders He intrigued no doubt with the Nizam wrote the Of
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H I S T OR Y O F T H E
M A R AT H A P E O PL E
sadly in his wickedness he f ought against us and he has eaten the fruit thereof But the lives f my fficers have been uselessly wasted The past can never be effaced Both sides must now make peace with each other and cease from strife Having thus written to B j S hahu sent for him and for T i m b k brothers Y h w t and S avai B b and for K h d e D bh d e widow Um b i and did all that he could to effect a reconciliation He made both B ji and C h i m ji Appa fall at U m b i feet and ask her Thereaft e r he conferred on Y h w t a the title f S enapati and on S avai B b that of S ena Khas Khel He then bade Um b i and her sons return to Talegaon Dabhade He himself went to the temple of Kh at Jejuri After prostrating himself in the d b presence f the gods he puri fied himself from the guilt of T im b k death He next set himself to the practi c al ide of the question He defined the boun d ries f Malwa t and passed orders that half the revenues and G f each province hould be paid direct to the royal treasury by the Peshwa The ot h er half of the G t revenues sh ould be allotted to the D b h d for the upkeep f the army Of occupation The other half f the Malwa revenues hould similarly be allotted to B ji for his military expenses But in spite of the royal generosity the house of Dabhade never recovered from the ruinous defeat f D bh i Y hw in pite Of his title f commander t i chief was unwilling to serve with his father s conqueror His idleness led him into evil ways and he became a victim to drink and pium In course f time l l the power f the house of Dabhade passed to their lieutenants the descendants of Pilaji G i k d While King S ha b u s ar ms were thus victorious in G won a no less decisive success on his outhern t h frontier Pri ce S m b h ji on his return to Panhala still refused to acknowledge S h h suzerainty Nevertheless “
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19 6
M A R AT H A P E OPL E
the battle of Pal k hed the P t i i d h i had lost much of his master s f avour Hearing that a f orce was to be raised for service against S m b h ji h begged the k ing to entrust to him the command and allow him by his future conduct to atone f or his mista k es in the past The k ing consented but sent as S h i p at lieutenant an experie ced soldier i g J d He was the second son f D h ji Sh m b h d Jadav He s J d a and the younger brother of C h had with his brother entered the Niza m s service Having quarrelled with Ch d s he had made his peace with the k ing S m b h aj although willing to wound was y t f i d to strike ; and he would gladly have disowned Ud ji Chavan This too was the counsel of V y k t Joshi B ji brother i law and of Bh gw t the son f Ramchandra But Ud ji Chavan had great in fluence with his Ni l k th master ; and by promising him certain victory he induced S m b h ji to declare open war d to join the camp on the Warna with large rein f orcements In spite Of Ud aji boasts victory did not attend S m b h j banners In January 1 7 3 0 the P t i i d h i at S h m b h i g suggestion suddenly marched against the Warna camp and completely surprised the enemy Ud ji Chavan who was responsible f or the expedition was one f the first to leave the f ield He induced S m b h ji to flee with him The Kolhapur soldiery deserted by their leaders lost heart and were slaughtered li k e heep or driven into the Warna All military chest and stores fell into the Prati S m b h ji hands S too did Tarabai R jas b ai S m b h ji id hi wife Ji j b ai Bh gw t Ramchandra and V y k t Josh i The P t i i d h i too k his prisoners to King S hahu The latter with chivalrous courtesy sent to Panhala Rajas bai and Ji j b ai S m b h ji mother and wife He would al o have sent Tarabai But the old queen wa s only too glad to escape from her wife s clutches With sardonic wit she Observed that it w s her lot everywhere to l ive in con fi ement It was there f ore useless to move her from ra
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19 7
V I S H V AN AT H
one prison to another S hahu readily consented to keep her with him He had an l d palace in S at ra fort prepared for her reception There h lived until S h h death once more brought her into prominence Bh g w t Ramchandra was ransomed by S m b h ji and f ter the lapse of some time B ji paid ten thousand rupees as ransom for V y k t Joshi Ud ji Ch s influence did not survive this decisive defeat and his own cowardly conduct Th P t i i d h i victorious army too k Vishalgad by storm in O ctober 1 7 3 0 S m b h ji nobles hastened to make their peace with the invader ; and the prince had no alternative but to throw himself on his cousin s mercy Generous as ever S hahu willingly forgave him and Tarabai lent her services in the negotiations for peac e There had been two previous attempts on S h h part to btain a treaty first from Prince S h i j in 1 7 0 8 and again from prince S m b h ji in 1 7 2 6 The drafts of these abortive negotiations formed a basis for the new draft Pendin g its preparation S hahu invited S m b h ji to visit him S uch an invitation was indistinguishable from a command and In January 1 7 3 1 S hahu sent from S m b h ji accepted it S atara S h i p t the P t i i d h i Am b ji P and d other notable fficers and nobles to escort S m b h ji into his dominions With a large body of horse the P t i i d h i encamped below Panhala Ascending the fort he presented S m b h ji with a number of horses and elephants and costly saddlery A day or two later S m b h ji descended from the fort and returned the visit These courtesies o er S m b h ji escorted by his own picked troops and the P ti i d h i escort m arched with him to Wathar in the S atara dis t rict There the prince and the soldiers halted while the P t i i d h i went to Umbraj to inform S hahu f the arrival of the royal visitor F rom U mbraj t h king moved to K h d and pitched his ca mp on t h banks of the Krishna river An pen pace kno wn as the J k h i d i plain had been chosen as the meeting place f the two c ousins The ground between the royal camps was covered .
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198
H I S T OR Y OF TH E
M A R AT H A P E O PL E
with the tents and equipage f t h nobles of Maharashtra who on this great occasion vied wit h each other in the plendour f t h eir trappin g s and the pro f usion f the r jewelry There were present no less than two hundred thousand soldiers together with hor s es and baggage trains i n countless numbers the appointed day S h ahu and O S m b h ji on the bac k s of elephants set out f rom their respective camps their howdahs blazing with precious stones When they came i sight f each other their eleph ants k neeled and their riders left them to mount richly saddled Arab chargers When t h e horses met the two princes alighted S m b h ji put his head on S h h u feet in to k en of submission S hahu bent down and lifting up his cousin clasped him to his breast Then according to the gracious custom f the E ast S hahu and S m b h ji decked each other with golden favours and garlands of flowers This formal meeting over both princes returned to their quarters O the 1 7 t h F ebruary 1 7 3 1 S h hu received a visit from S m b h ji It was arranged tha t the k ing and prince should again meet in public on an pen space close to K h d on t h ban k s of the Krishna The ceremonies bserved were imilar to those at the first meeting But after the princes had embraced S hahu seated S m b h ji beside hi m on his own elephant while Sh m b h waved impartially over the h eads of i g J d both the royal horsetails S ha b u s elephant bore him and h i guest back to the k ing s camp There S ha h u lavished his cousin presents f elephants horses cloth of gold jewels and treasure F rom K h d the princes went to U mbraj where the k ing gave a s eries of magnificent entertainments Then he insisted that S m b h ji should pass with him the Holi f stival at S atara The Peshwa s mansion was placed at t h prince s disposal There he remained for two months While the terms of the treaty were being discussed the Maratha nobles in turn invited When the S m b h ji to a ser i es of splendid banquets treaty o f Warna as i t is called had been ettled S hahu O
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2 00
H I S T OR Y O F T H E
M A R AT H A P E O PL E
him by seven years In spite f the treaty of Warna U d ji Chavan still s t rove to create d isorders in S ha b u s k ingdom In 1 7 3 1 he made another raid into the kin g s territory S hahu detached a force under Y h w t to ppose him He was defeated and ta k en but P t i released on payment f a h eavy fine In 1 7 3 7 when S hahu marched against Miraj Ud aji Chavan penly helped the Nizam He was made prisoner by the P t i i d h i S h ahu graciously pardoned him but he f led into the Nizam s dominions whence he from time to time made plundering expeditions into Maharashtra In 1 7 5 1 Balaji B ji o bribed him with an estate near Digraj in S angli territory But U d ji Chavan never ceased to be a robber chief In A bul let 1 7 5 3 he made a raid on a village near Miraj f rom a villager s gun k nocked him ff his horse His f oot caught in his stirrup and hanging head downwards he was dragged and kicked to death After the D b h d h d gone to Talegaon B ji returned to G t Obtaining f rom S Buland Khan a ratification of their former treaty B ji we t bac k to His intention was to teach the Niz am such a S atara lesson as would for ever res t rain him from attempts to w discord among the chiefs of Maharashtra O
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D E AT H
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2 01
O F B ALAJ I V I S H V AN A T H
AP PENDI X T H E TR E
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OF
WAR N A G R AN T E D BY
S H AH U
T O S AM B H AJ I
Cl a u
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provi n ce kn own as t h e W a run a M ah al is given to you wi t h al l i ts fort an d stron g pl a ces H al f of al l t h e st ates from t h e Tu n gab h ad r a south w ards to R a m e s h w ar am ar e given to you a n d h al f is k ept for oursel ves I n exch a n ge for K op a l you h a ve give n u s R atn agiri Th e fo r t of V a dg ao n mus t be destroyed Al l your en emies s h al l be our e n emies O u r e n emies s h al l be your en emies We sh al l both wor k i n un ion for th e wel fa r e Of th e k i n gdom From th e ju n ction of th e Warn a an d K rish n a rivers as f ar as t h e jun ction of th e Tu n gab h ad r a an d th e K rish n a th e south ern b an k with al l its forts an d stron g p l aces is yours T h e Kon k an from S al si as f ar as A n k ol a is yours You sh al l emp l oy an d p ay n o on e i n our territories We sh al l empl oy an d p ay n o on e i n your territories You must surren der th e fort an d district of Miraj an d th e forts an d districts of Bijap ur A th an i an d Tas gaon Th e
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39
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C H A P TE R K AN H O J I
XL
ANGR E AND
TH E E
NG L I S H
their n aval encounter with S h i ji the E nglish in S urat and Bombay had lived in peace with their neighbours They were brought to t h verge of ruin by a domestic upheaval The British Parliament had certainly meant to confer on the E ast India Company the monopoly of the eastern trade ; but t h e charter was ambiguously w d bd and some adventurous London merchants interpreting its la guage according to their own wishes held that they were allowed by law to set up as trade rivals to the Company In S eptember 1 6 8 2 one S y set up as a trader in Muscat In O ctober 1 6 8 2 another E nglish ship came to Goa three more to Bengal and yet another to S urat These interlopers as they were called made such hand some profits that two f the Bombay Council Petit and B hi j by name took s h ares in their ventures Their conduct came to light and they were dismissed Two other E nglis h men Vincent and Pitt were for similar offences dismissed by the Bengal Council l These four men combined d by their correspondence corrupted their f ormer f ellow servants At the same time they did their utmost to win over to the cause the military Their task was made e sier by the action of S i John Child the President of the E ast India C ompany He had lately cut down the fficers allowances and reduced the rate o f exchange at wh ich both they and the common soldiers were paid The of ficers at fi st remonstrated but on receiving a discourteous refusal determined to mutiny O the 2 4t h December 1 6 8 3 Captain K i gw i the senior military f ficer SI NCE
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2 04
A
H I S T OR Y OF T H E
M A R AT H A P E OP L E
help against the S idis of Ja w ra to become a subordinate ally of King S hahu With the aid of the royal troops he drove the S idis from the Konkan seaboard ta k ing a number of their fortresses of which the c h ief were V i i d g or Gh i h as it was then called and Kolaba T retain his possessions against the S idis K h ji Angre was obliged t maintain a large force and to pay his men he had to levy h th as he called it from the hips t d i g i the Arabian S His method of levying h tl was to ta k e the ships with their entire cargoes and the phrase was merely a euphemism for piracy His first recorded attack on an E nglish hip was on the yacht conveying Mr Chown the newly appointed governor of the E nglish factory at K arwar With Mr Chown was his wife who lived to have the cruel experience f being widowed three times before she was twenty S h was the daughter of C aptain Coo k e the C ompany s Chief E ngineer in Bengal and was married when only thirteen to Mr Harvey the then governor of K arwar a man far lder than she was He died a year after her marriage and not long a f terwards she married Mr Chown who had been nominated governor of Karwar her husband s place They embar k ed together on the yacht f Mr H l b y then governor of Bombay To escort the yacht went a small man f war While they were still in sight of Bombay island the two ships were attached by a fleet f gra b s or armed sailing vessels belonging to Angre The = yacht defended itself gallantly But Ch w arm was hot off and he bled to death in his wife s arms Mrs Chown and the crew were taken The man f war fled back to Bombay with the news of Mrs Ch w capture The Bombay government applied for h release but to procure it had to pay Rs by way f ransom A short time after her return to Bombay she married a Mr Gifford who in no long time was murdered at Anjango by the Nagas '
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AN G R E
K AN H OJI
AN D T H E E N G L I S H
2 05
of Malabar S h then sailed to E n g land and remained for the rest of h life satisfied with this triple although brief experience f matrimony F or two years after the capture of t h governor s yacht Angre left the E nglish alone ; then he atta ked the S ommers and t h Grantham two ships commanded by Captains Peacoc k and Collet The two ships successfully beat off the pirates but afterwards Angre too k a number f country craft which h armed and added to his fleet These caused immense damage to the E nglish coastwise trade In 1 7 1 5 Mr Charles Boone was appointed governor of Bombay He decided to destroy if he could Angre s strongholds He had built at S urat two large frigates called the F ame and the Revenge and at K arwar a third frigate called the Britannia About the same time he built a wall round Bombay and mounted on it a number of forty eight pounders He next fitted out the frigates and sending with them a fleet of smaller vessels he ordered them to make an attac k on V i i d g In April 1 7 1 7 the E nglish fleet cast anchor in V i i d g harbour which was only twelve hours sail from Bombay In command was Captain B l w His plan was to batter down the fortifications by the fire of his frigates next to send in a lighted fireship which would drive the garrison out of t h fortress and then run ing his small vessels ashore destroy t h garrison and take V i i d g by escalade as they strove to retreat But Captain B l w had made his plan with out a full k nowledge of its di fficulties The fortifications resisted the heavy guns of the frigates The shells that fell inside the fortress did little damage because the i r fuses were too lo g A boom across the inner harbour stopped the fireship and the garrison far from retreating jeered at their enemies from t h secure shelter of the walls Wh en the E nglish tried to escalade their scaling ladders proved too short Night fell and the besiegers h d achieved not h ing beyond knoc k ing down t h ree houses inside V i i d g It was clear that to take the place was impossible It was therefore decided to e
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H I S T OR Y OF T H E
M A R AT H A P E OPL E
destroy the shipping and sail back to Bombay But even this proved beyond the power f the besiegers Next morning they landed safely at some d istance belo w V i i d g But when they came within a mile of the shipping they found it protected by a deep and m uddy swamp which they could not cross The garrison watched with amuse ment their futile efforts and directly they began to retreat opened on t h em a heavy fire As the garrison did not exceed a hundred t h ey did not sally out of the castle ; so Captain B l w once out of range withdrew unmolested to h i ships He had achieved nothing and had lost a number of killed and wounded The casualties had be en increased by the bursting of a gun on board a galley called the Hunter which k illed three and wounded many others Mr Boone attempted nothing more until November 1 7 1 8 when the E nglish fleet set out to storm K h d i U happily he ch ose for his admiral not one of h i E nglish captains but a Portuguese named Manuel de Castro This man had become a Musulman and h d joined Angre A fterwards to escape that chief s wrath he h d fled to Bombay Insinuating and persuasive h won Mr Boone s confidence by assuring him that he k new perfectly every cove and inlet of Angre s islands His appointment as a d miral not unnaturally annoyed the E nglish captains w h had formed no hi g h pinion of de Castro when present at a recent action a g ainst some Kanarese pirates near Karwar Th fleet under de Castro s command was a formidable one Three British ships the Addison the S tanhope and the Dartmouth with 3 0 0 soldiers on board had reached Bombay in S eptember d with this reinforce ment the E ngli h numbered no less than 2 5 0 0 men O the 3 d November 1 7 1 8 the fleet anch ored south of K h d i O the 4 t h November de Castro sent a number of boats to row round t h island and reconnoitre it for a suitable landing place The sailors reported that they had found a sandy cove and i t was resolved to land there after .
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2 08
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India and again joined Angre Mr Boone although disgusted was not dismayed and had a floating castle m ade to which he gave the name f t h Prahm It had a low drau g ht was very stoutly built and carried twelve 4 8 pounders It was believed that it woul d i f towed cl ose to K h a d i be able uninjured itself to batter do wn fortifications But before it could effect anything a th strange mishap overtook it In 1 7 1 9 the E nglish fleet with the Prahm in tow went down to Anjango O their return journey they fell in with two E nglish pirates and Victory d E ngland and Taylor on board t h C s two Sh i p w h i h they had ta k en from the Portuguese The E nglish fleet could easily have overpowered the pirates ; but Captain Upton the fficer in command was a poltroon and h was so alarmed that he burnt the Prahm and sailed back as fast as he could to Bombay harbour By this time the successes f Angre and the harm done their ships by E ngland Taylor and other pirates had led court f Directors to beg King George I for naval th help In 1 7 2 2 the k ing graciously sent out a squadron f four men f —war the Lyon under Captain R d i h the the E xeter under S alisbury under Captain Cockburn Si R obert Jo h nson and the S horeham under Captain Maine ; the squadron was under the command of Commodore Mathews The hips reached Bombay at different intervals but were all gathered in the great harbour by the 3 d O ctober S ome days however passed before the Commodore would land As a highly placed Officer of the Royal N avy he deemed himself superior in ran k to Mr Boone t h governor of Bombay and President f t h Council and would not leave his hip until he had received a salute from the hore batteries O the ot h er h and Mr Boone who as President 1 the Council was the king s representa tive considered himself senior to the Commodore After many messages and much controversy Mr Boone gave way and saluted Commodore Mathews as he desired The .
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ANGR E
K H A N OJI
AN D T H E E N G L I S H
2 09
Commodore and his fficers then landed but bore themselves in a manner that l eft in no doubt the poor pinion t h ey had f the Company s servants They would hardly deign speak to any one except the Governor At the same time hardly a day passed that they did not fight at least one duel among t h emselves The Company s servants although humiliated by the arrogance of the visitors still hoped great things from t h eir quarrelsome dispositions and fancied that the mere sight of one Of Angre s castles would rouse them to such fury that re istance would be impossible Commodore Mathews discussed various plans with the President and his council F inally it was resolved to attack Kolaba and to invite the help of the Portuguese Messengers were sent both to the Portuguese Viceroy at Goa and to the General of the North as the Governor of Bassein and the island of S alsette was called Both the high Portuguese Officials came to Bombay and accepted the E nglish invitation agreeing to lead in person contingents from Goa and Bassein Mr Boone entertained them magni f icently and t h ey in turn consented courteously to serve under a British commander Mr Boone appointed a Mr Cowing one of his council gener l i chief and distributed among other civil ser ants of the company a number of military commissions The Governor f Bombay reviewed the E nglish forces on the island and expressed himself confident of success The troops embar k ed and were conveyed to Chaul where the Portuguese contingents awaited them F rom Chaul they marched ten or twelve miles to Kolaba The allied forces numbered no l e ss than five thousand men with twenty four field pieces and if properly led should have conquered all Angre s possessions But the general i chief Mr Cowi g had no experience of war Commodore Mathews had only seen service at sea ; and between the E ngl ish and the Portuguese was the mutual distrust born f more than a century of rivalry and war f are F rom the first th ings went badly with the O
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expediti o Captain Maine anxious to bring his guns to bear on the fort ran his ship the S horeham on the roc k s Commodore Mathews venturing out too f to reconnoitre the enemy s position was attac k ed by one of Angre s troopers and received a lance wound in the thigh Galloping after the trooper in one of the furies of rage to which he was unusually prone Mat h ews fired at him his two pistols only to find that he had forgotten to load them The Viceroy f Goa complained f illness and retired to his cabin on board ship Mr Cowing however would not delay the attack and next day the E nglish ar m y led by Mr Cowing and the Portuguese contingents led by the General of the North marched boldly up to Angre s walls The E nglis h sailors put up scaling ladders and a numb er f them under Mr Bellamy a naval fficer l d the walls But Angre cognisant f the allied plans had assembled a considerable army inside the fortre s The sailors were attacked and ch ecked by large bodies f Marathas while another Maratha force accompanied by numer ous war elephants attac k ed the Portu guese flank The Portuguese ignorant h w to m eet the m onsters w re seized with a panic and fled leaving the E nglish sailors and soldiers to sustain t h hock of An g re s entire army After a brave resistance the E nglish were driven back to their camp with the loss of several f t h eir guns and nearly all their ammunition Commodore Mathews furious at the defeat did not h esitate to charge the Portuguese with treach ery ; and to enforce his argument he thrust h i cane into the mouth of the General f the North and was hardly less discourteous to the Viceroy of Goa No further peration was possible after the Commodore s con d uct o The Portuguese marched back to Chaul The E nglish sailed bac k to Bombay After this third disaster Mr Boone gave up attempting to reduce Angre s strongholds and confined himself to the convoy by armed vessels f t h E nglish trading ships In 1 7 2 4 the Dutch attacked Vi i d g with no less than seven warships two bomb n
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C H AP TE R XL I
MARATHA C O N Q U E S T A D .
.
