Aliwardi Khan perfectly detected, that the Peshwa and Raghuji were not acting in unison and were nursing animosity towards each other. Aliwardi, in his letter to Mahadevbhat Hingne towards the end of 1742, wrote, “Raja Aayamal met the Peshwa at Sironj and convinced him to come here. This Garib (ordinary, poor mortal) with the help of God, Badshah and good fortune drove Bhaskarram from Khatwa to Panchet to Medinipur to Cuttack up to Atharpur, chased him, and recovered Bengal and Odisha. He then went to Sambalpur. He was confronted by our men and he was unable to take a stand and ran away like a jackal. This insignificant creature is now headed for Murshidabad. The Badshah has agreed to the destruction and chastisement of Bhaskarram and Raghuji, and Bhaskarram is running away from here unscathed. So, you should inform the Pandit Pradhan in detail and request him to go to Devgad and Chanda (Chandrapur) and punish Bhaskarram, and to stop Raghuji from entering this province.”
He informed the Peshwa directly about arresting Raghuji’s advance and sent him some amount of money for the expenses. However, the Peshwa did not get it, and it was carried off by the Nawab of Awadh in the middle. Meanwhile, the Peshwa received the Badshah’s order to proceed to Bengal and drive away Raghuji from there in the November 1742 at Bundelkhand.
Thus, in a way, Bhaskarram’s state of disarray became beneficial to the Peshwa. Since they had accepted the guarantee of protection of the imperial realms, the Badshah did not have any objection to grant the notifications for the Chauth to the Peshwa. Besides, the opposition that Bhosales at Nagpur had been mounting too, had to be dealt with at some point of time. Raghuji was not ready to accept the principle that the Peshwa was the chief executive of the Maratha Confederacy, and it was pertinent to align his policy with that of the Peshwa. There were instances of the two sides sparring with each other in the regions of Khandesh, Berar, Gadhamandala etc. So, the Peshwa planned to take the benefit of the opportunity which had walked right up to him and took the responsibility of checking Raghuji by entering Bengal upon the Badshah’s orders. The Peshwa’s intention in going to Bengal is documented in a letter dated 8 November 1742 as follows, “From Antarved (Doab), near Delhi, on Hindon River. The news here is, that the Shrimant’s campaign is proceeding towards Bengal.”
In early 1743, Nanasaheb’s emissaries were already in Delhi making demands for the Chauth of several provinces and promising that in return, they would protect the Badshah’s provinces. Chauth was supposed to be a payment to obtain protection and its refusal an invitation to plunder. It was not always one-fourth of the total revenue, often quite less. It was also accepted as a cession of territory by the ruler. Eventually, the scope enlarged to the Marathas keeping a small force for the protection of the rulers in exchange of regular payment of Chauth.
The events in the next few months were quite extraordinary. The Peshwa had already decided to move further east towards the Doab. Crossing the Yamuna, he reached Prayag at the confluence of the Ganga and the Yamuna. On 1 February 1743, a letter from Prayag says, “At Prayag southern bank of the Ganga. The Shrimant was in Gwalior. With an intention to establish control and proceeding towards Patna province, he arrived in Bundelkhand. Then, considering Prayag and Kashi to be nearer, he did not go to Patna, but proceeded to Prayag. In the Triveni Sangam (confluence of three rivers), they all bathed, and all rituals were completed in a very good manner. The Subedar at Prayag also gave boats almost insisting about the same. Many of our people sat in those boats, visited the fort (at Allahabad) and took darshan of the Wat tree (the Akshay Wat is an ancient banyan tree inside the fort of Allahabad said to have been where Ram and Sita once rested, and which has been revered since. It is known as ‘Akshay’ meaning indestructible or permanent, as Badshah Jehangir once tried to destroy it by burning and driving nails into its trunk and roots. However, the tree rejuvenated and lived on). It is unprecedented that three-quarters of a lakh people bathed here. It has never happened before, and it appears difficult in the future too. Unlimited blessings of good deeds (Punya) have been achieved – how much can one write about that! God’s workings are strange!”
At the present time, the Badshah was unable to save Bengal from the invasion of Raghuji, however, he was dependent on the revenue from the province. With Mansoor Ali Khan’s mission to Bengal aborted, Mohammedshah turned to the emissaries of Nanasaheb for help. By then, Nanasaheb was at Varanasi.
A letter from Mohammedshah to Nanasaheb said, “Your services this year have prevented the ingress of the enemy in our province (Malwa). I am sending you a special dress, Shirpech, a horse, and an elephant. It is surprising that the Subedar of Bengal has not been able to extricate himself from his (enemy’s) army. The consequence is this; in order to chastise Raghuji you closed the routes, and we have informed Aliwardi that this will disturb the province. He has gone to Odisha with his army. The enemy reached at this time. However, later he withdrew. The enemy will plan another attack. Our army will be ready. However, the servant (Peshwa) with sincerity in his service and considering the permanence of the treaty (about Malwa) should shut the paths of ingress of these rebels and not allow them to enter the Badshah’s territory. This will make me very happy. I have spoken to Mahadev Pandit (Mahadevbhat Hingne, the Maratha envoy at Delhi).”
To be continued…
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