Fall of the Mughal Empire v2.c29.s2: § 12. Maratha interests in Rajputana neglected, 1762-1764
Fall of the Mughal Empire v2.c29.s2
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§ 12. Maratha interests in Rajputana neglected, 1762-1764
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Throughout the whole of 1762 and 1763 the Maratha power in the North was paralysed by the events at home,—Nizam Ali's invasion of Maharashtra and sack of Puna, Raghunath Dada's desertion to the enemies of his house and the civil war between him and the new Peshwa. It was only after the decisive defeat of the Nizam at Rakisban (10 Aug. 1763) that the Puna Government was free to attend to their interests in Hindustan. It also took a long time before the young Peshwa's advisers could recognise the fact that Mahadji Sindhia was the coming man and that their delay in filling up the vacancy caused by the death of Jankoji and their fatuous policy of appointing two heads to the Sindhia family with divided powers, were really ruinous to the Maratha cause in the North. Malhar Holkar's old age and recurring ill-health made a vigorous policy in Rajputana or Bundelkhand impossible, and thus things lingered on till his death (26 May 1766), when new and younger actors entered the northern scene as leaders of the Holkar and Sindhia families and Maratha pressure on Rajputana was resumed with effect. But two years before that time, the contest was complicated by the entrance of another factor, the Jat Rajah Jawahir Singh, who openly challenged the power of Jaipur and flung himself amidst the inter-State disputes of Rajputana. Throughout Jawahir Singh’s blood-feud with Najib Khan (1764-1765), Madho Singh wisely courted Najib’s friendship as a check on the insolent Jat Rajah on his western flank.
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∗ *SPD.* ii. 7. xxix. 27, 33, 34, 37.
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Early in October 1764 we find Malhar Holkar revisiting Rajputana, at Jobner (13 miles east of Sambhar), in order to put pressure on Madho Singh for payment. Soon afterwards, in response to the Peshwa’s instructions and a large daily subsidy paid by Jawahir, he left to join that Jat king in his attack upon Najib in Delhi and the Gangetic Doab. Nothing came of this alliance through Malhar’s treacherous collusion with Najib, his ‘foster son’, and Jawahir had to make an unsatisfactory peace with the Ruhela (Feb. 1765), after having wasted his treasures on the mercenary chief of Indor. Malhar was next lured by Shuja-ud-daulah to oppose the English, and met his doom at Kora on 3rd May, at the hands of Sir Robert Fletcher. His only activity before his death on 26 May 1766 was in the Gohad district early in that year. He had clearly outlived his usefulness.
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Madho Singh, realizing that he could not succeed by arms against the Marathas and faced with the new danger of Jawahir Singh’s hostility backed by all the European-drilled troops and Sikh mercenaries that the Jat king’s enormous wealth supplied, very wisely set himself to conciliate the Marathas as his only protectors. He made friends with Holkar, most probably by bribing Holkar’s diwan, and agreed to make a reasonable settlement of his long-standing arrears of tribute through Malhar’s friendly mediation. As the Peshwa’s agent wrote in September 1765, “At Malhar’s instance we are treating the Jaipur Rajah with every tenderness and consideration, but Mahadji Sindhia has been dunning him for the arrears . . . This Court moves very slowly and protracts business.” However, before the end of that year he paid the current instalment of five lakhs, and proposed to issue orders on bankers for the balance. [SPD. xxix. 99, 107, 108, 102.]
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§ 13. Jawahir Singh’s attack on Jaipur, 1765-1767.
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A vast Sikh army (25,000 strong) led by Jassa Singh Tara Singh and two other sardars, in the pay of Jawahir Singh, penetrated into the Jaipur kingdom by way of Rewari, and joined by the Jat Rajah began to plunder the realm unopposed (late Dec. 1765.) Dulerai (the bakhshi) and Jaychand (the Khan-i-saman) had been then sent from Jaipur to invest the fort of Kanaud which was being held by Ratan Singh Khangarot, a rebel against the Jaipur Government. The Sikh invaders arrived on the scene and encamped seven *kos* from the Kachhwa siege lines. Their strength was overwhelming, and Madho Singh in utter helplessness appealed to Malhar and Mahadji to come to his aid. A Sindhia contingent, some 5,000 horse, under Achyut Rao Ganesh, which was plundering near Kishangarh, on being promised Rs. 5000 daily, hastened to Jaipur. This prompt intervention of the Marathas upset Jawahir’s plans and he patched up a truce with the Jaipur Rajah through Nawal Singh. The Sikhs were promised a subsidy and sent back to their homes, while Jawahir returned to Kumbher. Achyut, arriving near Fāgi, found that there was no work for him; the Jaipur general Raj Singh Ghorcharā gave him and his officers presents and put them on the way of return to Mahadji. During their march these Maratha allies “were beyond their officers’ control, plundered the country and devastated the crops.”
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The detachment under Dulerai bakhshi was now recalled from Kanaud to Jaipur, March 1766. [*SPD.* xxix, 72, 99, 102, 105, 107. xxvii. 109.]
