Fall of the Mughal Empire v1.c9.s6.3

v1.c9.s6.3

Alivardi had made the treaty of 1751 with the Marāthas in the hope of giving peace and security to his subjects, but it did not immediately put an end to their misery. In the very year that the treaty was signed, the rice crop of Bengal totally perished in consequence of the failure of rain, and a terrible famine desolated the country. The French factory at Chandarnagar had great difficulty in procuring rice for their ocean-going ships. (*Correspondance du Conseil de Chandernagor avec divers, ii. 435.) True, all large scale invasions of Bengal and Bihār ceased, but Orissā remained the prey of roving bands of Marāthas, under no control of their king. Thus, in January 1753 we find the weavers at Balesar complaining of the great scarcity of rice and provisions of all kinds occasioned by the devastations of the Marāthas, who, six hundred in number, after plundering Balesar had gone to the Nilgiri hills. (Long, Selections, i. No. 110, Bengal Consult. 1 Feb. 1753.)