PORTUGUESE ANGLE

The news of the fall of Madras to the French reached Nanasaheb, who had to be in attendance to Shahu at Satara. He wrote to Pilaji Jadhavrao on 9 December 1746, that the French were likely to attack the British on the west coast at Mumbai and then, even the Maratha posts of Vasai or Versova, “In the Carnatic the Firangis (French) attacked and took the place of the British. Anwaruddin Khan sent an army, but this was also given a thrashing. They took a few more places. This means they might attack Mumbai or even Vasai and Vesave (Versova). Hence, I am sending you there. In Vasai, you can put wet wood with a little mud around the fort, do not send the horsemen to fight. You are aware of the powerful artillery of the Firangis. Versova is vulnerable to fire from ships, so strengthen it with brave soldiers. Our guns should fire at the ships, they may not be able to stand it. Once Sardars like you are there, the enemy will not be able to approach. I am sending (Sadashivrao) Bhau on a campaign to the Carnatic to distract the Firangis. I had written in the past that you should accompany Bhau. However, you are required at Vasai at this time… in the past the Firangi British had attacked Khanderi, but they were beaten back as the fort was manned by the brave.”

The moment Shahu dispatched Sadashivrao to the Carnatic, Naik got angry and began venting out his frustrations in front of Shahu. On 7 February 1747 a report read, “Babuji Naik is at Satara. He did not complete the ritual feast. The thinking is, present Rajashree with the feast, complete the ritual, and only then embark on the campaign. In Bhau’s campaign, there are twenty-thousand men. The moment Rajashree asked, where Naik would leave for after seeking farewell, Yamajipant informed, he would go towards the provinces of Shire, Chitradurga, Rajadurga, Harpanhalli. Upon hearing this, Rajashree said, ‘Let us see what happens.’”

We get information from Portuguese correspondence of the time about what was at stake. A letter from Goa to the Secretary of State in Portugal in February 1747, discusses a possible Maratha attack on their post at Daman. The Viceroy also asked for troops to attack Vasai but found that Nanasaheb had already sent additional troops to defend the place, “Nana has been detained in the court of Satara for more than a year now. It is learnt that Shahu was scared of him in his Pune court and wanted, therefore, to keep him away from the said court and near to that of Satara to watch him more closely, on account of the jealousy and caution that originated from his power. The junior and senior queens, wives of Shahu, had great animosity with Nana because of the dispute of some lands that the queens wished to gift to one of their persons. Nana was unyieldingly opposed to that gift. Nana began to corrupt the ministers of the Satara court by payment of money. He bribed all the maids of the queens with large sums of money and finally corrupted Shahu himself with very rich presents. He succeeded and planned everything according to his desire.”

Nanasaheb’s own letter of 22 February 1747 gives us his impressions of the matter. The Peshwa wrote to Ramchandrababa that he wished to restore the forts captured from Bhosales of Sawantwadi. However, at this time, it was not possible and the Firangis were not willing to do so. “The Firangi is untrustworthy, he must be taught a lesson, but it is not possible at the present time. We are, therefore, heading towards Bednoor.” This did not, however, prevent the Peshwa from providing the Bhosales with monetary support.

Nanasaheb was, for the Portuguese, the prime mover in the Maratha state. Many of their letters are written with an embedded animosity for the Peshwa. The letter further discusses the other ministers of the court, “Shripatrao (Pratinidhi), Minister of Shahu and enemy of Nana died. Naro Ram, another minister, has reached the decrepit age of eighty. The lone minister, young and intrepid, is Nana now. He has huge forces and a large amount of money. He can soon be master of the entire dominion of Shahu as well as that of Sambhaji II, which, put together will constitute a formidable potency.”

The Peshwa had been at Satara for over a year and a half. In Shahu’s court, Mahadoba Purandare was a partisan, however, Govindrao Chitnis, who had the king’s ear, was considered capable of an independent opinion. Govindrao played a vital role during this time to sound Maharaj about the real state of affairs.

To be continued…

SADASHIVRAO BHAU – DEBUT

In September 1746, Nanasaheb had begun plans to send an army headed by Chimaji Appa’s son Sadashivrao Bhau to the Carnatic. The debut of Sadashivrao Bhau, the Peshwa’s cousin, going into his first campaign occupied Nanasaheb’s attention. It was to be the sixteen-year-old Sadashivrao’s first outing on the battlefield. With the Carnatic becoming an area where Raghuji, Fatehsingh and Babuji were all interested, the Peshwa threw his hat in the ring by deputing Sadashivrao to lead an army there. However, before that, he had obtained the districts of Bednoor, Sondhe, Bankapur, and Saavnoor as his area of conquest from Shahu. To guide Sadashivrao Bhau, Nanasaheb wanted the veteran Pilaji Jadhavraoto accompany him.

