History of Orissa from the Earliest Times to the British Period v2.c41.97.2

v2.c41.97.2

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.