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Fall of the Mughal Empire v1.c11.s3: § 13. Campaign of early 1736; imperialists defeated

Fall of the Mughal Empire v1.c11.s3

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§ 13. Campaign of early 1736; imperialists defeated

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We shall here briefly survey the campaigns in the three theatres, Mālwa, Bundelkhand and Eastern Rājputānā, which were ended early by these peace talks. At the close of 1735, the Peshwā’s brother Chimnāji advanced with a large army towards Gwālior by way of Sironj and Bundelkhand. Pilāji Jādav came from the south to support him and was left in charge of the operations. Muhammad Khān Bangash, the subahdār of Allahabad, was ordered to proceed to the defence of Mālwa. The fort of Gwālior successfully held out under a contingent of Pathāns sent by him. Leaving that fort untaken, a Maratha division under Bāji Bhimrāo proceeded to Nurābād, 15 miles north of it, and made it their base for some weeks, and advancing still further reached Syliā, 7 miles n.w. of Nurābād and only four or five miles from the Chambal river.

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In the meantime, Muhammad Khān Bangsh had reached Dholpur on 14th January 1736 and taken post in the ravines of the Chambal, guarding every ford against the invaders. The Marātha leaders halted at Syliā for about ten days, daily sending out cavalry patrols to the river to watch for Muhammad Khān. But in fear of the Marāthas, "he would not once come out of his hole in the sands of the river," and there could be no fight with him. Bāji Bhimrāo then surprised and sacked the village of Bāgohini (11 miles w. of Syliā), the stronghold of a robber chieftain (clan Sikarbār.) When this division fell back towards Gwālior, Muhammad Khān ventured out of the bed of the Chambal and entrenched in the ravines that intersect the narrow fork between that river and the Koāri (immediately south of the Chambal), throwing up mud walls and mounting guns. Behind these he sheltered himself, refusing to accept the challenge to sally forth and fight the Marāthas when they reappeared before him. Thus the whole month of January and the earlier part of February were passed in inaction on the Mughal side, after which envoys came from the Bangash for terms and finally hostilities were suspended by order of the Peshwā (received by Bhimrāo on 1st March) as the Delhi Court had inclined towards peace. Then the invaders withdrew from Mālwa (March 1736.) Before this a small Marātha force had crossed the Jamunā and made a dash into the Gangetic doāb, raiding some places in the Etāwa and Cawnpur districts, but it retired shortly afterwards; Bāji Rāo also wrote (end of February) forbidding these provocations. (S. P. D., xiv. 55, 56; xiii. 48; Later Mughals, ii. 281-282.)

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In Bundelkhand, the wazir's division advanced by way of Narwar to the Arjal lake, 12 miles east of Orchhā, where he entrenched and faced Pilāji Jādav during the month of fasting (January.) There were frequent skirmishes between the patrols. At last on 3rd February, Pilāji delivered an attack, but after an all-day battle he fell back at night and made a rapid retreat to the Deccan, the Mughals following in search of him, but at a great distance behind, up to Ujjain. (Lat. Mug. ii. 282-283.)

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In the western theatre, Khān-i-Daurān was sent to expel the Marāthas from Rājputānā. Joined by Jai Singh, he prepared a strongly entrenched position at Todā Tonk, facing Malhar and his ally Pratāp Hādā. The imperialists were here immobilised for many weeks, and one day a foraging party from their camp, 1,500 strong, was almost totally cut off. Then in February the peace negotiations put an end to the operations,* the Marāthas went away and the two Mughal generals were liberated. (*Later Mughals*, ii. 283-284.)

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§ 14. Baji Rao invades Northern India, 1737-38.

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Throughout the year 1737 a severe famine due to failure of rain and the exhaustion of last year’s harvest, raged in Bundelkhand and the north-eastern parts of Malwa, up to the Jamuna river. The water-sources on the way dried up and no food for man or horse could be had anywhere before the new crop ripened. (*S. P. D.*, xiv. 52, xv. 8.) Next year, 1738, the famine desolated the Aurangabad and Ahmadnagar region in the Deccan (xv. 63.) No real settlement could be effected through the peace-negotiations conducted by Jai Singh as mediator. He induced the Emperor to appoint Bāji Rāo as deputy governor of Malwa, with Jai Singh himself as the nominal *subahdār*. "This was, in effect, though not in form, a cession of the province. As to the other concessions the only one agreed to was the hereditary appointment (of Rājah Shāhu) as *sardesh-pāndya* in the six provinces of Mughal Deccan; . . . the rate of payment was five per cent. of the revenue." (*Lat. Mugh.*, ii. 284-285.) This did not satisfy the Marathas, and responding to Jai Singh's secret invitation Bāji Rāo issued from Punā on 12th November, 1736, to carry the war to the gates of Delhi. (*Vam. Bh.*, 240; *S. P. D.*, xxii. 341.)

