History of Orissa from the Earliest Times to the British Period v2.c40.1

v2.c40.1

The nemesis which overtook the ingrate 'Alīwardī Khān and his supporters took the form of the Maratha invasions of Bengal and the rebellions of the Afghan traitors in his armies. It is extremely difficult to separate the account of the Maratha-Mughal struggle in Orissa from the general account of the Maratha wars in Bengal and Bihar. The account compiled in the following pages is, therefore, a complete one of the Maratha wars beginning with the first appearance of Bhāskar Rām and ending with the treaty, by which the province of Orissa was finally ceded to the Bhonsles of Nagpur in 1751. It is based on the ample narrative of the *Sa'ir-ul-muta'kharīn*, checked with the more sober account of the *Riyāz-us-salātīn* and the Maratha version of the story as given by Prof. Ganesh Sakharam Sardesai in his *Mārāthī Riyāsat*. The story of the *Sa'ir* is slightly different at places from that of the *Riyāz*. Thus, at the beginning, there is wide difference on the point of the part played by Mīr Habībullah in bringing the Marathas to Bengal and Orissa. The *Riyāz* clearly states that Mīr Habīb had gone to invite the Marathas after the defeat of Murshid Qulī II at the battle of Balasore.¹ But the *Sa'ir* states that he was captured when 'Alīwardī was flying from Mayurbhanj to Katwa.² Bhāskar Rām and Kanber Rām, two brothers were serving under Raghujī Bhonsle I and Bhāskar was the general. They were the sons of one Nārāyaṇ Rāmājī. When Mīr Ḥabīb went to invite the Marathas of Nagpur, Raghujī I was absent on a campaign in the Karnatak when Mīr Ḥabīb went to Berar and sought Bhāskar Rām. The latter sallied out for Bengal upon the return of Raghujī Bhonsle I *via* Satara.¹