The Dynasties of the Kanarese Districts of the Bombay Presidency from the Earliest Historical Times to the Musalman Conquest c11.104

c11.104

The peace did not last long, as in 1767 the Peshwa invaded Mysor and Haidar was obliged to buy off his attack, having other formidable enemies to deal with. The breach of the new treaty led to another attack on Haidar a few years later. The Maráthás were successful, but as all the operations were carried on to the south of the Tungbhadra, they need not be detailed here. The death of the Peshwa Mahádev Ráo in A.D. 1772, followed by that of his brother Náráyan Ráo in the next year, and the question of the disputed succession to the Peshwa’s throne, afforded Haidar an opportunity of regaining the territory which he had been forced to disgorge. He recovered the districts south of the Tungbhadra which had fallen into the hands of the Maráthás and entered into intimate relations with Raghunáth Ráo, the uncle of the late Peshwa and the claimant to the throne, whom he acknowledged as the head of the Maráthás and agreed to support. In A.D. 1776 he was invited by his new ally to take possession of the Southern Marátha Country up to the Krishna, and Haidar understood that he was to retain these districts.¹ Accordingly he crossed the Tungbhadra, took Bankápur and Sávanur, and would doubtless have pushed his arms further north had not the rains put a stop to active operations. He then returned to the south leaving a force to protect his acquisitions. Konhér Ráo Patvardhan was sent against this force, but was defeated, and his relation, Pándurang Ráo, the grandfather of the present chief of Sángli, was taken prisoner. The allied forces of the Maráthás and the Nizám then marched against Haidar, the former under Parsharám Bháu, the most distinguished member of the Patvardhan family, moving towards Sávanur. The Nizám’s forces were however bought off, and the Maráthás, after having suffered a repulse, retired. This left the field open to Haidar, who soon took Kopál, Dhárwár, Gajendragad, Bádámi, and other places, the fall of which made him master of the country as far as the Krishna.² Many strong places such as Nargund and Kittur he left in the hands of their chiefs, on the latter acknowledging his supremacy and agreeing to pay tribute an arrangement which much facilitated his conquest of the country. Circumstances prevented the Maráthás making an attempt to recover the country thus taken, and so Haidar remained for a time in undisturbed possession. Indeed, his right was acknowledged by the Maráthás not long after, when they wished to secure his aid against the English, and he strengthened his hold of the territory by a close alliance with the nawáb of Sávanur, whose eldest son was married to his eldest daughter, Haidar’s second son being at the same time married to Abdul Hakim’s daughter (A.D. 1779).