MAL WA AND
OF 173 1
To
G U Z AR A T
1736
the close of the penultimate chapter I left B ji planning a campaign to punish Nizam l Mul k for his conspiracy with T i m b k Dabhade That wary l d soldier could expect no help from Delhi and feared to face unaided the entire resources f the Maratha k ingdom led by B ji in person He at once sent envoys to the Peshwa and in return for peace ffered to g ive him a free passage through his dominions into Malwa and pressed him rather to carry his arms to Delhi than to waste his energies against a mere viceroy li k e himself T h is advice was eminently pleasing to the Peshwa and w as similar to that which he had himself offered to his king In August and Nizam l Mulk agreed t g each other 1 7 3 1 B ji a free hand The Nizam hould be at l iberty to gratify his ambitions in the south the Peshwa in the north After the execution o f the treaty the latter m ade full preparation for the conquest of Central India As previously related the emperor had on the rebellion of Nizam l Mulk conferred the government of Malwa on a certain Raj a He was a man not only f great parts and Gi i d h courage but also a scion of a distinguish ed house His family were Nagar Brahmans f Allahabad His father m had been the personal D y m and his uncle C h b i l attendants of Bahadur S hah s second son A i m h during his long viceroyalty f Bengal O Bahadur S hah s deat h in 1 7 1 2 D y m f ell f ighting for A i m h After the latter s defeat and death Ch b i l m attached himself to AT
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hah and was appointed military governor of Manikpur He took on his staff D y m son R aj a kh i rebellion Ch b i l m and Raj a O F Gi i d h as old servants o f his f ather A i m h deserted Gi i d h a to the pretender and gave h i m valuable help both in soldiers and money Ch b i l am distinguished hi m self greatly at the battle of Agra and was made viceroy of that province and a f terwards o f Allahabad O the f all of the S y ad flung Raj a Gi i d h into prison F a k h si He escaped and joined Ch b i l m at Allahabad There But Raja Gi i d h managed to outwit Ch b i l m died the S y ad by corrupting the officers sent against him and on the rebellion f Nizam l Mul k was raised to the government of Mal w a In the absence of the Nizam Raja Gi i d h was f or a time complete master of the province He easily overcame local disaffection ; but in the end he was unable to make head against t h Marathas As far bac k as 1 6 9 8 Ud ji F owar had raided Malwa and camped at Mandu But it was not until the Rajput chiefs disgusted i h at A treatment invited Marathas to f ree b t g them from the Moghuls that the Marathas gained a permanent footing in the province The chie f leader in this movement was S avai J y i g the Maharaj a of J y p An even more valuable ally they found in one Nandalal M d l i Chaudhari His family were h d h i village servants similar to h g l in the town of Indore It was th eir special duty to guard the fords across the Narbada river Nandalal Chaudhari entered into a corres d wit h the Peshwa and between 1 7 2 3 and 1 7 2 4 p M lh H lk was through his help first able to camp at Indore while U d ji F owar conquered the town and province of Dhar Pilaji G i k w d next began to make incursions from the ide of G t and C h i m ji Appa also plundered the stric k en province In vain Raja Gi i d h appealed for help to Delhi By 1 7 2 9 h i force had dwindled almost to nothing and Ch i m ji Appa and Ud ji F owar combined to destroy it Raja Gi i d h was Ja h a n d a r S
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encamped fifty miles to the north eas t f Dewas at the village o f S arangpur By a forced march Ch i m ji Appa and U d ji P w contrived to surprise and kill him O the death o f Raja Gi i d h the emperor at once appointed his c ousin Daya Bahadur to the viceroyalty f Malwa O 1 2 th O ctober 1 7 3 1 he met the fate which had overtaken his k insman O his arrival in Malwa he tried to restore order by instituting a reign f terror At the same time h implored the vazir Kh an Dauran to send him a few troops promising h i m that so long as he lived a wall stood between the Marathas and the capital O his f all they would overwhelm the empire In spite f this prophetic truth Kh an Dauran sent him no more troops than he had sent Raja Gi i d h O the other hand the O ppressed nobles of Malwa implored the help of S avai J y i g of Jaypur The latter was unwilling to declare himself openly against the emperor of Delhi He invited the nobles of Central India to apply for help to B ji B ji referred them to M l h At the same H lk time Nandalal C h aud h ari undertook to guide H l k a cross the fords of the Narbada Late in S eptember 1 7 3 1 H l k with twelve thousand men crossed the great river ear the village f A k barpur and invaded Malwa Nothing daunted Daya Ba h adur hastened to block H l k further progress by holding a pass known as the Tanda Ghat f Daya Bahadur s But N d l l s p ies in f ormed H l k H lk movemen t and h led M l h through anoth er track known as t h B h i pass Daya Bahadur hastened a f ter his mobile enemy This time H l k longer fled Wheeling back h met Daya Baha d r at the village of Thal near Dhar and destroyed his army Daya Bahadur fell on the battlefiel d Daya Bahadur s successor was a Rohilla Afgh an named Mahomed Khan Bangash He was a gallant soldier whose f bravery had earned him the title of Gh Jang or the Lion in battle But in every quality except courage he seems to h ave been lack ing When he received the O
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the title f Gajendra or Indra among elephants O day wh en Gajendra was bathing in a pool the g d h H h w a crocodile seized him by the leg and for all his strength would h ave dragged him in and drowned h i m had Vishnu not h eard his agonizing prayers Leaving his h eaven V i k th the god hastened to G j d help and with his divine discus hore the crocodile in t w Touched by t h discus H h once more became a H d h Gajendra freed f rom h grip became g once more a human being and as such was ta k en by the kindly god to his heavenly kingdom l was not less ef f ective than B ji help to Ch t o that of Vishnu Mahomed Bangash was resting from h i labours during the rainy season and so satisfied was he with his easy successes that he sent back to their own country his Rohilla levies retaining round his person only a small bodyguard While he thus lived in a fool s paradise B ji was approaching at the head f an allied army f Marathas and B d l The B d l led B ji o sa f ely through the fores t s and mountains of that wild country and came upon Mahomed Bangash before he c ould recall his Rohillas With his tiny force he boldly met t h enemy in the field and suffered a complete defeat With a few survivors he escaped throu g h the jungles to the fort of Jetpur or the town of conq est The allies at first lost touch with him but afterwards besieged him and redu c ed him to the grea t est distress F rom this intolerable situa tion he was aved by the energy f his wi f e and f his son Kaim Khan T h ey first t h rew themselves in vain at the foot f the throne and asked for reinforcements from the first minister The wife then sent round her veil among the Rohilla nobles and Kaim Khan harangued them with the eloquence of despair The joint appeal to their honour and emotions was irresistible E very adult in t h clan vowed to rescue their chie f or die in the attempt By forced marches they followed Kaim Khan to Jetpur and f alling in a mass on the investing troops forced their O
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way i to the fort and carried bac k their clansman to the s afety f R h i l k h d The emperor although slow to help was quick to censure and at once dismissed Mahomed Khan Bangash not o ly from the vice r oyalty f Malwa but also from t h governorship of Al l h b d Al though the allies failed to take Mahomed Kh an Bangash his flight definitely rid the B d l f their l was so grateful that he adopted enemy Raja Ch t B ji as his son and by his will divided his kingdom between B ji and his r eal f f p i g j As the Raja died soon after this campaign B ji btained the ownership of one third of Bundelkhand including the provinces f S agar and Kalpi F rom this vantage point he was able soon to dominate all Central India Although the emperor and Khan Da ran had refused all upport to S arbuland Khan the viceroy of G t they were both indignant at his cession to B aji of the h tl and d e / m k h i d at once relieved him of his o ffice To it was appointed Ab h i S ing son of Ajit S ing and Maharaja of Jodhpur S arbuland w h was conscious of no fault attacked and de f eated his successor His honour satisfied he made his way unattended to the Maharaja s camp trusting to Rajput chivalry to leave it without harm Nor was h i trust misplaced Abbai S ing rose and embraced his visitor Learning from S arbuland Khan that he had merely fought the action to vindicate his honour t he took from and t h at he wished to retire f rom G the Musulman s head his plain cloth turban and put on it h is headgear blazing with jewels Then with every w honour and a fittin g escort he sent him on his way to Del h i ( A D There the emperor at first refused to receive h i m but at length appointed him in place of Mahomed Khan Bangash governor f Allahaba d n
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H I S T O R Y OF T H E
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the departure f S arbuland Khan Ab h i S ing applied h imself to the arduous task of driving the Marathas from Nor was the opportunity unfavourabl e The t G Pesh wa was away in command of the army of Malwa m Appa his brother was watching the fa ily Ch i m j int erests at court There remained only Pilaji G i k d His reputation had suffered since the defeat f D b h i Nevertheless h had established h imself in Baroda and several other large towns Ab h i S ing sent a large force under a Rajput subordinate to retake Baroda The capture i Baroda however was Ab h ai S ing s only success Pilaji G i k d was personally popular with the hillmen of t and with their aid won several fights against G Ab b ai S ing s Rajputs In his anger the Maharaj a was tempted to an act of treachery most unco m mon among Rajput princes He decided to assassinate Pilaji during a pretended negotiation The spot chosen for the crime was Da k ore a place deemed holy by the worshippers of Krishna In beauti f ul verse the Maratha poet M h i p t i relates that a Marath a saint named Ramdas who lived at Dakore used every year to perform a pilgrimage from that city to Dwar k a in Kathiawar the f ormer capital of the divine Krishna and the chief seat of his worship At last Ramdas grew so feeble that he resolved to make but one m ore pilgrimage and then bid the beloved idol o f Dwarka good bye for e ver When he reached Dwarka Ramdas told the god his decision d with many tears bade K rishna farewell The deity touched by his devotion told him that if he would put the idol in the temple chariot it would go with him to Da k ore Although the idol was a great mass of stone and Ramdas was wea k with age he lifted it without effort into t h chariot and drove with it back to h i own village Next morning the priests missed both the image and the chariot and guessed that Ramdas had stolen them They followed him with all peed to Da k ore Ramdas tried to hide the idol in t h village pond But the priests dragged the pond On
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Kolis Bhil s W gh i and other wild tri b es f G t enraged at the murder of Pilaji G i k d rose everywhere against the viceroy P i l ji brother M h d ji marched from J m b s a on Baroda and t ok i t by storm ( 1 7 3 2 A D ) and made it what it is still namely the Maratha capital of the p rovince Damaji G i k d P i l ji eldest advanced from S ongadh and after reducing eastern G t invaded Jodhpur itself and forced Ab h i S ing to hasten to the de f ence of his hereditary dominions Once back in Jodhpur he gave himself up to intoxication and ceased to pay any attention to the af f airs of his viceroyalty The emperor relieved him of his post and appointed in his place Najib d Daulat But Ab h i S ing s deputy refused to surrender Ah madabad and Najib d Daulat called to his aid Damaji G ai k d The latter took the last stronghold of the Mogh uls and occupied it with his troops G t was thus wholly lost to th e empire ( 1 7 3 5 A Nor did Malwa fare better O the flight Of Mahomed Khan Bangash the emperor appointed as his successor Raj a S avai Jai S ing of Jaipur But the Rajput chie f s no longer deemed it an honour to serve the Moghul They now aspired to complete independence and fancied that they saw in the growth Of the Maratha power the best means to btain it After some desultory pera tions gainst B ji the Raja of Jaipur pressed the emperor to appoint in his place the Peshwa as viceroy f Malwa The emperor was unwilling to resign without a further effort one of his richest provinces Distrustful with good reason of t h e capacity of most f his officers he thought that he saw in M ff i Khan the brother f h i Vazir Khan Dauran the qualities of a s k ilful captain With M af f i Khan the emperor sent his household troops and no less than twenty two generals These with their staffs made on the parade ground an appe rance so plendid that no Maratha troops so M ffi Khan imagine d would dare to face them B ji allowed the imposing array to adv anc e unoppos e d through Centr al India as f ar as S ironj Th e
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AN D G U Z A R A T
realisi g that the farther t h ey advance d the more d ifficult would be their retirement At S ironj he attac k ed the imperial forces in the traditional Maratha manner cutting off M f fi Khan s supplies and rendering useless his cavalry by false attacks and innumerable raids At last M ffi Khan was obliged to appeal to his brother for help F or a time he received nothing but long Persian despatches full f brilliant couplets a d witty abuse of the Nizam and the Marathas Realising at last t hat M f f i Khan needed help more substantia l Khan Dauran sent what remained of the Delhi troops and with great difficulty succeeded in rescuing his brother and h i beleaguered army Khan Dauran now decided to ta k e the field in person After wasting several weeks in the neigh b h d o f Delhi he reported that the Marath as were nowhere to be seen At the same time however the emperor learnt f rom the plunder of some towns only two hundred miles fro m Delhi that they had by no m eans returned to the Deccan At last both the emperor and his minister thought that it would be better to give up Malwa d G t i f by S doing they could save the northern provinces But B aji o in the full tide o f success would t sell peace save at a price that even the trembling emperor hesitated to give He no longer demanded the mere governorship of Malwa He demanded the alienation of the whole province toget h er with Allahabad Benares Gaya and Mathura In addition he asked for an immediate payment of fifty lakhs or an assignment to that amount on Bengal as well as an hereditary grant f five per ce t of the Deccan revenues In other words he ask ed for nearly all that remained to the emperor f Hindustan together with a ground for constant interference in the governments f Bengal and the Deccan The emperor would only agree to the grant of five per cent on t h revenues f the Deccan The Nizam had long ceased to pay him anything and nothing would have pleased him n
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more than a quarrel between the rebel viceroy and the Maratha leader Negotiations were broken ff and hosti l i ti e again began To reinforce his army the emperor withdrew his troops from the north western passes Maho m ed Khan Bangash was also ordered to attend with his Rohillas Khan Dauran took co m mand but as before he moved h i army backwards and forwards in such parts of the country as he knew to be free from Maratha horse B ji who regarded t h imperial commander with just contempt moved in every direction as if no ar m y pposed him He levied a large contribution from the Raja of Bh d B lk while M l h with a great body of horse crossed the Jamna and sacked the towns of Akbarabad and S y d b d In the imperial army there were neither courage nor capacity but S adat K h an the governor f O udh had still some enterprise left In March 1 7 3 7 he H lk surprised M l h and inflicted on him a severe reverse H l k fled across the Jamna losing a number f men in the crossing With the remains f his army he rejoined B ji S adat Khan wrote to Delhi so exaggerated an account of his success that the emperor and his advisers t h ought that all danger had passed and that the few Marat h as who h d escaped from S adat K han s sword were fleeing in all haste to the Deccan When this absurd story reached B ji he observed grimly I hall prove to the emperor that he has not heard the truth by S howing him Maratha horse and burning villages at the gates of Delhi T S adat Khan had by t h is time joined Khan Dauran and seems to have become infected by that commander s insolence The two generals camped on the Ajm i road some sixty miles from Delhi Instead of p rsuing the recent success they spent several days in celebrating it by banquets and supper parties While they were still commemorating S adat Kh an s victory B ji marching at O
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great speed got between the Mo g hul army and Del h i and began to plunder the capital He pitch ed his camp at f Gh azi d din T g h l k of w hic h T g l k b d the city the g iant walls still overawe t h casual spectator O account of some local festival in Bhavani s h onour Tugh lakabad h appened to be full f pilgrims and pleasure seekers and pious persons both Hindus and Musulmans from Delhi These the Mar athas regardless of their victims piety robbed of all they h d B ji then moved his camp to t h Kutub Minar where the column erected by the emperor Kut h d din looked do wn wit h dismay on t h presu m ption of the infidels After plundering the town wherein dwelt once the Afghan emperors he then moved nearer Delhi and camped in the south western suburbs where a viceregal palace more splendid than any of its imperial forerunners is now rising into towers The fugitives of the sacked towns rushed into Delhi and filled the capital with their clamours Th emperor ordered one Amir Khan to march against t h Marathas wit h every soldier in the city B ji sent out a few horsemen to meet Amir Kh an and conc e aled his main army This common Maratha artifice tempted one f Amir Khan s generals a S ayad named Mir Hussein Khan to charge out into t h pen plain Directly Mir Hussein Khan and h i men were beyond the range of the cannon on t h Delhi walls the Maratha horse under M l h and H lk Ra a S india whee l ed round k illed and wounded six hundred i m perialists including Mir Hussein Khan and drove t h rest b a c k into the city It was however impossible that B ji should remain where he was Messengers had at once been sent to S adat Khan and Khan Dauran Immediately after his defeat of Mir Hussein Khan the Peshwa learnt that the two generals were hastening back to join Amir Khan with the main Moghul army Unwilling to risk a pitched battle so far from his base and with Nizam l Mulk on his line of .
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H I S T O R Y OF T H E
M A R AT H A P E O PL E
communications B j decided to accept the imperial ffer of the viceroyalty of Malwa T S ack ing as he went the towns of Ri d i and Basoda ( 1 7 3 6 A D ) he retreated into Central India and thence into the Deccan ,
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H I S T O R Y OF TH E
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A PP E ND I X B
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To App a After compl ime n ts You must h a ve al re ady l e arn t from ou r l etters sen t wi th K as is ( special couriers) i n whi ch I h ave give n i n detail t h e n ews of our h a vi n g l eft i n Bu n del k h an d a l l our fol l owers i n c h a rge of Pri n ce J agat r aj an d of th e action wit h S ad at K h an S a d a t K h an crossed th e J am n a an d ar rived at Agr a I f we were to meet h i m th ere we were n ot sure of defe ati n g hi m owi n g to hi s I f we were to w ai t a t t h e co n fl uen ce of t h e J a m n a ad v an t ageous positio n th ere th at p l ace w as al so un s a fe owin g to l an dsli ps an d erosion s an d th e G am b hi r Besides K h an D aur an an d M ah omed Kh an B an gas h were on th eir w ay to A gra from Del h i an d i n cas e th ey an d S ad at K h an h appen ed to join it woul d h ave been a serious a ffai r S O it w as n ot th ou gh t proper to e n c amp at t h e con fl uen ce F urth er S adat Kh an wrote to th e E m peror an d h i s courtiers th at h e h ad routed th e M ara th a Army t h at h ad crossed t h e J am n a k i l l i n g two th ous an d c av al ry an d drown i n g two th ous an d i n t h e river ; th at M al h arji H ol k ar an d Vith ob a Bul e h ad f al l en i n th e action S uch h ad been t h e resu l t of B aji r ao s i n v as ion " H e furth er vau n tin gl y wrote th at h e wou l d cross t h e J am n a an d defe at t h e M arath as an d drive th em aw ay beyon d th e Ch a mb al Th e emperor exp ressed gre a t s atisfacti on at th is an d sen t to S ad at Kh an a dress of h on our a pe arl n eckl a ce an el eph an t an d an ai gret te Cl oth es of h on our were al so presen ted to S a d at K h an s agen t at t h e Del hi cour t Th us S ad a t Kh an stren gth e n ed h i s an d h i s p arty s i n f l uen ce with t h e emperor H e al so wrote to several n ob l es i n co n temptuous terms about M arath as Dh on d o Govin d ( Pesh wa s age n t a t Del h i ) k ept us i n formed of al l th ese p a rticul a rs from time to time I n sh ort S ad a t K h an tried to impress th e Mogh ul cour t th at th e M a rath a ar my h ad n eith er spirit n or e n ergy an d th at h e h ad compl etel y defe ated it You a r e al re ady a w are h ow th i n gs p as s i n Mogh ul pol itics N O a ction an d h igh tal k is t h eir motto Th e emperor ful l y bel ieves al l th is but h e must n ow be dis il l usion ed This c oul d be do n e i n t wo ways — eith er to i n fl ict a crush in g defe a t on S ad a t K h an or to m a rch on Del h i an d to set fire to th e c a it al p an d t h us dis p rove S a d a t K h an s bo as tfu l st atemen ts We accordin gl y decided to m arch again st Del hi as S ad at Kh an woul d n ot l e ave Agra an d setti n g fire to t h e capital brin g to th e n otice of th e emperor t h e existe n ce of th e M ar ath as With .
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A N D G U Z A R AT
th i s determi n ation we sta rted for Del h i on th e 2 6 th J il k ad ( 1 8 th M arch Le avi n g as ide th e i m p eri al route we foll owed t h e h i ll y tract al on g t h e N e wati fron tier th rough th e territory Of D am an S i n g Ch u d am an Ja t Dh on d op an t our V ak il was with Kh an D aur an S ad at K h an sen t a word to Kh an D au r an z— I h a ve defe ated B aji r ao s army H i s fo l l owers h a ve "e d a w a y an d B aji r ao h i m sel f h as crossed t h e C h a mb a l N ow w h y do you fl atter h i m an d with w h a t Object ? Wh y sh oul d you e n tert ai n h i s V a k i l a t your court ? H e must be n ow dismissed ” Dh on d op an t w a s a ccordi n gl y se n t a w a y H e th e n c ame to u s K am ru d di n K h an A z m u ll a K h an an d oth ers e n cou n te red u s but we did n ot meet t h em Le avin g th em 1 4 mi l es off to our rig h t we a rr ived at Del h i on t h e 7 t h Jil h ej ( 2 8 th M a rch ) afte r forced m a rch es of 4 0 mi l es e ac h We pitch ed our cam p n e ar K us h b an d i ( a suburb of Del h i ) l e a vi n g B a r ap u l a an d K al i k a temp l e to our rig h t We w an te d to burn th e capital to a sh es b u t on secon d th ough t we s aw n o good in destroyi n g th e migh ty city an d rui n in g th e imperi al th ro n e at Del h i Moreover th e emperor an d K h an D auran desired to m ak e pe ace with us but th e Mogh ul s woul d n ot agree to it A n ac t of outr age h owever bre a k s t h e t h re ad of pol itics We th ere fore gave u p th e ide a of burn i n g t h e capital an d sen t l ette rs to th e em peror an d R aja B ak h atm al Two el ep h an ts some h orses an d camel s comi n g out from th e city were h owever captured by our adv an ced gu ard S ome of our sol diers h ad a scuffl e with th e peop l e from Del h i w h o h ad gon e out to atten d th e B h a w ani f ai r N ext d ay Wed n esd a y 3 0 th M a rch R aja B ak h atm al se n t a repl y u n der comm an ds of th e emperor as k i n g us to sen d D h on d op an t to t h e imperi al court We did n ot h owever desp a tc h hi m as th ere w as a gre a t commotion i n De l h i owin g to our “ presen ce n e a r t h e capital ; but we sen t a word i n rep l y We ar e sen di n g Dh on d Op an t pl ea se se n d a stron g gu a rd u n der a rel i abl e of ficer to escort hi m We ar e m archi n g ” a on to t h e Zi l Tan k as our presen ce n e a r t h e city is l ik el y to disturb its pe ce An d we moved on As we w ere p as sin g t h e c ap it al a force con sistin g of 7 to 8 th ous an d m e n w as sen t by th e emperor un der N a w ab Mir H as an Kh an Ko k a comm an der of th e Kh as Ch ow k i N a wab Amir Kh an Kh oja R oz Afzu l Kh an R aj a S hi vsi n gh J am ad ar C omm a n der of t h e Ca v al ry M u z f u r K h an De p uty Gen eral N a wab M u zf u r K h an broth er of K h an D aur an w h o met us n e a r R ik ab gu n j outside t h e city S at w aji Jad h av w h o comm an ded t h e a dv an ce gu ard met th e Mogh ul forces an d a figh t too k p l a ce between th em On h e a ri n g thi s we sen t fo ces to h el p h i m u n der Mal h a r ji B ol k ar R an oji S h i n de T u k OJI Pa w ar Ji waji Pa w a r Y e s h w an t r ao Pa wa r M an aji P ayagu d e an d Govi n d H a ri T h ey gall an tl y fough t with t h e Mogh ul s an d com p l etel y defe ated th em R aj a S h i vs i n gh an d t en oth er n obl emen were k il l ed ; N awab Mir H as an K o k a w as woun ded an d about th ree h u n dred sol di ers from th e emperor s army were k ill ed an d four h un dred woun ded We c ap t u red R oz A fz u l Kh an Amir Kh an M u z fu r K h an fl ed to t h e c apit al two th ous an d h orses th ough five or six th ous an d fl ed a w a y I n d rOjI Kad am from R an oji S hi n d e s c a v al ry received a b u l l et woun d by w h ich two of h i s fi n gers were cut off N O oth er person of n ote on ou r side w a s k il l ed but some m e n an d h orses were wou n ded We th e n e n c amped at t h e Zil T an k About two h ours before sun set n ews c ame th at K am ru d d i n Kh an h ad a rrived from P ad as h ah p u r We at .
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on ce started to meet h i m A figh t too k pl ace Y e sh w an tr ao Pa wa r captur ed an el eph an t th at w as with in a gu n sh ot from th e Mogh ul a rtill ery A n umber of We w an ted to besiege h ors es an d c a me l s c a me to our c a mp wh en it w as su n set But t h e Mogh u l a rmy from al l sides an d gi v e th em a crush in g defe a t n ext d ay we coul d n ot do so as th ere were sever al di fficul ties i n our w ay th e Zi l T an k w as K a m r u d d i n K h an w as to our righ t an d i n our fron t about 3 2 mil es off from us Besides th is th e n ews of our m arch on Del h i re ach ed N a w ab was th e c apit al Kh an D auran S ad at K h an a n d M ah omed Kh an B an gash on T u esd ay th e 7 th of J il h ej ( 2 8th M a rch ) a t R ad h ak u n d Th ey l eft beh i n d th eir h e avy b aggage an d imm edi atel y proceeded to B adel about 6 4 mil es dist an t with an ar my of about twen ty f ive to th irty th ous an d stron g N ext d ay th ey h al ted on t h e rivul et of Al a w ar d i about 5 0 mi l es off On T h ursd a y morn in g K h an D a uran S ad a t Kh an an d B an g a s h w ere to joi n K am r u d d i n K h an Th e situ a tion th e n wou d h a ve been peril ous as th e cap ital w as n e a r We th erefore l el t th e Mogh ul s an d h al ted at a distan ce of 8 mi l es On our S ide F i r an goji P at an k ar w as kil l ed by a bul l et A few m en au d some h orses were al so woun ded Th e Mogh u l c a su al ties a moun ted to from 5 to 1 0 On Th ursd ay S a d a t Kh an K h an D a uran an d B an gash joi n ed K am r u d d i n K h an Th eir camps were spre a d from Al a war d i to t h e Zi l T an k We design ed to draw t h e Mogh u l s on us an d th en to f al l b ac k a n d defe at th em With t hi s Object we bro k e t h e c a mp an d moved o n vi a R eva d K otp u t al i an d M an oh a rpur Th e n ews h as come th at th e Mogh ul s h a ve n ot as yet l eft th eir camps between Al a war di an d Zi l Tan k an d th at Mir H as an K h an K o ka w h o w as woun ded i n th e first a ction h as died Kh an D a uran wrote l etters after l etters to S a wai J ai s i n g to s en d rei n forceme n t H e h as a ccordi n g l y started wi th a f or c e of fifteen to si xteen th ous an d m e n an d a rti ll ery an d h as a rrived a t B as a v a H e i n te n ds visitin g K h an D aur an S aw ai ji h as al so sen t us frien dl y l etters req uestin g us to l e a ve h i s territory un dist u rbed He O u r ag e n t V e n k aj i R a m is i n h i s camp writes th ese l etters to us We do n ot disturb h i s terr itory as we expect to get supp l ies of grain an d fodder from S a w ai ji on our w ay A b h ayas i n g is a t J od h p u r N ow we ar e goi n g to col l ect our dues from th e Gwal ior an d Bh ad avar Pro vin ces I f t h e Mogh ul s stil l pursue us we s h all h a r as s th em an d reduce th em by dri vi n g th em by force from pl ace to pl a ce an d utterl y crus h th em by t h e gr a ce of our ki n g ( R aj a S h ah u ) an d t h e bl essi n gs of our an cestors Be n ot an xious on our Th e ch ief th i n g to be n oted is t h a t t h e emp eror an d K h an D a ur an wis h a ccoun t to m ak e pe ace with us w h i l e t h e Mogh u l s ar e strivi n g to defe at us an d S adat Kh an is at th eir h e ad I f by t h e f a vour of God h i s v an ity is subdued everyth in g wil l be to our s atisfaction I f t h e terms of pe a ce ar e f a vourabl e we s h al l a ccept th em Oth er wise we sh al l n ot con cl ude an y pe ace We h ave an n exed th e territory a bout Del h i Th e territory about S on p at an d P an p at beyon d th e J a mn a still rem ai n s with t h e Mogh ul s We sh al l p l un der an d capture i t soon an d see th at t h e Mogh ul s wi l l be sta rved We sh al l write to you l ater on wh at h appen s h ere I f perch an ce th e Mogh ul s rem ai n i n possession of Del h i we s h al l go to Agra an d en ter i n to A n t ar ve d ( districts betwee n t h e Gan ges an d J a m n a ) an d r a v age th e wh ol e territory I f N iz am u l Mul k rises an d crosses t h e N a rb ad a fal l upon h i s .
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C H A P TE R X L I I TH E
AGAIN S T NI Z A M U L M U L K NA D IR S HAH S INVA S I O N
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N I ZAM UL M UL K had been watching with concern the extra ordinary progress f the Maratha arms The stern old soldier feared that the emperor who h d never forgiven his desertion might well confer on B ji the government The Nizam would then have to defend his Of the Deccan province against the u ited onslaught Of the Marathas and the imperial army He had d uring B ji recent campaign adopted so threatening an attitude that B ji had written to his brother Ch i m ji Appa ordering h i m to watch wi t h a large force ths Nizam s movements I f he attempts wrote the anxious Pesh wa to cross the Narbada fall instantly on his rear and put h l p on The threat Of an attack from Ch i m ji army k ept the Niz am borders But after B ji retreat he let w ithin his w the emperor know that he was again willing to serve and to defend far as lay in his power the Moghul throne Danger had softened Mahomed S h ah s hatred of Nizam l M lk and he sent to the viceroy several flattering messages and an imperial d ecree by which he raised the Nizam to the command of eight thousand horse and graciously invited him to return to court O the 2 2 d June 1 7 3 7 the veteran statesman appeared at Delhi The emperor and his cour t iers vied with each other in their deference to the pardoned rebel ; and in spite Of his -
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231
f the gover ment of Malwa h gave recent gift to B ji both it and the viceroyal t y f G r t to the Nizam s eldest son Gh azi d —din and placed at the Nizam s disposal all t h re m aining re ources of the empire But so low had these resources fallen that only thirty four thousand men could be gathered to h i banner To remedy his lack f troops the Niz am sent for h i enti e train of artillery At the head of his new army he crossed the Jamna at Allahabad and against Kalpi He entered B d l k h d and after l seizing the persons f Raja Ch t sons he marched southwards With him were the Raja f Kotha one f the f w Rajput chiefs w h o still adhered to the Moghul cause and S afdar Jang the nephew of S adat Khan and ancestor o f th e k ings of O udh He is still recalled to E nglish tourists by the beautiful mausoleum built by himself on the road between modern Delhi and the K t b Minar B ji hastened to meet him and with no less than eigh ty thousand men came up with him at Bhopal This city now the capital f one of the most famous princesses in the world the Begam of Bhopal was once surrounded by a sheet f water large that those who saw it exclaimed that in the world it only was entitled to the name of la k e All other called lakes were but ponds S cattered through this inland sea were islands extensive enough to bear whole villages wh ile on its shores rose innumerable temples t hat daily resounded with the chants of Buddhist saints f both sexes The Musulman invaders in their fanaticism destroyed the lake and converted its bed into an endless succession of w h eat fields rice fields and pastures A pool h ardly t w miles long survived the ruin and with it to guard his rear and a river to guard h i front t h Nizam awaited B ji onset He hould have moved out to meet the Marathas but he doubtless lacked confidence in the imperial troops w h h d so ften fled before t h eir present enemy He stayed in his camp and soon found himself besieged as h ha d been on the Godavari His a
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H I S T OR Y O F T H E
M A R AT H A P E O PL E
h uns again sav d Whenever the Marathas charged i m e g home his massed batteries swept them away Nevertheless foiled every attempt f the Nizam to extend his B ji H lk lines At last M l h and Y h w t Pawar s ucceeded in gettin g between S afdar J g contingent and the Nizam s camp and forced S afdar Jang to retreat north wards The Nizam wrote for help to Delhi but in vain ; for K han Dauran was now penly rejoicing in his rival s failure He wrote to his son Nasir Jang whom he had lef t as his deputy at Haidarabad and the latter made every effort to send reinforcements to his father s help But the Nizam s supplies had become so straitened that the l d soldier resolved to wait no longer but to extricate himself at any cost He piled his baggage within the walls nder cover Of B h opal and tried to retire towards Delhi of his cannon The Marathas strained every nerve to stop him but his g nners stood by t h eir guns and With storms f cannon shot bro k e p and d ispersed every hostile formation Nevertheless the Nizam s retreat did not exceed three miles a day O reaching S j he learnt that the Persian king Nadir S hah h d invaded India The news seemed to the Nizam so serious that he resolved to buy off B ji at almost any price Th e latter had at one ti m e been so sure f capturing t h Nizam and his whole army that he had refused all offers ; but h i s troop s had suffered s o from the Nizam s cannon that h e also had become willing to negotiate O the 1 1 t h F ebruary 1 7 3 8 the generals igned a treaty By it t h e Nizam gave to B ji not only Mal w a but all the territory between the Chambal and the Narbada He further promised to btain if he coul d from t h e emperor fifty l k hs by way f indemnity He obstinately refused however to pay any indemnity h imself Having bought f f t h Marathas by t h is h umiliating convention the Niz am marched to Delhi to help the emperor .
