New History of the Marathas v2.c27.25

v2.c27.25

But the worst legacy that Raghunathrao left behind was the open hostility that he allowed to prevail between Antaji Mankeshvar, the Maratha commandant at Delhi and the Hingne brothers, the diplomatic representatives of the Peshwa at the Imperial Court. He could not reconcile these two chiefs any more than he could the other two, Sindia and Holkar. The origin of such disputes was in the greed of money. Whenever Maratha help was called for, it was the resident ambassador of the Marathas that was first approached, and he in his turn consulted the resident commandant. Hingne was the ambassador and Antaji the commander and each of them tried to utilise the occasion to improve his own monetary prospects. Hingnes also conducted a lucrative banking business, having branches in several outside places. Antaji’s corruption and falsification of accounts became so notorious that the Peshwa issued orders to Sindia in 1759 to have him arrested and sent to Poona for trial. He arrived at Poona just at the time that Bhau Saheb was starting for the Panipat campaign; and the latter had no leisure at the moment to examine the charges against Antaji. He was taken to the north along with the large Maratha armies and dearly paid by his death at Panipat for all his sins.