The Cambridge History of India, Vol. IV: The Mughul Period v4.c21.122

v4.c21.122

Raghūjī Bhonsle continued, after his return from the Carnatic, to oppose the Peshwā, who was at length (1744) forced to buy off his formidable rival by allowing him a free hand in Bengal, where ‘Alī Vardī Khān (Mīrzā Muhammad ‘Alī) had set himself up as an independent ruler.¹ ‘Alī Vardī Khān treacherously massacred in cold blood Bhāskar Pant, Raghūjī’s revenue minister, and a score of Marāthā officers whom he had invited to a conference, but he had to pay heavily for his perfidy.² In 1751 he was forced to surrender the province of Orissa (Cuttack) to the Marāthās, with 1,200,000 rupees annually as the *chauth* of Bengal. The Marāthās never attempted to establish any civil administration in the province, but left it to the local chiefs. The “Marāthā ditch”, built round Calcutta in 1742, long bore witness to the terror aroused by the Bhonsle’s far-flung horsemen.³