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provi n ce of M al w a wit h its borders
N I ZA M U L - M U L K — N A D I R S H A H
WAR A G A I N S T
2 33
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ga nst his new and even more terrible enemy The origin Of Nadir S ha h king f Persia was f the h umblest In t h reign of Sh ah Hussein the last S h ah f the S afavi dynasty t h Ghilzai Afgh ans had invaded Persia t ken Herat and captured t h e S hah himself inside the town of Isfahan His son T m p escaped and f l ed to the shores of the Caspian There he called in the aid f one Nadir Kuli a freebooter who had carried on unremitting warfare against the Afghan conquerors The alliance f the free boot r and the heir to the crown proved irresistible The Ghilzais were driven fro m their conquests and their king k illed Not only was Persia liberated but Kandahar was in its turn taken by the Persians A quarrel however occurred between T m p and Nadir Kuli with the result that T m p was deposed by his troops and t h freebooter crowned S h ah in his place Nadir S hah s victories brought the Persian monarc h y to the borders of the Moghul empire which at the time included Kabul Th necessitie f the Maratha war had forced Mahomed S h ah to withdraw most of h i troop s from his northern frontier and his minister Khan Dauran had misappropriated t h pay of those who remained Nadir S hah on the prete x t that the Indian government had refused to surrender some Ghilzai fugitives advanced on Kabul which he took with little difficulty from the starving and mutinous garrison He crossed the Indus at Attock and entered Lahore O the 1 5 t h January 1 7 3 9 the distracted emperor ordered Nizam l Mulk to join him and advanced on Karnal in t h southern Panjab Nadir S hah s k ilfully eluded the Moghul outposts and surpris e d the Oudh troops under S adat Khan Khan Dauran h astened to the latter s assistance but fell in action The rest of the imperial soldiery were driven into their fortified camp and starved into submission Ma h omed Th Nizam S h ah sent Nizam l Mulk to open negotiations induced Nadir S hah to promise to retire on payment of an indemnity f two crores f rupees ( 56 But Nizam s efforts as an S adat K han s jealousy frustrated t h a
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A H I S T OR Y O F T H E
2 34
M A R AT H A P E O PL E
nvoy S adat K h a told the Persian king that if he marched to the capital he could easily extort a ransom a h undred times greater ; and Nadir S hah insisted upon escorting the unfortunate Mahomed S h ah bac k to Delhi F ebruary the day after their entry into the O ( imperial city a rumour spread that Nadir S hah was dead Instantly the mob rose upon his troops All night the S hah strove to restore order but in the morning he lost his self control and called in h i entire army to massacre the citiz ens According to the popular legend often illustrated by Indian artists Nadir S hah seated himsel f in the mosque f Rukn d Daulat in the great baz aar and drawing his sword bade his men not to cease from slaughter until he had replaced it in its scabbard F or several hours he thus sat gloomy and silent while the helpless I dian s were exposed to the savage fury f the northern barbaria ns About mid d ay the emperor and his nobles by continued tears and intercessions induced the S hah to heathe his sword and the carnage such w s the d iscipline of the Persian tro ps instantly ceased Having glutted his vengeance Nadir S hah turned again to the question Of the indemnity He seized all the imperial treasures and jewels including the celebrated peacock throne He then seized the property of the nobles and bade his fficers extort what they could from the common citizens The order was eagerly obeyed E very h ouse wherein imag na tion could picture wealth was invaded and its owners brutally tortur d To use the graphic words of the Musulman historian Before it was a general massacre ; but now the murder of individuals In every chamber and house was heard the cry of affliction S leep and rest forsook the city After fifty eight days even Persian greed realised that th e city contained nothing more of value and the S hah decided to return to Persia Before he left he married his son to a Moghul princess descended from Shah Jehan placed a worthless cro w n on Mahomed
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236
A H I S T OR Y O F T H E
M A R A T H A P E OPL E
A P P ENDI X Le
begin with
tt r e
of
N ad i r s h ah t o B aji r a o P
e h wa s
e of God wh o is grac ious an d mercif ul I begin with t h e n a me of God A precious ston e of two reli gion s h ad gon e By th e h el p of God h e m ad e h i m sel f k n own by t h e n ame of N a di r I ran B aj i R ao po ssessi n g a ch armi n g face an d bei n g a m an of good l uck a devotee towards Mosl em f aith bei n g a can d id ate for t h e roy al f avour is i n formed th at th is t ime with t h e h el p of t h e A l migh ty De l hi is t h e c apit al an d mi l it a ry pl ace an d is th e ris i n g st a r Of t h e gre a t k i n gdom : as t h e gre a t N aw a b is of t h e Tur k s To E mperor Muh amm a d S h ah w h ose gre a tn ess is l i k e th a t of t h e h e a ve n s wh o is t h e ful fi l l er of al l h opes wh o is h ighl y respected an d n obl e wh ose n obl e birth is from a T u r k ish moth er an d w h ose foref a th ers were of th e Gu r an i s tribe th e ki n gdom an d j crown of I n di a is e n truste d tre a tin g h i m as broth er of th e s ame rel igious profession an d as a s on ; an d as you h a vi n g a sweet f ace an d bei n g a l e ader of t h e br ave tribe w h o main t ai n s h imsel f al ways by th e we al th of th e state I t is n ecess a ry for you to serve t h e emperor h on estl y an d wel l k eepin g i n min d h i s righ ts But u p to n ow it is n ot reported th at you a r e servin g just as iyou ou g h t but don e is don e As at t h e pre sen t ju n cture on a ccou n t of th e af fection perfect n obl e an d h e a rty frien dsh ip between our st ates h avi n g t a k e n p l a ce we u n derst an d as if Muh am mad S h ah s st ate give n by God is con n ected with ours for puttin g down th e rebel s an d th e i n vad c rs of th e s aid sta te of t h e G u i j an i s a bra ve an d coura geous pe rson is n ecess ary to be a ppoin ted Wh en th erefore you wi ll be i nf ormed of th e co n te n ts of our n ob l e comm an d R aj a S h ah u of gre at n obil ity of good vis age well expe rien ced an d Obedie n t to th e Mus al m an reli gion h as bee n appoin ted to th at post af ter th is you woul d sen d n ews of you r good h e al th an d s afety remem ber i n g al w ays t h at you a re to be Obedie n t t o t h e roy al order wh ich order s h oul d be received by S h ah u for th e p erforman ce of th e services h e a rti l y an d with out n egl ect an d fail h e ( Sh ah u ) S h oul d try h i s best to ac t a ccord i n g l y By th e h el p of God every on e f ar or n e ar if h e be obedien t to t h e state woul d be regarded as worth y of service an d deservin g of r ew a rds an d gifts but wh oever sh oul d try to rebel again st th e state a victorious frien d of rel igion is re ady for war to defe at such an en emy an d to suppress h i m an d such a l arge army wil l be sen t th a t by goin g to th e bou n d aries of th e p l ace of rebel l ion n ecess a ry pu n i sh men t will be in fl icted upon th em ( rebel s ) I n th ese m atte rs you must be aware of good w ar n i n g an d ac t ac cordi n g to your posi tion D a te d 2 7 th mon th of Moh u r r u m 1 1 5 2 From th e P ar as n i s Col l ection I
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C H A P TE R X L I I I
C O N Q U E S T O F T H E K O N K AN A G A I N S T T H E S IDI S A N D T H E P O R T U G U E S E TH E
WA R S
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A D .
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1733
TO
1739
this point I must return to the narrative of Maratha affairs within those provinces which although inhabited by a Marathi speaking populatio were yet under the dominion of foreigners During A conquest of g ib Maharashtra the S idis had given him valuable help both by land and sea In return he had bestowed on them Mahad Dabhol Raygad and a number of other strong places along the Konkan coast The S idis possession of Raygad was peculiarly ffensive to the Maratha monarchs ; for it was full of memories of t h great k ing It was at once the symbol f h i sovereignty and the seat of his worship These political considerations were aggravated by a personal quarrel b etween one of the S idis S t S idi by name and one B h m d w m i The latter h s by some of his admirers been compared with Ramdas and h certainly enjoyed during his life time great consideration from t h e k ing and t h eminent men who surrounded him B hm d w mi father was Mahadev Bhat a D h s t h Brahman from Berar His mother s na m e was U m b i They had an Only son whom they called Vishnu Wh en the boy was twelve years l d both h i parents died F rom his earliest years he had been devoted to t h worship of the god Ganpati and h h d the strange gift of passing every year into a religious trance from the first of S h ravan July to the fourth of B August a period of h d d ) ) p ( ( thirty four days In 1 6 6 3 Vishnu went to Benares T h ere AT
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2 38
A
H I S T O R Y OF T H E
M A R AT H A
P
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he beca m e an ardent follower of the god Vishnu his namesa k e ; and h assumed t h title of B h m d w m i After some years he left Benares and wandering from the Himalayas to R m h w m visited every Indian shrine in turn At last he came to Maharashtra and settled near Ch i plun at Parashuram village where at one time had stood a noble temple to Parasu Rama the sixth incarnation of Vishnu It had now fallen into ruins Close by was a beautiful wood called the Dhamni wood T it every S hravan B h m d w m i retired in order to pass into his trance or perform his religious meditations His piety and h i penances first attracted the notice f the eigh b The i g villagers and then spread far and wide saint h ad early been acquainted w l t h Balaji V i h th and with remarkable foresight had prophesied his rise to the highest ffice As B h m d w m i fame grew he devoted himself to the collection of funds for the restoration of P Rama s te m ple Nor were his persuasive powers exercised only on his coreligionists Th chie f f the S idis Rasul Yakut K h an so reverenced t h saint that he gave him the revenues of the villages of Am b d s and P e d h e and lent him the services of two clerks B p ji p t and Dh d op In the struggle between S hahu and t Tambe Tarabi B h m d s w m i had the wisdom to j oin the th k ing and later to support the claims of Balaji V i h to the post of first minister The grateful Peshwa induced the king to bestow on him D h w d h i a village near S atar With its revenues and th ose of the villages given him by S idi Rasul and of Davale and M h l i g given h i m by Parashuram Trimbak B h m d w m i soon restored to its former splendour Parasu Rama s temple and laid do w n a gorgeous and elaborate ceremonial for the worship of the god The saint s cor d ial relations w ith S idi Rasul Yakut Khan were interrupted by an unfortunate misunderstanding A certain l Y k t Khan been S idi S t S idi by name had by R appointed governor f Anjanvel on the south ern bank of the Dabhol creek It so happened that S t S idi had ,
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C ON Q U E S T
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D I S P O R T U GU E S E W A R S
239
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received from the N awa h of S avanur a gift of a remarkabl y fine elephant ; but between S avanur and Anjanvel stretche d the Maratha country It was certain t h at in ordinary circumstances t h elephant if sent by the Nawab f S avanur would never reach its destination S t S idi implored t h help f B h m d w m i It happened that t h anchorite was about to start for the Carnatic to beg money for his temple With great courtesy he ffered to bring back the Nawab s gift O his return journey he took t h beast with h i m and got it safely t h rough the Vishalgad pas into the Konkan Thin k ing that its dangers were over he ent it on ahead Beyond S angamesh war however some o f K h ji Angre s forest guards learning that it belonged to one of the S idis captured it and sent it t J y g d one Of Angre s f orts B h m d w m i was much distressed at the incident and wrote to K h ji Angre a strong letter of remonstrance The latter was a discipl f the saint He at once ordered the elep h ant s release and expressed deep regret for his subordinate s action In the meantime S t S idi had heard o f t h animal s capture He sent a force agains t Jaygad which Angre w h had t then received the letter of his piritual guide attacked and d efeated with heavy loss S t S idi became still more incensed and forme d the belief that the capture of t h elephant was part of a deep plot of B h m d w m i In F ebruary 1 7 2 7 on M h h i t day the god S hiva festival he made a sudden raid on the temple of Parasu Rama He pulled it down stone by stone plundered it f all its treasure and tortured such Brahman priests as h could catc h to make them point out any wealth th at t h ey had been able to hide Conduct so ungrateful would hav annoyed any one ; and in the celestial mind f B h m d swami it aroused inextinguishable anger He sent t h elephant to S t S idi and w ith it a fearf l curse You have wrought evil on the gods and the Bra h mans he wrote and similar evil may t h ey wreak you " In vain Rasul Yakut Khan expressed his deep sorrow at t h .
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2 40
H I S T O R Y OF T H E
M A R AT H A
P
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utrage made S t S idi restore his plunder promised to rebuild the temple d ffered as co m pensation the evenues f t w more villages In vain K h ji Angre begged the S wami to forgive and forget the past In 1 7 2 8 the infuriated anchorite h k from off his feet the dust O f the Konkan and ascending the G h ats went to live in Dh There he was cordially welcomed by S hahu d hi his queens and the Maratha nobles U ntil the end o f his life he never ceased to preach a crusade against t h e Abyssinians and to urge on the ki g the disgrace of their presence on t h shores f his kingdom The known friendship of B h m d w m i f or Bala j and B ji was sufficient to set in motion against any suggestion o f his the intrigues of S h i p t o P t i i d h i and Of the Deccan party K h ji Angre moreover threw into the scale his powerful influenc e F or the previous ten years he had been friendly t the S idis and had no wish to exchange their friendship for war In 1 7 2 9 how ever K h ji Angre died and was succeeded in the ffice of High Admiral by his eldest son S k h ji F rom con temporary accounts the latter see m s to have been a man of exceptional character and talents He regarded with d isfavour h i father s kindly feelings for the sea kings of Janjira The S idis aware of his dislike f or them announced t h at their treaty with the Angres had been ended by K h ji death and ravaged S k h ji territories Another incident made B h m d w m i s task the easier In 1 7 3 3 S idi Rasul Yakut Khan died He left a umber of f whom the following Abdulla S ambul Ambar s ons R hy Ya k ut and Hasan were the eldest Although Abdulla was t h firs t born desire for their father s throne inspired against him the hatred of his brothers Abdulla secretly sough t help from the Maratha k ing S ha h u sent into the Konkan a Prab h u S ardar Y h w t Mahadev P t i to foment the family quarrel P t i not only did this with success but also corrupted a certain S heikh Ya k ub Khan a daring sailor who possessed the full O
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H I S T OR Y O F T H E
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and refused to help B ji At first the Marathas won some important successes In May 1 7 3 3 B ji repulsed an attac k led by S idi B ahya in which the leader and a hundred f his men fel l He also took the forts of Tala and G l and plundered Rajpuri N gothna and other towns of t h S idis About the same time Man ji Angre you ger brother inflicted a severe defeat on the S k h ji O the 8 t h Ju e 1 7 3 3 B ji S idis fleet near Janjira retook Raygad amid the u iversal rejoicings of the Maratha people Th historic fortress the capital o f t h great i k i ng had been taken by A g b in O ctober 1 7 8 9 and had for over forty three years been in the possession o f the Abyssinians At the end of June S k h ji Angre took the f ort Of Raval on the Pen river and the fort of Thal But these advantages were more or less c lose to Bombay nullified by the m urder of S idi Abdulla on whose help the Maratha s had counted in their final attac k upon the island Rid f their brother the remaining S idis defended them selves with stubborn courage and he l d in a firmer grip Anjanvel G l k t V i i d g and Janjira Th E nglish too became alarmed at the near approach of the Maratha s and were incensed by S k h ji Angre s capture of an which he he l d to ransom for E nglish S hip called the R The ch ief hope however of the S idis lay in 7 6 0 3 rupees the jealousies of t h Marath a captains It was in vain that S hahu reprimanded his gener ls ; it was in vain that to plunge into his annual B hm d w m i ref sed religiou trance S till their bic k erings continued In August 1 7 3 3 the S idis amused the P t i i d h i with prete ded ffers of peace At the same time they attacked and defeated a Maratha d ivision under B k ji Naik at C h iplun They t h en broke off their negotiations with t h e P t i i d h i The unluc k y d inflicted on him two severe reverses commander appealed to S hahu who ordered Ch i m ji Appa to tak him reinforcements O variou plea Ch i m ji Appa put off his obedience to the order until exasperat e d k ing wrote to him that unless he s tarted th r ao
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2 43
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at once he the king would take over the command of his division The E nglish now resolved to give substantial help to the S idis They supplied Janjira with foo d guns and munitions and sent under Captain Haldane on the warship M y a force to help the S idis defend their island fort of U d i which S k h ji Angre was besieging In S eptember 1 7 3 3 S k h ji Angre the most ingle minded and loyal of the Maratha captains died and S m b h ji An g re was raised to his dead broth er s office of High Admiral F rom this moment all hopes of taking Janjira vanished S m b h ji Angre and his b rother Manaji Angre were on bad terms and would not work together S hahu fearing to give offence would not appoint a single commander i chief but sent separate orders to each divisional general and tried to conduct t h ca m paign from his palace at S atara Although S hahu had written to C h i m ji Appa that he was not to return to S atara wit h out having taken Janjira the king had reluctantly to bow to the inevitable The alliance of the E nglish with t h S idis had robbed t h Marathas f t h command of the sea It was therefore better for the Marathas so B j advised to secure their present advan t ages by a t reaty with the sea kings th an drag on a u eless war In December 1 7 3 3 the S idis and B ji signed a treaty The S idis resig ed to Abdul Rahman as his sh re in his grandfather s kingdom the revenues f eleven and a half m h l The Marathas retained Raygad Tala G l and the other forts that they had stormed B hm as it may be imagined was deeply d w mi disappointed at the treaty He was not however to lose his revenge His l d enemy S t S idi was no less dis satisfied t t h close of the war Had it but continued so thought it would have ended in an Abyssinian victory h In pite of t h execution of t h treaty he continued to raid t h territor es ceded to the Marathas E arly in 1 7 3 6 he brought his fleet to t h por t of Re w as and tried to take the fort f S g a g d O the l ot h March 1 7 3 6 S h ahu ,
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H I S T OR Y OF T H E
M A R AT H A P E O PL E
de patched Ch i m j Appa to punish the aggres s ion O the 1 9 t h April a battle was f ought at the village f Charai ear Revas In it the S idi w a de f eated and slai With him fell t h e com m andant of U d e i and eleven thousand men S hahu w s overj oyed and he wrote to Ch i m ji Appa S t S idi was a demon no less terrible tha Rav a ; by k illin g him you have uprooted the S idis E verywhere your f ame i s spread abroad S ummoning to h i court t h young general he howered on him presents and robes of honour B h m d w m i was equally lavish in h i nco m iums and until his death in 1 7 4 5 he derived from his enemy s downfall a great and pious satisfaction The Portug ese were an even m re formidable enemy In the ninth chapter of this wor k I have related their coming to India d their capture Of the town of G oa They soon established friendly relation s with the k ingdo m of Vijayanagar and were at constant war with their Musulman neighbours Their chi e f f oes were the k ings o f G a t who had made themselves independent on the brea k up o f Mahomed T g h l k s empire They did not fterward did at l arge as the F rench and E nglish ai m inland conquests They de s ired mainly the trade of the Arabian S and the Persian Gulf and for that purpos e wanted a chain of commercial posts or f actories along t h They principally coveted Diva or Diu a w estern coast mall island of f the coast o f Kathiawar It commanded a Gulf f Cambay and almost due west of S urat formed th a co venient stage on the homeward and outward jour eys a safe anchorage during the May storms F or the a d Bahadur S hah t h e k ing of G z arat was s ame reasons unwilling to part with it War ensued during which the P ortu g ue e attac k ed the cities held by the kin g o f G t along the western seaboard of the Maratha country In na i
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hiva tha t the deity gave him immortality on condition that he left the Brahmans alone The demon hief agreed and built in the great god s honour a temple on Tungar hill wherein he worshipped S hiva under the appellation Of T hw of God f the Mountains All went g wel l until one day Vimala heard a band Of anchorites praise Parasu Rama Vimala became so wroth at hearing the praises of his dea d ly enemy that he f orgot his promise to S hiva Running at the anchorites he drove them away and putting out their holy fire spoilt their sacrifice The anchorites gain invoked Parasu Rama who once more made w on Vimala But alt h ough he repeated l y struck ff V i m l arms and legs t h ey instantly grew agai because of the i m mortality bestowed on h i m by the god S hiva Parasu Rama then went in person to S hiva and pointed out that Vimala had broken his promise and had forfeited t h divine boon S hiva was convinced and abandoning his follower he gave Parasu Rama the Paras or axe from which he derives his name With this formi d b l weapon Parasu Rama soon hewed Vimala in pieces I g norant of t h is h oly legend the Por tuguese corrupted the name Vasai to B c i m a word w h ich the E nglish again corrupted to Bassein They made it the capital f their new acquisitions called by them The Province of the North and governed by an fficer styled The General of the North Nor was Bassein apart from its sanctity unworth y of i t new m asters favour The wide mouth f the Ulhas river issuing from hills that recall in their beauty the Highlands of S cotland enabled hips to take their merchandise far inland Another branch of the same stream flowed southwards into the magnificent harbour of Bombay The delta of the U lhas river which the Portuguese occupied as an appanage f Bassein was known as S h t i or the island f sixty six villages This word the Portu S corrupted into l and the E nglish into alsette S c t s g d by abund a nt Its fertile soil watered alike by the i rains yiel d ed rich harvests o f wheat maize and rice ; and
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dotted among t h yello w cornfields could be seen an endless s ccession of mango groves orchards and banian trees There the Portuguese settled in great numbers and enriched by trade and agriculture buil t t h emselves stately palaces and c h arming villas S great indeed was the prosperity of Bassein so abu dant the wealth of its inhabitants and so lavish the display of costly dresses and splendid equipages that in common parlance t h city was known as Dom B c i m or Lord Bassein In 1 6 6 1 the King f Portugal gave to the E g lish the islands of Bombay on the southern point of S alsette as the dowry of Catharine of Braganza the queen o f Charles II F rom t h at time began the decay of Bassein The E nglish E ast India Company to whom Charles transferred Bombay proved themselves formidable trading rivals But a more pressing danger was the rise f the Maratha power I have already related S m b h ji siege of Goa and from that time for w ards the Marathas and t h Portuguese carried on a desultory warfare In 1 7 3 0 a Maratha army had threatened the island f S alsette and had been repulsed with difficulty E ventually through the mediation of Robert Cowan the E nglish Governor of Bombay a treaty of perpetual peace was signed by the Viceroy f Goa and the Maratha king The danger to wh ich the Por t ug ese had recently been exposed caused the viceroy John S aldanha da Gama to hold an enquiry into the defences of S alsette The report o f the com missioner Coutin h o revealed the most la m entable neglect due it would seem to the system of administration under which all munitions and supplies were left to the control of the Jesuits Da Gama sanctioned a large sum of money to put S alsette in a proper state of defence but he returned to E urope before he had completed his task His successor was t h Count of S andomil He came with strict instructions to carry out the plans of t h late viceroy doubt wish ed to do so But his endeavours were d thwarted by a fate so unhappy that the Portuguese sought for an explanation in some supernatural event At last it e
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M A R AT H A P E O PL E
remember e d tha t when landing f rom his ship h had put his left and not his right foot first the soil of In d ia It must be d m itted that his policy w s calcu l ated t i d the i fluences of destiny The k ey f the island of S alsette was the fortress of Thana It w s an l d Moghul outpost and just as Chester derives its name from Castru m so Thana too k its name from t h Marathi word Th a fortified post It was essential that a Portuguese viceroy who wished to embark on a vigorous foreign policy should see to it that T h ana wa s impregnable If Thana could not be made impregnable it was wisest t to give ffence to one neighbour s Th Count of S an d omil did indeed order that Bassein and S alsette island hould be fortified and gave the wor k to a distinguished e g neer J ose Lopes de S But by the time that the fortifications of Bassei were finished the money allotted was exhausted and th e wall round Thana was never completed U nhappily about thi s time the quarrels of K h ji Angre s sons seemed to offer to the Count of S andomil a chance of extending the territories of Portugal and of regai ing s ome of her ancient renown K h ji Angre had le f t t w legitimate sons S k h Oj a d S m b h ji A S it will be re m embered S k h ji succeeded w ithout opposition to his father s honours When S k h oji died in S eptember 1 7 3 3 his ran k and possessions passed to his legiti m ate brother S m b h ji But K h ji had also left four illegitimate sons Y ji Manaji T l aji and Dh d ji E arly in 1 7 3 4 S m b h ji planned the capture f A j w l from t h S idis He too k with him his third brother T l j Y He put D h d ji in d ji he left behind at S g charge of K olaba fort and to Manaji h e trusted his fleet Manaji was ambitious and unscrupulous He d isliked the subordinate charge assigned to him and offered to cede to the C ount of S ando m il the f ortress and lands of Revadanda not far from Chaul in return for Portug ese support U nhappily the viceroy had not t h f m i d to t rength refuse the bribe and promised Manaji a Portuguese con w as
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North was at this time Luis Botelho the viceroy s ne p hew He was a young man of parts and courage but of a violent temper He had already quarrelled with the Jesuits and with many of t h leading citizens of Bassein When he learnt that he had to select inside S alsette a site for a M aratha factory he resolved not to do it F or a long time he put O f f the Marathas with fair promises At last suspecting h i good faith sent to Botelho as his B ji pecial envoy his brother i law V y k t Joshi better k t Gh T h is distinguish ed man k nown as V y p d the ancesto r of the present ch ief of Ichal k aranji was the of one N Op t Josh i a Ch i t p Brahman whose f ather M h d ji had died while N t was only five years p ld M h d ji widow btained support from the kindness f Mh l ji Gh p d and brought up her son to be a priest of Ramchandr the f mily god of the Gh p d But Mh l ji the famous S t ji Gh p d saw with a captain s eye the delight N p t took in horses arms and equipment d m ade the boy a trooper in his squadron F rom that time on the boy was S t ji devoted admirer and so faithful was he in h i service that S t ji bade him call himself his son and ta k e the name of G h p d O day S t h tory runs S t ji wife to tease the boy bade him as S t ji son eat off the same dish as his father Had N t done so he would have lost his Brahman caste p Nevert h eless he readily offered to forfeit i t if his fath e r w ished it S t ji G h p d was too h igh minded to exact uch a sacrifice ; but from that time he regarded N t always as the son of his loins son N t p p w s Vy k t o Wh en Balaji V i h still a th w s ubordinate he was glad to marry his daughter to k t Vy o In this way V y k t came to be the brother i law of B ji As they gre w up the brothers i law too k opposite ides in politics V y k t too k t h e side first of S h i ji and then of S m b h ji of Kolhapur He was t ken p isoner by S h i p t the P t i i d h i at the battle on the Warna in 1 7 3 0 A D and was thrown into ’
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prison as a rebel In the end as I have already related B ji ransomed h i m V y k t was now ordered to demand from Luis Botelho the instant cession of the promi ed site Luis Botelho unable any longer to put ff the fulfilment of the viceroy s undertaking lost his temper and so far for g ot not only t h courtesies f diplomacy but those of ordinary social life as to call to V y k t face t h handsome and f i k i d B ji a negro Vy k t at once broke f f the interview and returned to B ji who deeply incensed determined to avenge the insult without delay As a number f towns and strong places will be named in the e suing account of the fighting and as the geography of t h place h greatly changed it will be as well to sketch as briefly as possible their positions Due east of Bo m bay was the fortified island of K aranja T t h north f K aranj a lay the islan d s of G h arapuri and T mb w known as Trombay To the nort h of Bombay was the island of Van d ra or Bandra At the mouth of the Panvel creek stood the town of Belapur Nearer Thana were Anjur and Kelve These last were inhabited chiefly b y Pat h are P b h who hadhad religious quarrels with the Portuguese and h d appeal d to B ji o To t h east of Bandra was t h stro g place of Marol O ff the coast between And h eri and Bassein was a row of islands To the west of Goregaon was t h fort of Vesava called by t h Portuguese Varsova Beyond Varsova A t ji Raghunath again was Malad of which t h i m d and Ramchandra Raghunath were in secret correspondence with B ji Near Bassein was the for t ified island of Dharavi O the opposite bank to Bassein but a little further up stream was the fort of Gh b d which guarded the southern mouth of the Uh l river Beyond ,
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T h is curio u s i n cide n t i s to be fou n d i n a l etter w ritte n to t h e k i n g of Portu g al by An ton io de Al c ac ova I t is rep ri n ted i n a seri a l study of t h e siege of B as sei n e n titl ed Os u l timos ci n co gen e raes do n orte ” by Mr J A I sm ae l G raci as O O rie te “ Portu gues V ol I I I p An ton io s words a r e as fol l ows A seus com m i ssar i os em B acai m fora s pe l o ge n era l des c om postos de p al a vr a s i n ju r i os as c xc e d e n do o esc an d al o de f al t a r c om vituperio do B agi R ao tr at a n do o de N eg r o .
