Fall of the Mughal Empire v2.c29.s2.23

v2.c29.s2.23

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.