History of Orissa from the Earliest Times to the British Period v2.c41.262.2

v2.c41.262.2

Thereupon Sābājī went to Khaṇḍe Rāo, who was a Sardar both of the Peshwa and the Niẓām. When the armies met again on the Wardha, Mudhaji met Sābājī and himself gave him the clothes of Senā Ṣāḥib Ṣūbah to his brother, at which the Peshwa was offended and sent 3,000 troops towards Nagpur. This information was sent to Miraj from Poona in a letter written by Vāman Rāo Paṭvardhan on the 7th of May 1773. Peshwa Nārāyaṇ Rāo was also determined to crush Mudhojī lest he should join Raghunāth Rāo. We can now understand why Bābujī Nāyak applied for troops to the English Governor in May 1773. Orissa must have been depleted of Maratha troops on account of the civil war between the brothers. As Nawāb Isma’il Khan of Ellichpur had helped Mudhajī, Sābājī now attacked him and then sent an agent named Bhavānī Śivarām to Poona for help. The Peshwa sent Khaṇḍe Rāo Darekar with twenty-five thousand troops. These with the Niẓām’s general, Rūkn-ud-daulah, harassed Mudhojī. Mudhojī’s agents at Poona tried their best to see Raghunāth Rāo in prison and enlist his help for their master. But the Peshwa Nārāyaṇ Rāo was all along in favour of Sābājī and sent him the clothes of investiture as Senā Ṣāhib Ṣubah a few days before his murder, on the 16th of August.¹ Nārāyaṇ Rāo was murdered by Raghunāth Rāo Dādā Ṣāhib on the 30th of August 1773 and Raghunāth Rāo at once assumed the position of the Peshwa. He always favoured Mudhojī and immediately appointed him as Senā Ṣāhib Ṣubah.