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Bassein was the f ort of Tarapur and t h towns and talu k a s o f Mahim Dahan d Ambargaon and the posts of S hirga and Chinchni O the shore ne ar Basse was the f or t f Ar ala To t h e north east were Manora and A sh i Prior t o Couti ho report the fortifications of all thes e towns were in ruins and wea k ly garrisoned Bassein had inety gun s but only twelve gunners The cavalry numbered e ight and the in f antry eighty only The wall had in place s fallen d own The f ort of Varsova was s m all l d a d ruined It had a garrison of f ifty men and t e guns but only two of the pieces were serviceable Th e walls at Manora were not more than six f eet high O f i t s eight guns five were useles s As h i had a garrison o f a hundred and fifty br oken do w n old men The fort at Belapur had four companies of a hundred and eigh ty men each and f ourteen guns none o f them very formidable Mahim f ort had a garrison of sixty of whom only seve were Portuguese At Tarapur were sixty men and twenty three guns but no artillery men Coutinho report led to t h e repair of the walls of Bassein and the strengtheni g o f its g arrison F or lac k of mean little was done to the other strong places except Thana But its walls as I have mentioned were never completed With great speed secrecy and d iligence B j o collected a large force at Poona under the pretence of a more tha sually elaborate festival in honour of the god d ess Parvati He induced the king to appoint Ch i m ji Appa general i im The latter on his appointment sent first a thousand men un d er Ramchandra Joshi and K h a d ji Man k ar to Kal y an where they were j oined by detachments under Nar yan Joshi A t ji and Ramchandra Raghunath Ch i m ji Appa drew up the bulk o f h i s f orce at some distance from Belapur S kilfully these preparation s were hidden it was impossi b le wholly to conceal them ; and John Horne the British governor o f Bombay warned Luis Botelho that large Maratha forces were collecting in the neighbourhood of the Province of the North He e
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but were repulsed with great sla ghter by the ga riso who only numbered a hundred and fifty At the end o f thought that the time had come for a S eptember B ji a general assault on Bassein He first took the coverin g fort o f S b i The commandan t defended it bravely until his water supply failed and he was forced to capitulate O the same day stormin g parties imultaneously attac k ed Bassein and Varsova Nine thousand Marathas succeeded in reaching the walls of Bassein and put against them forty scaling ladders But t h Portuguese stood at bay w it h a resolution that would not have shamed the companion of Lorenzo d Al m i d Th Maratha ladders were thrown down d t h Maratha soldiers who reached the top o f walls were either killed or taken At Varsova too th victory rested with the besieged and the Portuguese c nnon took a fearful toll of t h stormi g parties The general of t h North however co m plained bitterly of the E nglish who pleading neutrality refused him their help At t h same time they sold gunpowder and cannon balls stamped with t h E nglish mark to the Maratha generals After the failure of the assaults the siege languished and the Lisbon Government sent out two transports the Nossa S enhora da Victoria d the Bo n S uccesso full o f Portuguese soldiers Thus reinforced the general of the North was able to re l ieve Mahim several miles to t h north f Bassein with a strong force under Pedre de Mello Arriving by sea they urpri sed the Marathas in their trenches and put t h em to the sword Pedro de Mell i called by t h Port guese S h ortly afterwards relieved A h A i m which h d been reduced to the greatest straits Antonio Gardim F roes now thought himself strong enough to begin a vigorous of f e w and planned nothing less than the recapture o f T h ana The recapture of this place so he justly thought Would c ompletely disconcert the Marath a staff and would probably result in the retreat if ot surrender o f t h e Maratha troops within S alsette island O the 1 2 t h S eptember hundred s oldier s of who m five 1 7 3 8 four thousand fiv u
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2 55
hundred were pure blooded Portu g uese sailed in transport fro m Bassein and through the harbour of Bombay up the Thana cree k Led by the gallant Pedro de Mello they attac k ed the important strategic point known as the F ort dos Reis or the fort of the kings O the ot h er hand t h Marathas had a l so received large reinforcements Afte B ji return from Nort h ern India the Marath a leaders hastened to the Portuguese war that Ch i m ji Appa had now a fine army at his disposal ; and in command of T h ana fort was no less a soldier than the redoubtable M lh H lk S till had t h Portu g uese secret been kept the attack might well have succeede d But Mr John Horne the governor of Bombay on seeing the Portugues tra sports sent an express messenger to warn t h Marathas At the same time he allowed a few of his E nglis h gunners to pretend to desert to them so that they might help t h Marathas to point their guns Thus the Portuguese found the Marat h as fully prepared Their artillery directed by the E nglish gunners mowed down the Portu g uese and a cannon ball fired so the Portuguese believe by an E nglishman killed Pedro de Mello as he tried bravely to rally his men The Portuguese broke and fled back to t h eir ships In t h beginning of t h year 1 7 3 9 the vi c eroy relieved Antonio F roes and appointed Martinho da S ilveira to be gen ral of the North His task was a formidable one The Marathas h d renewed the siege of Ma h im and early Gr t Duff writes th t it A to io F roes h ki l l ed but Mr I sm el s
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January 1 7 3 9 too k it by s tor m a f ter a most gall ant defence At the am time B ji o resolved to dam the tream of reinforcements that flowed from Goa to Bassein k t Gh Vy the t h e 2 3 d January 1 7 3 9 O p ad envoy insulted by Luis Botelho invaded Goa territory with twelve thousand horse and four tho and foot soldiers In his efforts to save Bassein the Count of S andomil had lef t himself f w E uropeans but without their support the nativ e levies would not face the Maratha O the 2 5 t h Jan ary V y k t too k Margao by esca l ade and laid of Rachol the key of Goa The s iege to the for t re s s viceroy reinforced the com m andant o f Rachol as best h But a sortie under an inexperienced officer ended c ould in a serious disaster and S ando m il w s compelled to fill rms the monks t h e ranks of the garrison by calling to and priests of Goa By the aid o f these e w conscripts Lui s de C at the commandant of Rachol repulsed i F e bruary 1 7 3 9 a vigorous assault of seven tho sand Mar athas In spite however of occasional Portuguese s ccesses the end was now certain E ach month brought the viceroy news o f fresh disasters F or a hort time Nadir S hah invasion gave the Portuguese hope F or B ji on the news o f the sac k of Delhi thought Of nothing less than an alliance of every state in India against the Persia barbarians The war with the Portuguese is as naught wrote the Peshwa There is now but one enemy in Hindustan The whole power of the Deccan Hindus
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258
H I S TOR Y OF TH E
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after S ilveira s deat h the Marathas made greater progress T h eir army according to Portuguese accounts now numbered two hundred t h ousand men ; and by the i 3 t h May 1 7 3 9 they had after repeated failures succeeded in m n ng the to w er of Nossa S en h ora dos Remedios At 7 a m on the 1 3 t h May the explosion of two mines partially destroyed bastion The Marathas rushed to the attack but were th driven back by the valour of t h garrison and t h explosion of a third mine caused them heavy losses Through out the day t h Maratha leaders Ch i m ji Appa Manaji Angre h h h i india vied wit eac ot er in R S H lk M lh j try ing to scale t h walls of the doomed city They delivered no less than eleven assaults on t h t w of S S ebastian and six others on that of Nossa S enhora dos Remedios Portuguese repulsed t h em with hand grenades and Th musketry fire During t h night t h besieged made a curtain of lighted firewood inside t h latter to w er and barricaded the breaches in the tower f S S ebastian with broken doors and disused h encoops O the i 4t h May the explosion of a fourt h mine laid t h tower of S The Marath as establish ed S ebastian level with the ground themselves in t h ruins of t h masonry and enfiladed the garrison All day the Portuguese defended t h emselves with t h courage of despair In the evening a Maratha envoy bearing a white flag told Pereira that in the morning t h ree fresh mines would be fired the town carried and the C h ristian population put to the sword Pereira called a council of war The fficers reported t h at the troops were ex h austed and unfit any lon g er to man t h walls N succours could be expected from Goa ; and Pereira decided to make terms wh ile t h is was still possible In t h hour of victory t h Marat h as howed commendable generosity They allowed t h garrison eigh t days in which to leave Bassein with the honours of war British ships took them to Bombay where t h Governor S tephen Law entertained them hospitably and furnished t h em wit h money In S eptember 1 7 3 9 he sent them in native boats to Chaul ’
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259
where they arrived in time to repulse t h assault of a Maratha army that had been besie g ing it for so m e month s previously But t h troubles of t h war worn garrison were not y t over Having saved C h aul t h ey set out for Goa When only two h ours march from t h eir journey s end t h ey w ere attacked and routed by the S avant of S avantva d i with t h loss f t w hundred of their best men Directly Bassein h d fallen Holk r and S india hastened nor t hwards to join B ji in his march against Nadir S hah But t h Persian king h d already retreated and the Marathas were at liberty to concentrate their armies round Goa Neverth eless th ey did not besiege that city with the same vigour as they had besieged Bassein They entered into negotiations with t h Portuguese demanding in return for peace the cession of Chaul Daman and a qua r ter of t h revenues of t h province of Goa Th mediation of the E n g lis h softened t h eir demands They agreed to grant peace upon t h cession of C h aul in addition to the conquests t h at t h ey had already made T h Portu lessened the s h a m e of the surrender of C h aul by g ceding it to the E nglish who in turn ceded it to B ji who besto w ed it on Manaji Angre Th Marathas a d mitted that in the siege of Bassein th ey had lost five t h ousand men The Por t uguese clai m ed t h at their enemies losses amounted to twelve thousan d T h eir own losses d i d not exceed eight hundred Nevert h eless by t h cession of Bassein C h aul and the island of S alsette they paid a heavy price for Botelho s unwort h y insult part of t h story still remains to be told S m b h ji O whose quarre l wit h Manaji had been t h first cause of t h h ostility between the Portuguese and the Marat h as had seen his allies overth rown without lifting a finger to h elp them When t h Marat h a army left t h neigh bourh oo d he again attacked h i brot h er Manaji took C h aul Ali b ag and laid siege to K olaba Ma aji once more invoked help To M ji relief B ji sent h i son B ji Balaji the future Peshwa and Ch i m ji Appa and induced e
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Governor of Bombay to aid in t h enterprise The siege of Kolaba was raised Chaul and the oth er places taken were recovered and S m b h ji escaped with difficulty to his fortress of S d g defeat of the Portuguese left the E nglish and the Th Marathas face to face It must be admitted that the conduct of the E nglish was based on no consistent policy They tried to please both sides and pleased neith er Th e Port guese were angry with them for warni g t h T h na garrison ; and Ch i m ji Appa resented t h help given by The Company decided to S tephen Law to the Portuguese se d t w missions one to Ch i m ji Appa and one to the Maratha k ing O 1 2 t h May 1 7 3 9 C ptain Gordon left Bombay for S h a b u s court O the same day Captain I h b i d went to Bassein to remove from C h i m ji Appa s m ind his unfavourable impressions and to i nduce him to aband on a projected expedition against Bombay Ch i m ji Appa received Captain I h b i d coldly and h inted that t h Company s object in sending two missions was simply to create ill feeling bet w een h i m and t h king Captain Gordon met with better fortune O t h 1 3 t h May h reached Danda Rajpuri There he was received in state by t h S idis O the 1 4 t h he again starte d t h is time by sea ; but on the 1 5 t h he was arrested by t h Marat h as After seeing his papers they released him A similar experience befell him on the 1 9 t h May O the 2 0 t h Captain G ordon began to ascend t h Gh ats O t h 2 3 d May h reac h ed S atara but the king had g one towards Miraj O the 2 5 t h A t ji p t the a g ent of the P t i i d h i called on Gordon presented h i m with a dress of h onour and received in return a ring O t h 1 t J une 1 7 39 th E nglish envoy reac h ed S h h tents O the 3 d June Captain Gordon called on the P ti i d h i Th latter asked him a f w questions about Bombay and enquired mockingly whether it was fear of B ji that had sent him O the 8 th June the envoy succeeded in reaching the king But he transacted no business While th e
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1739
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1 7 40
reason w h y Captain Gordon did not find S hahu t S atara was a curious one Th successes f the king s generals were the pride of the Maratha nation Never th l much as t h ey applauded the royal victories the peasantry and burgesses could not help whisperin g to each ot h er t h at in S h i ji time his battles had been won by his own valour and skill and not by the generalship f his subordinates S h a h u h d abundance of courage but he disliked the fati g ues of a campaign In this view he was encouraged by his flatterers w h repeated t ohim that a king great as he was could only take the field if pposed in person by the emperor of Del h i At last however t h m urmurs of the commonalty reached t h royal ears and the king decided that he would cast aside h i faded laurels and deck himself wit h fres h ones The town of Miraj h d from A time held a Moghul g ib garrison It lay in the heart of t h Maratha country and is now t h capital of the Ch i t p chief f Miraj It was easy for t h Marat h as to attack it and d ifficult for th Nizam t defend it Th kin g therefore resolved to take it and by t h is ac h ievement convince his people t h at the burden of administration alone prevented h i m from emulating his g randfather s renown on t h battlefield T h Miraj campaign h owever resembled a royal procession rath er th an a military expedition Th daily marc h rarely exceeded four miles The royal tents were almost as TH E
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pl ndid as t h ose of A state held g i b ; and indeed t h and t h etiquette observed were based on imperial precedent The kin g and his h igh officers rode on elephant back inside splendidly decorated howda h s In fro t of the elephants went inn merable batteries of artillery In front of t h batteries marc h ed picked infantry and in front of t h em chosen squadrons of Maratha h orse Be h ind t h king were massed t h royal musicians who beguiled the tedium of the march by tunes on immense brass war horns Then came drummers on horseback war elephants i numerable cavalry and countless regiments of infantry With due pomp and circumstance t h king at last reached permanent headquarters U m b j which he made h i T h ence S hahu sent a small force into the Carnatic and gave h imself up to the pleasures of t h chase A month or two later he sent t h P t i i d h i to attack U d ji C h avan who was plunderin g t h neighbourhood T h is task the P t i i d h i successfully ac h ieved and brought U d ji Chavan a prisoner into t h royal presence Not until the end of 1 7 3 9 did S h a h u decide to move against Miraj He sent against it an army of thirty t h ousand men commanded by Ap p ji Pingle t h son of that B h i Pin g le whom he h d d ismissed from the ffice of Peshwa Miraj fort was s t ron g and t h garrison resisted stoutly At last S h a h u losing patience went to Miraj in person Having reconnoitred the position he ordered the P t i i d h i to make a general assault on following day T h assault was preceded by a iolent th cannonade which made a breach in the north eastern tower Maratha infantry fired by the king s presence t Th their way through the breach and made themselves masters f Miraj T h ey lost a h undred and fif t y killed and fifty wounde d T h ki g followed up his success at Miraj by some perations a g ainst free b t in t h nei gh bourh ood Triump h ant in all of t h em S h a h u returned to h i h ead quarters t U m b j T h ere he dismissed h i officers and went w ith a small retinue to C h p h l w h ere at Ramdas S
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shrine he gave t h anks for his victories Last of all h e returned in splendid state to his palace at S atara and erected g d i or maypoles t h roughout the city to celebrate his victorious campaign His joy however was soon to be darkened by the death of his first minister B ji had been successful in all his wars and had defeated in turn t h armies of Delhi of Nizam l Mulk and of the Portuguese He was so fortunate as to meet death in the very height f h i glory O the 2 9 t h July 1 7 3 9 he returned to Poona O the 3 d S eptember Ch i m ji Appa came there also after his successful campaign against the Portuguese B ji son Balaji h d been with S hahu at the siege of Miraj O the 4 t h November he joined his f ather and uncle O the return of Balaji he B ji s mother R d h b i and Ch i m ji Appa united in urging B ji to get rid of M t i a Musulman mistress to whom he was devotedly attac h ed S everal stories are told how t h is lovely girl came into B ji possession O is that Ch t l of B d lk h d gave her as a gift to B ji The second tale is that the Nizam gave her as a present to the great minister The third stor y is told by the author of the Peshwa s bak h ar According to him M t i had been the mist ess of a certain S h h j t Khan a Mogh ul officer at one time in command of an imperial force in Central India Ch i m ji Appa surprised S h h j t Kh an and among other spoil took captive M t i The lovely girl would have taken poison but Ch i m ji Appa promised her B ji protection and sent her to his brother B ji fell deeply in love with her but M t i was as prudent as she w pre tty and would not accept B ji advances until he had promised that any son born of t h eir union would receive a fitting share in his father s possessions A fourth and more probable account has been given in the Marathi Month ly I t i h S g h According to the l learned author M t i was the daughter of Raja Ch t .
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Ja g hearing at Aurangabad of the invasion marche d with forty thousand men to ppose it Th armies met on the banks of t h Godavari and for two months an indecisive struggle raged up and down the river At last B ji o forced Nasir Jang to retreat to Aurangabad and take helter in t h fort Nasir J g was soon closely besieged At last he sued for peace and gave B ji in j aghir the districts of Handia and Khar g on south of Indore B ji had t h us attained the object of t h war He sent Ch i m ji Appa back to Poona His son B laji h sent to Kolaba that he m i g h t try and settle t h endless disputes of the Angre brot h ers He himself with t h interest of a new proprietor went northwards to Khar g on and spent the winter th ere inspecting his jaghir and mastering the details of its admi istration S uddenly at Raver as he was touring a l ong the banks of the Narbada he fel l ill f fever His frame ex h auste d by w and labour h arassed by family quarrels and disappointed passion was unable to resist the attacks of disease O t h 2 5 t h April he passed away at the age f forty two in t h presence of his y ounger son J dh t and his fait h ful and forgiving wife K hib i p Th ne w s reac h ed Balaji at K olaba and he and C h i m ji Appa were present at t h funeral ceremonies With them went M t i S eparated from h lo er in this world she passed fearlessly throu g h t h flames to greet him in the next K h i b i s urvived her husband for many ye rs In 1 7 4 6 h went on a pilgrimage to Benares O the 2 7 t h November 1 758 she died greatly mourned and respected h avin g lived to see her son reach an eminence far loftier even t h an that attained by B ji By his w ife B ji h d four le g itimate sons Balaji bo r n on 8 t h December 1 7 2 1 Ramc h andra Ragh unat h born on the 1 t August 1 7 3 4 and J By M t i he d had one illegi t imate son B ji wished ardently t h at his mistress ch ild should be declared a Bra h man But n
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267
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powerful although he was h could not break down the pposition of t h priest h ood Hinduism accepts no converts ; and the son of a Musalman concubine could never be i vested with t h sacred thread B ji was reluctantly forced to brin g him up in his mother s faith He became a Musalman and was named S hamsher Bahadur A a soldier he was renowned for his ardour and courage I 1 7 6 1 when only twenty one years of age he fell figh ting brave l y on the field of Panipat He left a son Ali Ba h adur whom Nana P h d i sent to Malwa in t h h o p e of checking t h formidable rise of M h d ji S in d ia T h is Ali Bahadur failed to do But he made h imself master of a considerable tract f country and became t h ancestor of the Nawabs f Banda Judged by any standard it can hardly be d enied t h at was a great man His person was commanding B ji his skin fair his features strikingly handsome S wide according to a S pread was his reputation for beauty that Maratha legend t h ladies of Niz am l mulk asked of their lord as a pecial favour that t h ey migh t at h i next meeting with t h Bra h man m inister unseen th emselves catch a glimpse of h i fine presence and classic features At t h same time his dress was imple and his fare was as meagre as that of any trooper in the field An amusing story runs that once t h emperor Ma h omed S h a h curious to learn somet h ing of the appearance of t h great soldier who was overrunning his dominions sent his court artist to paint h i m The artist brough t bac k a picture of B ji on horseback in t h dress of a trooper H reins lay loose on his horse s neck and h i lance rested on h i sh oulder As he rode h rubbed w i th both hands ears of corn wh ich he ate after removing t h husks Th emperor in great d at once be g g ed alarm crie d Wh y t h man is a fiend the Nizam to m ake peace wit h h i m B ji lacked t h attrac t ive courtesy for w h ic h t h ot h er members of h i h o se were no t ed His manners were overbearing His letters often contained censure but never praise Indeed h seems e
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rarely to have written save to reprimand a subor d inate spite of his eminent talents h was not li k ed by the I k ing and he was detested by the Decca n nobles He w s feared not loved even by h i own children The monument of B ji most familiar to E nglishmen in Poona is the ruin of his house the S h w Wada or the S aturday Palace E ight years after his elevation to the office of Pes h wa he formed the d esign of building it Two years later he put his desi g into execution Two reasons have been handed down by legend for his choice of the site O is t h at h saw on it a dog pursued by a hare and therefore assumed that t h d w ellers on t h at spot were invincible The other is that his horse stumbled there d th at from this incident he concluded that it was the wish of Providence that he should remain in the nei g hbourhood A m ore probable reason was the favour able situation f Poona watered by two rivers and sheltered alike by S i h g d and P It was alive too with d memories both of the great king and of Balaji V i h th It was at Poona that S h i ji had passed his boyhood ; and Balaji had at one time been S of the town and bh district Close to t h Muta river stood an old Musalman fort which had long fallen into disuse and decay This B ji pulled down as well as two villages which stood close by and which the king at his request gave h i m The first stone was laid on the 1 0 t h J anuary 1 7 3 0 A D and the palace was completed on t h 2 2 d January 1 7 3 2 I t was called t h S aturday Palace because it was on a S aturday that the earth pirit was appeased by t h burial of a living victim beneath the projected si t e ; and it was on a S aturday also that the foundation stone was laid Th palace itself no longer exists as it was destroyed by fire on the 2 1 t F ebruary 1 8 2 8 but descriptions of it have survived It cost Rs to build It was six stories high and had four large and several smaller courtyards The main .