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∗ Irvine’s statement. (ii. 284) that Jai Singh and Bāji Rāo met at Dholpur on 8th Rabi I 1149 (6 July 1736, O.S.) is impossible, as we know from the Peshwā’s records (S.P.D. xxii. 333) that he re-entered Puna on 24th June 1736. Here Irvine’s Persian authorities have made a confusion of years. A Peshwā did meet Jai Singh on 8th Rabi I, but it was in the year 1154 (=13 May 1741) and the Peshwā was Bālāji Rāo. (S.P.D. xxi. 2.)

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The campaign in Bhadāur, the ravage of the Gangetic doab in March 1737, Sādat Khan's defeat of Malhar and Satvoji Jādav at Jālesar on 13th March—which according to the Marāthā despatches was greatly exaggerated by the imperialists, Bāji Rao's cavalry dash upon the environs of Delhi and sack of Kālka-devi (30th March), the terror of the capital and Court, the rout of the imperialists at Tāl Katorā, the *wazir's* victory at Bādshāhpur (31st March), the sudden retreat of Bāji Rāo to Rājputānā, the coming of the Nizām to the Emperor's aid (2nd July), his fight with Bāji Rāo near Bhopāl (December), and the humiliating treaty made by him with the Marāthas at Dorāha,* have been described in detail in Irvine's *Later Mughals*, ii. 286-306, on the basis of the Persian authorities, with information from the Marāthi sources then available added by me in the form of notes to that work.

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∗ 6th January 1738, promising to grant to Bāji Rao (1) the whole of Malwa, (2) the complete sovereignty of the territory between the Narmada and the Chambal, (3) to obtain confirmation

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This expedition did not affect Rājputānā except that while Bāji Rāo was investing the Nizām at Bhopāl in December 1737, Safdar Jang and Mahārāo Durjan Sāl Hādā of Kotā, marching to the relief of the Nizām, were intercepted and defeated by Malhar Holkar and Jaswant Pawār. For his unfriendly act the Mahārāo now felt the heavy hand of the Marāthas. After the Nizām had made terms and retreated to Delhi, Bāji Rāo with Malhar Holkar and Jaswant Pawār marched from Bhopāl to Kotā, laid siege to the fort, and "utterly devastated that district by plunder", (January 1738.) Durjan Sāl fled to fort Gangroni and made peace by promising to pay a fine of ten *lakhs*. Eight *lakhs* were paid down (by 10 Feb.) and a bond was signed for the remaining two *lakhs*.*

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Towards the close of this year, 1738, the Indian sky began to be overcast by the shadow of

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thereof from the Emperor, and (4) to use his best endeavours to obtain 50 lakhs of Rupees to pay Bāji Rāo's expenses.

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∗ Later Mughals, ii.

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³⁰⁴ S.P.D., XV. 68, xxii.

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¹²⁰ For more than a year afterwards this balance remained unpaid. Vam. Bh., 3249, says that Kotā was bombarded for 40 days, at the end of which this contribution was promised.

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Nādir Shāh's invasion, and there were no organised raids of the Marāthas into Mālwa and Rājputānā in the winter of 1738-39. Nādir's invasion shook the Delhi empire to its foundations, and after his return there was no more attempt to restore imperial authority in Mālwa. Muhammad Shāh by a *farmān* (1741) officially appointed the new Peshwā Bālāji Rāo deputy governor of Mālwa. This was, in effect, the final loss of that province to the empire.

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15. How imperial negotiations with Baji Rao broke down.

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When the imperial officers made overtures for peace during the campaign of 1735, Bāji Rāo wrote to the Emperor making the following demands :

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(1) The grant of the *subahdāri* of Mālwa and its entire territory excluding its forts held directly of the Emperor, and the lands of *jāgirdārs*, old feudatories, and grantees of rent-free lands and daily allowances.

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(2) A cash contribution of 13 *lakhs* of Rupees to the Peshwā for his war expenses of the first year, to be paid in three instalments, namely 4 *lakhs* when Pilaji Jādav comes to the imperial Court and settles the treaty, 5 *lakhs* at the autumn harvest, and 4 *lakhs* at the spring harvest.

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(3) The *nazar* of 6 *lakhs* of Rupees which King Shāhu had agreed to pay to the Emperor in return for the grant of the *sardesh-pāndya* rights of the six imperial provinces in the Deccan, was to be paid one-fourth down, and the remaining three-quarters by instalments after Shāhu had actually brought the country under his control.

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In addition, Bābu Rāo, the special Marātha envoy sent to Delhi, asked for a grant of 2 *lakhs* of Rupees as reward to Chimnāji (the Peshwā's brother) for having been "a devoted servant of this Government and persuaded Bāji Rāo in many ways to accept the policy of furthering the Emperor's interests." This amount was to be paid, one-half on Pilāji's arrival at Delhi and the other half at the spring harvest after the agreement had been concluded. Against each of the above demands the Emperor wrote "Granted" (*manzur.*)

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But every such concession was taken by Bāji Rāo as a sign of weakness. At the increasing evidence of the helplessness of the Delhi Government in each successive season, Bāji Rāo rose in his demands, till at last he claimed :

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(1) The expulsion of Yār Muhammad Khān from Bhopāl with the aid of the imperial forces and the bestowal of his estate on Bāji Rāo.

