New History of the Marathas v2.c32.30

v2.c32.30

8. Mahadji Sindia's rise.—Mahadji Sindia having been occupied with his elder brothers in his early life, has received hardly any special mention in existing papers. Out of the large family of Ranoji Sindia, Mahadji was the only son who escaped death in the nation's cause, and lived long enough to be the main support of the Maratha State. Born probably about the year 1727 he was mostly employed in various Maratha transactions in north India, and was wounded in the leg and picked up unconscious by a passing water-carrier, Rana Khan by name, on the fatal day of Panipat. He came from Malwa to the Deccan in December 1762 and joined the Peshwa in the siege of Miraj, when the question of his succession to the Sindian estate had not been yet decided. A large amount of succession fee called Nazarana was demanded, which he could not pay and Raghunathrao out of spite for his nephew, appointed Kedarji and later Manaji Sindia to inherit the estates of that family. The widowed ladies of that family created no small trouble for Mahadji. In a letter dated 8 July 1767 Mahadji complains bitterly that his own mother Chimabai had no means of livelihood and that she had to contract heavy debts to sustain herself and knew not how to repay them.