Fall of the Mughal Empire v4.c52.s2: § 2. Nānā Fadnis ruins Maratha national interests by selfishness and want of a statesmanly vision

Fall of the Mughal Empire v4.c52.s2

Language: English

§ 2. Nānā Fadnis ruins Maratha national interests by selfishness and want of a statesmanly vision

v4.c52.s2.1

As regards Sindhiā's money claims, the wildest rumours born of ignorance filled the minds of the Punā ministry. When in December 1784, Mahādji was appointed regent of the Delhi Empire, the Marātha country believed that he had struck an inexhaustible mine of gold, and would henceforth not only pay his own troops but send every year millions of rupees out of the surplus revenue to feed the Punā Government.

v4.c52.s2.2

It was the firm belief of Nānā Fadnis that Mahādji Sindhiā was hoarding all his income in the Delhi provinces by building up a private fortune of his own and dishonestly throwing the cost of his army on his master. First, Nānā's secret agent in the North secured from an imperial record-keeper by a bribe of Rs. 3,500, a detailed copy of the official figures of the revenue of every village that had come into Mahādji's hands as the Emperor's manager. (HP. 360.) Then, in 1790 a list was sent to Nānā showing that Sindhiā had acquired in North India in cash and kind two krores and 96 lakhs of rupees besides 815 pieces of artillery, in tribute collection and spoils of war up to that year. This was over and above the annual land revenue and custom duties of the country in his charge. (Aiti. Tipané, ii. No. 12.)

v4.c52.s2.3

So, when Mahādji, surrounded by still unsubdued enemies in the North, had appealed to Punā for money aid, Nānā Fadnis had replied in exasperated tones,—"Unlike Visāji Krishna and Rāmchandra Ganesh of former times (1769-1773) Sindhiā is not sending to the Punā Government accounts and balances of his collections in Jhānsi and Bundelkhand. That money belongs to the Peshwā. Patil Bābā imagines that the Government here has abundance of money, but it is not the case.. Our debt to our troops is mounting higher. Such is the pressure of want on us."*

v4.c52.s2.4

The fact is, no one in Punā could realise how years of anarchy, war and famine had desolated the central part of the Delhi empire ; large areas had lapsed into jungle, the population had been thinned, cultivation had shrunk, and the actual revenue collection had fallen to a tenth of the normal demand or even less. No money aid was given by the Punā Government to Mahādji in his sorest need, but he was allowed, after the Lālsot disaster, to raise loans from the local bankers on his own account, under Nānā Fadnis's guarantee. These he scrupulously repaid in a few years.†

v4.c52.s2.5

† Nānā to Benares—PRC. ii. 136, 153. Nānā's treasure hoard, ibid, 153; his rigid economy, ibid, 175. Sindhiā's personal influence over the Peshwā, ibid.

Linked texts (1)

Aitihāsika lekha-saṅgraha — Marathi