On 1 December 1746, the Peshwa wrote to Pilaji Jadhavrao as follows, “Rajashree Sambhaji Maharaj II’s Tehsils Sondhe, Bednoor, Savnoor, Bankapur etc. principalities have been handed over by the Swami to us. Further, it has been agreed that Rajashree Babuji Naik should not enter those regions. The income from these Tehsils should be collected. It is not like you don’t understand whether those people would hand over the revenue collections without the pressure of the army. Therefore, it is necessary that we send sufficient force there. Secondly, the Portuguese have started a dispute against the Sawants. They have captured two or three outposts belonging to the Sawants. Sawants have been the servants of the government from the beginning. They have served well, which is why helping them is must. So, we have prepared to dispatch a strong army. We have thought that Chiranjeev Rajashree Sadoba should be given leave to proceed on a campaign in that province. In two or four days, Rajashree Swami will give his approval. Chiranjeev has never gone on a campaign. Therefore, you will also need to accompany him. Who else but you! If you are with him, we will be carefree. You and him, along with the force, should go to the religious place of Narasimha Saraswati. Resolve the revenue collections for those principalities and collect whatever possible. On the other side, where the Portuguese have mounted an attack over the Sawants, around two thousand strong army needs to be sent there. Dispatch it and help them. In summary, you have forces along with you, send them to Vasai. You remain ready along with all your contingents. The moment Rajashree Swami provides his permission, we will write to you, when you should immediately ride off and come here. Regards.”

This undoubtedly shows that Nanasaheb had secured Shahu’s permission to dispatch Sadashivrao Bhau to the Carnatic. Seeing that Naik would not be able to achieve success, Shahu himself made this arrangement. However, Pilaji was unwell and could not join.

Sadashivrao Bhau left for the Carnatic in December 1746 with the Peshwa keeping track of his movements. Sakharam Bapu, the later Maratha statesman, accompanied Bhau. Bhau first took the strong fort of Bahadur Benda near Koppal from the Nawab of Saavnoor and thirty-six other Parganas. He brought Savnoor under the ambit of Nanasaheb Peshwa’s rule. A secret clause to the treaty was the annual payment of seventy-five thousand rupees to the Peshwa.

Bhau threatened to come down into the plains and attack Goa. The Portuguese took note of his attempt to chastise the ruler of the state of Sondhe, who had helped the Portuguese in an attack on the Bhosales of Sawantwadi, who were under the protection of the Peshwa, “The army of Nana, composed of thirty thousand horses and an infinite infantry, began to march with rumours all over that the march was against Goa. It was rumoured that the army was dispatched to ask the king of Sondhe the reason he had helped us against the Bhosales without Nana’s permission, and to compel the king to surrender the forts of Suppen and Ussua… which he captured sword in hand. Sadoba, a cousin of Nana, a youth of eighteen years who appeared in the camp for the first time with a desire to earn a name… was the commandant of that force… As that army reached as near as three or four marches, I ordered occupation of all narrow passes of the Ghats. I also had the trees cut off and accumulated on the roads to put difficulties in the way of the march. The name of a Maratha creates such a terror in Asia that everyone trembles when it is mentioned.”

The Portuguese Viceroy then opened negotiations with Nanasaheb declaring that he had no intention of attacking Vasai. At Goa, the Viceroy boasted that though all the potentates in the region sent their ambassadors to prostrate at the feet of Sadoba, he sent none. He expressed his happiness when Bhau eventually marched away towards Canara.

To be continued…

NANASAHEB’S REQUEST

This story of Nanasaheb’s removal does not seem only to be a legend, and there are evidences available proving it true to some degree. However, the affair dragged on longer than a few days; in fact, it was perhaps months.

Sometime in late 1746 or early 1747, the machinations against Nanasaheb reached fever pitch and Shahu refused to allow him to come to his court. Effectively, the Peshwa’s powers were taken away. The logical expectation of his detractors was that the Peshwa would rebel and be exposed for being disloyal to Maharaj. The Peshwa, however, played his cards with care.

