On his northern campaign, one of Nanasaheb’s objectives was to consolidate and strengthen the foundations of the Maratha power in Bundelkhand. Bajirao had accepted the enterprise of spreading the Maratha Confederacy in the north Hindustan upon Shahu’s orders. In it, he first established Shinde, Holkar and Pawar in Malwa. Later, through Chhatrasal he got a foothold in Bundelkhand. To achieve Maratha sovereignty, and keep the Maratha threat everywhere equally, the foundation in Bundelkhand was more convenient as compared to Malwa. There was no other shelter for the Marathas more convenient than Bundelkhand, to keep a watch over an extensive region covering Rajputana, Delhi to the west, Doab, Prayag, Awadh to the north, Kashi, Patna and up to Bengal on the east. It was easy to quickly convey military resources from there to any of these places as necessary. Everybody agreed with this principle, and in the campaign of 1742, the Peshwa himself had stayed in Bundelkhand. He firmed up the first of his plans to solidify the Maratha power there. Any previous efforts before this had not had such organised form.
The central point of Bundelkhand were two locations of Jhansi and Orchha. Orchha stood at the erstwhile crossroads, six miles east of Jhansi, near the more recent Banda railway station, with the other erstwhile station posts like Chanderi thirty miles southwest, Gwalior fifty miles north, Jaitpur sixty miles east, and nearby Kalinjar. The Marathas slowly occupied these important stations as well. There were two routes to enter Bundelkhand from Deccan, the one via Ujjain-Sironj-Bhilsa, or from the southeast via Gadhamandala following the origin of the Narmada. The Peshwa had already previously taken control of these routes. The Peshwa himself had demonstrated how to keep a watch on all four sides from Orchha in this campaign lasting for one-and-a-half years.
Even though Chhatrasal and his sons had taken the help of Marathas in their helpless state, many big and small Bundela Rajput princes were ruling at various places. They did not want the Maratha control. The Marathas had begun their efforts to impose the Chauth on these kings too and to bring them under their control since the time of Chhatrasal. Bajirao had appointed Govindpant Kher Bundele on this task. He lived at Sagar and established a tradition to collect annual Chauth tributes on the basis of his military strength. Other Maratha Sardars would also visit as per their availability to collect this Chauth tribute. Orchha was under the control of a Bundela king Veersingh Deo. Six miles to the west, there was a hilly area and a small town at the base of those hills named Balwantnagar. Recognising the convenience of the location, Veersingh Deo built a fort on that hill, which later became famous as the Jhansi fort. Prithvi Singh, the current ruler of Orchha had not accepted the Peshwa’s authority.
The Sardars informed on 12 April 1742 to the Peshwa, “Rajputs were not listening to their own brothers, how would they listen to us! We are not deficient in the service of the Swami. Presently, we have come near Jodhpur. We will act as per the situation. Some revenue collections have been gathered. The region is desolate. We have dispatched the lists from which you will understand.”
From Gadhamandala, Nanasaheb entered the province of Bundelkhand and crossing the river Betwa, passed the monsoon of 1742 at Orchha. The annual chore of reducing small principalities to obedience and obtaining tribute from them continued. Peshwa encamped at Orchha for the monsoon and established his control in the regions of Damoh, Sagar, Lalitpur, Khechiwada, Ahirwada, Bhadawar etc.
The Peshwa wrote on 29 June 1742, “Quite a few days have been spent on the campaign in our own regions. After that when we arrived on the north bank of the Narmada, we resolved the Mandala affair. In the region belonging to the smaller princes, up to eight days were spent for each. All days were spent in the campaign. Thinking about returning to our homeland, the monsoons began and the Narmada rose up in flood. The boats were insufficient. Later, there was Tapti River to cross. The army would face extreme labour and it would cause great destruction. Therefore, we have encamped here.”
To be continued…
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