Exotic gifts continued to be sent to the Maratha camp and, “It was done in so conciliating and elegant a manner, that it entirely eradicated the aversion which the other had conceived against his person, and totally subdued and rooted out the mistrust he had harboured in his mind. In one word, the Maratha’s mind was entirely changed: he became fond of Aliwardi Khan, and his heart was so thoroughly conquered, that there is no doubt, but that he would have gone over to him. Janakiram, as being himself a Hindu as well as the Maratha, passed whole days in his company, and by that very reason proved greatly instrumental in this affair. At last, after many reciprocal oaths had been exchanged, it was agreed that Bhaskarram with all his General officers would make a visit to the Viceroy of Bengal.”
Mustafa Khan and Janakiram got all the details agreed with the Pant’s emissaries beforehand. Both of them extremely cautiously finalised all the protocols like where and when the meeting was to take place, who would come afore up to what point, when and what gifts and robes to be presented, etc. without anybody getting an inkling about the treacherous intention. Both of them issued sacred oaths on Qur’an as well as Gangajal (water of the Ganga) profusely.
In any case, Bhaskarram’s intention to obtain an agreement for a Chauth could not have happened without a meeting. The Maharashtra Puran has another version. It says it was Ali Bhai who went and met Aliwardi Khan, unarmed with just twenty-five men, and sought an ‘arrangement’ with Bhaskarram. To him the Nawab said, “’So Bhaskar wants to meet with me? There was a time when he had surrounded Burdwan, when I sent a messenger to him. Had he desired an agreement he would have sent his Vakil to me then. Instead he has razed and looted my kingdom. Should I now make peace with such a cunning man?’
“Then Ali Bhai said, ‘What has happened, has happened. Send two of your Sardars with me, and we shall go and bring Bhaskar to this place.’”
Even when Mir Habib was telling Bhaskarpant not to trust their oaths, Pant ignored his warnings. Mir Habib knew well the way the Nawab worked. He said, “’It is not right that Bhaskarram should go,’ and to Bhaskarram he said, ‘You must not go to him. Do you know what the Mughal’s intention is? Hear me, O Bhaskar, do not go.’ But Mustafa Khan said, ‘Why do you say such things? We two will take him with us and when the agreement is made, we shall conduct him back to this place.’ And Janakiram said, ‘And I, by the water of the Ganga and the Shaligram, swear that we shall return him to you.’”
Bhaskarram trustingly approved all the protocols without any objections almost as if he was in a trance. He said then that it is good and prepared to depart. He asked them how many men he should take with him. While Janakiram asked him to take any number he liked, Ali Bhai said ten or twelve are enough.
“And Bhaskar, as if afflicted with the madness of the time of death was deluded by the words of Ali Bhai and set off. He went with Ali Bhai and others, twenty-two in all.”
The meeting day was finalised as the thirteenth day of the waning moon fortnight of the month of Chaitra, i.e. 30 March 1744, and Nawab Aliwardi Khan went to the meeting place and sat there with his trusted lieutenants. It was Friday, the first day of Vaishakh (although Gangaram quotes this date, it was probably the thirteenth day of the waning moon fortnight of Chaitra, Shaka year 1666, Saturday, which fell on 31 March 1744, which tallies with the date Bhaskarram actually reached the Nawab’s tent; Bhaskarram probably left his camp on 30 March 1744 and met the Nawab on 31 March 1744), when Bhaskarram left for the meeting, and crossing the Bhagirathi camped on the eastern bank at Plassey. Aliwardi had succeeded in keeping his plan a secret, with only a few men privy to it.
A magnificent tent was erected on the ‘Mankara’ field on the banks of the Ganga between Khatwa and Amaniganj, and decorated for readying it up as the meeting place. Tall awnings were erected all over the place and an enclosure was created. The pillars and doorways around the tent were secured by ordering fifty armed soldiers as security guards placed in the ‘wings’ of the tent. They were given advance instruction that the moment they got the signal, they should begin an instant slaughter of the Marathas. It was surprising that this whole plan, which had by that time, spread up to fifty to seventy-five men, remained so secret till the end. This whole incident paints the previous incident of meeting between Afzal Khan and Shivaji Maharaj in such poor light. Aliwardi, his nephew Saulat Jung, Ataulllah Khan and Mir Qasim entered the tent, and Mir Jafar was placed at the entrance. Then, Aliwardi disclosed the plan to his officers.
To be continued…
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