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Portugal w aved ver the Bassein ra m parts C h i m ji Appa s ardent spirit overcame t h ills of his body When Bassein fell t h reaction came O t h l ot h S eptember h wrote to B h m d S wami Lately I have been greatly worried I suffer from pain all over my b y an incessant cough body It is t h is that has kept me from writing to you for the last four days With the S wami s blessing I hope to get well T h is h p was never realised In O ctober 1 7 4 0 he felt so ill that he returned to Poona Day by day his cough grew worse u ntil on the 1 7 t h December he died in the thirty fourth year of his age He was born in 1 7 08 being ten years younger th n B ji His first w ife R k m b i the sister of T i m b k died on the P th 3 1 t August 1 7 3 0 shortly after giving birt h to their son S d hi the 9 t h December 1 7 3 1 he married h i s O second wife A p By her he had a daughter b i B g b a i who married G i b i A d h k O k p g was d evoted to her h usband and proved her devotion by burning h erself alive upon his bo d y The fame of C h i m ji Appa h been overshadowed by that of his elder brother ; yet h i talents were it is probable in no way inferior to those of B ji O the other hand Ch i m ji Appa s was t h far more attractive personality His mind was bent towards study His manners were pleasing His temper was sweet and reasonable It often happened that the Deccan nobles unwilling to approach the haugh ty first minister and to risk a sharp discourteous refusal reach ed their object by winning to their cause Ch i m ji Appa again st whose persuasive pleading even B ji was rarely proof Nay at times the ki g himself stooped to a d opt t h device o f his nobles It was to Ch i m children turned for that ji Appa that B ji affection wh i ch their father led away first by his ambitions and after w ards by h i passion for M t i denied t h em While B ji incurred gigantic debts for t h upkeep of his armies Ch i m ji Appa checked with strict economy the household expenses It was Ch i m ji Appa who saw O
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that B ji sons were educated were invested with the sacred t h read were united to suitable wives d tau g ht the high m orality and noble trut h s of the Hindu faith While Ch i m ji Appa h ad in abundance t h humble virtues he in no way lacked either p h ysical or moral courage It was he who defeated and killed S idi S t and but for h i perseverance and ener g y Bassein would most likely neve h ave fallen His moral courage stood a searching test when he dared to interfere wit h B ji intrigue with M t i He not only rebuked his elder brother but twic forced him to dismiss his beautiful m istress and return t the embraces of h i wife and children His early death was a profound calamity for the Maratha people Had h lived longer h would doubtless h ave controlled t h quarrels of R gh t h and S d h i both of wh om revered him as their father and t h us saved h i country from the disaster of Panipat His wisdom would h ave f g uided the counsels of Balaji checked the ambitions and S india and preserved h i nation from thos H lk unhappy rivalries wh ic h more t h an au g ht else brou g h t about the downfall of Marat h a independence O the death of B ji th Deccan party made a fresh effort to stop the h ereditary prime ministersh ip of t h Bhat family Th leader f the Deccan party was w He was not a man of great capacity but R gh ji Bh l h was a personal fa ourite of kin g S h a h u He was a bold horseman and a keen hunter W h en K h ji B h l b i B h l the heir of P fell und r ha u s displeasure S j the king conferred on R g h ji Bh l h i cousin t h pos t of S ena S ahib S ubh a t i l l th en h eld by K h j A long enmity had divided t h royal favourite and the first minister Wh en B ji had surrounded t h N izam at B h opal sacked Alla h abad a part of India w h ich l R g h ji B h deemed t h at h alo e h d t h ri g h t to pl n d er B ji In return B ji had sent one A ji K avade to plunder l R g h ji B h Berar the province of R g h ji B h l now used all his influence wit h t h king to prevent t h ’
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nomination of B j son Balaji as first minister The k ing however was wise enough to see t h at for all h i s skill as a hunter and his courage as a soldier R gh ji B h o l was unfit to be Pesh w a There was yet another candidate in the fiel d namely Babuji Josh i the brother i law of B ji and the husband aunt Bh i b i He was nothing more than a f B l ji uccessful business man and money lender But like C rassus he f ondly fancied his talents equal to any task gave h i m his support intending to use h i m l R g h ji B h a mask for his own ambitions The chief bjections to B l ji elevation were the vast w youth B ji s d ebt lef t by his father and his liabilities amounted to fourteen and a half lakhs These he had borrowed from some thirty creditors at rates arying fro m 1 2 to 3 0 per cent The largest creditors were Raghunath Pat w ard h an whose debt was three lak h s w m i whose debt amounted to one lakh d B hm d Both of these were c ntent to wait d five thousand their money But Babuji Joshi to who m B ji had f wed but thirty six thousand rupees dunned Balaji merci lessly T B l ji rescue went M h d ji P d who paid Jos h i in full B l ji youth was a no less serious king and t h men round h i m were ll in d ifficulty Th the evening of life Ba l aji who was born on t h 1 2 th D ecember 1 7 2 1 was only in his nineteent h year But in the E ast men mature early He h d been married to his wife G p i k b i when only eight years old and had been living with h for over a ye r He had already dis t i g i h d himself in t h war against the S idis and had been brought up under t h care of the wise and valiant C him If h lacked the constructive genius of ji Appa Balaji Vishwanath and the more splendid talents of h i fath er B ji he was yet an able resourceful and industrious m Above all S ha h u loved him like his own At th instance of the P t i i d h i who disliked R g h ji B h l e ven more t h an his Ch i t p rival king S hahu on the ’
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army to his relief S hahu who had always regarded the h ouse of Tanjore with the k indliest feelings consented to do so ; a d it was in command of the army of relief that S hahu placed R gh ji Bh l S adat U llah Khan was one of the best rul ers of his time He died in 1 7 3 2 O his death his nephe w Dost Ali succeeded him O hearing of R gh ji Bh l e s intended invasion Dost Ali at once took steps to save the Carnatic He chose a strong position on the D m l h e y pass to the north of the river Pone He had with him only ten thousand troop s but he trusted to the difficulty of th country and sent pressing orders to his son S afdar Ali and Chanda S ahib w h was his son i law to hasten to his help S afdar Ali however was engaged in a dista t expedition ; while Chanda S ahib was loth to leave Trichinopoli which he had recently acquired from the widow of its hereditary governor by an act of gross treachery Winning her affection he swore on the Koran to marry her if S h admitted him and his troops into her fortress S h e did so and was at once flung into a dungeon Her appeal to Chanda S ahib s oath was met by the explanation that he had not really sworn on the Koran but only on a bric k wrapped up in cloth o f gold S uch an oath was in Chanda not binding on him Dost Ali was thus S ahib s Op m f orced to meet the Maratha rmy with only the troops by him R gh ji Bh os l had fifty thousand men but even so Dost Ali might have repulsed him had not the Hindu chief who was guarding the k ey to the position deserted to the enemy E arly on t h 1 9 t h May 1 7 4 0 the Marathas pressed through a gorge to the south of Dost Ali s camp and attacked him in front flan k and rear In a few hours the Musulman army was totally destroyed and Dost Ali lay dead in the field Hearing of the disaster Chanda S ahib fortified himself in Trichinopoli S a f dar Ali retired to Arcot Both entrusted their f amilies and their .
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valuables to M Dumas the F rench governor of Pondic h erry R g h ji Bh o l a f ter his victory plundered a vast stretch of country and moved again t Arcot S afdar Ali fled to Vellore where in August 1 7 4 0 he made a treaty with the Marathas They were on the one hand to recognise him as Nawab of the Carnatic and help him to drive Chanda O the other hand he was to S ahi b from Tric h inopoli pay R gh ji Bh l ten million rupees and to reinstate all the Hindu princes and landowners whom he and his f ather had dispossessed since 1 7 3 6 A D R g h ji B h s l then marched on Trichinopoli Chanda S ahib who was a man of parts and energy had spent the interval by strengthening its fortifications and in storing up large quantities of grain S O ready was he for the Maratha onset that R gh ji Bh l gave up the idea of storming Trichinopoli and adopted with success a trick that should not have deceived a man o f Chanda S ahib s capacity He gave out that the campaign had been a great pecuniary loss and that weary of the Carnatic he would return to the western Deccan He gave colour to this statement by retreating to S h i j y so m e eighty miles south of Trich inopoli Chanda S ahib thin k ing that the Marathas had lef t for good sold his stores of grain and sent his brother Barra S ahib with ten thous a nd of his men to invade Madura Directly R gh ji Bh o l heard that Chanda S ahib had fallen into his trap he hastened by forced marches to Trichinopoli nd had begun to besiege it before Chanda S ahib had had time to replenish his empty granaries Chanda S ahib defended himself as best h e could and ordered Barra S ahib to return R gh ji Bh o l e detached twenty thousand cavalry to intercept him Barra S ahib surrounded by the Maratha horse m ade a fine defence until a cannon ball k nocked him off his elephant There upon his army dispersed His body was fo nd on the battlefield and brought to R g h ji tent The Marat h a leader had it clad in ric h clothes and se t it to Trichinopoli that Chanda S ahib might l earn from it as Hannibal had ,
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learnt f rom the head of Hasdrubal the death of his brother and the downfall o f his hopes In spite of this disaster Chanda S ahib de f ended hi m self bravely from the i 5 t h December 1 7 4 0 to the 2 l t March 1 7 4 1 when his ammu and stores exhausted he had no alternative but to ni t i surrender R gh ji Bh l sent him a prisoner to S atara i Gh f ort and appointed M a great nephew p d of the f amous S t ji Gh p d to hold Trichinopoli with a garrison of fourteen thousand men l next a d vanced against Po dicherry and R g h ji B h demanded the in s tant surrender o f Chanda S ahib s family and jewels an indemnity of six million rupees and a regular annual tribute It will be remembered that in 1 6 7 2 the F rench a d miral M de la Haye had established himself in S aint Thom e at one time a Portuguese settlement on the Coromandel coast The k ing o f Golconda urged thereto by the Dutch and aided by a Dutch conti gent set out t reta k e it The departure of the Golconda army had enabled Sh i ji to extort two million pagodas from the king of Golconda But the latter revenged himsel f on the F rench In 1 6 7 4 he and the Dutch too k S aint Thom e ; but so gallant had been the defence of M F ran cois Marti the F rench governor that he and h i garrison were allowed to m arch out with the honours of war S ome of the F rench soldiers were shipped bac k to F rance F ran cois Martin with the r e mainder marched to a spot at the mouth of the Jinji river which some years before he had as a refuge in evil times bought from S her Khan Lodi the Bijapur governor The spot was quite pen and destitute li k e of comforts and necessaries But Martin was a man not easily dis ag e d He soon built houses and laid out gardens for himsel f and his followers Round them grew a native town which the Indians called P h l c h y or the town of flowers This name the F rench corrupted into Pondichery and the E nglish into Pon d icherry In May 1 6 7 7 S her K han Lodi was routed and c p t d j by S h i ji who thereaft er ,
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tribute We treated you with favour yet you too k sides gainst us Chanda S ahib has left in your care the treasure chests of Trichinopoli his jewels his horses his elephants his wife and his son You k now h ow we have t eated the town of Bassein My army is very numerous and it wants money for its expenses I f you do not act as I demand I shall k now how to draw from you money to pay my whole army I rely upon your at once sending me upon receipt of this letter the wife and son of Chanda S ahib together with his elephants hors e s jewels and treasure M Dumas summoned his council and read them R g h ji Bh l e letter It was better in his eyes he said to endure a siege than to dishonour themselves by handing ov e r the re fugees to the Marathas The chivalrous F renchmen unanimously approved their chie f s pinion Confident o f their support M Dumas replied to the Marathas courteously but firmly You tell me he wrote that for fifty years we have owed tribute to your k ing Never has the F rench nation paid tribute to any one Indeed were I to do so I hould f orfeit my head to my master the k ing of F rance When we were given not by your king but by the princes of this country a piece f land on which to build a fortress and a town they required but one condition namely that we should not molest the temples and the religion of the country people This condition w e have faithfully observed You hav e as k ed me to ma k e over to your horsemen the wife and son of Chanda S ahib and the riches h e brought here You are a nobleman at once generous and brave what would you thin k f me if I w e re guilty of so base an act The wife of Chanda S ah i b is in Pondicherry under the protection of the king of F rance my master ; and every F renchman in India wo ld ooner die than hand her over .
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you threaten if I efuse compliance to lead against me your armies in person I am making ready to receive you well and win your esteem by showing you with what valour the bravest nation in the world can defend themselves against those who attack them unjustly Above all I put m y trust in Almighty God before whom t h strongest armies are as the straw which the wind blows away My h p e is that He will favour the justice of our cause I have indeed heard what happened at Bassein but Bassein was not defended by F renchmen The tone f this letter so surprised R gh ji Bh l e that he sent to Pondicherry an envoy nominally to repeat the warnings that his letter had conveyed but really to ascertain what it was upon which M Dumas relied for a successful defence against such overwhelming odds M Dumas received the envoy with that exquisite politeness which is the national inheritance of the F rench people s h ewed him his piles of stores his ramparts bristling with guns his F rench soldiers and his drilled sepoys He then told the envoy that so long as one F renchman still lived the F rench flag w ould fly over Pondicherry If your master added M Dumas hopes to find in our town mines of gold or silver tell him we have none But it is rich in iron and that iron we are ready to use against all comers To soften the asperity of the reply h gave the envoy ten bottles Of F rench liqueurs b y way of a present to R gh ji Bh l R gh ji Bh l passed t h em on to his wife Although Hindus of all classes are forbidden to touch spirits Marathas do not bey the prohibition with the same strictness as Brahmans ; and the insinuating F renchman had disguised the alcoholic nature of the liqueurs under the insidious name of Nantes cordials R gh ji wife tried the liqueurs then tried and tried again Nor will it surprise any one acquainted with their taste that the more she drank t h more h liked t h em and saw with increasing dismay t h eir rapidly approaching end S h implored nay insisted that her husband should btain r
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a further supply by making friends with the F rench of Pondicherry R g h ji Bh s l e had been greatly struc k by the envoy s report of the dauntless bearing of Dumas and his soldiers He began to open negotiations and hinted after much circumlocution that a further present of Nantes cordials would ma k e for peace Dumas sent him thirty more bottles T h is time R gh ji Bh l tried the liqueurs himself and saw how j st had been his wi f e s ppreciation He at once withdrew his demands and with his army returned to S atara deeply impressed by the valour of F rance s sons and won to her cause by the golden produce of her vineyar d s .
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death his son S arafraz Khan succeeded ; but in Alla Vardi Khan with the aid o f his brother 1 7 40 A D Haji Ahmad contrived to de f eat and k ill h i m and to usurp the viceroyalties o f Be gal Behar and Orissa Alla V ardi Khan s worth as a commander was now to be put to a stricter test S h jah d d a l t s son i law Murshid Kuli Khan had at first acquiesced and a f ter w ards rebelled against Alla Vardi Khan s usurpation He was forced to flee the country ; but h i s diwan Mir Habib invited into Bengal Bh ask p a t K l h t k a the minister of R gh ji t accepted the invitation and invaded Bh s k a p Bh s l e Behar He surprised Alla Vardi Khan at Burdwan j But the usurper abandoned his baggage and refusing to surrender stubbornly fought his way to a strong position on the ban k s o f the Ganges Bh sk a p a t would then have retired but Mir Habib implored him to remain and live on the country He convinced Bh k p t of the f e as i b i l i t y o f his scheme by borrowing f rom him f our thousand Maratha horse and with them plundering the factory of one Jagat S het Al m h d a wealthy ban k er o f no less than Rs Acting on Mir Habib s advice Bhas k ar pant too k Hooghly Midnapur Rajmahal and all the Bengal districts w e st of the Ganges exc ept Murshidabad Alla Vardi Khan however rose to the height o f the danger He sent messengers both to the emperor and to the Peshwa as k ing f or help At the same time he made a daring attac k on Bh as k p t s camp at C tw not far from Plas s ey Be f ore the rains had ceased Alla Vardi Khan crossed the Hooghly and the Aji In crossing the Aji his bridge o f boats bro k e and he lost six hundred men ; but undaunt d by this loss he attac k ed the Maratha s and drove them from their camp B h sk a p t fled but doubling bac k tried to ma k e a stand at Midnapur Here Alla Vardi Khan came up with him de f eated him and chased
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him across the frontier o f Bengal Alla Vardi Khan now informed the emperor that he no longer needed help and invited S a f dar Jang o f Oudh who had come to his aid with a body of imperial troops to return to his own province Alla Vardi Khan however was not S safe as he f ancied for R gh ji Bh l e hastened from Berar to join Bh sk Hearing this Balaji who had received Alla t p Vardi Khan s message and wished both to appear as an imperial general and to gratify his enmity against R g h ji Bh l e marched with all haste to the help o f Alla Vardi Khan The latter taught by experience welcomed him gladly But Balaji leaving his ally f ar behind attac k ed and routed unaided R gh ji Bh o l e army The latter fled to Nagpur ; but Balaji remained in Bengal plundering the country with as much zeal as if it had been an enemy s province A a reward f or his victory over R a gh ji Bh s l e the emperor f ormally appointed him governor of Malwa To save the imperial feelings the deed w made out in the name o f S hah Mah om d son prince Ahmed Balaji was appointed as his deputy governor It was however idle to expect that the Maratha chie f s whatever their private quarrels might be would lo g fight each other to the profit of their Musulman e emies In 1 7 4 4 R gh ji Bh o l and Balaji made a secret compact that they should not interfere with each other in their future expeditions Bengal was to be the preserve of le The country north Of the Narbada was R gh ji B h to be plundered by Balaji alon Therea f ter Balaji gave no further help to Alla Vardi Khan F or a time the usurper resisted R gh ji Bh l e single handed In 1 7 45 h Bh k t at the ead f twenty thousand Maratha p horse demanded a sum equal to that paid by Alla Vardi Khan to Balaji for his assistance Alla Vardi Khan unable to meet Bh sk p t in the field begged him to come to his tents and there discuss t h amount of t h indemnity and the manner of payment Bh s k p t not suspecting treachery accept ed the invitation and moved his army .
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284
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c lose to Alla Vardi Khan s camp and waited on Alla Vardi Khan The latter received the trusting Brahman a tent o f which the inside was surrounded by screens i Behind the screens were hidden a band o f assassins At the cry o f Cut down the infidel the concerted signal they rushed f rom behind the screens and murdered Bh k p a t and no less than nineteen out of twenty fficers with him O only R gh ji G ik d escaped At once Alla Vardi Khan ordered a general attac k on the Maratha army Ta k en by surprise it had great difficulty in e ff ecting its retreat under the leadership of R g h ji G i k d The treachery of Alla Vardi Khan m ight have had greater results but for the insurrection of one Mustapha Khan to whom Alla Vardi Khan had first promised and then refused the government of Behar Mustapha Khan implored Alla Vardi Khan R g h ji Bh l again to invade Bengal attac k ed Mustapha Khan vigorously and deceived R gh ji Bh sl by pretended negotiations When Mustapha Khan had fallen in the field Alla Vardi Khan sent R gh ji Bh l the f ollowing ridiculous letter Those who see k peace from an enemy are guided either by a sense of their w loss or inferiority or hopes of advantage ; but praised be God the heroes o f the f aith feel no dread of encountering infidels Peace there f ore depends upon this — when the lions of Islam hall so engage the monsters of idolatry that they shall swim in each others blood and struggle until one party Shall be over powered and beg for quarter R g h ji Bh l saw that he had been fooled Never t h e l e s s he did not let the letter remain unans w ered He wrote that while he had advanced a thousand miles to meet Alla Vardi Khan that lion of Islam had not moved a hun d red to meet him Alla Vardi Khan was determined to have the last word and wrote begging R gh ji Bh l to refresh his troops during the monsoo as during the cold weather he Alla Vardi K h an meant to wait on him until he had escorted him bac k t o his own f rontier ’
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H I S T OR Y OF TH E
M AR AT H A P E O PL E
Prince Ahmad Kamar d din Khan S afdar Jang now viceroy of Oudh the Raja of Jaipur and others f his generals to stem the fresh tide o f invasion They reached the S utlej only to learn that Ahmad S hah as it is now right to call him had outmarched them and had seized Both S irhind with the w hole of the prince s baggage armies entrenched themselves and for some days their light horse engaged in constant skirmishes At length a roc k et magazine exploded in Ahmad S hah s camp and caused such a panic that the A f ghan chie f gave up his projected conquest o f Delhi and declaring himsel f satisfied with the plunder of S irhind began to retreat the way he had come ( March 1 7 4 8 ) Prince Ahmad while about to pursue Ahmad S hah w s recalled to Delhi by the illnes s of his f ather Thereupon Ahmad S hah halted on the Indus and forced the viceroy of the Panjab to promise him a permanent share Of the Panjab revenues In April 1 7 4 8 Mahomed S hah died and was succeeded by his son who li k e his Afghan neighbour assumed the title of Ahmad The new emperor alarmed at the vicinity o f the S hah Afghan king invited Nizam l Mulk to be vazir of Delhi The Nizam however was too old and too ill to accept the post and on the 1 9 t h June 1 7 4 8 he died His death was followed by a series of complicated events which greatly favoured the schemes and ambitions of t h e F rench -
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F R E NCH To
NATI O N
1750
the last seven years the power of the F rench had grown beyond all expectation M Dumas defiance o f a great and victorious Maratha army had earned him throughout southern India the reputation of a hero Nizam l mulk sent him a letter of than k s and a dress o f honour S afdar Ali sent him the je w elled armour of his f ather Dost Ali three elephants and numerous other presents The emperor con f erred on him the title of Nawab together with t h command of f our thousand five hundred cavalry In 1 7 4 1 M Dumas returned to F rance He was succeeded by one o f the greatest men whom even F rance that fruitful moth er of h eroes has ever produced His name was Joseph F ran cois Dupl e ix who had already as governor of Chandernagore near Calcutta given proo f s of the most signal capacity That capacity was soon to be tested to the uttermost S afdar Ali whose ta x ation had made him unpopular was on S eptember 2 d 1 7 42 murdered by his brother i law Mortiz Ali Mortiz Ali however was unable to pro fit by the murder and Nizam l Mulk appointed Anvar d din Khan a stranger to the family of S adat ulla Khan to be the new Nawab of the C arnatic With this ruler Dupleix established such friendly relations that when in March 1 7 44 war was formally declared between F rance and E ngland he successfully applied to Anvar d din Khan for protection against the E nglish Not daring to fi g ht both the Nawab and the F rench on land the E nglish naval commander Barnet tried to i tercept a F rench fleet under IN
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La Bourdonnais who had sailed to D p l i x assistance After an indecisive action Barnet withdrew and La Bourdonnais sailed into Pondicherry Dupleix w began a counteroffensive In Aug st 1 7 4 6 La Bourdonnais sailed against Madra s The site of this town had been bought by the E nglish Company from the last Hindu prince w h had styled hi m self k ing Of Vijayanagar Madr as had never been prop erly f ortified and its garrison consisted of three hundred men of whom only two hundred were fit for duty O the 2 l st S eptember it surrendered to La Bourdonnais The E nglish appealed to Anvar d din Khan for the protection which he had previously accorded to the F rench against them Dupleix however overcame Anvar d din s scruples by promising to hand over Madras to him But when the time came for k eeping his promise Dupleix delayed so long that Anvar d din sent his eldest son M p h Khan with ten thousand men to enforce it Dupleix ordered the governor D p é m i l to hold the town at all costs The garrison amounted to five hundred F rench troo p s and five hundred of Dumas sepoys To reinforce the garrison Dupleix sent a S wiss officer named Paradis with t w hundred and thirty F renchmen and seven hundred sepoys M p h Khan tried to destroy the rein forcement before it reached Madras and with ten thousand men supported by massed batteries waited for it on the ban k s of the Adyar O the m m g of the 4 t h November 1 7 4 6 P aradis to his dismay saw this great f orce in front of him His orders were to join the Madras garrison and h resolved to cut his way through Ca l ling on his men to f ollow him he plunged into the river and clambered up the other ide The F rench troops fough t as became their nation But Dumas sepoys to the astonishment alike of their commander and the enemy fought wit h no less courage In a moment the Nawab s g uns had changed hands and were pouring volley after volley into M p h Khan s troops who were crowded into S t Thom e trying to escape They were all but anni h ilated Those w h u
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FR E N CH
289
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survived did not halt until they had reached the helter of Arcot Th historian of the F rench in India has justly cla med that this battle was one f the most dec s ve the history of that country Thenceforward it became manifest that t h ere had arisen a new power whose valour and tactics supplied abundantly their lack f m b and whose set the largest armies might contemplate with dismay Dupleix h aving dispersed the host of the Nawab de mi d to drive t h E nglis h f rom F ort S aint D avid their t last refuge on t h Coromandel Coast But before he could achieve his purpose a large E nglish squadron arrived to relieve it It was w the turn of Dupleix to stand a the 6 t h S eptember 1 7 4 7 Admiral Boscawen S ie g e O wit h no less t h an six t h ousand men of whom three thousand seven h undred and twenty were E uropeans sat down before Pondich erry But the genius of Dupleix soared even h igh er in adversity than in success U ndaunted by the fall of h i best officer Paradis he himsel f took command of t h garrison and although without experience of war he soon displayed beh ind the walls of Pondicherry the qualities of a great captain In vain Boscawen used his energy and skill ; in vain t h E nglish troops attacked with t h proud and stubborn valour of their nation In vain Boscawen appealed to the neigh bouring princes to help him destroy the stronghold of t h eir common enemy F ruitless alike were skill and experience eloquence and courage F ired by D p l e i x example the F rench fought in a way that even they in their long and splendid history have rarely equalled O verawed by h i genius the nei g h i g princes refused to the victorious E nglish eit h er b support or supplies By the 1 7 t h O ctober Boscawen had lost a t h ousand and sixty five of his best troops and had lost rather than g ained ground Th wint e r rains had beg n S ickness was spreading among his men ; and t h E nglish admiral h d no alternative but to raise the siege and retreat T S
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A
H I S T OR Y OF T H E
M A R AT H A P E O PL E
It was at t h is moment when the reputation of the F renc h h d reached the highest point t h at the death of Nizam l Mulk gave the f llest scope to the aspiring mind of Dupleix Nizam l Mulk left six sons Gh i d d i Nasir Jang S al abat Jang Niz am Ali Mahomed S harif and Mir Moghul Nasir J ang was at Aurangabad In 1 7 4 1 he had rebelled and h i angered father did not wish him to succeed to the crown of the Deccan The Niz am s favourite was M f fi Jang a daughter s son and before his death the old statesman had btained from the emperor a decree appointing M ff i Jang as his successor But when Nizam l Mulk was dead Nasir Jang defied the i m perial mandate S eizing his father s treasures he won over the army and the leading nobles and proclaimed himself or viceroy of the Deccan M f f i Jang went bh d to S atara to invite King S h a b u s assistance There h met Chanda S ahib who ever S ince the fall of Trichinopoli had been held by the Marathas to a ransom far beyond his means The prisoner and the exile made common cause and agreed to offer King S hahu great concessions in t h south if he would ma k e Chanda S ahib Nawab of the Carnatic and M ffi Jang viceroy of the Deccan Before however they made definite p Op l to the S atara government Chanda S ahib as k ed for time to consult Dupleix The latter on re ceiving the captive s letter wrote back that i f the two princes would but trust to him rather than S hahu he would support them and pay Chanda S ahib s ransom The two princes readily consented for neither desired save in the last extremity the help of R g h ji B h Dupleix at once paid to King S hahu l Chanda S ahib s ransom of seven lakhs of rupees ; and while Chanda S ahib was returning to his home Dupleix made every preparation to keep his part of the three ided compac t I J l y 1 7 4 9 Chanda S ahib and M f f i Jang with some thirty six thousand men and a small F rench contingent under M d A t e i l met the army f Anvar d din at the D m l c h y pass where R gh ji Bh l had a
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A H I S T OR Y OF TH E
M A R AT H A P E O PL E
Dupleix dreamed f conquering not only the Carnatic but the whole Deccan His first objective was the conquest of Jinji This fortress had w ithstood several assaults led by the great king in person F or eight years it had d efied A S ince its capture by Zulfi k ar K h an its forti g ib fi ti had been greatly stre gthened by S d t U l l Khan Nawab f the Carnatic With two hundred and fifty F renchmen two hundred sepoys and four cannon de Bussy set out to ta k e the strongest fortress in southern India Mahomed Ali covered its approaches with twelve thousand men De Bussy at once attacked the covering army and drove it headlong into Jinji where i t deemed itself safe But against such a commander not even the walls and cannon of an impregnable fortress could ffer sure protection The defences consisted of three great citadels T h at night three F renc h detachments one of which was led by de Bussy moved out to take the three citadels imultaneously O e by one the redoubts fell into their hands E ach success animated them to fres h efforts and as day broke on the eastern sky de Bussy was master of t h last defences of the fortress In twenty four hours he had beaten an army that outnumbered his own by twenty to one driven it into a stronghold deemed impregnable and at a single assault taken by storm both stronghold and army As the sun rose the great captain l k e d with awe at the stupendous towers that frowned below him and sked himself by what miracle he h d achieved the i m possible As he wondered there rose above his head to f lutter triumphant in the breeze the lily dec k ed banner of the most brilliant o f nations Nasir Jang now advanced in person against Jinji H i army numbered twenty five thousand men the picked troops f the Deccan Dupleix sent against him t h ree t h ousand eight hundred only But the F rench were invincible Nasir Jang was defeated d killed and at Pondich erry f f i Jang proclaimed himself ruler of the Deccan and M Dupleix Nawab f the Carnatic Dupleix in turn resigned O
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FR E N CH
N AT I O N
293
to h i ally Chanda S ahib the Nawabship Not long after his elevation to his grandfather s throne M f f i J a g was killed in suppressing a mutiny Th F rench now t h kingdom set up in the dead man s place m asters of t h his uncle S alabat Jang O J une 2 ot h 1 7 5 1 S alabat J ang escorted by de Bussy and a F rench contingent entered Aurangabad in triump h and proclaimed h imself Nizam l Mulk and autocrat of the Deccan s
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1 7 49
To
1750
