A History of the Mahrattas v1.c29.29

v1.c29.29

In the meantime Rugonath Rao had returned to watch his motions; the wall which surrounds the city of Hyderabad had prevented him from making any impression on the Moghul capital,¹ but he exacted a contribution of one lack and eighty thousand rupees from the suburbs.² He had opened a secret negotiation with the Mahratta chiefs in the army of Nizam Ally, and found Janojee Bhonslay, the only one whose defection occasioned serious alarm, willing to listen to an accommodation. His ambitious hopes, formed on joining the Moghuls, had been damped from a suspicion of the duplicity of the Dewan, Raja Pertabwunt. Upon a promise, therefore, of receiving territory yielding a revenue of thirty-two lacks of rupees, being a portion of that which was promised to Nizam Ally as the price of his assistance to Rugonath Rao, he agreed to withdraw his support, and soon found a very critical opportunity.