Fall of the Mughal Empire v4.c47.s1.16

v4.c47.s1.16

The leading actors now left the political stage in rapid succession: Bijay Singh on 8th July 1793, and the long-dreaded Durrāni king Timur Shah on 19th May before it. Next year (1794) Mahādji Sindhia died on 12th February, and his son-in-law Lādoji Deshmukh (Governor of Delhi) on 15th April, and the Bikāner Rajah in the same month as Mahādji. Ahalya Bāi, the most sober and capable ruler that the house of Holkar has ever produced, passed away on 13th August 1795; and Tukoji Holkar ended his invalid existence two years later (15th Aug. 1797),—his death being followed by a war of succession which ruined his house. The Peshwā Mādav Rao II died on 27th October 1795, and Bāji Rao II, the destined destroyer of Maratha independence, came to the Punā throne after a year’s troubled interval. The great Captain De Boigne retired from Sindhia’s service in January 1796, leaving his fine army in the much less competent hands of Perron.