Leaving the army of fifteen to twenty thousand men about four miles from the Nawab’s tent, accompanied by Ali Bhai and twenty-one other Sardars, Bhaskarram reached the venue. At the appointed time, sitting in palanquin, Bhaskarpant arrived at the meeting place. The moment he got down, Mustafa Khan and Janakiram came afore, held his hands, and engaging him in welcoming conversation, took him inside the tent to meet the Nawab, but quickly took leave to attend some important task. The Nawab stood up and asked him, “Who is that brave warrior Bhaskarpant!”
Thrice he asked this question to confirm the identity of the Maratha Sardar by pointing of a finger. Upon that Pant was introduced to the Nawab. The moment Pant’s presence was confirmed the Nawab cried at the top of his voice, “Cut all these robbers off!”
Mir Qasim was the first to strike the surprised Bhaskarram. He simply cut off Bhaskarpant where he was standing. The moment they heard the Nawab’s words, the soldiers who had been hiding themselves beneath the awnings, ran from their places and fell upon the Marathas. Before the other Maratha Sardars could begin drawing their swords, the soldiers emerged and began a slaughter. Since nobody had any inkling that such a reverse would occur, they were not alert. Pant had twenty-one Sardars accompanying him. They too engaged in swordfights with the Muslims as much as they could. The whole tent was filled with heaps of corpses and slurry of flowing blood. The Muslims cut-off the restraints of the awning and closed off any entrance to the tent. Mir Jafar Khan, Mir Qasim Khan etc. men, who later achieved fame, primarily participated in this massacre. Mustafa Khan got on his horse to lead his army against the Marathas, while Aliwardi himself stood on his Masnad (seat) with his shield and drawn sword.
Aliwardi’s aides asked him to get on his elephant and leave. In the process he could not find one of his slippers. “I must have my other slipper,” said Aliwardi.
“Is this the time to look for a slipper?”, his aide asked.
However, Aliwardi said, “It is not, but were I now to go without my slippers, you would not fail tomorrow morning to say, that Aliwardi was in such a hurry to get out of the fray that he left his slippers behind.”
He then insisted on seeing Bhaskarram’s head to confirm his death, and only after he had identified him, did he move back to Murshidabad.
The Maharashtra Puran has a different version of events. Gangaram writes, “Then Ali Bhai said, ‘That which has been, has been. Now Bhaskarram is here. Grant him something – give way a little. Make peace with him.’
“When he heard this, the Nawab said, ‘Wait for me here. I must go outside and relieve myself.’
“There was an understanding between the Nawab and his courtiers. Now, as part of the plan, the Nawab rose and went out. He was gone a long time.
“Finally, Bhaskarram said to Mustafa, ‘I have waited for two Dandas (one Danda is twenty-four minutes). I must go now to my bath and my worship.’
“Mustafa Khan said, ‘Let us all go then. We shall return again in the third watch and see the Nawab.’ So saying, Mustafa Khan rose. Seeing him rise, Bhaskarram rose also. And as Bhaskarram was about to mount his horse, he was struck with a sword. A great tumult arose, and all the Bargis who came were killed.”
Accounts of those dead have been analysed by earlier authors. They found that twenty-two Sardars were killed, of which twenty were Hindu and two were Muslims. Of the Hindus, three were Brahmins and seventeen were Marathas. One of the Bhosale Sardars named Raghuji Gaikwad had remained behind at camp saying he would meet the Viceroy the next day. Since he did not go to the meeting himself, he was saved. Realising the enormity of the tragedy and the massacre of all the chiefs, he quickly moved all the baggage and the army out of the camp and dodging the Nawab’s soldiers who had given them chase, took the path to Nagpur. When Mustafa Khan reached Khatwa, there was not a soul in the camp.
The Nawab went back to Murshidabad and celebrated the achievement of driving away the Marathas from Bengal. But here, he sowed seeds of the later vengeance. The moment this news reached Maharashtra it caused a huge uproar. A huge ambition to fully avenge this act rose up everywhere. Primarily, Raghuji, his sons, soldiers, Konherram’s sons and Bhaskarram’s relatives became incensed and went to work at top speed.
To be continued…
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