Fall of the Mughal Empire v1.c9.s4.18

v1.c9.s4.18

Both sides were now eager for peace. Mir Habib and the Marāthas realised that it was useless to continue such a harassing war, which brought them no ultimate gain. Raghuji was more involved in debt than ever before; as a financial speculation his invasion of the eastern provinces had failed. Even Orissā, which he had now been occupying for some years, was such a poor province and the Marātha occupation of it was so often interrupted by their expulsion from it, that his income from the conquest had not covered his expenses. When in 1749 his son Sābājī beat a hurried retreat from that province to Nāgpur, his soldiers pressed Raghuji hard for their heavy arrears of salary, and the Rājah had not the means of satisfying them or any other creditor. A friendly arrangement with the Nawāb would give the Marāthas an assured income without the expense of collecting it fitfully and by force.