History of Orissa from the Earliest Times to the British Period v2.c41.197

v2.c41.197

We must now turn to other sources to describe the termination of Clive’s attempt to obtain Orissa practically without payment. Clive had placed a proposal before the Directors of the English East India Company to obtain Orissa by the payment of 16 lakhs of rupees annually. His actual proposal was: "I have proposed, *viz.*, that we shall pay sixteen *lakhs* upon condition that he appoints the Company *Zamindar* of the Balasore and Cuttack countries which, though at present of little or no advantage to Jānojī, would in our possession produce nearly sufficient to pay the whole amount of the *Chauth*."² Clive’s scheme was adopted by Verelst. At this time Śivarām Bhaṭṭa Sāṭhe had been ousted from his post at Katak. Maratha authorities are unanimous in their praise of Śivarām. Sardesai states of him: "He quarrelled with the English on behalf of his master in order to obtain *chauth* from the English. He kept a strict eye on the affairs of Mīr J'afar and Mīr Qāsim and tried his best to prevent the final conquest of Bengal by the English. The latter now conspired to bring Jānojī’s wrath upon him. Jānojī foolishly took him to be a traitor and removed him from the governorship of Orissa on the 24th April, 1764. But Śivarām did not leave his task. He gathered troops and attacked the English but was defeated on the 14th February, 1767. He gathered bad characters (*Chuārs*) and remained as a thorn in the sides of the English for a long time. It is not known how he came to his end."¹ Jānujī Bhonsle paid very dearly for having given up Śivarām Bhaṭṭa Sāṭhe. He failed to get any money as *Chauth* from the English, who referred him to the Nawāb and at the same time secretly instructed the Nawāb not to pay any money to the Marathas. Śivarām had correctly gauged the proper time for a Maratha attack on the English in Bengal, but the coward Jānujī failed to join Mīr Qāsim 'Alī Khān before the battle of Katwa and could never muster sufficient courage to enforce his demands for *Chauth*. Clive, on the other hand, had dispatched troops to Northern Orissa for the suppression of Sivarām. This apparent action of friendship conciliated Jānujī and he sent Udepurī Gosāin to pursue the negotiations for the cession of Orissa. Jānujī was not getting more than 10 or 12 lakhs as net revenue from Orissa and if the English East India Company had been a little more liberal they would have obtained that province before 1769. But eighteenth century Indian diplomacy prevented any definite conclusion. "The Company's *Vakil* ingeniously argued in the course of the discussion that Allahvardi Khān had agreed to pay 12 lakhs of rupees as *chauth* for all the three provinces and that, therefore, if the Marathas wanted the stipulated *chauth*, it would only be logical for them to hand back possession of Orissa. Verelst eventually offered three years' *chauth* in ready money if the Marathas would vacate. Jānojī, of course, vehemently and very justly, challenged the British interpretation of the treaty of 1751 A. D.”¹