Fall of the Mughal Empire v4.c55.s7.1

v4.c55.s7.1

It was in the best interest of the Marāthas to make some great local chief like the Raja of Patiālā their firm friend and use him as a buffer against the swarming Sikh hordes further west. But this wise policy, which the English instinctively adopted in the 19th century, could not be followed. Whenever Patiālā was threatened by Sikh confederacies from beyond the Satlaj, or disturbed by domestic quarrels, the Raja used to invite the Marāthas; and as certainly, when the invaders retired, he evaded paying the promised price of the aid. A chronic source of friction was Sindhiā's demand for the annual tribute which Patiālā like every other feudatory State owed to the Emperor and which Sindhiā, as regent had to collect. Whenever the Marāthas used threats, the Patiālā diwān or queen immediately called in the trans-Satlaj Sikhs and expelled the weak Marātha forces. No lasting solution of this problem could be reached. Rather, this public dispute was made worse by the private greed of the Marātha generals in the north Delhi district.