Fall of the Mughal Empire v2.c27.s27.19

v2.c27.s27.19

Therefore, it is proved beyond a doubt that the only help which the Bhāu solicited from the Peshwa was money. Such an appeal exasperated Bālaji Rāo beyond endurance, and with every reason. He had, in order to furnish the Bhāu for the Hindustan expedition, added to his already heavy burden of debt, and cut down the force retained for the defence of the Deccan to the bones (only 10,000 men of his own.) The devoted Dattāji Sindhiā had assured him that he was thinking day and night how to relieve the Peshwā's load of debt, but Dattāji in the midst of his arduous campaigns in the North had never asked for remittance from Punā. The Bhāu had been supplied with a much larger army and orders for half the Maratha dues in the North. His task was to collect, by the demonstration of his force, the tributes and revenue outstanding there and thus help to satisfy the creditors of the Punā Government, for whom nothing could be spared from the scanty revenues of the Deccan. And yet the Bhāu was demanding more money for his own expenses ! We can now easily understand why Bālāji’s courtiers found it dangerous even to speak to him about the army under the Bhāu. As a courtier reports, “He has lost all recollection of the men in Hindustan (viz., the Bhāu and his army.) Even talk about sending help to them is displeasing to his mind.” [Letter of 26 Nov. SPD. ii. 133=xxvii. 260.] To such hints the Peshwā’s reply, expressed by silence or a grunt rather than words, signified that he had given the Bhāu a rope sufficiently long to hang himself with and would leave him there. What lashed his resentment to fury was the unforgettable fact that the same rope which Sadāshiv had placed round his own neck would strangle Vishwās Rāo also !