The twenty-year-old Peshwa led an army north for the first time in 1740 and met Sawai Jaisingh at Dhaulpur. The very next year he went north again and camped in Bundelkhand. Here, he saw the life of the nobles, the customs, the wealth of the region, the people, their religiosity, and their forms of entertainment.
With the Mughal Empire in decline, the grant-notifications of Malwa in hand, and Bundelkhand, Gujarat as well as Carnatic subjugated to the Maratha rule, the Pandit Pradhan had the leisure to observe the differences between the arid poor region around Pune, and the faraway rich lands his armies governed. He found many deficiencies in his capital city, the way people led their lives, their artistic accomplishments as well as aesthetic pursuits.
The Peshwa was young, he had been bequeathed an Empire earned by his father and uncle. His monarch, in the fourth decade of his reign, was getting old. The young Peshwa had dreams and ambitions, and the more he travelled to the distant parts of the country, the more he thought of the condition of his land and people.
The huge campaigns the Peshwa indulged in in the initial one-and-a-half to two years of his reign in the north Hindustan, and the campaigns he indulged in afterwards, did not show much effect as compared to the expectations. The grant-notifications about Malwa and Gujarat had fallen into his hands. Still, it was taking time for the Maratha dominance to be established in Bundelkhand. Raghuji Bhosale’s affair did not quiet down. The whole of the West Bangla country up to the Gangasagar (Bay of Bengal) in the east, fell under the Maratha projection. But many more efforts and bloodshed were due before all that affair culminated. One huge and most important outcome of these campaigns was that the new Peshwa actually realised the details of the strings of the political activities of the whole of north Hindustan; the objectives of various actors, their different actions; and about the overall situation. On the other hand, the northern officials saw a detailed demonstration of the Maratha capability and power. Due to this, both the parties realised the way the future course of political set up was to be driven. This seems to be the outcome of these campaigns. Here onwards, the Peshwa began to display his real capability. Days of tentative groping and stepping ahead were left behind. It became easy for the ultimate fruit of Bajirao’s valour and enterprise to fall into the Maratha hands. Ramchandrababa, Mahadoba Purandare etc. many other persons became capable to take care of the future administrative responsibilities. Sakharam Bapu Bokil began earning initial experiences in his life.
The above description relates the way the Peshwa succeeded in his activities purely on the basis of diplomacy without troubling anybody with armed struggle. Still, the experiments to drive the Marathas away had been going on from the beginning. On 25 May 1743, the ambassador at Jaipur wrote to Shinde, “Entering into an agreement at the Delhi court, and accepting the responsibility, Gulab Singh has come here, with a mission to threaten you, secure the forts and infantry, join with the Bundelas, and together capture whole Bundelkhand and Malwa by defeating the Ganim (Marathas). Bhadawar’s castellan has defeated Naro Shankar. Therefore, there should be no mistake in the security. Protect the outposts you have acquired.”
Naro Shankar was more powerful than everybody. He and Shindes subdued all the Bundelas and straightened them up. The above letter proves that the Orchha’s ruler murdered Jyotiba in the month of November 1742, and Naro Shankar vanquished them at the beginning of 1743. While returning, the Peshwa had also warned Malharrao Holkar in this relation. The Peshwa had informed him, that the Bundela kings would try and delay as much as possible, and he should thoughtfully resolve the tasks of Chanderi and Datia. Malharrao accepted it. After the Peshwa returned to the Deccan, on 23 September 1743, Sawai Jaisingh died, at the age of fifty-five. Due to this, these friendly relations between the Rajput and Marathas which had lasted for forty years, went on diminishing going forward.
The Peshwa earned and brought with him much money from this long campaign in the north Hind, and repaid the Chhatrapati’s debts. Hereafter, a river of funds began flowing from the north to the south. Nanasaheb’s interest in developing Pune into a capital city that would rival the cities of the north, perhaps arose very early in his reign. From Bundelkhand, he wrote an extraordinary letter to Nana Purandare on 26 December 1742, and opened his heart about what he saw and what he wished to achieve. A striking example of excellent Marathi prose of the times, the letter also reveals the Peshwa’s mind. In it, the Peshwa’s blythe, tasteful nature, intellectual and hopeful demeanour is expressed perfectly. Nanasaheb wrote about the regions in the north, “’To Chiranjeev Rajashree Nana (Purandare) from Balaji Bajirao Pradhan, many blessings. In this province, the ancient Hindu kings are proficient in Sanskrit, deplore the company of courtesans and liquor, are wealthy for seven generations, are well-versed in the arts, have consorts from their own castles, who are also experts and have won over their senses. They seem slightly more in control of their bodily demands too. Their style is a bit inclining towards becoming connoiseurs of art forms; extending courtesies to Gods and Brahmins, just observing it, any non-religious person would also be inspired towards spirituality. The singers here, sing in their unwavering voices, strictly as per the scriptural teachings, they know their Vedas and Shastras well too. The rulers are devoid of any selfish expectations; nursing almost an aversion to enjoyment of the fruits of their prosperity; numerous are their disciples; if one observes from an intellectual and close perspective, these seem to be our greatest brothers in this country; however observing at a high level, they might seem a little uninteresting.
“The gardens and flowers and lotuses here, one cannot count. Seeing their bright appearance, one feels one should pray that they come to our own country. However, perceiving our land to be alien to theirs, even after our prayers, they do not agree to come.”
To be continued…
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