A letter by Nanasaheb to Govindrao Chitnis sometime in early 1747 after Sadashivrao left for the Carnatic reveals how the situation actually was. Nanasaheb was disturbed at not being granted an audience by Maharaj. He, therefore, requested Govindrao to convey five points on his behalf to the Chhatrapati. The letter supports the narrative of the Bakhar to a large extent, “Many blessings. You wrote that I could not meet Rajashree Swami in the night, so, you can’t be faulted for God’s will. Hereafter, try and seek a meeting in the afternoon and submit the following requests –

1. I have tried hard to resolve all the issues in both the mansions. However, I can hardly do anything if a new one emerges daily. Again, that is still not an issue. I will resolve them. Presently, there are no issues remaining amongst the mansions. They could have agreed something verbally, which we will take care. About the Maharaj’s debts, whatever the Maharaj decides and orders, I will execute. I will not make excuses that I could not do it as I did not go out (on a campaign). However, the order ought to be something I can fulfil. In every strategy in war, there is a period approaching the climax. So, this servant should be ordered accordingly after consulting both the mansions. Maharaj should grace us by doing so in one or two days.
2. If the order is that I should not go anywhere until I have managed to repay the debts owed by the Maharaj, I will not go to Pune. I will go to Pune and Vasai only when Maharaj orders. The strategy for the campaign (in Vasai) has to be executed in the next fifteen days. If the master does not resolve the dispute within this time, the strategy will turn sour. So, please postpone the present situation for a month or two. Later, the Maharaj can summon me again.
3. If Maharaj is suspicious because of rumours amongst the public, that I plan to campaign against the Naik, this can be removed. Whichever district is awarded to the Naik by Maharaj, he can go there. No quarrel will be started without an express order from the Maharaj.
4. Chiranjeev Bhau has gone there (Carnatic). If Nawab (Nizam) too goes there, then the threat we have posed to Goa will lessen. Many other miscellaneous issues will be left hanging. This will spoil our reputation. The Maharaj should allow us to generate the revenue to be deposited in the government. Should everything be done so that I sustain a loss? At least permit me to go two stages from here towards the place where the campaign currently is. I will send the entire army with Pilaji to Chiranjeev and return here at service.
5. News has spread amongst the subjects that the Maharaj has relieved me (of my office). The matter will reach the Nawab’s ears too. That I am in your bad books, and then you reappoint me, may also reach the public ear. Whichever people don’t know they will also get this news.

If, after appealing to the Maharaj with such transparency, he does not change his mind, I will say that the Lord is displeased with this kingdom. I will then abandon all fear of loss of reputation and sit quietly. Please ensure the entire request is placed before Maharaj and get an answer back.”

This letter throws light upon the meeting between Nanasaheb and Shahu and the contemporary conspiracies. This has a reference to Sadashivrao Bhau leaving for the Carnatic. From the month of December 1746 to May 1747, Sadashivrao Bhau was in the Carnatic. Of course, this letter proves beyond debate that Nanasaheb falling out of favour was observed in the initial two to three months of 1747.

To be continued…

SARKHEL TULAJI ANGRE

Manaji Angre did not want Chimaji Appa to have the fort of Chaul and Revdanda, located so close to Colaba, and represented to the Portuguese that he will even pay for their upkeep. However, his efforts were in vain and the Portuguese-Maratha treaty was finalised in October 1740. In the same month, Manaji tried to take over Chaul, but the Portuguese foiled his attempt to do so.

The Portuguese gave the forts to the Marathas in exchange for two villages in Bardesh near Goa and the fort of Daman. At this time, the Portuguese envoy asked for some more territory around Daman, which was refused. Chimaji told the envoy, “Like Bajirao, it is my desire to drive the Portuguese out of India. However, I did not do so in order to favour the British.”

The muted antagonism between the British and Maratha powers had disappeared after Vasai, and the Maratha court looked at the British favourably. There was ample evidence that Chhatrapati Shahu, represented by the Peshwa, and the Maratha navy headed by Sambhaji Angre did not see eye to eye. Keeping in mind the hostility with Sambhaji Angre and the now-on now-off friendship with Manaji, the Portuguese-Maratha treaty of 1740, with prophetic prescience, had this clause, “when we fight with the Angre, the Portuguese will support us in all respects including their warships.”

Although, Shahu did not give up his efforts to bring the Sarkhel fully under his authority, he could achieve only partial success. The capture of Sashti and Vasai in 1739 and Chaul and Korlai from the Portuguese in 1740, had afforded the Peshwa new places to set his own Navy to sea. The island of Arnala near Vasai was used for building new warships. This fleet was outside the command of the Angres and the British feared that the greater resources of the Peshwa would soon allow it to grow rapidly.

The Portuguese, however, had not yet come to terms with the loss of Vasai. On 12 November 1741, Sambhaji Angre wrote to the Viceroy at Goa, “If you wish to recapture Vasai, please let me know and I will secretly make the necessary arrangements.”

