History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v5.c74.s5: § 6. Rajaram at Jinji.
History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v5.c74.s5
- Language
- English
§ 6. Rajaram at Jinji.
v5.c74.s5.1
The arrival of Rajaram was followed by a peaceful revolution at Jinji. Harji's widow and her Brahman advisers were reluctant to part with the usurped authority and local independence they had enjoyed for over eight years. [Memoirs of F. Martin.] But Rajaram's right could not be disputed; the government of Jinji passed into his hands. Kesho Trimbak became his chief favourite, took his revenge by placing Harji's son under confinement (15th Nov.), and squeezed money out of the late viceroy's widow by calling upon her to render accounts for her husband's long years of administration of the province. She had to make her peace by paying three lakhs of hun, and Santaji Bhonsle one lakh. (Madras Diary, 6 Dec. 1689.)
v5.c74.s5.2
∗ Z. S. gives the date of his death as Ashwin Badi 11 (=29th Sep. 1689). But the *Madras Diary* records on 26th Sep. the receipt of the report of his death via Kunimedu, so that he must have died about ten days earlier.
v5.c74.s5.3
"Rajaram, on his arrival, sent a summons to all in any considerable employment in the Government to make their appearance before him." His aim was reported to be "to divert the Mughal army from his kingdom of Puna and join with several Hindu Nayaks and raise a considerable army to retake the Golkonda and Bijapur kingdoms." (Madras Diary, 6 Dec. and 14 Nov. 1689). For Prahlad Niraji, his supreme agent, a new post, that of Pratinidhi or Regent, was created, while Nilo Moreshwar Pingle continued to hold the title of Peshwa or nominal prime minister. In the French records Krishnaji Anant, the historian of Shivaji, is called his second minister, but the Marathi histories—all of a much later date—are silent about him. Timaji, the son of Kesho Trimbak Pinglé, was appointed subahdar of the Jinji district and Sundar Balaji that of Kunimedu.
v5.c74.s5.4
The Regent, Prahlad Niraji, "threw Rajaram into a life of debauchery" [Martin] and kept "the young king constantly intoxicated by the habitual use of ganja and opium" [Wilkes, i. 133.] Then "seizing the reality of power, he caused the Brahmans who had enriched themselves under Harji to disgorge their money and goods by the stroke of confiscation." [Kaep.]
v5.c74.s5.5
§ 7. Rapacity of Maratha Government of Jinji; its dealings with the European traders.
v5.c74.s5.6
But this squeezing of its former officials could not fill the gaping void of the Maratha Government's financial distress. The ministers at Jinji looked round to raise money from the European settlements on the East Coast,—all persons living outside these strong places having been already plundered and ruined. Early in December the subahdar of Jinji demanded 3,000 hun as an advance or loan from the English factory at Kunimedu, and a like amount from the French and Dutch factories lying within his jurisdiction; the richer merchants were urged to lend 5000 or even 1000 hun each. Before the end of the month, the pressure was increased; in addition to the loan of 3,000 hun to the king, 5000 more were demanded as a fine for the buildings and fortifications of each European Company. "They will have no reason or equity, saying that they are in great want of money, having given the king (Rajaram) their estates to continue themselves in their employments, which they must seek to retrieve." [Madras Diary, 4 Jan. 1690]. At the same time the Marathas asked the governor of Madras for 100 barrels of gunpowder and 2500 weight of small shot, to carry on their war against the Mughals; but the English, not wishing to give offence to Aurangzib, managed to evade the request. In March, Rajaram visited the coast to bathe in the sea on the occasion of the lunar eclipse (on the 14th of the month.) The opportunity was taken to extort money gifts from the Indian merchants and European Companies of the region, the French at Pondicherry having to pay 200 hun. [Kaep. 274].
v5.c74.s5.7
But this source brought in very little. In their extreme penury, the Maratha Government offered to sell the fort of Tevenapatam (afterwards St. David) with a gunshot of land round it, to the European Companies, who began to bid for it. The French were given the refusal of it at 50,000 hun, but they were too poor and their able agent Francois Martin wisely declined the offer. [Kaep. 274]. The English were more eager; after some skilful haggling they beat down the Marathas to 51,500 *chakram*,* or Rs. 1,08,150. Early in August 1690, Rajaram signed a *farman* selling the fort and a "random shot" of land round it to the English, for that amount. The English governor cunningly wrote to his agent at Kunimedu to contrive to delay taking possession of Tevenapatam till their best brass gun had arrived from Madras, so that the "random shot" might range over the greatest possible width of territory! But alas for the vanity of human wishes, in their greed of territory they had reckoned without Maratha perfidy. M. Martin had found out to his cost that "the Marathas need money so badly that they do not respect old promises and written *farmans*." [Kaep. 273.] The English president Elihu Yale now discovered the same truth. As he wrote in his bitterness, "the mercenary Marathas may be induced by bribes to resell the fort ten times over to the same or several persons. Nay, they will sell their honour and conscience, too, to any that will buy it." [*Madras Diary*, 21 July.] Manji-kupam, one of the villages included within the "random shot," remained a subject of dispute, the Dutch claiming it by virtue of an old *farman* and the Marathas supporting their claim in order to get more money out of the English.
v5.c74.s5.8
∗ A *chakram* is a small gold coin worth two Rupees and one-tenth, while the value of the hun varied from 3½ to 4½ Rupees.
v5.c74.s5.9
The Dutch, as the mortal enemies of the French, intrigued hard at Rajaram's Court to destroy the infant French settlement rising at Pondicherry, close to their factory at Cuddalore. In view of the approaching war between the Mughals and the Marathas on the East Coast, which he had clearly foreseen as early as February 1688, Martin had fortified the landward side of Pondicherry and secured through his agent, M. Germain, permission for these defensive works by paying 5,000 *chakram* to Harji Rajah (9 Jan. 1689).
v5.c74.s5.10
On Rajaram's arrival in the Karnatak, Martin hastened to send the same Germain to Jinji to be one of the first to welcome him. "The young prince showed himself amiable and gave the French a *farman* confirming its predecessors." [Kaep. 269]. Even before the death of Harji Rajah, Martin had been negotiating with the Jinji Court to counteract the effect of the pecuniary offers made by the Dutch to the Marathas in order to secure an order expelling the French factory. After Rajaram's coming, the French and Dutch agents continued to intrigue against each other among the Maratha ministers,—the Dutch offering a large bribe for a proclamation condemning the French. The Jinji ministers encouraged the game, "thinking only how to get the maximum amount of money out of the one or the other." In June 1690, the Dutch retired with failure, the French having lent Rajaram 6,000 *chakram* at 18 per cent interest. The turn of the Dutch, however, came in 1693, when they at last secured Rajaram's permission and seized Pondicherry.