The situation at Shahu’s court was as mentioned before. The Angre brothers had been engaging in whatever they wished like in the Konkan. Kolhapur’s Sambhaji II and Queen Jijabai II had taken help from Murarrao Ghorpade, and had readied themselves up to pounce upon Satara. Murarrao was desirous of acquiring the office of the Senapati with Shahu. Raghuji Bhosale was also extremely shrewd. If the situation arose, he was desirous of acquiring the office of the Chhatrapati for his son. Shinde and Holkar had brought over them a new risky proposition by intervening in the Rajput war in the north. Nizam-ul-Mulk and his sons had been keeping busy in the enterprise to keep an eye out for the Maratha side to fall weak, and when they could take advantage of the same. Shahu himself had to lie down in his bed, and hearing all the news report from various places, would get frightened to the core. The worry that the Peshwa should not move away from him even for an hour, if he went away, he would not survive, would not allow him to stay calm.
So many people had begun requesting Shahu about the Carnatic, that he fell into complete consternation in resolving their disputes. The Peshwa began a project through his secret plan to flatly deny anybody else any benefit from the Carnatic. Since both the queens insisted for their own candidates, the affair became further complicated. Babuji Naik had not given up his quest for a foothold in the Carnatic, went on a protest fast, and generated sympathy for himself in Shahu’s heart. Since all of them complained against the Peshwa, Shahu too opposed him.
Towards the end of 1745, Babuji Naik embarked on the second campaign to the Carnatic with Maharaj’s permission. From December 1745 onwards, the Nizam began getting news about the progress of this army. He sent some of his lieutenants to face the challenge, and the early months of 1746 were spent in this manner. To arrest Naik’s advance, the Nizam dispatched his forces towards the Carnatic under his son Naseer Jung. By the end of February 1746, Babuji began seeking help to face the Nizam’s armies marching against him. Naik established friendship with the Pratinidhi and secured his help. The Peshwa’s assistants Nago Ram stayed at Aurangabad, Raghunath Ganesh stayed with the Nizam’s army campaign, and kept trying to foil Naik’s activities. After the onset of the monsoon, a meeting was arranged between Babuji and the Nizam. Naik met the Nizam and demanded the control over Arcot, which had not been handed over before.
In the month of April 1746, the Peshwa wrote to Ramchandrababa, “We and the whole army remained at home in the current year. Constantly faced the creditors. If we thought of taking out a fresh loan, nobody had the money. So, collect the annual revenues and quickly dispatch some money. You are already aware of the overall status of things here. About reports at court, it is only the first day today. Sambhajiraje has got stuck on the issue of Babuji Naik. So, Rajashree Swami ordered us to stand guarantor. We have accepted it. Sambhajiraje was given leave to depart on 20 August 1746. He was given two elephants, five horses, one sword, and four protocol garments. He will march-off in one or two days.”
A Marathi letter of July 1746 from Nago Ram to the Peshwa’s cousin Sadashivrao Bhau shows the state Babuji was in at that time, “Babuji and Aabaji (his brother) met the Nizam and said that they had not received the Chauth of Arcot and asked for at least a lakh of rupees. They also asked the Nizam to grant a Jagir and they will render service in lieu of it. They also asked for the income from the Carnatic for the following year, in advance.
“Then the Nawab replied that the Arcot amount will be paid there itself. He said that he will give orders for other payments, however, they too will be paid at those places. And how could he pay the amount due for next year from the Carnatic? The Nizam told them to go to Satara and obtain entitlements, then he will do the needful. ‘You have many enemies at Satara’, he told them. in this manner, he spoke sweet words. Babuji was extremely disappointed. On return to his camp he thought he will severely remonstrate and obtain something from the Nizam. He thought he will perform same kind of Dharna he performed at Pune and Satara. Then, a few counselled him saying, you will only make a spectacle of yourself. He is extremely stressed due to lack of funds. He is unable to get any loans. He sold some utensils to raise money. He is giving bonds to his debtors on the income of Arcot. The income is just over three lakhs, but he has already issued bonds of over six. In this manner, he spends his days.”
On the way back, Babuji looted some Parganas of Chhatrapati Sambhaji II of Kolhapur, and this was the reason in 1746 that Sambhajiraje had come to Satara seeking compensation. The Peshwa, who was in Satara, was asked to resolve Sambhaji II’s complaint against Babuji. Sambhaji II stayed at Satara for five to six months. In that period, Sambhaji II came to know about the discussions taking place there with respect to the future setup, and the investigations for an heir in Ramraja. In this relation, since the secret agreement between Sambhaji II and the Peshwa had still held, due to which Sambhaji II and Jijabai were carefree. In many of the letters they wrote to the Peshwa in the next ten years, they seem to have reminded him of this same agreement. Queen Sakwarbai already favoured Sambhaji II. At that time nobody much anticipated that Tarabai would prop-up Ramraja in a completely unexpected move. But in due course of time, due to this introduction of Ramraja the other claimants fell behind. At the time of Shahu’s death too, while Sakwarbai was committing Sati, she instructed everyone passionately to install Sambhaji II on the throne, and not bring about a completely foolhardy appointment.
To be continued…
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