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The insolent challenge of the young Jat Rajah continued as the dominant factor of Jaipur history till the death of the two principals,—Madho Singh on 6 March 1768 and Jawahir Singh four months later. In 1765 Sombre (Walter Reinhard) with his well-drilled contingent of a thousand men left the service of Madho Singh for that of the Jat Rajah. Next year (c. June) Jawahir received a more valuable accession to his strength in the person of the able and honest French mercenary René Madec. But Jawahir’s career was foredoomed to failure from his wilful character. He quarrelled with everybody else. After provoking Madho Singh by invasion and insult, he in November 1767 dreamt of building up a coalition with all the Rajput States and expelling the Marathas from Rajputana and even Malwa! And yet he gave fresh offence to Madho Singh which resulted in his disastrous defeat near Pushkar (14 Dec. 1767) and another reverse near Kāmā (29 Feb. 1768.) These affairs we have treated in the chapter on Jat history. [Barbe, p. 43. SPD. xxix. 128, 162, 162a, 84.]
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After the death of Madho Singh, the Peshwa demanded a succession fee (tikā nazar) from his heir Pirthi Singh, as if the Brahman minister of the Rajah of Satara had become the lord paramount of all India. [SPD. xxix. 248.]
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§ 14. Mewar and the Marathas, 1761—1766; the tribute promised.
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We now turn to the doleful history of Mewar during these ten years. The reign of Raj Singh II (1754-1761) was a long minority during which his weak and helpless State received repeated visitations from Maratha generals and had to buy them off every time. On 3rd April 1761 Ari Singh II succeeded to this impoverished heritage, and though he was of ripe age and reigned for twelve years, his violent fits of anger, ungovernable temper, and insolent demeanour led to a general rebellion of his vassals and the breakdown of law and order throughout the State, which continued for half a century and was ended only by the establishment of British paramountcy and British peace.
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The annual subsidy promised in writing by the Maharana to Baji Rao in 1736 [Ch. 6 § 11] had long ago fallen into arrears and then been repudiated by the Udaipur Government. In April 1761 the Peshwa wrote to Malhar Holkar urging him to march his army to Udaipur to add weight to the Maratha envoy's demand for this subsidy, and also to squeeze ten or even twenty lakhs of Rupees out of the new Maharana as his succession-fine. [SPD. xxix. 269.] But Malhar was detained in the Hada country till the rains by his entanglement at Gagroni, and thereafter, in November, by his war with Jaipur. During 1762 and 1763 no Maratha general could turn to Mewar for the reasons already given. During 1764 and the first part of 1765, Jaipur engrossed their attention.
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In July 1765, Mahadji Sindhia advanced from Ujjain to Kota, settled the Rao Rajah's tribute at 15 lakhs, out of which 5¾ lakhs were to be paid in cash and a quarter lakh in elephants and horses immediately. Only after this instalment had been paid was the Rao allowed to visit Mahadji and embrace him “like a brother.” Sindhia then (August) marched to Bundelkhand at the call of Malhar, who was besieging the fort of Mot. His diwan Achyut Rao Ganesh stayed behind with 10,000 men and collected the Udaipur tribute (5 lakhs) and smaller sums from Shahpurā and Rupnagar (November) actually in the form of bankers’ bills, and then passed into Kishangarh territory in order to put pressure on Pahar Singh, who had turned refractory, and whose territories were now plundered (December.) [SPD. xxix. 96, 99, 108, 102, 105.]
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The financial settlement between Mewar and the Peshwa in 1766 is clearly set forth in the official records of the Puna Government :—
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The Maharana agreed, through his minister Chimanlal Munshi and the Maratha agent Govind Krishna, that his liability up to the end of the year 1765-66 was ... ... ... Rs. 11,80,221
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Malhar Holkar in 1764-65 fixed the Mewar tribute at 25 lakhs, out of which Holkar was to get 5 lakhs, Sindhia 3 lakhs, and the Peshwa ... ... 17,00,000
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The annual subsidy promised in 1736, this year’s amount ... ... 1,50,000 . . . . . 30,30,221
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From this total, the Peshwa at the entreaty of Chimanlal Munshi and on the promise of punctual payment in future, abated . . . . . . . . . 4,00,000 Net total due . . . 26,30,221
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This sum was to be realised in quarterly instalments in four years, namely 11 lakhs in 1767, and about 5 lakhs each in the next three years. Every succeeding year the 1½ lakhs of the old stipulated subsidy were to be collected in addition to the above instalments. Holkar and Sindhia were ordered to collect their shares (5 and 3 lakhs respectively) in four years by instalments, and not to take one pice in excess. [Vad, ix. pp. 266-269.]
