Fall of the Mughal Empire v2.c26.s3.18

v2.c26.s3.18

Malhar next laid siege to Barwara, which was defended by Vikramajit and other captains of the Rajawat and Shekhawat clans. Calling up his big guns from Rampurā, he pressed the garrison so hard that they cried for quarter and were allowed to go away with their lives only, and the Marathas occupied this fort renowned for its strength. Their signal success frightened the Rajput chiefs all around; from Uniara, Isarda, Sewarh, and Jhilara envoys came to Malhar’s camp with offers of tribute as the price of peace. His aim was to make them restore the Maratha jagirs in Kota-Bundi lately usurped by them and then to confirm these local chieftains in the possession of their ancestral estates, on condition of their agreeing to pay tribute annually for the rest of the lands they held. But before these arrangements could be completed, he received, on 27th December, an urgent call from Dattaji Sindhia to come at once to his aid, as Abdali had crossed over into the Sarhind district and a decisive trial of strength with him was imminent. So, Malhar abruptly abandoned the Rajput business just at the point of maturing, and set off on 2nd January 1760 for Delhi, by way of Jhilāra (3rd January.)*