WH I L E the F rench were thus laying the foundations upon which the E nglish were afterwards to build up their eastern empire various causes had prevented any action by S h h government The k ing s last years were mbittered by the ceaseless quarrels of his surviving wives b i In the early years f his S k w b i and S g reign the king had kept a considerable establishment As I have already mentioned he married in the emperor s camp two wives Am b i k b i and S i t b i and took a mistress called V i b i O his arrival in the Deccan he married two more w ives S k w b i and S g b i He also too k into his z anana two dancing girls L k h m i b i and S a k hu He had by S g b i a legitimate son S m b h ji who died in infancy and a daughter G j b i who married into t h Bande family By his mistress L k h m i b i he had two sons Y ji to whom he ji and K gave the sub h a of S hirala in the S atara district By V i b i he had a daughter R j b i whom the kin g gave in marriage to one S h k ji M h d i k The S ha h u had always treated V i b i rather as a queen than a concubine and she ruled with a rod of i ron over the inma t es of the royal zanana But V i b i died in 1 7 4 0 By this time both S ha b u s earlier wives were dead d mutual hatred divided the two surviving queens S k w b i and S g b i The fault was undoubtedly the former s By nature But she revolted S g b i was mild and forgiving ,
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A H I S T O R Y OF T H E
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question of S h h succession came t o distract the poor king s few remaining days Balaji had on his appointment Peshwa pledged himself to suppor t the claim of S m b h ji This policy which would h ave united under f Kolhapur one crown the two Bh l kingdoms would certainly h ave been best for t h Marat h a people But in spite of their apparent reconciliation S h ahu hated S m b h ji and never forgave him his alliance with the Nizam or U d ji Ch w attem p t to assassinate him S m b h ji too had no children It w t h erefore better to settle in S h h lifetime the question once for all t h an to pass it on still open to his successor S g b i first c ousin was married to R g h ji and she had pressed on S hahu the adoption by Bh l l R g h ji B h l son S long h erself of M d h ji Bh as S g b i was alive S k w b i stoutly opposed the suggestion ; for if acted on i t would have made S g b i a more important person than herself At the same time she actively fomented an intrigue to remove Balaji from the post of first minister With a creature of her own in office she could adopt any one h pleased d in his name gover so long as life lasted t h Maratha empire R gh ji l gave her his support ; so too did the D b h d s and Bh the G i k w d Into S h h she poured a ceaseless torrent of calu m ny against t h Peshwa S h magnified the looseness of his private life which was t blameless talked of h i arrogance and ever growing ambition Sh Wit h such a minister she cried wh at power is left to the k in g ? Th royal troops win victories in every quarter of Hindustan and the Carnatic The plunder fills t h coffers of the Peshwa ; the barren glory is the sole profit of his master The king s pover t y and indebtedness were They had been caused by her own h e favourite theme folly and extravagance At the same time it was true tha t Balaji had by his careful control f the state finances and his own domains not only paid off h i f t h debts but amassed a large fortune Let the king turn Balaji out of his office whispered the insidious queen and confiscate ’
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his property and t h royal treasuries will be filled to overflowing The prospect of getting rid f his d ebts overcame S h h scruples and he sent G i d C h itnis to inform Balaji th at he was no longer Pes h wa The Deccan party hoped that Balaji would rebel and t h at t h en they w ould be able to unite and overwhelm h i m But Balaji was far too astute to play into their h ands He resigned h i office w ith out a murmur confident t h at he was indispensable Directly h i resignation became known to t h confederates their mutual friendship vanish e d N one was either willing to take on h i own shoulders the vast burden of the kingdom or to let any one else do so After some months of futile discor d during w h ich all state business stagnated Balaji managed to secure an interview w ith the k ing In t h course of it he dila t ed on the dangers of the situation and at t h same time ffered to pay out of h i own pocket t h royal debts T h is last offer removed all doubts from S h h mind O the 1 1 th April went to B l ji camp and restored to h i m the 1 7 47 h robes and dignities of first minister U pon S g death S k w b i declared h erself b i ready to adopt M d h ji Bh l and his adoption in the end was approved by all t h conflicting parties E ven the Peshwa saw that it was impossible to win S h ahu to the succession of S m b h ji At G i d Chitnis urgent req est the king formally greed to adopt R g h ji B h l son At t h is point a wholly unexpecte d event brought t h transient armistice to an end Directly G i d C h it is had left the royal presence a messenger from Q ueen Tarabai asked for and obtained an interview After t h ordinary ceremonial courtesies h d been exchanged King S ha h u asked the messenger why he came To t h king s surprise the messenger replied t h at h had been sent to ask t h following question Why sh ould you d p t an outsider when you h ave a descendant of S h i ji ready to succeed you ? The astonished king asked t h man s meaning I have no son he said S m b h ji h no son T b i e
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son S h i ji had a baby boy and he died The messenger then delivered to the king s wondering ears t h following verbatim message entrusted to him by the old queen Wh en my son S h i ji died had said Tarabai his i b i was pregnant wi dow Bh Three months after her h sband s death she gave bir t h to a son in Panhala To save the boy from the j ealous hatred of R j b i I induced Bh i b i to entrust her boy to a trustworthy Rajput couple The wife had just lost her baby but h still had milk in her breas t and she declared herself willing to nurse the royal child in place of her w The same nigh t I gave the little prince so large a dose of piu m that h passed into a death like sleep At midnight i b i began to scream at the top of our voices I and Bh When the guard came to ask what the matter was we told them that the little boy was dead Afterwards I got leave from S m b h ji to bury the prince s body As I went I handed it o er to t h Rajput s wife I took a piec e of cloth and wrapped it round a loaf and two dead fowls so as to make the bundle look like my grandson s corpse I then buried the bundle in a hole in the ground on lopes of Panhala hill In this way I deceived the th guards and made them think that I had buried S h i ji son In the meantime the Rajput and his wife took the baby to B d village where with my per m ission they told the story to Bh g w t R m h d j F or five years he provided them with money A rumour that the prince was still alive reached t h ears of R j b i who began a vigorous search for her husband s nephe w To escape detection the Rajput and h i wife took the child into the Konkan wh ere they stayed for two years unmolested Then the prince s f t m t h died The Rajput there upon took the boy to Pangaon and obtained the protection of D y b i Nimbalkar S h hid him in the h ouse of a va
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failed through Ya m aji S h i d jealousy of G i d Chitnis whose aid S k w b i was also courting He hired an assassin called T l ji and at the last moment told him to kill G i d Chitnis and not Balaji But G i d who had been warned of Yamaji S h i d design was armed and ran T l ji through t h body with his swor d before he could stri k e with his dagger the night of the 1 5 t h December King S h ah die d O E ver ince Augus t of that year he h d been confined to his room and at times his wits wandered Nevertheless on the wh ole he retained his faculties and often expressed himself concerned about R m j succession He knew t h at many of the Deccan nobles especially J gji th P t i i d h i were raising troops for the co m ing struggle and were willing to support either S m b h ji or S k w b i as occasion offered Unknown to S k w b i h rged th Peshwa secretly to assemble a large force near and round S atara as to secure the crown for the young prince O t h morning of the 1 5 th Decemb er he com plained of severe pains and with the sure instinct of a dying man knew th at his end h d come He sent for G i d C h itnis told him that after much thought and care he had arrived at the best decision in regard to his successor and bade him help the Peshwa He next called to his side Balaji and bade him look after t h welfare of the k ingdom preserve the Bh l dynasty and continu e the gifts of land that he had made even to the humblest of his followers He then handed the Pesh wa two letters written as it would seem at different times In these he conferred on him and his family the po st of hereditary f irst minister Having done so he gave Balaji his blessing His earthly affairs settled S hahu dismissed his ministers and with a mind composed waited calmly for death He sprinkled holy ashes over h i body and too k his rosary between his fingers He m urmured softly the names of Rama S hiva Har Har several times and met his end as v
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became the nep h ew of Raj aram and the grandson S h i v a ji
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Peshwa who h d assembled round or near S atara an army of thirty five thousand men had for some weeks past halted bet w een several plans He now acted with the promptitude of F rederick At dawn a body of cavalry galloped into S atara town seized J g ji P t i i d h i and Yamaji S h i d and sent them in irons to distant forts Peshwa s troops and a E very street swarmed with t h s t rong detachment made themselves masters of S atara fort That eveni g Balaji called a meeting of the Council with the exception of t h P t i i d h i and produced before them papers given h i m by the late ki g These documents th empowered him as h justly said to administer the Marat h a kingdom on behalf of R m j and his descendants In view of t h ese papers Balaji declared and the C ouncil agreed that R m j was the only possible successor to the late king Indeed Balaji had already sent a body of troops to escort the w monarch to his capital Having settled the succession the next question discussed was the treatme t of S k w b i All agreed that she was a turbulent unmanageable woman If h were allowe d her liberty h would certainly denounce R m j as an impostor and adopting a son to her dead husband would w ith the aid of S m b h ji of K olhapur embroil the Maratha nation in civil war O t h other hand the imprisonment f Sh h queen would deeply ffend Maratha sentiment and would give Damaji G i k d and other Maratha leaders an excellent excuse for rebellion O way out of the d i f fi culty presented itself It h ad long been the custom in high born Hindu families for widows to burn themselves on their husband s bodies S h i ji h d with difficulty restrained his mot h er Ji j b i from committi g t i with body Wit h S h i ji body P t l b i h d com S h h ji flames T h act too w one of m i t t d h erself to t h Th e
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A H I S T O RY O F T H E
302
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great religious sanctity It was believed to confer on t h husband immediate release from future rebirths Th e Council unanimously resolved that S k w b i as a child less widow should be pressed to become a t i and to burn h erself with the dead king To hide her intrigues h had publicly given t that she meant to immolate herself ; and the Council waiting on her brother won him over t th view tha t if h e now shran k from the ordeal she wou l d stain the honour of her house T h is course Tarabai also who detested S k w b i as an obstacle to her own ambitions eagerly supported S k w b i had been deeply depressed at the f ailur o f her schemes ; and when her brother urged her to co m mit t i and told her that her refusal would brand wit h h cowardice the whole clan o f the S h i k had not the firmness to refuse O the day that her husband s body was to be committed to the flames she decked hersel f as became a l t in her choicest robes and jewels and attended by music was conveyed on an elephant down the steep path that leads fro m S atara fort to S atara city At the spot where the path meets the road to Mahuli the meeting place of the Yenna and Krishna rivers a vast multitude in mourning dress awaited her When they recognised the widowed queen there went up to heaven a great cry of Har Har Mahade by way of greeting to her and f invocation to the god S hiva To prevent any chance f rescue there stood posted at various points along the road grim ranks of veterans whose valour had won battle in Guz rat and on t h e Nar b ada and whose torches had fired the s burbs and outskirts of t h imperial city But neither the memory of recent defeat nor the certain prospect of a cruel and lingering death could tame t h H untameable pride of this daughter of the S h i k eyes wandered as if indif f erent alike to the past and t h e
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304
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to leave the town and journey to the river may see the rites performed in memory of king S hahu and of his high spirited queen S urely for S k w b i death had no sting nor in the blazing pyre was there any victory Greatness cannot be claimed for S h ahu Nevertheless we cannot withhold our admiration when we consider the difference between the Maratha power as h found it d as he left it When h ascended the th rone his kingdom was a mere strip of land round S atara fort Wh en he left it it completely overshadowed the Moghul empire If he had no great talents h possessed sound common sense He h d a kindly nature and a placable temper He had the wisdom to employ great men and the greater wisdom to give t h em his entire support He was a keen huntsman and preferred t h pleasures of the c h ase to the toils f ffice But the indolence which marred his reputation as a ruler increased the love of his subjects for their kindly prince Many stories are still told of his lavish generosity ; and by h i court he used fte to be compared with Karna t h pen handed hero of the a
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Those stories which deal with his favourite dog K h d y will probably prove the most interesting to E nglish readers This animal once saved the king s life by flying at a charging tiger As a reward S hahu g ve it a sanad conferring on i t a seat in his d b the rank of a j agh irdar and maintained for it from his own pri ate purse a palanquin and a complete set of p alanquin bearers O day he made a humorous and judicious use of K h d y palanquin A Maratha noble named I d ji Kadam held a high post in the Moghul army § He got leave to return to his native village of S upa in the Poona district an
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hahu sent h i m word t h at although he was in foreign service h hould as a Maratha pay a form al visit at i m g the message determined court I d ji Kadam on to impress with his rank and importance the king and his courtiers He had his h orse shod with silver shoes He cov red his person wit h j ewels and with a splendid retinue went to visit S h a h u As he rode his drummers beat their drums and his bandsmen played their flutes and fifes alt h ough it was against oriental etiquette for a noble s band to play within t h hearing f the king S hahu met t h situation by putting on plain white cotton clothes unrelieved by a single ornament But he loaded his dog Kh d y w it h jewels and sent it in his palanquin to escort royal presence The Maratha chiefs h i visitor in to t h entered whole heartedly into the jest and too k f f their orna m ents also T h us when I d ji Kadam appeared he and K h d y were the only beings present who wore jewelry I d ji Kadam was wise enough to accept the rebuke and to admit to the k ing that a man must be judged not merely by his rich es but by his merits When K h d y die d t h king gave it the funeral to which a j g h i d was entitled He had its body cremated and its th i or charred bones committed to earth on the banks of t h sacred K rishna O ver the th i he erected a monumen t and on t h top put a red stone image of his dog In the opinion of the vulgar this tomb became a holy pot and for many years t h ose who wished to come by the desire of their hear t s used to ma k e vows at K h d y cenotaph Nor w it unable to protect itself from the usage which the nobles of Rome dealt out to the ancient monuments of t h e eternal city O nce a Brahman so the tale runs wished to build a house at Mahuli Vasti F or this purpose he stole a number f stones from K h d y monument But every time that t h building neared completion the walls tumbled down until the Brahman reduced to despair prayed to heaven for divine guidance As if in answer to his prayer K h an aya appeared to him S
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H I S T OR Y O F T H E
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in a dream and told him that if he wished to finish the house he must put back the stolen stones The Bra h man did as he was told and h d no further mishap The monument to K h d y still stands but the sculptured image on t h top is so weath er worn as to be unrecognisable A small sculpture at the side still preserves the likeness of the hound T h ere a marvellous beas t prances through the ages awe inspiring fear compelling tiger tearing S urely no dog save that of Odysseus o f Ithaca ever had a more enduring memorial day excited by the chase king S hahu rode ahead O of his companions and found himself close to a s m all farm where the owner was ploughing his land The k ing too k the plough from the farmer and ploug h ed the field himself Afterwards as a memorial of his visit he gave the farm as a freehol d to his host Another day he passed through S angam Mahuli and saw a naked anchorite performing penances by the banks of the Krishna He told the anchorite to as k for alms ; but all the saint would ask for was a piece of K m bl i or l d blan k et The king was so deligh ted at the anchorite s moderation that he bestowed on him a neighbouring village which happened also to bear the name Of K m b l i The morning of S h h death Balaji had as he informed his council sent messengers to escort R m j to S atara Durin g S ha b u s lifetime a quantity f gold mounted saddles and elephant trappings had been stored at Pangaon for the occasion The Peshwa now sent there L i m b ji Anant and I d ji K adam with a large body of cavalry O the way D y b i Nimbalkar met them with five thousand horse Sh asked them for a token and on seeing T b i ring led them to the house where the prince lived This imposing array did homage to Sh h heir and after the two leaders had distributed five thou and rupees among the G d h l i s of Tuljapur who had concealed the prince they started back with R m j to S atara O the 2 6 t h December the cavalcade reached W d t h on the banks of the Krishna .
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A H I S T O R Y OF T H E
3 08
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maintenance and establishment But if t h young k ing was given little h are in the administration of his kingdom was t stinted in the matter of wives No less than h three brides were bestowed on him The eldest was T k b i of the M h i t f Nevas the sec ond J k i b i of the M h i t s of Ving the third S g b i daughter of B h ji Mo h ite The Peshwa had taken every precaution that human foresight could conceive But his situation was so full of dangers that only consummate skill cou l d surmount them intrigues were a constant m nace to B l ji T b i safety Ol d age had not chilled her a m bition ; and she soon realised tha t the Peshwa meant merely to use h name and to retain in his own hands the full powers f the state Again w h at attitude would R g h ji Bh l ta k e ? Would he denounce R m j as an impostor ? Would he declare himself independent ? Would he join the Nizam in an at t ack on the Maratha kingdom The third question which confronted the harassed minister was how to deal with the P t i i d h i S trictly spea k ing J gji rank was as high as his own J g ji a brother S h i p t had been the nearest friend of the late king His father Parashuram Trimba k had been a hero of the War of Independence To condemn J gji to perpetual impri s onment would cause deep ffence to the Maratha noble and would unite them all against him F aced by a Deccan party of such formidable strength the Peshwa would be helpless L astly how long would R m j suffer his minister to m anage his kingdom with wives and flatterers at his ear urging him continually to free h imself ? While Balaji pondered o er these riddles R gh j Bh l arrived in S atara But years had softened h i s turbulent piri t and he soon let Balaji know that he would not if confirmed in his eastern possessions d isturb the peace of the real m Balaji willingly granted his demands and issued a sanad giving him full powers in Bengal Berar and Gond w ana He added to these p ovinces an e
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D E AT H
F A LL OF
O F S H A H U AN D T H E
TH E B H O SL E S
3 09
unexpected gift He took from t h imprisoned P t i i d h i the jaghir in Berar wh ich t h Nizam h d bestowed on and conferred it on R gh ji Bh l F or form s Sh i p t sake t h great noble still questioned R m j origin and demanded that Tarabai in h i presence s h ould eat wit h her grandson S h did so ; and satisfied with t h is evidence R gh ji declared his en t ire adherence to the new govern ment Pesh wa had h ar d ly weathered t h is stor m w h en to Th his dism y a still fiercer one burst In t h fort of S i h g d lay t h as h es of Rajaram O ver t h em stood the noble temple reared by t h devotion of Ramchandra B d k T t h at temple so Tarabai suddenly announce d h i sorrow ing wido w would repair to spend her remainin g days in worsh ippi ng at t h s h rine f h beloved lord The coronation and marriage ceremonies ccupied J anuary and F ebruary In March Tarabai set forth on her pilgrimage to S i h g d That great strongh old was in t h hands of the Pant S h i C h i m ji the son of Naro S hankar and grandson of S hankar Narayan G d k With courtesy and reverence he received the queen at S i h g d ; but she soon t h rew ff h mask of widowed devotion and successfully incited the Pant S h i to denounce t h Pes h wa and to lead h i troops to free from h i tu t ela g e the young king of t h Marat h as The Pes h wa s acu t e mind h d from t h first seen t h rough T b i designs and h politely invited her to a t tend in Poona t h weddings of h i son V i h o and of his cousin S d h i Tarabai h d no intention of leaving S i h g d ; but h accepted nevertheless t h invitation and at the last moment pleaded ill healt h In pite of h absence the Pesh wa cele b rated the marriages with g eat splendour S d h i h d already been married to an earlier wife Um b i S h h d died on t h Accordin g to Indian cus t om h took very 2 2 d Marc h shortly after her deat h a second wife O t h 2 6 t h April he married P daugh ter f Bh i k ji Nai k tib i th K l h tk of Pen O t h 2 d May V i h married e
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3 10
H I S TOR Y OF T H E
M A R AT H A P E O PL E
the daughter f S d h i Hari D i k h i t Pat w ard h an Both these young women lived to witness their h usb an d s deaths in t h awful disaster of Panipat wedding festivities over Balaji resolved to stamp Th out before it h d time to pread the sedition of t h Pant He demanded t h i nstant presence at Poona of S hi the queen and h accomplice and warned them in menacing tones of the consequences of refusal Terrified at the nexpected discovery of their plans the two confederates reluctantly complied In order to detach Tarabai from her fellow conspira t or the Peshwa bestowed on h regal honours When she reached S hivapur she was met by the Pes h wa s brother R g h t h and a little later by Balaji himself O meeting her the Pesh wa presented her with a nazar or tribute of five thousand rupees H then escorted her with royal state to t h mansion of B p ji Naik in Po ona which he had specially prepared for h reception The Pant S h i was treated with all the formalities due to his rank until his arrival in Poona There on the 2 5 t h June 1 7 5 0 he and his o C h i t k p t were arrested and imprisoned O leaving S atara to celebrate his son s marriage Balaji had entrusted R m j to the care of R g h ji Bh l Wi t h the utmost deference the Peshwa now wrote to the k ing begging him to come to Poona to dispose of the case against the Pant S h i As early as March 1 7 5 0 t h young k ing had begun to she w his jealousy of the minister s power Writ i ng to a friend on the 2 6 t h of th at month Balaji had complained that the k ing squabbled with h i m over trifles and that he did not know how long the situation would last Nevertheless R m j was not insensible to the flattery contained in t h appeal to the royal tri b unal L ak s h m i b a i ,
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is seve mon th s wrote B al aj 1 th at I h ave bee n h ere I n both pl ac es disputes a rise between in c an d t h e S w ami ( th e k i n g ) about sim p l e m at ters Th e S wami is we a k I do n ot k n o w h ow l on g we s h al l be ab l e to wor k togeth er S o f ar by gre a t good fortun e I h a ve k ept t h e roy al fa vour S a rd e sai ( un p ubl is h ed ) * “
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312
H I S T OR Y O F T H E
M A R A T H A P E O PL E
between the king d t h minister The plan was well con F earing some f esh plot of Tarabai Balaji did not i d dare leave Poona He was therefore forced to send the king to reduce t h rebel But with h i m he sent his own cousin S d h i The latter was in the flower of h i age His person was strikingly h andsome and he had won a hi gh reputa t ion for courage in the Carnatic At a later date his military mistakes caused the greatest calamity t h a t ever befell the Maratha people He now served the Pesh wa with s k ill and fidelity He drove Yamaji S h i d into S angola fort and attacked i t with such ardour t h at on Dasara day the 2 9 t h S eptember 1 7 5 0 Yamaji S h i d was forced to ask f terms S d h i would grant none All he would promise was t h at on Yamaji S h i d unconditional surrender he would btain P t i i d h i who had again been the release of J gji arrested on Ya m aji S h i d revolt The re b el had no alternative but to submit S d h i sent for B h and got t h ki g to confirm publi c ly B h previous ap p ointment as P t i i d h i He then advise d the king to strip the family of S angola and M g l d h and confer t h em on B anoji Mohite a Maratha fficer in w hom Balaji h d confidence ( O ctober T h new king was thus firmly established on h i throne He h d taugh t t h Pant S h i and the P t i i d h i lessons not likely to be lost on other Maratha fficers ; and he w formally appointed after the manner of his prede his council of state h 1 T first minister was Balaji to whom was ) ( accorded the title of Pant Pradhan ( 2 ) T h P t i i d h i was B h commander i chiefship was ta k en from ( 3 ) Th Y hw t Dabhade whom dru kenness and vice h d made incapable of performing his duties and given to his son T i m b k o Kas h i ( 4 ) The N y y d h i h was K h d was Dh d b h t Up d h y ( 5 ) Th P d i t e
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D E AT H
OF S H AH U AN D T H E
F ALL
3 13
OF TH E B H OS L E S
h y m Nar yan The Mantri was G h Th e Pant S h i was C h i m ji Narayan The Am t y was B h g w t son of Ramc h andra
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A The S m t was V i t h l d Besides these T l ji Angre was appointed S k h l or admiral of the fleet and G i d Chitnis and R m E were the k ing s private secretaries verything i Ji j indeed pointed to a long and prosperous reign and Balaji probable revival of t h kingly aw wit h apprehension t h power S uddenly and without wa rn ing t h ese fair hopes vanished utterly design had from t h first been to restore t h b i T conditions which prevaile d when she ruled in the name of her idiot son S h i ji It was with this object that h had demanded the ti of S k w b i so that no son adopted by the younger queen migh t stand between h and her unslaked ambitions S h had hoped that gratitude and i experience woul d al w ays keep R m j under her authority and that through him she would crush the first minister and become in fact if not in name the autocrat of the kingdom S h saw w ith bitter anger the failure of her plot against the Pesh wa and with utter disg st the rising prestige of the young king There was only one way in wh ich h could at tain to the power for wh ich she thirsted If h could seize R m j person rally in his name t h Maratha nobles the P t i i d h i and Pant S h i against th Peshwa she migh t still become once again t h mistress of Maharashtra S h laid her plans wit h unscrupulous skill Under the pretence of an intended visi t to t h sh ri ne of S hambhu Mahadev not far from S atara h obtained admittance to the fort As early as t h 1 5 t h and 2 0 t h S eptember she had sent letters to S h eikh Mira who was still commandant orderin g him to collect an abundance of supplies and munitions O h arrival h won to her cause by means of h own commanding presence and lar g e gif t s of money the k k h i and t h other chief
(9)
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314
H I S T OR Y OF T H E
M A R AT H A P E O PL E
fficers of t h fort O the 1 7 th November the unsuspect ing R m j came to S atara town flushed with his successes S and angola With him were G h i l d d t M g hi P d with a B p ji C h itnis and Trimbak S d large force of cavalry O the 2 3 d Nove m ber Tarabai asked her grandson to visit her in the fort When he had entered the palace and exchanged the usual formal courte sies she took h i m on one side and pressed him with vehemence to summon the P t i i d h i and with his help and that of the Deccan party to dismiss from his ffice Balaji and with him all his f riends and satellites R m j who realised how insecure his t h rone really was and how dangerous such an adventure would be demurred The old queen grew very angry and let her grandson go without further conversation F ortunately for the king he had with him a strong guard Their leader B p ji K h d so grouped them round the royal palanquin that Tarabai shewed her displeasure only by her angry looks Th next h th i day was the feast day of C h m p It is the custom for D h t h Brahmans nd Marath as to observe the Ch m p h t h i festival every year in honour of the god K h d b victory over the demon Malla already described by me in an e rlier chapter The festival begins on the bright half of t h Hindu month of M g h i h The images of K h d b and Malla are cleaned and worshipped while priests repeat m t or holy sayings F or six days a fas t is bserved O the seventh day the worsh ippers break their fast by a feas t known as the Ch m p h th i h parne An invitation to this feast is regarde d as an invitation from the god K h d b himself and is even har d er to refuse than an invitation to a Christ mas dinner in an E nglish family E arly in the morning Tarabai sent her servants wi t h a message to t h k ing begging h i m to spend the holiday with his g andmother The message was couch ed in most affectionate terms Nevertheless B p ji K h d remembering the furious looks of the e
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3 16
H I S T OR Y OF T H E
M A R AT H A P E O PL E
Henri IV would h ave done drawn his sword and defied the frontier guards to touc h the son of S aint Louis h would h ave passed safely through to his friends across the border Had R m j drawn his sword and commanded soldiers of Tarabai to open the gate t their peril t h and let h i m throu g h pro b ably not among them would have dared lay a finger on the grandson of Rajaram and lineal descendant of the great king But just as the th heart f t h B é arnais did not beat within the brea s t of Louis so the pirit of his great grandfather had no place in the bosom of R m j A childhood spent in squalid surroundings a youth passed in the idleness o f a vagr nt hut h d not trained the king for the present danger Instead of forc ng his way through T b i guards he turned his horse and rode back to the palace to ask an explanation of Tarabai B t instead of that malignant beldame he found the house full f soldiers He w disarmed arrested and thrown into a dungeon F rom h i prison he never again emerged alive S long as h lived Tarabai kept h grandson a captive After her death the Peshwa s power was o firmly sea t ed that non thought of changing what had become a practice couse crated by time F or sixty eight years R m j and h i descendants remained prisoners in S atara for t As ti m we t on the rigours of their captivity were softened A throne was built on the northern bastion and on it th heirs of S h i ji used to sit In their ears t h eir servant would whisper that their empire extended far beyond the distant line of h ills to t h waters of the Jumna and t h walls of Attock But in reality their dominion ceased t the parapet on which rested their indolent feet Thei deliverance was in the end effected by the coming of a foreign power It pened the prison gates th at Tarabai had closed and crea t ed a little principality for the fain é an t kin g s of Maharashtra Th Peshwa has been greatly blamed for having deposed the heir of S h i ji With wh at far sigh ted prudence h e ,
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D E AT H
F ALL
O F S H AH U A ND T H E
OF T H E B H O S L E S
317
profited by the turn of events will be told in a succeeding volume But t h blame surely rests on the B h l t h em selves I t was t h quarrels of Tarabai and S h ahu that led th to the rise of Balaji V i h It was t h sedition of It was S m b h ji t h at created the ascendancy of B ji bickerings f S g b i and S k w b i the monstrous th ambition and inveterate malice of Tarabai that led to the sovereignty of Balaji and the fall of the house of S h i ji To use the well known p h rase of Napoleon t h first minister did not t ke t h crown from another s brow He picked it out of t h gutter wh ere it had fallen But whosesoever th fault the consequences were certain With t h i m prisonment f R m j the epic of the Bh l ended The C h i t p epic had begun ,
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A H I S T OR Y OF T H E
3 18
M AR AT H A P E O PL E
A P PE NDI X A RU
L E S D R AW N B Y TH E
U P F O R TH E
P E S H WA
G U I DAN C E ’
AT S H AH U S R E Q U E S
N eith er R an i
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O F T H E R AN I S
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s h oul d q u arrel with th e oth er R aja ah ou l d gran t to e a ch R an i simi l a r c as h al l ow an ces an d l an ds jag hi rs i n t h e occup ation of th e R an is with out s an ad s s h ou l d be .
