Fall of the Mughal Empire v4.c55.s1: § 1. Administrative divisions of North India under Sindhia
Fall of the Mughal Empire v4.c55.s1
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§ 1. Administrative divisions of North India under Sindhia
v4.c55.s1.1
When Mahādji Sindhia left North India for Punā at the beginning of 1792, he arranged for the administration of the Marātha dependencies in Hindustan during his absence by giving to each of his agents the charge of a particular province. Excluding Rajputana, where the Marāthas had only claims to tribute either for the Emperor or for their own sardārs, but no right to land, and Bundelkhand where they interfered only to profit by the eternal family quarrels among the fifty descendants of Chhatra Sāl Bundelā, there were six regions in which the Marāthas held territorial jurisdiction, though nominally subject to the paramountcy of the Mughal Emperor.
v4.c55.s1.2
The first of these was Delhi city, which included the Emperor's palace and family and a certain undefined area round the capital. But this area was very much smaller than the old subah of Delhi as known under Akbar's rule. The second was the Pānipat region, which was blocked on the north (and west) by a wall of Sikh opposition gradually hardening round Patiālā. The third was the district known as Hariānā or the country north and west of Delhi, and stretching up to the frontiers of the Mācheri and Jaipur kingdoms, in the Narnaul-Shekhāwati districts of the Kachhwā State.
v4.c55.s1.3
The fourth province was the Upper Doāb, popularly called the Mirāt-Sāharanpur district, where Holkar's agents were obstructing the intrusion of Sindhiā's collectors. The fifth was the Middle Doāb, with its centre at Koil (Aligarh), which, together with certain villages west of the Jamunā and south of Delhi formed the jāgir of De Boigne, yielding a total revenue now increased to 35 lakhs of rupees. Mālwa, though situated north of the Narmadā lay south of the Chambal river, and was therefore not regarded as a part of Hindustan proper. Nor was it included in the geography of the Deccan; but its ancient capital Ujjain was also Sindhiā's official capital.
v4.c55.s1.4
During the twelve years that lay between Mahādji's departure from the North and the imposition of Pax Britannica (1792-1803), all these regions were in a fluid unsettled condition, their boundaries were always shifting, and their administration disturbed by invasion, rebellion or brigandage. I shall tell their history during this period in broad outline only, and spare the reader the sickening details of the universal anarchy spread over so many diverse places.