History of Orissa from the Earliest Times to the British Period v2.c40.20

v2.c40.20

Bhāskar Rām was celebrating the Durgā Pūjā at Katwa with great pomp in September, 1742, when he was surprised by ’Alīwardī. Bhāskar Rāo retired towards Pachet, leaving the management of the army to Mīr Ḥabīb, who piloted the army through Bishnupur and Chandrakona.¹ He now sent an army against Mīr Ma’asum Khān Panipatī who had advanced from Katak to Hariharpur. There the Musalman army was annihilated² and Katak, the fort of Barabati and the whole of Orissa fell into the hands of the Marathas. The Marathas, however, were pursued by ’Alīwardī as far as the northern banks of the Chilka lake.³ According to the *Sa’ir*, ’Abdul Nabī Khān, a uncle of Muṣṭafā Khān, was appointed Na’ib Nāzim of Orissa and his rank was raised to three thousand horse; but the *Riyāz* states that the new governor of Orissa was named ’Abdur-Rasūl Khān, a relation of Muṣṭafā Khān.⁴ The *Sa’ir* naively adds that, as the new governor was a rude soldier, the Bengali Durlabhrām Rāi, son of the *peshkār* Jānakirām, was left to help him in the administration. On hearing of the defeat of Bhāskar Pandit at Katwa, Śesha Rāo evacuated Hughly and other Maratha leaders quitted western Bengal.⁵ ’Abū’l Manṣūr Khān of Oudh came as far as Patna and had to be persuaded to retire, as his help was no longer required. The Peshwā Bālāji Bājī Rāo also advanced into Bengal with sixty thousand cavalry through Allahabad and Gaya, plundering and ravaging the entire country.⁶ ’Alīwardī treated Bālājī Bājī Rāo with consideration and paid him a very large amount of money in lieu of Chauth. The latter, satisfied as to his demands, overtook Raghujī’s army and defeated it. The actual place of the engagement remains unknown even to Maratha writers, but the latter’s defeat at the hands of Bālājī Bājī Rāo is acknowledged by all authorities. Raghujī fled and Bhāskar Rāo also retired.¹ Bālājī Bājī Rāo now retired to his own country.