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(2) A *jāgir* of 50 *lakhs* a year in the 6 Deccan *subahs* to the Peshwā, (the Emperor's son being appointed the absentee *subahdār* of that country).

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In addition, Bāji Rāo was to get half the revenue that might be collected for the Emperor through his exertions in the Deccan.

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(3) The entire Tanjore kingdom to Rājah Shāhu.

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(4) Forts Māndu, Dhār, and Rāisin in Mālwa to the Peshwā for keeping his family in.

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(5) The entire country northwards up to the Chambal river to be granted in jāgir to the Peshwā, he promising not to molest the lands of the Rājahs of this region if they submitted and paid their tributes.

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(6) The imperial feudatories in Mālwa and Bundelkhand were to pay Bāji Rāo contributions totalling 10 lakhs and 5 thousand Rupees.

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(7) All arrangements in the Deccan must be made only through the medium of the Peshwā.

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(8) A prompt order on the Bengal subahdār to pay 50 lakhs to Bāji Rāo, who was very much involved in debt.

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(9) The granting of jāgirs to the Peshwā at Allahabad, Benāres, Gayā, and Mathurā, (so that he might hold the greatest pilgrim centres of the Hindus.)

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(10) For his personal visit to the Emperor, Bāji Rāo would first go to Agra, whence he would be conducted by Amir Khan and Jai Singh to Delhi and presented to the Emperor during a ride (and not at a *darbār*), and soon afterwards given leave to return home.

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(11) Fifteen *lakhs* of Rupees to be paid to Bājī Rāo thus: five *lakhs* when he would reach Mālwa, five when he visited the Emperor, and five at the end of the year.

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On 29th September 1736, Muhammad Shāh issued an imperial *farmān* bestowing on Bājī Rāo some *jāgirs*, a *mansab* (seven-hazāri personal rank), the *mahals* of his *watan* (home estate) and right to perquisites, as well as a robe of honour made up of seven pieces, aigrette (*jigha*) for the turban, and an ornament (*sarpech*) to be tied round the head,—bidding him serve the empire as a loyal officer. He was also invited to visit the Emperor in person like other imperial vassals and servants.

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§ 16. Malwa ceded to Balaji Rao in 1741.

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But Bājī Rāo’s insatiable ambition made the conclusion of peace impossible. The Emperor naturally refused to grant his exorbitant new demands. Thus, the dispute with the Delhi Government remained unsettled during the rest of Bājī Rāo’s life. On his death (28th April 1740), his eldest son Bālāji Rāo succeeded as Peshwā, after defeating the intrigues of Raghuji Bhonslé to keep him out of that office. The new Peshwā’s diplomacy and tact (seconded, it must be confessed, by the utter disintegration of the imperial Government through Nādir’s invasion) succeeded where the blustering tactics of his father had failed. Bālājī set out for the north in March 1741 and reached Gwālior. Jai Singh, the *subahdār* of Agra, reported to the Emperor that the captains under him were quite inexperienced in Deccani warfare and therefore force would fail. He then sent envoys to open peace negotiations with Bālājī Rāo, telling him to remain contented with the *subahs* of Gujrāt and Mālwa and not to disturb any other province. The Peshwā replied that though the *chauth* of the whole of Hindustān was his due, he would be satisfied with the above two *subahs*, provided that an imperial rescript was issued legally conferring them on him. At the same time, to save the Emperor’s face, a petition was submitted by Bālājī, professing his loyalty to the throne and declaring himself a devoted servant of the Emperor. Following Jai Singh’s advice, Muhammad Shāh in reply issued a *farmān*, dated 4th July 1741, bestowing the deputy governorship (*nāib subahdāri*) of Mālwa on the Peshwā. This was another device for disguising the fulness of the imperial surrender and saving the Emperor’s face. (*Chahār Gulzār*, 376a-377a; *S. P. D.*, xv. 86.)

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Bālājī Rāo visited Jai Singh near Dholpur on 12th May, the latter returned the visit on the 15th, and the Peshwā started on his return home on the 20th. Early in July the arrival of the above *farmān* confirmed the peace.* (S. P. D., xxi. 2.)

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Mālwa thus ceased to be a part of the empire of Delhi.

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∗ Bālaji Rāo on his part gave the following written undertaking:—(1) To visit the Emperor. (2) No Marātha was to cross the Narmadā; if any one did it, the Peshwā held himself responsible for his acts. (3) Not to disturb any province except Mālwa. (4) Not to ask ever in future for any money above what was granted already. (5) One Marātha general at the head of 500 horse was to serve constantly in the Emperor's army. (6) When the imperialists issued on any campaign, the Peshwā would join them with 4,000 men. If the Emperor asked for the aid of more men, these additional troops were to be paid their subsistence by the Delhi Government. (S.P.D., xv. page 97.)

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