The Portuguese too responded on 2 December 1741, agreeing to such a treaty and recommending a unity in operations at sea between the two powers. However, before a treaty could be taken any further, Sambhaji Angre died on 11 January 1742. His death once again opened the issue of succession between Manaji and Tulaji Angre, both sons of Kanhoji by the same mother. Before this, dividing the Angre possessions in two parts, the elder brother Sambhaji had been appointed as Sarkhel and installed at Vijaydurg, while the younger brother Manaji had been appointed as Wajaratmab and installed at Colaba. It was not appropriate to divide the possessions like this. But the Peshwa had felt at the time that this plan was beneficial to him in that it had helped keep the two Angres under his check. After Sambhaji’s death, Manaji went to meet Shahu Maharaj at Satara, trying to secure the office of the Sarkhel for himself since he was next in line for the inheritance. Maharaj announced, whoever frees two most important locations, Anjanvel and Govalkot, from the Siddis the office of the Sarkhel would be conferred upon them. It was a matter of deep shame that the efforts to capture these two locations had been going on for so many years till then. Yamaji Shivdeo was mediating on behalf of Manaji. Later, Tulaji Angre took up the adventure of freeing those two locations, and Yamaji Shivdeo stood guarantee, upon which the office of the Sarkhel was given to Tulaji by Shahu. In 1743, Tulaji seems to have been referred to with an epithet of Sarkhel. While at Satara, Manaji submitted written complaints against the Peshwa and Ramaji Mahadev to the Chhatrapati. In it, the main complaint was that the Peshwa had captured his stations like Paalgad, Mirgad, Uran etc. belonging to him. But Shahu could not resolve these complaints.

From the time Tulaji took over as Sarkhel in 1742, his attacks on the British shipping hurt the Company to the extent of five lakh rupees a year. In 1743, he attacked their ketch (usually a two-mast sailboat approximately 40 feet long) called Salamander, which took shelter in the fort of Colaba. In November 1743, a twelve-hour gun-battle with a British convoy and several of Tulaji’s ships was followed by another on the first day of December 1743, when Tulaji’s Ghurabs had to flee from the scene. When Tulaji attacked forts of Govalkot and Anjanvel in 1744, the British sent two ships named ‘Restoration’ and ‘Bombay’ to thwart his bid.

To be continued…

ANGLO-MARATHA ALLIANCE

The defeat of the Portuguese at Vasai in May 1739 at the hands of the Marathas, led to their territories shrinking to Goa and a few outposts. The forts of Korlai and Chaul held by them were south of Colaba and had a garrison of eight hundred men. However, given their weak position, the Portuguese decided not to retain possession of these and wrote to the British whether they would be willing to take over Chaul and Korlai. The British discussed this offer of the Portuguese Viceroy and wrote back that rather than allow Manaji to get the possession of these strongholds, and the Siddis being too weak to be able to hold them, they should be offered to Shahu. The British refused to take over the forts saying, “Our situation is now so dangerous, as lays upon us a necessity to keep measures with these new neighbours, who would immediately be alarmed with jealousies on our application to the Shahuraja’s court.”

They concluded, “So that there remains no choice but the Marathas, whose effects are already so powerful that the reduction of the whole coast to their obedience seems infallible and sooner or later they cannot fail to get possession of these forts.”

The Marathas at Sashti, only across a narrow strip of water from Bombay, were thus considered such a threat that they did not wish to excite the suspicions of Bajirao and Chimaji by taking over these forts. The Portuguese signed a treaty with the Marathas thereafter, by which the forts of Chaul and Korlai would be handed over to them.

Eventually, it was Sambhaji’s battle with Manaji that did the greatest harm to the power of the Angres as well as the Maratha Navy. In early 1740, when Bajirao and Chimaji Appa were near Aurangabad fighting Naseer Jung, Sambhaji once again made a bid to capture Colaba. To save Manaji, Nanasaheb and Chimaji came to the Konkan, as did Captain Inchbird from Bombay. Sambhaji’s fleet was caught between the Maratha land forces and the British fleet, however, Nanasaheb did not accept the British offer to close the issue and allowed Sambhaji to withdraw.

Nanasaheb did, however, imprison Sambhaji’s brother Tulaji Angre, and carried him off to Pune in chains. Sambhaji Angre, a devotee of Brahmendra Swami, requested him to obtain Tulaji’s release. The Swami assured him that he will get it done and wrote to Chimaji and Nanasaheb. The Swami’s request was complied by Chimaji Appa, who wrote, “You have ordered that I should remove the shackles of Tulaji Angre. So, I have written and it is done.”

Nanasaheb too wrote to the Swami, “There is nothing more to me than your order. I have already brought Tulaji to Pune and broken his shackles.”