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The Rajput tradition given by Tod, that in 1764 “Malhar invaded Mewar, advanced as far as Ontala, where Arjun Singh and the Rana’s foster-brothers met him and negotiated for the payment of 51 lakhs of Rupees” is unsupported by history. The Maharana had not 51 lakhs to spare, and if Malhar had actually collected such a vast sum the Peshwa would have taken the lion’s share of it and there would have been an entry about it in the account-books of the Peshwas which are still preserved. The correct transaction is set forth above. The Maharana’s actual payment was five lakhs (not 51 lakhs), made in November 1765 (not in 1764), and to Sindhia’s diwan (not to Malhar Holkar.)
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Tod’s tradition really refers to Tukoji Holkar, who went to the siege camp of Mahadji Sindhia between Bhaurasa and Ontala in May 1769; but what he obtained we shall see later.
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§ 15. War of succession between Ari Singh and Ratan Singh, Maratha intervention in Mewar, 1769.
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The next Maratha visitation to Mewar took place in 1769 and was brought about by dissensions between the Maharana and his vassals, the curse of every Rajput State when there was no outlet of foreign war. Ari Singh II’s wild temper and foul tongue had estranged the highest nobles of the land, and they set up a rival for the throne in the person of Ratan Singh, falsely reputed to be a posthumous son of the late Maharana Raj Singh II, who had died in 1761 at the age of 18. The Rajput tradition runs that Ari Singh, by the advice of Zalim Singh of Kota (then a refugee at his Court), bought for 20 lakhs the support of two Maratha generals Raghuji Pagawala and Daula Mian,—while the pretender hired the arms of Mahadji Sindhia by promising 1¼ krores, and that Ari Singh’s partisans attacked Sindhia and the pretender on the bank of the Sipra and pushed them back to the gates of Ujjain, where, however, the assailants were routed with heavy loss and Zalim Singh was taken prisoner (13-15 January, 1769.) This story finds no support in recorded history, and from the distance between Ujjain and Udaipur seems to me to be incredible.
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Early in May 1769, Mahadji Sindhia marched from Ujjain to Udaipur in order to back the cause of Ratan Singh; he encamped at Bhaurasa, 16 miles east of the Sisodia capital. Tukoji Holkar went to Kota, but at Mahadji’s request joined the latter with 2,000 men, leaving the rest of his army at Sopārā (c. 10 May.) The two rival lords of Malwa immediately fell to quarrelling about the policy and conduct of the war, as their predecessors had done before them. Mahadji, though hired by Ratan Singh, was induced by Yashwant Rao Bāblé to discard that pauper and come to terms with Ari Singh as the party more likely to yield money. At first it was agreed between the two that Ari Singh would undertake to pay 35 lakhs (25 lakhs to the Peshwa and 10 lakhs to the two sardars) and that the Marathas in return would withdraw from the State and abandon the pretender’s cause. But Mahadji soon afterwards changed his mind and left everything in confusion. He merely sat down before Udaipur without investing the city. As Tukoji Holkar complained in his letter of 2 June, “I told Mahadji, ‘You have not yet run trenches. The rainy season is at hand. The Jat expedition is before us. Let us leave 2,000 of your men and the same number of mine here and march away. If we can cut off the grain and fodder supply of Udaipur, the work would be easily accomplished and the country would come under our control.' But Sindhia did not agree . . . His mind changes every hour." So, Tukoji in disgust left the camp at Bhaurasa on 2 June and marched back to his own station in Kota.
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Twelve days later we have a similar report from Sindhia's camp: "The siege of Udaipur is being slackly conducted. Mahadji can take the city any day that he pleases to deliver an assault. The city contains 5,000 infantry, grain is selling there at two seers per Rupee, but the inmates can get out of it without difficulty. Our guns are not being fired; our trenches are not being carried up to the walls; no effort is being made to capture Udaipur and seat Ratan Singh on the gadi. Yashwant Rao Bāblé had taken from the Rajputs a bond for 10 lakhs payable to the Peshwa in 1½ months, written in favour of the Peshwa. But Mahadji is not trying to make him give us orders for the payment of this money. The time is about to expire, but no prospect of realising it is in sight. An envoy from the Sikhs has come to Bāblé, offering to join with 40,000 of their men and punish both the Jat Rajah and Najib Khan . . Mirza Rahim Beg enjoys the full confidence of Pātil Bābā, and prevents every undertaking from maturing."
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Towards the end of July the negotiations promised to come to a conclusion, and it was reported from Mahadji's camp that the contribution from Udaipur had been settled at 64 lakhs,[*] in addition to which Ari Singh had promised to alienate 1¼ lakhs worth of land in favour of Ratan Singh and five lakhs for Mahadji Sindhia. The attempt to take 64 lakhs of Rupees in cash from the kingdom of Mewar in its then condition was as hopeful of success as a plan to draw blood out of stone. It only left a sore perpetually open between the Maharana and the house of Sindhia. At the end of September, Mahadji at last marched away from the neighbourhood of Udaipur, for aiding Tukoji Holkar, who was then engaged in the siege of Raghogarh in Khechiwara. [SPD. xxix. 87, 233-245.]
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∗ Out of this indemnity, 33 lakhs were provided immediately,—
Linked texts (1)
- Selections from the Peshwa Daftar — Marathi