A History of the Mahrattas v2.c44.1

v2.c44.1

A.D. 1794.—The death of Mahadajee Sindia was an event of great political importance, both as it affected the Mahratta empire and the other states of India. His views and his character are perhaps sufficiently elucidated in the history of the thirty-five years antecedent to the period at which we have arrived; but, that we may hold in mind the state of the different Mahratta powers and explain the proceedings of the petty princes on the coast of Maharashtra, formerly of so much importance when our establishments in India were in their infancy, we shall devote this chapter to a brief recapitulation of Sindia’s policy, a summary of his character, a review of the affairs of some of the other chieftains, and an explanation of minor transactions between the English and the petty princes to whom allusion is made. We shall then be free to enter on the causes which led to a war between the Mahrattas and the Moghuls in the Deccan.