Fall of the Mughal Empire v2.c27.s9: § 3. Sadashiv Bhau's march from Sindhkhed to the north bank of the Chambal
Fall of the Mughal Empire v2.c27.s9
- Language
- English
§ 3. Sadashiv Bhau's march from Sindhkhed to the north bank of the Chambal
v2.c27.s9.1
Leaving Sindhkhed about 25th March the Maratha grand army reached Burhānpur on the Tapti on 4th April, crossed the Narmadā at Handiā on the 12th, and by way of Sihor (c. 24 April) and Bersiā (c. 28 April) arrived at Sironj on 6th May. Here he received from the Peshwā bankers' bills for Rs. 1,88,000 payable at Ujjain and Indor, and halted for some days to cash them and also to receive intelligence from the north by which to shape his future movements. He had started on this campaign almost at a day's notice; he had not studied this scene of action before; he had never served in Northern India and had no knowledge of its people and their manners, the climate and face of the country, its leading men and political problems. He was quite in the dark even as to the respective positions and strength of the rival forces north of the Chambal, beyond the bare fact that Abdālī was sitting astride the Jamunā, in possession of the upper Doab and Delhi city, while the remnant of the Maratha army of Hindustan was dispersed somewhere in the Jāt kingdom and the Etāwa district in the middle Doab. He could not even decide for himself what was the best route to take across Mālwa, or where to strike the Chambal, or whether he should first enter the Agra district west of the Jamunā or the Doāb east of that river.
v2.c27.s9.2
∗ Bhāu's northward march,--Raj. i. 171, 174, 176, 180 (Sironj), 186 (Araun), 187, 188 (Mālnā, misprint for Miānā), 194 (Gwālior), 195, 196, 199 (north bank of the Chambal), 202 (Bodsia, misprint for Bersia.) SPD. ii. 125. Aiti. Patren, 183 (across the Narmada.) Kharé, i. 18, 22 (does not mean that the Bhāu himself went to Kaniadhan, which was off his route.) Sihor, 20 m. w. of Bhopal. Bersia, 25 miles due north of Bhopal. Sironj, 37 m. n. e. of Bersia (which last is 24 m. w. of Bhilsa.)
v2.c27.s9.3
On all these points he was helplessly dependent for his guidance on the advice and information called for from Malhar Holkar the general and Govind Ballāl Bundélé the revenue-collector, these being the Maratha officers best experienced in North Indian affairs and now present on the spot. As for his plan of campaign, it could not be determined without a personal discussion with Holkar. The Bhāu had, therefore, at first sent only general directions to Govind Ballāl to beat up for local allies everywhere, enlist the armed support of all the Rajahs of Rajputana and Bundelkhand, make an offensive alliance with the Nawāb of Oudh by promising him the wazirship of Delhi with Maratha support after the expulsion of Abdālī, and recruit two to three thousand musketeers of the Bundelā and Rajput races in the Doāb.
v2.c27.s9.4
In addition, there was the eternal insistent demand for money in every letter from the Bhāu to Govind Ballāl, the commander-in-chief’s tone growing harsher and more reprimanding at the prolonged delay and default of that collector. The monthly expenses of this expeditionary force reached five to six lakhs of Rupees, and all the remittance that the Bhāu had received from the Deccan, less than two lakhs, had been eaten up in a fortnight. The monotonous burden of almost every letter received by Govind Ballāl from the Bhāu week after week, was, “Send me 25 lakhs quickly, or at least 12 lakhs in 10 or 12 days. Your failure to pay is very surprising.”
v2.c27.s9.5
As the Bhāu advanced beyond the Āhir country north-east of Sironj, the villagers rose in his rear and made the roads unsafe for traffic and couriers, but he could not turn back to chastise them. From Sironj he made a detour to the left by way of Araun (25 m. n. w. of Sironj, 14 May), Miānā (32 m. n. of Araun, 19 May), and Narwar, arriving at Gwālior on 30th May. During a two days’ halt in this last city, he received information from Malhar which decided him to cross the Chambal a little east of Dholpur and not near Kerauli, as in the alternative plan. Leaving Gwālior on 2 June, he crossed the Kumāri (a feeder of the Chambal) on the 4th and the Chambal, some ten miles below Dholpur on the 8th, and issued strict orders to his soldiers not to molest the Jāt territory which they entered on that day [SPD. ii. 126], as it was the Peshwā’s policy to keep the Jāt Rajah on the Maratha side. The Bhāu’s artillery and stores took a long time to be carried over the deep ravines intersecting both banks of the Chambal, and he halted more than a month (8th June—12 July) on the north bank of the Chambal, at some distance south of the Utangan river, which flows 20 miles south of Agra, roughly parallel to the Chambal.
Linked texts (1)
- Selections from the Peshwa Daftar — Marathi