The Cambridge History of India, Vol. IV: The Mughul Period v4.c21.145

v4.c21.145

Bālājī, having crushed his rivals, was now once more at liberty to turn his attention to foreign affairs. In the cold weather of 1751 the war with Hyderābād was renewed, but Bussy's trained infantry outmanœuvred the Peshwā and inflicted more than one defeat upon him. At one time he penetrated to within sixteen miles of Poona: but the troops mutinied for want of pay and the campaign collapsed with the poisoning, in 1752, of Ghāzī-ud-dīn, the Peshwā's candidate. In 1754, Bālājī organised a *mulukgiri* expedition on a stupendous scale to collect arrears of tribute from the Carnatic, exterminate the last remnants of Moghul rule, plunder Mysore, and replenish the Peshwā's exhausted coffers. From every village through which the Marāthās passed money was extorted and treasure chests rifled, till the countryside looked as though it had been devastated by a swarm of locusts. On their return, laden with booty, the Marāthās combined with the Nizām's forces in attacking the Nawāb of Savanūr, who had put himself at the head of a confederacy of Afghān Nawābs and southern Marāthā chiefs who refused to acknowledge the Peshwā: the tremendous effect of Muzaffar Khān's artillery trained by Bussy at the bombardment of Savanūr greatly impressed his allies.