History of Orissa from the Earliest Times to the British Period v2.c43.21

v2.c43.21

The public will now be able to understand better for what reasons no revenue was demanded of the pseudo-Chauhan chiefs by the Haihaya kings. The next statement which calls for attention is: "When the Marathas came into power in Chhattisgarh in 1745 they did not direct their attention to this Sambalpur Tract, as that tract, which afforded them easy passage to Orissa and beyond, was not a strategic point with them. To subvert, or rather uproot, the Moslem Rule was what the Marathas aimed at, and as such Orissa Proper lying between two areas of Moslem influence, namely, the Northern Sircars and Bengal was a strategic situation and that situation the Marathas secured in the course of five years from 1745 to 1750 A. D.¹ Agnew's report of 1820 proves definitely that the Marathas ground Hindus and Musalmans alike in the same mill. The treatment of Raghunāth Singh of Ratanpur was the same as that of the Musalman Gond Raja of Deogadh-Chanda. The Haihaya suffered to the same extent as the pseudo-Chauhan.