The other contemporary work is by Gangaram and named the ‘Maharashtra Puran’. Written around the year 1751, it is incomplete, and covers only the first two years of Maratha presence in Bengal. Gangaram speaks as though he has seen the invasions with his own eyes, however, his exact place of residence is not yet determined. From his language it appears that his family may have resided in Mymensingh in present-day Bangladesh. His narrative begins on similar lines but deviates later. Gangaram describes how Lord Brahma (God of creation) perceives the Earth as sunk in sin. He, therefore, takes the earth to Shiva and pleads with him to destroy the burden of sin on earth. Shiva meditates, and then calls Nandi and instructs him, “’Go now to the city in the south. There is a king on earth, Shahuraja by name. Go to him, and enter his body. Much sin and evil have come upon the earth. Let him send his agents, that the sinners and evil-doers are punished’. When he heard this, Nandi went swiftly to Shahuraja. Then Shahuraja called Raghuraja, ‘The Chauth of Bengal has not been paid to me for a long time. send a messenger to the Badshah.’ A letter was accordingly sent to the Badshah, whose reply came, accusing Aliwardi of having usurped Bengal, ’He, who was a servant who has killed the Governor, he has become very powerful and does not pay me the tax. I have no army. I have no one who can bring him here. He enjoys his kingdom in Bengal in great happiness and has not paid me the tax for two years. He is very powerful in Bengal. Therefore, you should send men there to take the Chauth.’ Shahu read the letter and exclaimed, ‘Whom shall I send to Bengal?’ Raghuraja was seated nearby, and he said smiling, ‘Order me to go to Bengal. I shall take the Chauth by force.’ The king so ordered him. Raghuraja sent for his Dewan Bhaskar, and ordered him, ‘Bring the Chauth to me without delay.’”
These narratives seem to agree that the Mughal Badshah had to remit dues to Shahu, he had no money to do so, and he mentioned that Aliwardi had ‘killed the Governor’ and was withholding the revenues of the province. The usurpation of the province of Bengal had disturbed the Badshah and consequently he asked Shahu to send an army, chastise Aliwardi Khan and obtain the dues.
Writing independent of each other, Holwell in 1760 and Gangaram in 1751 both seem united in writing that the Maratha king was ordered to obtain the Chauth from Bengal as the Badshah had no means to pay the money and no army to punish the usurper. Whatever the cause of the Maratha invasion, Bhaskarram set out for Bengal with an army estimated to be between ten and twenty thousand men, comprising largely of cavalry. Aliwardi Khan, who was returning from his second invasion of Odisha and marching towards Murshidabad, had soon to contend with this army.
Had Aliwardi Khan paid the Chauth, the history of the next ten years in Bengal might have been quite different.
Bhaskarram passed north of the thick forests of central India and reached Ramgadh in Hazaribagh district. From here, Bhaskar rode a further hundred kilometres and attacked the town of Panchet in Bengal. From Panchet, the Marathas turned towards Odisha and reached the town of Medinipur, which was on Aliwardi’s road to Murshidabad.
Aliwardi was close to the place known as Mubarak Manzil and making a leisurely return to his capital, spending his time hunting and enjoying the journey. At this place, a tax collector from Medinipur rushed into Aliwardi’s camp and gave him news of arrival of a Maratha army: “Bhaskar Pandit, at the head of forty thousand horse was advancing rapidly, and tomorrow in the evening, or the day after at daybreak, he would probably be at the very spot’. The Nawab was at prayer and he answered, ‘where are those infidels? And where is the spot where I could not chastise them?’”
Bhaskarram had around ten thousand men, but he had spread out an advance rumour that it was around forty to fifty thousand strong. Hearing of a large Maratha army in Bengal for the first time, Aliwardi hurried to face the new threat. He marched to position himself between the Maratha army and the prosperous town of Burdwan where he reached on 15 April 1742. On his part, says the Maharashtra Puran, Bhaskarram inquired of the Nawab’s whereabouts and sent his spies. They returned and said, “The Nawab is in Burdwan city, on the bank of the Rani’s tank.’ Learning this from his messengers, Bhaskar went forth with his army in the still of the night. The army marched silently, and no one knew of their presence. It was the nineteenth of Vaishakh when the Bargis came, with joy in their hearts. Keeping Birbhum to their left and passing near Gowalabhum, they came to Burdwan and surrounded the city.”
To be continued…
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