At the beginning of 1744, Pant embarked from Nagpur and returned to Bengal with twenty thousand horsemen. Raghuji had given him ample provisions and selected Sardars. With him was Ali Qarawal, a Hindu who had converted to Islam, and was known as Ali Bhai. He was entrusted with the command of six thousand men. Ali Bhai had been with Raghuji’s army since 1737. He had also opposed the invasion by Bajirao’s chief Aavji Kavde. The fresh arrival of the Marathas that year disheartened Aliwardi. He no longer had the spirit to fight and meet ‘sword with sword’. Aliwardi accepted the maxim ‘war is made up of fraud’. Deceit was considered the easier strategy.
The moment Aliwardi Khan got news that Bhaskar Pandit was on his way to attack with huge preparations, he became extremely dejected. Since he was already old, weak of health, and harried by enemies from within as well as outside, he became extremely concerned about ways to resist the Marathas. Since the time he had nursed the ambition to hold the Nawab’s office, in the past four to five years, he had become extremely harassed by constant revolts, battles, and grovelling for safety; and even life was becoming unbearable for him. The Marathas had completely annoyed him. Mir Habib was also behind him. Bhaskarram sent him a message, asking him to quietly deposit the Chauth owed, otherwise he would have to bring out force.
In such a confused state of mind, the Nawab could think of only one terrible solution, to make Pant himself vanish through treachery. In that relation, through his fertile intellect, he decided upon a plan, to destroy Pant through the usual Mughal betrayal, ensuring he and his colleagues are invited for a meeting in his camp, and dealing them a sudden shocking attack. Nawab’s servants, Afghan Sardar Mustafa Khan and his chief steward Janakiram were the two primary gentleman who nursed immense hatred towards the Marathas. He discussed the plan with them in solitude, and enlisted their support for the conspiracy. After that, he took their advice about the details of what trap to set. These gentlemen refused to align with his thinking initially. Therefore, he agreed to give them ample rewards, and got them under his control under oaths. He gave a ritual pledge to appoint Mustafa Khan as the Subedar of Patna. Everything fell into place this way.
The role Mustafa Khan had played in the battle against the Marathas had led to Aliwardi honouring him with the right to a palanquin. His influence rose so much that even Haji Ahmed and his sons felt threatened by his power. Haji Ahmed, therefore, left for Patna, where his son Zainuddin was the Governor. Aliwardi Khan then sought Mustafa Khan’s support in inveigling Bhaskarram into the trap. However, the Pathan chief did not seem interested. Aliwardi, therefore, dangled the bait of an appointment as the Governor of Bihar, after which Mustafa Khan became a willing accomplice.
Bhaskarpant had encamped at Khatwa, while the Nawab encamped at Amaniganj twenty-something miles to its north. Mustafa Khan had sent his messengers beforehand to meet Pant and informed him, “We do not have the power or the will to fight you. (We intend) to ensure that the meeting between you and the Nawab takes place in a respectful atmosphere, the treaty occurs after face-to-face discussions, according to which the Chauth amount will be paid.”
Seeing that his objectives were going to get accomplished so easily without a battle, Pant happily provided his approval for this idea. Mustafa Khan, with Dewan Janakiram, went to Khatwa and “made such solemn promises supported by the most sacred oaths,” and obtained Bhaskarram’s consent for a meeting with Aliwardi Khan.
It is surprising that none of his colleagues or he himself suspected even the slightest, that there was any treachery in this proposal. Pant innocently accepted the proposal inviting him to the Nawab’s camp for the meeting. In such situation, some common minimum precaution is necessary. He was caught in the terrible trap set for him by the Nawab.
As a preliminary measure, Bhaskarram sent Ali Bhai to meet the Nawab and to observe the situation in his camp. Ali Bhai was taken along by the two envoys and “Mustafa Khan in particular, was so proficient in the duplicity which seems essential to the character of an Afghan, spoke by the way so artfully, and he made such an impression on the heart of Ali Bhai, as induced him to expect the most flattering reception.”
Aliwardi Khan himself greeted Ali Bhai with the most winning words and piled him with rich gifts for Bhaskarram. Mustafa Khan then returned with Ali Bhai to meet Bhaskarram and “so strongly exhorted him to shake off the suspicions he had harboured in his mind, that the man became a convert as was already his envoy.”
To be continued…
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