New History of the Marathas v3.c37.s2.18

v3.c37.s2.18

At last Mahadji finished his northern undertaking successfully in 1791 and returned to the south at the height of success and glory, without leaving any substantial power or sphere of activity for the Holkar to enjoy. Tukoji, Ahalyabai and the youngsters visibly felt the mortification that thereafter they would have to play the second fiddle to Sindia : whereas at one time the two chiefs had been on a footing of perfect equality. They failed to realize that ancestral glory or family tradition avails very little in this matter of fact world. The concerns of the State depend for their success on character and capacity. When in 1788 Tukoji arrived in north India, Ahalyabai particularly admonished him to assert his individuality on equal terms with Sindia, as Malharrao had done during the days of Bajirao I. The affair of the Rana of Udaipur, which pertained to Holkar's sphere, was settled by Mahadji in November 1791 by capturing the famous fort of Chitod and restoring it to the Rana. Ahalyabai considered this an infringement of the territorial rights of her house and an insult to her government. On the other hand Mahadji lost all respect for any member of the large Holkar family, now sunk in vice and vanity, utterly oblivious of the dangers that had begun to threaten the Maratha State from outside. In this sullen atmosphere when, in January 1792, Mahadji left Ujjain for Poona, he did not care even to pay a formal visit to Ahalyabai. She had lost her son-in-law in the preceding December and at least a condolence visit from him would have been appropriate. This estrangement reached its height during his journey to the south when an unexpected trouble occurred for Mahadji at the crossing of the Narmada, which further embittered the relations of the two families. Ahalyabai had posted a party of guards at the village of Satwas to collect tolls from the men and animals that had to be ferried over the river. Mahadji had a large following and refused to pay the toll claimed by Holkar's customscollectors. The incident trivial in itself so enraged the old lady that she uttered a curse that the Patel would never live to return, as the tradition says. It came true.