A History of the Mahrattas v1.c27.9

v1.c27.9

Moorar Rao Ghorepuray had retired to Gootee, in consequence of not being put in possession of one of the captured forts, which appears to have been promised; the Peishwa had authorized Bulwunt Rao to comply with his wish, provided he was certain he could be depended upon,² but Moorar Rao had joined a confederacy against his countrymen, by uniting with the Nabobs of Kurpa, Savanoor, Kurnoul, and others, to which the confederates solicited the support of the English; a want of troops, however, prevented the Presidency of Madras from availing themselves of an auxiliary force, which in any ordinary season would have induced them to resist the Mahratta demands. It is not ascertained whether Bulwunt Rao complied with the latitude allowed in favour of Ghorepuray, but Moorar Rao is not mentioned as having acted on either side in a battle fought by the Mahrattas on the 24th September near Kuddapah,³ against the Nabobs of Kurpa and Kurnoul, in which Bulwunt Rao Mendlee was victorious, the Nabob of Kurpa was killed,⁴ and his capital plundered; but Abdool Nubee Khan, the cousin and heir of the late Nabob, still defended the country, and occupied the Mahrattas for a period much longer than they could spare. In the meantime, the Mysore government, by the advice of Hyder Ally,⁵ then rising into notice, having broken their agreement, refused to pay the stipulated contribution, and expelled the Mahratta agents from the districts assigned for that purpose. The Peishwa prepared a force under Gopaul Hurry at Poona, intended ultimately to unite with Bulwunt Rao against Mysore, supported by a body of ten thousand Mahrattas, which, towards the end of the monsoon, was employed¹ near the Godavery, under the Peishwa’s son Wiswas Rao. But, as Gopaul Hurry could not cross the Kistna before November and might not be joined by Wiswas Rao until the beginning of the year, the Peishwa directed Bulwunt Rao to reduce Bednore. He recommends him ‘to march to that place as soon as possible, that the garrison had been very sickly, that the Rana’s son, as well as the Rana, was dead, and that the whole would fall into his hands before the arrival of Gopaul Hurry, when they must conjointly attack Chittledroog.’²