Ishwari Singh had been backed by the Marathas in the past and he had been promised their support. Now, Madho Singh offered Holkar a large sum for his support and he tried to convince the Peshwa to switch sides from Ishwari Singh. The Peshwa tried to dissuade Holkar, however, he was obstinate on this point. In the past, Holkar had found Jayappa Shinde earning more when dealing with the succession in the state of Bundi, and now he wished to earn from Madho Singh. The Peshwa was unable to take a stand. On the one hand, he asked Jayappa to desist from entering the fray at Jaipur, on the other hand, he needed money to pay Maharaj’s debts. To resolve these matters, he finally decided to personally head for Jaipur and try and patch up matters.
Seeing that the Peshwa had begun to rescind on his word through greed, Ishwari Singh was beside himself with anger. He sent a harsh response to the Peshwa, “Your friendly relation with us has been extraordinarily there for generations together. Through what did the desires of Late Maharaj Sawai Jaisingh and Late Rau Bajirao come to fruition? What all help did Maharaj do for Shrimant? It is not as if Balajirao (Nanasaheb) does not know this. We have never wavered from the words agreed with you. But this is a question of inheritance. It is a dispute related to land. Whatever we owed to the Sardars in lieu of their service has been already given to them. Apart from this, how would everything turn favourable unless we fight for it! How would I accept the status of a bad son by giving a part of the kingdom to my younger brother! Giving anything beyond what was initially decided is impossible. The kingdom is given by God. Whoever He wants to give He would bless him with it. But He has shown us the result of change of headgear.”
In another letter appears a reference, “Now I have proven myself after battle. It is not like Ishwari Singh fears the Rana, Rathods, and Hadas.”
But Holkar remained adamant. On 6 December 1747, he wrote, “We have sent Ranaji’s two servants Kishor Pancholi and Jaisingh Sakhtavat from Pimple to meet with the Shrimant. Madho Singh’s messenger Kaniram has come, who will relate to you everything in detail. Consider what they feel, and then request you to do as you wish. We will act according to the Shrimant’s orders.”
These complications escalated so much, that the Peshwa himself had to go to the north towards the end of 1747. Madho Singh met him. Huge Maratha forces gathered near Jaipur. The Peshwa tried to threaten both the sides, and in a way tried to reason with them.
When Abdali had attacked Punjab, and Ishwari Singh had gone there to help the Badshah, he had to run away from the battlefield to save his life. Due to this, he faced a lot of ignominy for shirking his responsibility. Hereafter, his fortune turned for the worse and he grew extremely dejected. He was extremely angry that the Maratha Sardars and the Peshwa too kept breaking their promises and agreements in the hope of earning money. Ishwari Singh was brave and proud, but since he did not have the inherent qualities of discretion and policy awareness which are absolutely necessary in practice, he became doleful. To top it, the Delhi court was itself going through a period of unstability, with the invasion of Abdali and the Pathans, Vazir Safdarjung’s inability to deal with that menace, the Badshah’s death, installation of his son as the new Badshah, and Shahu’s moody behaviour in his old age due to which the uncertainty that prevailed in the Deccan. If one considers all these events taking place together, one can imagine how terrifying and calamitous this period of the middle of the eighteenth century had become. In such difficult situations, the real test of the executive of the kingdom takes place. From this perspective the overall result was that the Peshwa’s policy was mistaken, and the Marathas had to forfeit the friendship of the Rajputs because of pure greed.
Ishwari Singh was behaving arrogantly. The task of subduing him was accepted by Holkar. “Ishwari Singh feigned supplication, delayed for two months, gathered all his forces, and thought about giving us battle. Seeing his plans, we gave forces with Rajashree Gangadharpant Chandrachud and dispatched him to Jaipur from the Fagai halt. On the second day of the waning moon fortnight of the month of Ashadh, the forces burned down the villages around the city, travelled back two kos from the city and camped for the night. Raja Ishwari Singh attacked the camp. The battle went on for four hours. On our side <name not clear> laid down his life. His side too lost around hundred to hundred-and-fifty good warriors. Two to three hundred were wounded. We forced them to retreat back to a place beside Jaipur. Again, Raja Ishwari Singh himself stepped out along with the whole force. We too braced up. The battle lasted for hours. Seeing their impending defeat, he sent Rajashree Keshavdas to us suing for peace. He agreed that he would relinquish Bundi and completely vacate Madho Singh’s four parganas for the handover.” This war lasted for a month to one-and-a-half months at a location named Bagru 25 miles east of Sambhar.
To be continued…
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