A History of the Mahrattas v2.c46.25

v2.c46.25

When he saw the danger imminent, he immediately fled from Waee towards the Concan, blocked up the passes in his rear, threw a strong garrison into Pertabgurh, and, on arriving at the village of Mhar,¹ his first care was to put the fort of Raigurh in the best state of defence. Balloba Tattya proposed that he should be followed up without delay, and offered some of Sindia’s regular infantry for the purpose; but Pureshram Bhow, influenced by secret well-wishers of Nana, objected to the employment of coercive measures, although his hostility to Nana Furnuwees was soon after avowed by his giving up Nana’s Jagheer lands to Sindia and sequestrating his houses and property in Poona for his own use. The ostensible property, however, of Nana Furnuwees bore but an insignificant proportion to the extent of his concealed wealth. It is a common report that he carried with him, when he quitted Poona, hoards of gold, the accumulated treasures of the Peishwas; but, as already stated on the authority of their accounts, the Peishwas, up to the time of the first Mahdoo Rao, were in debt and were always embarrassed, so that the riches of Nana Furnuwees, which were without doubt considerable, must have been saved during his own administration. His funds were secretly deposited in different places, or lodged in the hands of agents in various parts of India, so that he could command them with promptitude in case of emergency; but the secret of their deposit and of his management remains a mystery, a subject of some curiosity, and the theme of many wonders and impositions amongst the Mahratta vulgar.