A History of the Mahrattas v2.c32.102

v2.c32.102

Visitors were admitted to the palace; Mr. Mostyn, the English envoy, and the different wukeels paid their respects, but Rugonath Rao remained in confinement, detained, as was pretended by the conspirators, as a security for the payment of their arrears. Rugonath Rao was suspected, but there was no proof of his being the author of the outrage. It was well known that he had an affection for his nephew, and the ministers, considering the extreme jealousy with which many of them viewed each other, are entitled to some praise for having adopted a resolution on the occasion equally sound and politic. They were generally of opinion that, whilst there remained a shadow of doubt, it was on every account advisable to support Rugoba’s right to the succession; to this Ram Shastree, who was consulted, made no objections, but diligently instituted a search into the whole transaction. About six weeks after the event, having obtained proofs against Rugonath Rao, the Shastree waited upon him and accused him of having given an authority to Somer Sing and Mohummud Yeesoof to commit the deed. Rugonath Rao is said to have acknowledged to Ram Shastree that he had written an order to those men, authorizing them to seize Narrain Rao, but that he had never given the order to kill him. This admission is generally supposed to have been literally true; for by the original paper, afterwards recovered by Ram Shastree, it was found that the word *dhurawè*, to seize, was altered to *marawè*, to kill. It is universally believed that the alteration was made by the infamous Anundee Bye; and although Rugonath Rao’s own conduct, in subsequently withholding protection even at the hazard of his life, sufficiently justifies the suspicion of his being fully aware of it, the moderate and general opinion in the Mahratta country is that he did not intend to murder his nephew; that he was exasperated by his confinement, and excited by the desperate counsels of his wife, to whom is also attributed the activity of the domestic, Truleea Powar,¹ who was set on by the vindictive malice of that bad woman.