.
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sh oul d n ot req uisition supp l ies of m on ey from town s of districts al ien a ted to z ill e d ar s ( c av al ry sol diers ) or m ok as d ar s 5 Th e R an is sh oul d n ot seize l an ds i n oth er person s s ar an jam s or j ag h irs 6 Th e R ani s s h oul d n ot con fisc a te d e s h m u k h sh i p s ( vi l l age o f fices) or w at an s (h ered ita ry v ill age gran ts of l an d ) Wh oever gives on e R an i a presen t of l an d s h oul d m ak e a simil ar presen t 7 to th e oth er 8 Th e R an is s h oul d n ot tak e sides i n d l sp u te s ar isi n g i n th e c apital 9 Th e R an is s h oul d n ot h e a r suits brough t by creditors ag ai n st th eir debtors 10 Th e R an is sh ou l d n ot l evy ta xes or tol l s Both t h e R an is h ave accepte d th ese terms Thi s s h oul d con tin ue for ever 4
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A H I S TOR Y OF TH E
320
M A R AT H A P E O PL E
A PP E ND I X C L ett e
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ftern oon H i s H igh n ess feel s feveris h an d ex h austed H i s stom ach is al l covered with t h e jui ce of t h e m ar ki n g n u t ( an ap pl ic a tion to rel ieve p ain ) Th ough H i s H igh n es s h e al th is so poor t h e t wo R an is ar e d ail y q uarrel l in g Thi s so p ain s H i s H igh n ess th at h e excl aims I t woul d be f ar better if God woul d e n d my l i fe " H i s H igh n ess n egl ects h i s h e al th H e l isten s to n o on e Govi n d r ao a n d Y es h w an t r ao spo k e about it to H i s H igh n ess but h e did n ot an s w er F rom ti me to time h e s ays Wh at purpose does my l ife serve " L ast Wed n esd ay N agoji rao K esh avr ao w as at th e cour t R agh or am s m en put to de ath a certain debtor H i s H igh n ess h e a rd th e c as e an d th en h e observed I f my se r v an ts an d gu a rds h ad been i n vol ved an d h ad p u t App aji R agh un ath to de ath wh a t coul d I h a ve don e ? I t is usel ess to coun t on my support or my power Th e two R an is ar e n ow supreme I h a ve n o power to stop th em from doi n g a n yth i n g th ey w an t to Th ey h a ve a used a q uarrel bet w ee n t h e K as ais (b an gl e sel l ers ) an d t h e P a r al s ( a c aste ) Th e grocers h ave al l gon e on stri k e an d we han n o t dissu ade th em Wh en t h e grocers l e a ve th e town perh aps th e R an is w i l l give w ay I f we c an n ot g t an y grocery th e m aids must coo k us a din n er but we do n ot w an t to get mixed u p i n th e q u a rre l s of th e two s h rews We w an te d to see G ajr ab ai l ivi n g h appil y with h e r h usb an d But t h e el d e r R an i th re ate n s h er s on i n l aw F rom th is h e r beh aviour towards oth ers m ay be judged We h ave become powerl ess Th ese were Hi s H igh n ess words I n s h ort H i s Hi gh n ess is powerl ess ag ai n st hi s R an is For th e l ast th ree or four S uch is t h e st ate of th i n gs h ere ” a d ys th e mon ey l e n d e 1 s ar e visitin g t h e p al ace We ar e b an k r up t th ey sh out We w an t ou r mo n ey H i s H igh n ess fe ars th at if th ey sit d h a r n a h e w il l be at h i s wit s e n d Both t h e R an is k eep t al ki n g about t h e k i n g s debts an d th e mon ey l e n ders We must w ait an d see h ow t h e R ani s q uarrel s B ad t imes a r e comi n g wil l en d I n th e
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I NDEX An a] 1 , 1 1 3 A n ap u rn ab ai , Wife of Chi m n aj i 270 h an , 2 8 1 A n ave r d y An gar w ad i , 1 5 4 An jan go , 2 04 An jur , 2 5 1 .
A b ap Josh i of B aram ati 1 8 1 Ab aji S on d e v 6 1 Abdul R ah man 2 4 1 Abdul l a Kh an 3 9 Gove rn or of All ah a 1 6 1 ; at F a te h pu r S ik ri 1 7 2 ; b ad im prison ed 1 7 3 ; de ath 1 7 6 Abdur R azz ak 3 5 ; 3 9 Abb ai S in g 2 1 7 captures B ar od a 2 1 8 Abu H ussein 2 6 ; ab an don s H aid arab ad 2 8 ; impri son ed at D a ul atab a d 40 Ab u K h ai r Kh an govern or of R ajgad 8 0 Abyssi n i an fl eet 1 0 Ad ark i 1 5 0 Ady a r river 2 88 Ah m ad Prin ce succeeds M ah omed .
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,
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S h ah , 2 8 6 Ah m ad ab ad , 1 7 8 Ah m ad K h an , K in g of Kan d ah ar , tak es Del h i an d Pesh awa r , 2 8 5 , 2 8 6 Ah m adn agar , 1 0 , 1 1 8 Ajit S in g , 1 6 6 Ajit S i n g , son of J as w an t S in g , 8 A k al k ot , 1 2 5 A k an n a Pan t , 1 2 9 A kb a r 8 ; l etter to S am bh aj i , 1 2 ; at G oa, 1 5 ; de a th , 3 3 Akk a, 6 4 , 1 2 8 A kl uj, 4 9 , 5 4 Al ak n an d a , river , 4 9 Al a m Al i K h an , 1 7 0 ; defe ated at B al a p u r , 1 7 1 ; de ath , 1 7 2 Al i B ah ad u r , son of S h amsh er B ah a dur , 267 .
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M ard an Kh an 8 4 Al l a V ardi K h an son of Mirz a M ah omed 2 8 1 defe ats B h as k arp an t K olh at k ar
Al i
,
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,
.
282 ,
,
.
,
,
A m b aji P u ran d ar e ,
,
57 ;
24,
imprison ed
,
.
.
.
.
An n aji D attu , 3 ; de ath , 9 An taji , 1 8 1 An t aji R agh un ath , 2 5 1 An t aji Trim ai , 1 5 1
.
.
.
.
An u b ai , 1 8 1 h an , N a wab A n v a r u d -d i n arn atic , 2 8 7 An v ar u d d i n K h an , attac ’ d Au te u i l , 2 9 0 ; de a th , 2 9 1 An wa r h an , 1 7 0 .
K
-
C
of
th e
.
-
k ed
-
by
.
K
.
Ap p aji r ao Pi n gl e , son of Dah iru Pi n gl e , 263 Arcot, 2 7 5 , 2 8 9 Arn al a fort , 2 5 2 As ad K h an , 4 6 , 8 4 , 1 6 1 ; see s peace , 9 1 .
.
,
k f al l s to N iz am
As i r gad , 2 5 2 , 170 Atol e , 7 9
.
-
ul
-
Mul k
,
.
.
Attoc k 6 3 Aun d h 8 1 Aura n gabad .
,
.
,
,
S al ab at Jan g
at ,
293
.
A u r an gz i b , 1 ; go e s to Decc an , 7 ; son s , 1 8 ; ’ u h 1 an a l d a g ter , 9 ; S i d r Adi S h ah s l etter , 3 2 ; m a rch es on Gol con d a , 3 5 ; at T a l apur , 5 6 , 6 7 ; c aptures S hi v aji an d Y e s u b ai ; R aygad an d Pan h al a , 6 9 ; advised to ce as e w ar , 9 1 ; a t Brah m a puri , 9 6 ; capt u res V as an tgad , 9 8 ; at S at ar a , 9 9 ; Sat ara surren ders to , 1 0 1 ; at Wa rd h an ad , 1 0 8 ; at S i n h ad 1 09 ; g g bre a s n egoti atio n s with M ar ath as , 1 1 2 ; l e a ves t h e Deccan , 1 1 3 ; at Ah m adn ag ar , 1 1 8 ; death , 1 1 9
k
s
.
.
A l vor C oun t 1 4 A m b aji P an dit at B i j apur 15 2
,
K
App a
k
.
,
Avaji , s on of B al aji A vaj i , 2 A vaji Kav ade , 2 7 1
.
.
.
Amb argao n
252 Am b a vad i , 1 4 4 A m b i k ab a , 7 8 ; d aug h ter of S h i vaj i , 4 4 ; death , 1 0 5 Amir h an , 2 23 Am ri tr ao ad am B an de , 1 2 4
i
K
.
,
.
.
K
.
Az am S h ah 1 7 3 7 9 9 ; in vades putan a 8 ; Govern or of U j j ai n Govern or of Ce n tral I n di a dea th 1 2 2 Azim Tar a S atara r e n amed 1 0 2 A z i m u sh an 2 1 2 ; de ath 1 5 9 ,
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,
-
,
,
,
,
.
R aj 108 ;
120;
I ND EX
322
Beh ar i n vaded 2 8 2 Bel apur 2 5 1 Bel gaum 1 8 Ben d ai E n gl is h comm an der 3 3 Ben gal 2 8 1 Bera r R aj aram at 9 7 B e r l e w c aptai n 2 0 5 B h ag wan t r ao R amc h an dra 1 9 6 .
,
B ab aj i Bh osl e 7 7 B abuji Josh i 2 7 2 B agab ai d augh ter of Ch i m n aj i App a 2 7 0 B agl an 9 7 B agl an forest 1 6 3 B ah adurpur 7 B ah adur S h ah em peror 1 2 2 B ah adur S h ah Ki n g of G u zar at 2 4 4 B ahi rji I n gl e 2 B ahi ro Pin gl e defe ated by K an h o] 1 An gre 1 5 5 Bajiran 1 8 1 1 9 1 ; fi rst mi n ister 1 8 3 ; defe ats N iz am u l Mul k 1 8 9 2 3 2 ; defeats Tri m b ak r ao D abh ade 1 9 3 ; Tre aty with N iz am 2 1 2 ; defeats M ah omed B an gas h 2 1 6 ; a ttac k s Muz 2 2 0 ; pl u n de r s Del h i affi r K h an 2 2 3 ; l etter to Ch i m n aji App a 2 2 6 ; N ad ir S h ah s l etter to 2 3 6 ; reta k es R aygad 2 4 2 ; defe a ts S am b h aj i An gre 2 4 9 ; at Poon a 2 5 2 2 6 4 ; de ath of 2 6 6 ; son s 2 6 6 ; mon umen t of 2 6 8 B al aji son of Baji r ao 2 5 9 ; appoin ted Pesh wa 2 7 3 ; defeats R ag h u ji Bh osl e 2 8 3 ; removed from office an d rei n stated 2 9 7 ; p l ot ag ain st h i s l ife 2 9 9 ; seizes S a tara 3 0 1 Pan t Prad h an 3 12 B al aji Avaji 2 6 1 B al aji A vaji Ch itn is 9 B al aji M ah adev 1 4 7 B al aji N ai k 1 8 1 B al aji V i sh van ath attack ed by C h an dra s e n Jad h av 1 4 9 ; rai ses a rmy 1 5 0 ; imprison ed by D am aji Th ora t 1 5 2 defe ats K ri sh n ar ao of K h atao 1 5 3 ; meets K an h oji An gre at Lon avl a 1 5 5 ; defe a ts D am aji Th or at 1 5 7 ; return s to S atara 1 6 9 ; de ath 1 7 9 ; famil y 1 8 1 B al aji V i sh van a th Bh at 1 4 5 ; escapes from t h e S idis 1 4 6 B al apur 1 7 1 B an dra 2 5 1 ; attack ed by M arath as 2 5 3 B an g al ore f ll of 4 5 ; R a j aram at 7 3 ,
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a
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k
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,
B an k aj i Nai , 2 4 2 B ap u ji K h an d e r ao, 3 1 4 B ardes , 1 9 B a rd w an , 2 8 2
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,
,
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,
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,
,
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,
29 8
,
,
B h ag wan t r ao t h e Am at ya , 3 1 3 B h al e r ai , spe ar rul e , 7 7 B h as k ar p an t K ol h at k ar , i n vades
.
.
.
de ath 2 8 4 B h at Pesh was origi n of 1 4 7 B h au sin gr ao To k e 1 9 3 Bh av an i 6 3 B h avan r ao broth er of Jagj l van 282 ;
Beh ar
,
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,
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,
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,
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,
,
311;
,
P r ati n i d hi , 3 1 2 B h av Ph on d , 1 4 1 B h awan i b ai , wife of S h i vap , 1 0 6 , 2 9 8 B h id , 1 0 3 B h ima river , 5 6 , 9 6 uj ar , 1 5 4 B h i vaji B h ojr aj, 1 8 5 B h op al , 2 3 1 B h os l e , h ouse of , 2 Bh r i gu , or B ri gu , 2 4 Bh r i g u l an c h an , l ege n d , 2 5 Bh uj b al , 1 8 1 ; wife of B abu l i osh i , 2 7 2 Bijapur , 1 Bij apur , 4 7 ; surren ders , 3 0 ; rec aptured by Mogh ul s , 4 8 B i r wad i , river , 4 3 Bomb ay , ceded to Portuguese , 2 4 5 Bom Gesu , 1 6 Boon e , Mr h arl es , 2 0 5 Boscawen , Admi r al , 2 8 9 Botel h o , Luis , 2 5 0 B ou r ch i er , Mr 2 02 Brah m apuri , 9 6 ; ren amed I sl am p u r i , 9 8 B r ah m e n d r as w am i , 2 3 7 ; q u arrel s with S at S idi , 2 3 8 ; retires to Dh avad sh i , 240 Bro ach , M ara th a ca v al ry at , 2 4 Bun del h an d , occupied by M ah om e d h an B an g as h , 2 1 5 Burh an pur , 1 2 4 , 1 8 9 ; fal l s to N iz am u l Mu l , 1 8 0 .
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G
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J
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C
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k
K
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k
-
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,
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C
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B arn et E n gl ish n aval comm an der 2 8 7 B arod a cap tured by Ab h ai S i n g 2 1 8 B arra S ah ib i n v ades M adura 2 7 5 B assei n 2 4 6 ; M arath as capture 2 5 8 ,
,
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,
B ed n u r , 7 3
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,
,
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Cam b ay pl ai n s of ,
Can je ve r am
Carn a tic
,
46
45 ; , Cave ri p ak , 83
,
179
.
.
Dupl eix .
C en tral Provi n ces
,
79
.
,
N a wab
of
,
29 2
.
I N DE
324
k
E n gli s h , i n S u r at , 9 ; a ttac K an h op An gre , 2 0 5 ; attac K h an d e ri , 2 0 6 ; ol ab a , 2 1 0 ; ai d S idis , 2 4 3 ; a ttac s u pport M a n aji , 2 6 0 ; obtai n pe ace with M a rath as , 2 6 1 ; att ac P on dich erry ,
k
kK
k
2 89 E n gl is h .
pirates
E w a z K h an
.
2 08 188 ,
.
X
Goa ,
siege raised
13 ;
besi ege 2 5 9 God avari v all ey
M arath as
.
,
Gooti , 7 6
17 ;
,
97
,
.
.
Gon dwan a
123
,
J
G op ik ab ai , W ife of Dh an aj i ad h a v , 1 4 8 Gap i k ab ai , W ife of B al aji , 2 7 2 ordon , Cap tai n , mission to S h ah u , 2 6 0 Govin d B al l al K h er , 2 2 5 Govi n d p an t B an del a , 2 2 5 Govi n d r ao B ap aji Ch itn is , 3 1 4 Govi n d rao Chi tni s , 1 49 , 3 13 ; pesh w a , 297; i l l s TU Iaj l , 3 00 Gran th am , Si r Th om as , 2 0 3 Gul b arga, 3 4 Gu z ar at , 1 2 3 , 1 7 3 .
G
.
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.
.
F a rak h si r , 1 6 1 ; de ath , 1 6 7 an g . 5 5 a te h ateh p ur S i ri , 1 3 , 1 7 2 adopted F ate h s i n g B h osl e , 1 8 2 , 2 4 1 ; by S h ah u , 1 2 5 ; defea ted by N iz am u l Mul 187 , ateh Ul l a K h a n , 1 0 9 iroz an g, 2 6 ; n igh t a ttac on ol con d a , 3 7 ; adv an ces ag ai n st S an taji Gh or p ad e 92 l etch er , aptai n , 2 0 3 roes , An ton io Card i m , 2 5 3
F F
F F F F
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J
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k
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k
-
k
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J
k
G
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C
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H aib atr ao N imb al k a r , 1 2 5 1 4 8 ; govern or
of Goda var i
defeats
9 7;
,
Ch an d ras en , [ 1 88 h e ad q u arters ,
150; H ai d ar a b ad , 2 8 ; N iz am ’ s H aid a r ul i h an , 1 7 3 H aji Ah m ad , son of Mirz a M ah omed , 2 8 1 H aji a zil , 3 3 H al d an e , Capt ai n , 2 4 3 H am bi rr ao Mo h ite , 2 0 , 4 3 , 6 3 ; a t P atd i , 2 2 ; de a th , 4 8 H am id K h an , 1 7 6 ; defe ated , 1 7 8 H am i d -u d d i n h an , 1 7 H an m an te , 1 2 8 H an m an te s , ge n e al ogic al tree , 9 0 H a rih a r , 1 4 6 H ari M ah ad ev , 1 4 7 H arji M ah ad i k , 4 4 , 7 2 H ar ji R aje M ah ad i k , 6 1 H as an pur , 7 H im at K h an , 8 6 H i n gan gaon , 1 5 2 arz an d , 2 ; de ath , 9 H i r oji H oogh l y , 2 8 2 H orn e , oh n , govern or of Bomb ay , 2 5 2
.
K
K
F
.
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Gad ad h ar
P r al h ad
128 Ga ik vad , o r igi n , 1 7 7 G ajen dra , l egen d , 2 15 G ajen draga d , 4 5 G ajr ab ai , d a ugh te r of Sh ah u , 2 9 4 Gan gad h ar R an gn ath , 5 8 Gan gad h arn aik On k ar , 2 7 0 G an ges , l egen d of t h e , 1 6 4 Gan oji S h i r k e , 8 8 ’ G an p ati , Baji r ao s f am il y god , 2 6 9 Geor ge I , Kin g , 2 0 8 G h al m ota , 6 7 Gh an as h yam N arayan , M a n tri , 3 1 3 Gh an as h yam N ar ay an S h e n vi , 1 4 7 Gh arapuri , 2 5 1 Gh atge of R agal , 7 1 Gh aus K h an , 1 7 0 G h azi-u d -d i n , 2 3 1 , Gh az i u d di n , s on of N iz am u l Mu l k , 2 9 0 Gh or b an d a r, fort , 2 5 1 Gi fford , Mr Gi rgoji Jad h av , 1 5 1 G iri d h ar , R aja , 1 8 5 , 2 1 2 ; de a th , 2 1 4 Gol con d a , 1 , 3 4 , 3 5 , 4 6 ; e n te red by Mogh ul s , 3 9 ; rec aptured by Mogh ul s 48 .
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-
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K
-
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F
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J
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H ubl i , 2 0 3 H um ayun , 1 2 2 , 2 4 5 Hu nh u , 2 15 H ussein Al i K h an , 1 0 , 9 8 ; govern or of Beh ar , 1 6 1 ; defe a ts D aud K h an , 1 6 2 ; de ath , 1 7 2 Huuhu , 2 15 .
.
.
.
.
I
.
.
Kh an
I b rah i m
Jeh an
,
28
.
35;
deserts
to
K h an
I NDE
Kh an 5 0 I c h b i d C ap t ai n 2 6 0 I d ad y m a l ege n d 2 1 5 I d oji K a d am 3 0 4 ; a t Pan gao n 3 0 6 I n d yan i river 5 6 83 I sm ai l K h a I ti k ad K h an 1 6 6 1 7 1 ; a t R ayga d 6 7 I k l as
,
n
r
n
r
n
r
u
n
,
,
r
n
,
,
K
.
k
of
.
Ja
,
K
of 3
fin an ce
p an t H an m an t e , 4 3 ; R ag h n a h H an m an t e , 2 ;
u t
broth er captured
K
J an jira 9 2 4 0 ; S am b h aj i a t 1 0 ; D a d ap R agh u ath a t 1 1 J a k i b ai R am aja s wife 3 0 8 i s ar K h a Ja dese rts to H ussei n Al i K h an 1 6 5 J a oji V i sh van at h B h a t death 1 4 6 J as wan t S in g R aja 7 J aw aji D abh a de dea th 1 9 3 J e h a d ar S h ah defe ated by F ar k h si r ,
,
,
n
n
,
,
’
r
,
nn
n
.
,
,
.
,
n
,
,
,
,
n
.
,
.
,
u
,
161
J ejuri J etpur
,
,
6 8 , 2 0 5 ; Sh ah u 2 16
15 6
at ,
wife
Ji jab ai , 6 0 ; S am b h a] 1 s s on e r , 1 9 6 i n ji , c apit al of th e
,
19 5 ;
pri
,
,
,
,
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,
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,
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,
,
.
J oh n son S i R obert 2 0 8 Jyotaji K esark a 1 2 3 r
,
r,
,
’
,
,
,
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,
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,
,
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u
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,
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,
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,
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,
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,
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a
,
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,
,
r
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,
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n
,
,
.
