Raghuji was keen to follow Bhaskarram to Bengal. However, he could not immediately do so as the Peshwa had entered his territory in the Chandrapur region and taken the fort of Vairagad barely one-hundred-and-fifty kilometers south of Nagpur. From here, Nanasaheb turned north via Handia, Makdai, Seoni, following the banks of the Narmada, and near Jabalpur took the forts of Gadha and Mandala.
There is a letter from 20 February 1742 that mentions, “We accompanied the Shrimant with our cavalry force on the campaign to Bengal. We will inform you when we return to camp after campaigning in Bengal. Shrimant decided the agreements for various locations en route.”
From this, it is clear, that while Bhaskarpant and Aliwardi Khan were engaging in their different skirmishes in Bengal, the Peshwa had also planned to move towards that province as a first clear indication of what the next stage in his campaign was about.
Nanasaheb was twenty-one years old at the time, but able to hold his own in the complex world of Maratha politics. However, after Bajirao’s and Chimaji Appa’s death just a year earlier, he had to depend on Malharrao Holkar, Ranoji Shinde and Pilaji Jadhavrao on the battlefield. Raghuji had two others to help his cause, Babuji Naik – who lost the bid to be the Peshwa, and Damaji Gaikwad from Gujarat. Thus, two strong parties emerged in the Maratha fold and the rivalry was out in the open.
Raghuji grew troubled, because the Peshwa had invaded his territory, captured Gadha and Mandala stations, and later was threatening his moves in Bengal. Raghuji watched Nanasaheb’s progress through his territory with annoyance. At a time when Aliwardi’s army was severely distressed for want of food, on 4 May 1742, he wrote to Vishwanathbhat Vaidya and registered a complaint with the Maharaj as follows, “We travelled taking the usual stops through Berar and arrived at Nagpur in the Devgad province. On the other side, Balaji Pandit Pradhan, invaded our benefice territories along with his army, besieged Gadha and Mandala forts, and captured them. They plundered the whole region and burnt it down into ash. They plundered two to three Parganas of the Devgad province like Seoni, Chhapar etc. and polished them off. The Mandala king committed Johar and died. This way, they destroyed the regions and proceeded towards Baghelkhand (Bundelkhand) province. We have never allowed any deficiency in our service up until now. Inform Rajashree Swami, that hereafter we too would need to extract compensation. Similarly, the Peshwa’s officer Trimbak Vishwanath Pethe too arrived in Berar province and despoiled territory in the region. What should one write about it in the letter! They already owe us some pending loans, instead of clearing those accounts, he created trouble in the province. Therefore, we had to subdue them. We have defeated and imprisoned Pethe.”
Raghuji held this Trimbakrao captive for the next year. Shahu had to dispatch his own messengers to get him released. Babuji Naik was an opponent of the Peshwa and would act as per Raghuji’s advice. Seeing that the Peshwa had gone to Malwa and Bundelkhand, in the summer of 1742, Babuji Naik went to Gujarat, enlisted Damaji Gaikwad, and to help Raghuji, they both attacked Malwa from Gujarat. This way, this trio had become inspired to arrest the Peshwa’s advance. But the Peshwa was alert. The Peshwa also made special arrangements in Malwa. While the Peshwa was in Bundelkhand in the monsoon of 1742, Yashwantrao Pawar requested him to grant the station of Dhar. Holkar etc. Sardars too registered a strong recommendation with the Peshwa regarding this. Nanasaheb, therefore, conciliated the Pawars, who had fallen out with Bajirao, and awarded the fort of Dhar in western Malwa to Yashwantrao Pawar on the condition that he would stop their depradations from Gujarat. Mandavgad and Dhar had initially been captured by the Marathas in the Daya Bahadur affair. Later, the Mughals had captured them back. Meanwhile, the animus between the Pawars and the Peshwa grew. After that, Holkar had captured the Dhar station on 5 January 1741. That was granted to Pawar at this occasion, and they also got a permanent seat in Malwa. Pawar accepted the responsibility to resist any future attacks by Gaikwad etc. from Gujarat over Malwa. Yashwantrao Pawar wisely began acting within the Peshwa’s orders and toiling hard in the cause of the Confederacy. Recently, he had also resolved the dispute between Abhay Singh and Jaisingh and earned affection of the Rajputs. Thus, the Peshwa did not allow Damaji to enter Malwa by dispatching Pawar and Holkar. He also informed Shahu about this transgression. Shahu protested against this act by Naik and recalled him to Satara for the campaign to the Carnatic.
All these matters detained Nanasaheb in Bundelkhand for a while. That province had many smaller rulers and Nanasaheb spent these months securing the smaller states in the region. There is insufficient evidence available in the erstwhile documents to confirm with certainty the form the Peshwa’s competition with Raghuji took in Bengal. So, the narrative only lists down the relevant passages from these documents.
To be continued…
NDHistories 