Fall of the Mughal Empire v4.c58.s2.12

v4.c58.s2.12

Sindhia did not fully show his hand till near the end of this month, when he reached Jālnā with his cavalry only, after leaving his trained battalions beyond the Ajantā pass to follow later. An envoy from Sindhia and Bhonslé reached Punā on 31st August, and delivered to the Peshwā their request that he should dismiss his English protectors, summon all his feudatory nobles to his capital and let this Council of Notables decide how to restore the independent government of the Marātha empire as it was in the good old days. The coming of the envoy threw the Peshwā’s court and the Punā public into consternation. It was only natural to expect that the coming of all the three sardārs with their armies would repeat in a threefold form the horrors of Jaswant Holkar’s invasion of last year, the memory of which was not yet ten months old.