A History of the Mahrattas v1.c16.43

v1.c16.43

Buhadur Benda surrendered fifteen days afterwards, and the neighbouring country was immediately taken possession of. Jenardin Punt Somunt, one of the Purdhans, was left to settle the new acquisition. Sivajee continued his march, but on arriving at Toorgul he halted; accounts having reached him of an attack made upon his troops in the Carnatic by his brother Venkajee, who had been repulsed with considerable loss. Upon receipt of this intelligence, Sivajee addressed a long letter¹ to his brother, in which he recapitulated everything that had occurred, represented the extreme indiscretion of a conduct which had compelled him to take possession of the districts; and now had obliged his officers to repel aggression by force of arms; that the slaughter of the vile Mahomedans, who had joined in the attack, was not to be regretted; but he ought to reflect on the sacrifice of valuable lives which it had occasioned. Sivajee, in this letter, dwells much on the necessity of union, and the propriety of peace; which last he now proposes to grant, on receiving the whole of their father's territorial possessions in the Carnatic, for which he promises, either to allow his brother an equivalent in the Panalla districts, or to obtain a grant of territory from his ally Kootub Shah in some other part of the country, equal to three lacks of pagodas annually.