History of Orissa from the Earliest Times to the British Period v2.c40.29

v2.c40.29

The very next year (1744) the Marathas reappeared under Jānujī, son of Raghujī Bhonsle I, and his adopted son, Mohan Singh. The untiring Mīr Ḥabīb repeated his demands for chauth. Bhāskar Rāo appeared on the borders of Orissa with ’Alī Qarāwal, a Deccanī Musalman general. Tired of war, ’Aliwardī resorted to treachery. According to the advice of his Peshkār or Dīwān, Jānakīrām Rāi, the old traitor lured the Maratha generals into his camp at Mancarah, between Katwa and Murshidabad, and murdered all of them at an entertainment.² The Afghan general Muṣṭafā Khān had taken a leading part in this massacre and his importance increased accordingly. One Raghujī Gāikwāḍ had been left in the camp and he fled with his troops taking as much of the baggage as he could (Oct.-Nov. 1744).³ For a time the country was cleared of Maratha troops but the Afghans now raised their heads in rebellion. The first of them was Muṣṭafā Khān who went to Patna. He was shortly followed by his nephew Abdur-Rasūl Khān of Orissa. The great traitor Dūrlabhrām, to whose treachery Clive owed his cheaply earned victory at Plassey, had to be placed in charge of the province of Orissa.¹ The Afghan rebellion has no direct connection with Orissa and the long and tedious account of the *Sa'ir* need not be followed.