History of Orissa from the Earliest Times to the British Period v2.c41.97

Language: English

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When the Hindus and Musalmans of Bengal were expiating for the sins of Nanda Kumār Ray, Durlabhrām Ray and Mīr Ja'afar 'Alī Khān, committed on the field of Plassey (23rd June 1757), and by other Indians on the fields of Katwa, Udhuanala and Munger, British diplomacy and perhaps British gold kept the Bhonsles of Berar from joining hands with Mīr Qāsim 'Alī Khān. A letter from Śivarām Bhaṭṭa received on the 10th of Septembar, 1763, expresses a desire to join the English East India Company in the new war and surprise at the fact that the Governor had not informed him of the victory of Katwa. This was the position on the political stage of north-eastern India when the brave Muḥammad Taqī Khān laid down his life for the cause of Musalman independence in India on the battle field of Katwa. The Dāk Munshis in Orissa served to some extent as political spies and agents. On the 13th of September the Dāk Munshi Ghulām Muṣṭafa was written to and directed to warn the Marathas to abstain from all acts of hostility and to inform Śivarām Bhaṭṭa that the friendship subsisting between the English and the Marathas would be broken off if his people made any disturbances. Orissa was threatened with an invasion by the new Madras army. A politic letter written to Śivarām Bhaṭṭa on the same day informed him of the glorious English victory of Giriyā or Gaṛhiyā, Udhuānālā, Kaṭwā, Murshidābād and Suri (Śiuṛi).

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The latter was requested to capture Mir Qāsim 'Alī, if he came that way.¹ The Marathas of Berar and Nagpur failed to take advantage of the great opportunity of joining hands with Mir Qāsim 'Alī in this war also, as they had done in 1757. They paid very dearly for it at Assaye and Argaon in 1803, at Sitabaldi in 1817, and finally during the regime of Lord Dalhousie. Nawāb Qāsim 'Alī Khān tried his best to secure the alliance of the Marathas. On the 22nd of November, 1763, Ghulām Muṣṭafa informed the Governor that Śivarām Bhaṭṭa had received several letters from Mir Qāsim 'Alī promising the chauth of Bengal and appointing him Faujdār of Jaleswar and Medinipur. In consequence thereof Bhāskar Pandit and Būlī Khān started from Balasore but were dissuaded from doing so by the writer. Thus did the Indian Musalman serve his own community in the middle of the eighteenth century A. D.¹ Another letter written by the same worthy informed the Governor that Śivarām Bhaṭṭa was prevented from marching on Jaleswar by his quarrel with Rāja Vira Kiśora Deva I and that Maratha troops in Balasore were now busy against the hill Rajas. A letter from Śivarām Bhaṭṭa, received on the same date, 25th November 1763, offers congratulations on the victories and demands *chauth*.² Another letter from the same person received on the 5th January 1764, states that he would have joined the English troops if the Governor had not informed him that his help was not required.

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In the same letter it is stated that Rāo Govind was being sent to decide the affairs of Mayurbhañja and Keuñjhar. On the 6th of June, Rāo Govind informed the Governor that he had been deputed to regulate the affairs of these two States.³ A letter received from Śivarām Bhaṭṭa on the next day reiterates the demand for *chauth* but a reply was sent on the next day containing a request to send Govind Rāo Rāo to Calcutta for some necessary business. Śivarām Bhaṭṭa informed the Governor that Govind Rāo was his own brother.⁴ On the 5th of February a letter was received from Mīr Ja'afar 'Alī Khān that he was coming to Calcutta and desired that Govind Rāo should meet him at that place. A similar letter was also written to Govind Rāo.¹ On the 21st of February a complaint was received from the Rājā of Mayurbhañja regarding disturbances committed by several people in his territory and stating that he was obliged to use force to drive them out. Three days later, a letter from Nawāb Mir Ja'afar 'Alī was forwarded to Śivarām Bhaṭṭa.² On the 26th of the same month Śivarām was informed that Messrs. Marriott, Hope and More had been appointed to reside at Katak, Mālud, and Balasore. On the same day Bhāskar Pandit, the *Faujdār* of Balasore, was informed that Mr. Marriott had been posted at Balasore to forward letters to and from Madras.³ A letter received from Śivarām on the 1st April 1764 states that the affair of Sarnudpur (?) had been settled and Orissa granted to Mahārāja Jānūji.

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A demand for *chauth* was also made in the same letter.⁴ The period of administration of Śivarām Bhaṭṭa was drawing to a close. A letter received on the 21st of April from Chimnā Sāhu informed the Governor that the former had been appointed *Sūbahdār* of Orissa. A letter addressed to Nawab Mir Ja'afar 'Alī states that his etter to Śivarām Bhaṭṭa was forwarded through an English gentleman stationed in Katak and encloses the reply of Śivarām. Three days later on the 24th, the usual congratulatory letter was despatched to the new Maratha *ṣubahdār* Chimnā Sāhu.⁵ The Governor of the English East India Company writes to the Nawāb Mir Ja'afar 'Alī on the 24th April, 1764, that Śivarām Bhaṭṭa had been imprisoned and that his friends were trying to rescue him. The Nawāb was assured that as the Marathas in Orissa were fighting between themselves they would have no time to interfere in the affairs of Bengal.¹ A letter received from Chimnā Sāhu confirms the news of the imprisonment of Śivaram Bhaṭṭa.² Śivarām Bhaṭṭa came to Orissa after its devastation for twelve years by the Mughal-Maratha wars. He found the province desolated and the boundaries roughly demarcated. He left it much more settled. His settlement of the revenues of Orissa was for a sum very much less in comparison with the last settlement of Shuja’-ud-dīn Muḥammad Khān :—