Kh an des h 1 7 7 9 ; S am b h ap attac k s 6 ; R aja ram at 9 7 ; fal l s to N iz am l Mu l k 1 7 0 K h a n d ob a l ege d of 1 5 7 K h a do B al l al C h it is 6 0 8 7 ; l e aves Vis h al gad 7 2 p l an s escape from B an gal ore 7 3 K h an d oji Guj a r 7 1 K h an d ya S h ah u s dog 3 0 4 K h an J am an 5 5 K h a J eb an 6 ; sen t agai n st Abu H ussei n 2 7 Kh a waspur 1 0 8 Kh ed 1 2 6 K h em S av a t 1 4 1 K h os al 1 6 0 ,
-
u
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n
,
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,
n
n
,
,
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,
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,
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’
,
,
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,
n
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K i n h ai , 8 1
.
,
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,
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.
n
,
Kaim Kh an 2 1 6 Kal ash a 4 2 ; S am b h ap s ch ief executive officer 2 0 c aptured 5 1 ; bro gh t to Akl uj 5 4 ; de ath 5 7
266
.
,
,
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,
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,
n
,
,
,
,
.
eet
m
wi fe 2 6 5 ; de ath de ath 8 6
,
M a ra th as 7 4 ; besieged by Zul fi k ar Kh an 7 9 ; a rmistice 8 5 ; surre n ders 8 9 ; f a l l s to t h e F re n c h 2 9 2 Ji vaji Gan esh K h as gi val a 3 1 1 Ji vaj i R aje B h osl e 1 0 5 J iwai 1 8 5 J od h p u r in v aded by D am an Gai k vad ,
B aj i r ao s
,
J
220
n
206
.
,
’
,
’
,
S am b h ap
.
,
.
.
an d
Kas im Kh an 8 5 ; K i g wi C apt ai n 2 0 2 K el ve 2 5 1 K e s h av Pa dit A d h ya k sh 5 8 K e s h av Pi n gl e 4 5 ; c apt u res S an tap 4 7 Kh an D auran 2 1 4 2 2 1 ; de ath 2 3 3 K h an d e r ao D a bh ade 6 0 9 7 1 1 0 1 4 8 1 7 0 ; l e a ves Vish al g ad 7 2 ; defe ts Zul fi kar Beg 1 6 3 ; fam il y 1 7 9 ; retires to Tal ega on 1 8 1 ; dea th 1 8 2 K h an d e a o K as h i N y aya d h i sh 3 1 2 K h a d e ri 1 5 4 2 0 3 ; E gl ish a ttac k n
.
,
,
as h i b a i ,
e
.
.
.
19 7
at ,
.
25 1
,
39 S h ah u
ar b e l a ,
K a rh ad
.
.
,
.
n a r d an
son s
204;
,
comman d an t of
B h ad wal k a r ,
K apsh i 4 5 K a r an j a 9 9
.
75
sh i p
.
K ap a d w an j, 1 7 6
.
,
2 48
,
E n gl is h
.
.
mi n ister
ttac k s
.
.
J
a
R aygad , 2 ; a rreste d , 3 K an t aji K ad am B an de , 1 7 6 , 1 8 6 , 1 9 0 , 192
.
k
.
K an h oji
.
J J J J J J
imp rison ed
111;
,
.
1 5 5;
S h et Al am c h an d , 2 8 2 J agji van , p r at i n i d h i , 2 9 5 ab an a r a , 7 0 ai S i n g , raj a of aipur , 1 6 7 aju , 1 2 2 al n a , 9 8 , 1 8 9 am d a t al Mul 2 , 8 an ar d h an , s on of B a i r ao , 2 6 6 j J an ar d h an H an m an t e , appoi n ted
,
.
i n Bh i n d w as n i , 8 5 ; de ath , 1 2 2 an a giri , 6 0 K an h oji An gre , 9 4 , 1 4 6 , 1 5 4 , 2 0 3 ; a dmir al , 1 4 2 ; defe ats B ah iro Pin gl e ,
J
J agat
2 86
-
,
.
,
.
,
,
.
,
n
-
,
,
,
a
.
,
.
,
.
,
32 5
K al p i 2 1 7 K l ya 1 5 4 K ama r u d d i n K h an K am B a k s h 3 4 8 2
,
,
X
.
K o k a r Kh a
83 K ok ar m an d a , 1 2 4 ol ab a , 1 5 4 ; E n gl is h n
,
.
.
K
a
ttac k repul sed
,
2 10
.
a
ttac k
209 ;
326
I NDEX
Ko l h ap ur
M ah omed Beg K h an 1 1 0 M ah omed K h an B an g ash 2 1 4 ; defe ated by B aji r ao 2 16 M ah omed Mur ad 1 6 6 M ah omed S h ah 1 6 9 ; crown ed at Del h i 16 8 ; de a th 2 8 6 M ah omed S h ari f son of N iz am u l Mul k
c apital of th e M arath as 1 4 1 K on d aji F a rz an d 1 0 Kon k an 49 K oth a R aja of 2 3 1 K ot h l a fort 2 4 9 K r i sh n ar ao of K h a ta o 1 4 2 ; defe a ted by B al aji 1 5 3 K r i s h n aji l ege n d 8 1 K ris h n aji B h as k a r Pan d i t at Vish al g ad ,
2;
,
,
,
.
,
,
.
95 rish n an
290
,
.
K
D ad a Desh p an de
l etter
,
from
47
.
.
2 08
,
.
.
,
S am b h aji , 6 6 ris h n a v al l ey , 4 8 uli ch h an , 3 6 K u saji , 2 9 4 K u t b S h ah i , 2 6 utub Min ar , 2 2 3 ,
K K
.
M a h omed S idi k M ain e C apt ain M al ad 2 5 1 M al egaon 1 4 8
,
,
-
,
.
,
.
-
.
,
,
,
,
,
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,
.
,
,
.
,
.
,
,
.
,
.
.
,
M al h ar r a o H ol k ar ,
d fea ts defe ated by
185,
2 13 ;
e
D ay a B ah adur 2 1 4 ; S ad a t K h a n 2 2 2 M al i k To k an 2 45 M al k apur 1 0 5 Mal oji Pa war 1 9 3 Mal S av an t 3 M al wa 1 8 5 M al wan 1 3 1 M an aji An gre 2 4 2 ; att ac k ed by bh aji 2 5 9
K
.
.
,
,
.
K
.
,
.
,
,
.
,
Bourdon n ais 2 8 8 L ak h aji J ad ay 6 0 L ak k am S av an t 1 4 1 L ak sh m i b ai 2 9 4 ; w ife of La
.
,
M an gal ve d h e , 3 1 1 M an k oji S u r yav an s hi , 1 5 4
V i sh vas r ao
3 10 L al oor , 1 6 0 L aw , S tep h t n , as sis t s Portuguese , 2 5 7 L i m b aji A n an t , 3 0 6 Lodi h an , 1 2 2 L oh gad , 1 5 4 L ok h an d e , h e adm an of Pa r ad , 1 2 5 Loy al a, I gn atius , 1 6 .
.
M an ora 2 5 2 M an river 1 0 8 M an si n g More 1 4 8 ; joi n s ,
.
.
,
,
.
K
.
,
,
K
S am
,
.
,
.
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S h ah u , 1 2 5
M an u c c i , 1 5 M ap h u z K h an ,
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defeated by Pa radis 2 8 8 M ara th as l e aders at R aygad 5 9 ; raise 8 3 ; a rmy a t God a ve r i s iege of J i n ji V al l ey 9 7 retak e S atara an d Paral i 1 1 4 ; a ttac k Portuguese 2 5 2 ; attac k B an dra 2 5 4 ; repu l se Portuguese 255 ; capture M ah i n a 2 5 6 ; att ac k capture B assein 2 5 8 ; besiege Goa 2 5 9 ; pe ace wi th E n gl ish 2 6 1 ; tre a ty with S a fd a r Al i 2 7 5 M argoa surre n de rs 1 6 Ma ro l 2 5 1 M artin F r an cois 2 7 6 M as aud K h an regen t of B i j apur 2 4 M a caren h as M ar i a w i fe of A k b ar 1 3 .
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M ad an n a Pan t , 2 9 ;
mi n ister of Gol con d a
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M ad an si n g , 1 2 2 M ad h av r ao, 8 1
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M adras surren ders to M adura 2 7 5 ,
Mah ab l e s h w a r 48
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288
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M ah arash tra 1 ; social customs i n 1 3 1 M ah i river 1 7 8 M ah im 2 45 2 5 2 ; M a rath as c apture ,
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M as t an i , 2 6 4 ,
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M ah omed A l i s on of An va r u d M ah omed Amir K h an 1 7 2 M ah omed A zim 3 6 -
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M as ul ip atam 4 6 M asur 1 8 2 M ath ura 2 0 M atth ews Commodore .
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Mid n apur Miraj 1 1 8 ,
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282 200 ; ,
208
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fal l of 7 2 ; rec aptured 7 9 ; S h ah u a tt ac k s 2 6 2 ; c ap t u e d by S h ah u 2 6 3 Mir H abib 2 8 2 ,
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M h al oji G h or p ad e , 4 5 ,
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M ah ad j i Gad ad h a r, foreign mi n ister , 7 6 M ah ad ji P an s am b al , 7 6 ’ M ah ad Ji B a ran d a re , p ays B al aj i s debts
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I NDE
to
N ag pur , 2 8 3 ; d e fe a ted 2 8 5 ; a t S at a ra , 3 0 8 B agh un G aik vad , 2 8 4
Pa w a r river 2 9 1 Pe acock C aptai n 2 0 5 Pem N ai k 1 1 2 Peu n a r river 4 6 P ereira C a et an o de S ouz a 2 5 7 P esh a w a r 1 2 1 ; t ak e n by Ah m a d ,
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Pet it M r 2 0 2 Ph al tan 6 9 P h on d S av a n t 1 4 1 Ph on d a fort 1 4 Pi l aji Gaik vad 1 7 6 1 9 0 2 1 3 dea th 2 1 9 Pil aji J ad a v 1 4 9 Pil aji S h i rk e 5 9 Pi n gl es gen e al ogic al tree of t h e .
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broth er of B al aj i
2 18 ;
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P i r aji , 1 49 P i r y a N ai k , 1 1 2 ; 1 15 Pitt, Mr , 2 0 2
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158
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3 10
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m ap ur 1 4 7 R ah m an B ak s h Wak i n k e r a re n amed
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1 16 R aich ur, 1 1 2 R ajapur , 2 03 R aj a r am , 1 ; rege n t , 6 2 ; wive s , 6 3 : at P r a tap gad , Pa ral i , 6 4 , l e a ves V i s h al at n ji i 2 at B an g al ore , 7 3 ; d 7 a ; , g i n g , 7 5 ; escapes from i n j i , 8 8 , 74; a t Vish al ga d , 8 9 ; at God a ve r i V al l e y , 1 03 ; son s an d S i n h g ad , at 97; d augh ters , 1 0 5 ’ R ajas b ai , R ajar am s wife , 6 4 , 7 8 , 1 5 1 , 1 9 6 ; imprison ed , 1 0 6 ’ R ajas b ai , S h ab u s d augh ter , 2 9 4 R ajg ad , 8 0 , 1 4 4 R a ot , 1 5 4 R ajm ac h i , fo nt , 1 5 4 , 2 4 9 R ajm ah al , 2 8 2 R ak h m ab ai , wife of Ch i m n ap App a .
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Pon dich erry its begi n n i n g 2 7 6 ; R a gh uji B h osl e at 2 7 7 ; E n gl ish attack
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B aji r ao, 2 6 6
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Poon a tak en by D h an aj i J a d av 1 2 2 ; B aji r ao at 2 6 4 ; P an t S ac h i v Ch i m n aji imprison ed at 3 1 0 Portuguese as si st t h e E n gl is h 2 0 9 ; 2 1 0 ; a ttac k B ah a dur a tt a c k K ol ab a S h ah 2 4 4 ; assist B ah adur S h ah 2 4 5 ; defe ted by B aji r ao 2 4 9 ; atta c k ed by M arath as 2 5 2 ; commen ce offen sive 2 5 4 ; a ttac k f ail s 2 5 5 ; S teph e n L aw a sists 2 5 7 ; l e a ve B assei n 2 5 8 P r al h a d N i r aji s on of N i r aji R av aji 6 0 ; p l an s c amp ai g n 6 2 ; l e aves Vish al g a d 7 3 ; de a th 9 1 ,
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P r a t apg ad , 6 4
P r at ap s i n g, R aj a of T a n jore , 2 7 3 P r ayag ji A n an t P h an s e , 9 9
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M ah adev 1 4 7 R amch an dra s on of B an rao 2 6 6 R amch an dra N il k an t h B av d e k ar 1 2 4 ; fin an ce m i n is t er 6 0 ; gen e al ogical tree viceroy of M ah aras h tra 7 6 ; 66 ; re appoi n ted fi n an ce mi n ister 9 6 ; presiden t of th e cou n ci l 1 0 4 R am ch an dr a R agh u n ath 2 5 1 R amd as 4 2 1 8 R am
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P u n a m al i , 4 6 , 4 7 P u r an d ar , 7 8 ; B al a] 1 V i sh van at h to , 1 4 9 P u r an d ar , fort , 1 5 6
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fl ees
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R am e sh w ar a m , 6 3 R am oji S h i r k e , 8 8 ’ R a m r aja , T ar ab ai s
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S h r i p at r ao,
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R af i u d D a ul a t , 1 6 8 R a fi u d B ay a t , 1 6 8 R agh u ji Bh osl e 2 7 1 ; terms to M Dum as , 2 7 7 ; l e a ves Pon dich erry , 2 8 0 ; fl ees ,
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299 ;
suc
S h ah u , 3 0 1 ; a t S a t ara , 3 0 7 ; wives of , 3 0 8 ; appoin ts cou n ci l of sta te , 3 1 2 ; a t S ata ra , 3 1 3 ; a tten ds fe a st of Ch am p as ash th i , 3 1 5 ; de ath , 3 16 R am r ao iv a] 1 , 3 1 3 R am se j, fort , 1 9 , 4 4 R an gn a , 1 3 1 R an o1i Moh ite , 3 1 2 famil y h istory , B an oji S in di a , 1 8 5 ; 1 86 R ao R amb h a N i m b al k ar , 1 7 0 c eed s
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R ach ol , 1 6 , R ach ol , fortress , 2 5 6 R ad h ab ai B arve , wife
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P u tal i b ai , 3 0 1
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R atapur , 3 3 R at n agiri , 4 9 R a v al , fort , 2 4 2 .
INDE R ayga d ,
M arath a l ead ers
49 ;
c aptured by Au ran gzi b retak es 2 4 2 R e a d i s h C ap t ai n 2 0 8
at,
59 ;
6 9 ; B aji r ao
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R e van d an d a, 2 4 8
R osh an
32 9
S am b h ap of Ko l h apur , 2 9 6 ’ S am b h aji , Sh ah u s s on , 2 9 4 S am b h aji , son of R ajar am , 7 8 , 1 0 5 , 1 9 4 ; i mpriso n ed , 1 0 6 ; crow n ed a t P an h al a Mul k , 1 8 8 ; sen t 1 5 1 ; ai ds N iz am u l — to Pan h al a, 1 8 9 ; defe a ted at W a rn a , 1 9 6 ; meets S h ah u at K ar h a d , 1 9 7 S am b h aji , s on of K an h oji An gre , 2 4 8 ; M an aji , 2 5 9 ; escapes to a tt a c k s S u var n ad u r g, 2 6 0 S an domil , C ou n t of , 2 4 7 , 2 5 6 S an g am , 1 9 2 S an g ames h w ar , 4 9 S an gol a , 3 1 1 ; c aptured by S ad as hi vr ao, 3 12 S an gp al , or i gi n al n ame of A n gres , 9 4 S an t aji B h osl e , 1 6 7 S an t aji Gh or p ad e , 4 5 , 4 7 , 7 6 ; a t R aygad , comm an der i n ch ief , appoi n ted 60; 6 8 ; l e a ves Vish al g ad , 7 2 ; rec ap t ures Wai an d Miraj , 7 9 ; at B ud h eri , 8 6 ; ’ death , 9 2 ; R ajaram s compli city i n de ath of , 1 0 4 S an t aji J ad a v , 6 7 S an to E st avao, 1 6 S ar af ra z K h an , son of Sh u jah u d d au l at , 282 S aran gpur , 2 1 4 S ar b ar ah K h an , 3 7 S ar bul an d Kh an , 1 6 6 , 1 7 6 1 8 9 , 2 0 0 ; govern or of K abul , 1 6 7 ; defe ats M ar ath as , 1 7 9 ; trea ty with S h ah u , 1 9 0 ; G overn or of Al l ah ab ad , 2 1 7 S ar d esai s , 4 9 S arf u d d i n Al i K h an , 1 6 3 .
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R ob id a , 9 4 R ohi l k h an d , 2 1 7 B oh u ll a h an , 8 6
K A k h t ar
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E mperor
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S h ah , 1 6 8 Ruhu l l a h an , 3 7 , 3 9 , 4 0 R u p aji Bh os l e , 7 7 R ustu m Al i h an , 1 7 6 , 1 7 8 R ustum R ao, 2 8
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S ab ai s , 2 5 4 S ad ash i vr ao,
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App a captur es S an gol a Chi m n aj l
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K h an ,
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S ad a t K h an , 3 5 , 2 2 2 S afd a r A l i , 2 7 4 ; de a th , 2 8 7 S afd a r J an g , 2 3 1 , 2 8 6 S aga r , fort , 1 1 2 , 2 1 7 S agar gad , 1 5 4 , 2 4 3 ’ S agu n ab ai , B am r aja s wife , 3 0 8 ’ S agu n ab ai , S h ab u s wife ,
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295
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S ah u , S h i vaji s n ic n ame , 7 1 S ah y ad ri s , 4 9 S ai n t D avid , fort , 2 8 9 S ai n t Th ome , 2 7 6 , 2 8 8 S a an si n g , 1 2 4 S ak h ar gad , 8 1 Sa h u, 2 9 4 ’ S ak w arb ai , S h a b u s wi fe , 2 9 4 ; a s ati , 3 0 1 an g , s on of N iz a m ul Mu l S al ab a t 2 9 0 ; n aw ab of th e Deccan , 2 9 3 S al h e r 1 7 ; 44 S al sette , 2 4 6 S am b h aji , 1 . 2 , 8 , 4 3 , 4 4 , 5 6 ; e n te rs R ayga d , 3 ; accession , 4; attac s ’ h an des h , 6 ; at an jira , 1 0 ; Ak b ar s l etters to , 1 2 ; at h au l , 1 4 ; t ak es S an to E s ta vao , 1 6 ; r aises siege of G oa , 1 7 ; i n Bij apur , 4 7 ; at S an g a m e s h w ar , 49 ; c aptured , bro u gh t to A l u j 5 4 ; de ath , 5 7 ; poems , 5 8 ; f amil y , 5 9 ; l etter to K ri sh n aji D ad a Desh p an de , 6 6 ’
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S arj a Kh an 4 8 S arp h oji , 1 8 7 S ar z a K h i n d , 9 9 S arze K h an , 9 7 S as v ad , 1 5 6 S at S idi , 2 3 7 , 2 3 8 ; att a c k s S agarg ad , 2 4 3 ; de ath , 2 4 4 S at a r a , 9 9 , 1 1 3 ; R aj a ram at , 9 5 ; sur ren ders , 1 0 1 ; n ame ch an ged to Azim T a ra , 1 0 2 ; besieged by S h ah u 1 2 6 ; S h ah u a n d K an h ofi An gre a t , 1 5 7 ; seized by B al aji , 3 0 1 ; R a m r aja crown ed at , 3 0 7 ; Ta rab ai at , 3 1 1 S aturd a y Pal ace , 2 6 8 S a v ai B ab u r ao , 1 9 4 S a v ai J aysi n g , R aj a of J aipur , 2 1 3 , 2 2 0 S a v an tvadi , S h ah A l a m a t , 1 8 S avar n ad u r g 9 4 S av i t r ab ai , wife of S h ah u , 1 2 5 S ay a d Abdu l l ah K h an , 1 6 6 .
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3 30
I ND E X
S ay ad , broth ers , defe at F a r u k h s i r , 1 6 7 S a yad , M ah omed Gisu , 3 4 S e k h op An gre , 2 4 0 ; c aptures E n gl ish s h ip , 2 42 ; de ath , 2 4 3 S h ah Al am , 1 7 , a t S a van tvadi , 1 8 ; at V i n gor l a , 1 9 ; retre ats to Ah m ad n agar , 2 0 ; se n t a gain st Abu H ussei n , 2 7 ; arreste d , 3 6 ; emperor , 1 2 2 ; de a th , .
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S h i vajaya, 2 7 5 S h i vaji , 1 S h i vaji , s on of S a m bh aJI , 5 9 ; Ki n g , 6 2 ; captured , 6 9 S hi vaji , son of R aj ar am , 1 0 5 ; crown ed , 1 0 6 ; imprison ed by R ajas b ai , 1 5 1 S hi vl i n ga, 3 0 3 Sh ol apur distr ict , 4 9 Sh ri k arac h a rya K al gavk ar , 7 6 S h r i p at r ao , son of Paras h ura m Trimb ak , 1 5 3 , 1 83 , 2 9 5 S h ri var d h an , 1 4 6 , 1 5 5 S h uj aa t K h an , 1 7 6 S h u jah -u d D a u l a t, 2 8 1 S idi M asu d , 2 4 1 S id i Misri , 1 1 S idi R ah yan , 2 4 2 S id i R as u l Y ak at Kh an , 2 4 0 S idis , M ara t h as atta c k , 1 0 ; drive n from S h ri v ar d h an , 1 5 5 S i d oji Guj a r, 6 8 , 9 4 Si k an d a r S h ah , 2 4 , 2 9 , 3 1 : l etter to .
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S h ah abuddi n K h an , 2 2 S h ah a ji , 4 5 ; fabl e , 5 6 S h ah H us sei n , 3 3 Sh ah K ul i , 2 9 Sh ah r B an u , wife of Az am S h ah , 2 4 S h ah S ul ai m an , Ki n g of Persi a , 3 3 S h ah u , k ill s S u ryaji Pis al , 7 0 , 1 6 4 , 1 8 4 ; re l e as e refused , 9 2 ; rel e as ed , 1 2 1 ; h i s return , 1 2 3 ; a ppe al s for support , 1 2 4 ; at Ah m adn agar , 1 2 5 ; crown ed at S a tara , 1 2 6 ; at Parl ai , 1 2 8 ; a t Ch an d an Wan d an , 1 3 1 ; captures Pan h al a an d Vish al gad , 1 3 1 ; m arr ies S agu n ab ai an d S ak warb ai , 1 4 1 ; at J ejuri , 1 5 6 ; cel ebrates vi c to ries , 1 5 7 ; gives ort L oh gad to B al aj i Vish w an ath , 1 6 9 ; treaty with S ar bul an d Kh an , 1 9 0 ; at U m b rej, ’ 1 9 1 ; regret at Tr i m b ak rac s de ath , ’ 1 9 3 ; rec o n cil i atio n with K h an d e r ao s famil y , 1 9 4 ; atte m pted as s as sin ation by Ud aji , 1 9 5 ; an d S am b h aji at K ar h ad , 1 9 7 ; receives Capt Gordon , 2 6 0 ; a ttac k s Miraj , 2 6 2 ; at Ch ap h al , 2 6 3 ; assists P r at ap s i n g , 2 7 3 ; li berates Ch an da S ahi b , 2 9 0 ; famil y , 2 9 4 ; de a th , a dop ts M u d h oji B h osl e , 2 9 7 ; .
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Au r an gzi b , 3 2 S il veira, An to ni o
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de 2 4 5 Diego de 2 45 ,
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S il veira , , S i n h gad , 6 8 , 7 8 , 1 0 3 , 1 0 9 ; T ar ab ai a t, 3 0 9 ; captu r ed by B al aji , 3 1 1 S irh i n d , 2 8 6 S i ri gaon , 2 5 2 S iron j , 1 1 0 , 2 2 1 N iz am u l Mul k at, 1 7 0 S om aji B an ki , 2 S on d a, 7 3 S on gad h , 2 2 0 S outh Guzerat , 7 9 S oyar ab ai , 1 ; de ath , 3 S oyarab ai , d augh ter of R aja ram , 1 0 5 Soyarab ai , wife of B al aji N imb al k a r of P h al t an , 6 3 S u b h an ji K h ar at e , 1 5 4 S up a, 1 4 3 , 3 0 4 S ura t, 9 , 2 0 S u r yaji K an k , 2 , S u ry aji Pis al , 7 0 S utl ej , 2 8 6 S u var n ad u rg , 2 4 8 , 2 49
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3 00 S h ai N iz am , Hai d e rab ad i , 5 0 ; c aptures S am b h aji an d K al u s h a, 5 1 ; return s , to A l uj , 5 5 Sh am b h us i n g , 6 0 , 3 0 7 Sh am ji r ao P i n de , 7 6 S h am sh er B ah adur, s on of Mas tan i , 2 6 7 S h an k arj i M ah ad ik , 2 9 4 S h an ar M al h a r N argun d h ar , 7 6 , 1 6 3 ; de ath , 1 7 2 S h an a r N aray an Gan d e k ar , 1 1 4, 1 2 4 ; recaptures R ajgad , 8 0 : col l apse of , 1 43 ; de ath 1 44 S h ei h Mir a, 1 2 7 , 3 1 3 S h e n dre , 9 9 S h er S h ah , 2 8 1 Sh iral a, 2 9 4 S hi rk e s , m ass ac re of , 9 ; gen e al ogical .
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b attl e of
T ali k ot ,
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46
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Tal ode 1 8 5 T ambe 2 5 1 Tan jore state of 45 8 6 1 2 3 Tarab ai wife of R aj ara m 6 3 7 8 regen t 1 0 6 ; goes to M al wan 1 4 1 ; fl ees to B an gn a, 1 4 1 captures Pan h al a .
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i nD E X
Y esh p at il D abh ade , 6 0 Y e s u b ai , wife of S am b h aj i , 5 9 ; tu r ed , 6 9 Y e s w an tgad , 7 8 Y u vatesh w ar , 1 00 .
Zul fi k ar Beg 1 6 3 Zul f i k ar K h an I ti k ad K h an s tit l e 7 1 ; before Jin ji 7 9 ; superseded , 8 2 ; at Tan jore 8 6 ; captur es J i n ji 8 9 ; at Wak i n k e r a 1 1 5 ; at Ah m ad n ag ar 1 1 8 ; de a th of 1 6 1 .
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Z ah ra
160 Z i n a tu n n i s sa, ,
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d augh ter of Au r an gz i b
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70
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