Manaji was saved from Sambhaji in April 1740, but the loss of Karanje and Elephanta island to the Peshwa’s army stung him. He felt that the growing power of the Peshwa would soon overwhelm him. He, therefore, patched up with Sambhaji.

With distant campaigns to the south, the north, and the east, the Marathas spread across the Indian land mass in the next two years. Sambhaji’s activities in the south Konkan from his stronghold at Vijaydurg contined, while Manaji stayed at Colaba. Captain Inchbird – the most experienced British diplomat who was well-versed with native customs and language – supported a treaty with the Peshwa against Sambhaji. On 16 May 1740, he submitted his report to the Board at the fort of Bombay, “The Marathas are so jealous of Sambhaji’s power and so many hostilities have already passed between them, that they are bent upon reducing him and will in all probability attack him as soon as a proper season will allow of the entering upon action. Chimaji having at present retreated with his forces up country to secure his family interest and succession on Bajirao’s death. They have been likewise very pressing to gain a declaration of our intentions in case of their attacking Sambhaji Angre whether we will assist them with our fleet or not.

“The Board are unanimously of the opinion that in our present situation and state of war with Sambhaji Angre and the little prospect there is of bringing him to any reasonable terms of peace, we cannot do better than embrace the Maratha party, and assist them in any expedition against him.”

At this time, the British were close friends of the Maratha power. They were also united in their opposition to Sambhaji. In separate letters Shahu wrote to the Peshwa and Chimaji that he trusts them and that “they behave with loyalty”. The talk of a combined Anglo-Maratha force attacking Vijaydurg thus began as early as 1740. It was Bajirao and Chimaji’s death in that year that delayed this measure by over a decade.

To be continued…

FALSE ‘PIRACY’ CHARGE

Piracy along the west coast was practised by the men from the Malabar, Gujarat, as well as Europeans for long. The events of 1685 when two Gujarati merchants returning from Mocha laden with goods were robbed on the high seas sent all of Surat into a tizzy. The British Topikars (those who wore hats) were suspected and Aurangzeb launched a war on the British, who took shelter on the islands on the sea where no Mughal could reach them. The four-year war between them from 1687 led to the British attacking all Mughal merchant ships plying in the Arabian Sea. Soon, even American pirates sailed from the Caribbean to the Indian Ocean region, with the Danes plying in the Persian Gulf.

Although a truce was called in 1690, piracy did not cease. In 1690, after Sambhajiraje was captured and killed by Aurangzeb, the Maratha Navy was practically taken over by the Siddis, and save the sea-fort of Colaba, held by Kanhoji Angre, the rest of the Maratha territory, including their capital Raigad was taken by the Mughals.

In 1692, some Englishmen landed at the port of Mangrol, near Junagadh, and began to sell goods at a suspiciously cheap rate. The townspeople lulled them by an offer of a feast and informed the local Governor, who sent them in chains to Agra. An order was passed whereby all European commerce was to be stopped at Mughal ports. There remained, of course, a strong British presence among pirates, and the name of Captain Kidd comes down to us as one of the prominent ones among them.

Despite the stoppage of commerce, in an incident in 1695, Aurangzeb’s own ship Ganz-i-Sawaiee was taken by British pirates with all its goods, and several Muslim ladies travelling on it were dishonoured. Once again, a ban on all commerce at Surat was ordered. As a consequence, a new system where ships were escorted by armed vessels of the French and the Dutch began. The system did not last long, however, as the Mughals stood aloof from the new arrangements. Eventually, the Dutch protested and left Surat for Batavia.

With fluid political boundaries, slow transmission of orders, and loose administrative control in the eighteenth-century India, each Sardar had a certain degree of autonomy within the territory allotted to him.

Sidhoji Gujar and Kanhoji Angre were one of the first Maratha Sardars of the Navy. Kanhoji succeeded Sidhoji Gujar around 1698. Kanhoji’s father Tukoji Sankpal had been one of the first to join the Maratha navy in 1658 and begun his career at the island fort of Suvarnadurg. The name of Angre came from his ancestral village Angarwadi near Pune. In his days at Suvarnadurg, Kanhoji first crossed swords with the Siddis and was captured. However, he escaped and went back to the fort, foiling the Siddis’ attempt to take it.

Kanhoji’s chief aim was to oppose the Siddis and claim the coastal waters of the Maratha territory as his jurisdiction. He, therefore, insisted that passage through these waters would need his permission. Kanhoji built a strong navy and led attacks on the Portuguese and the Siddis, as well as British ships that did not carry his passport. In case such a pass was not obtained by the ships, they were boarded, and their goods confiscated. The Europeans refused to obtain a passport from Angre and called his acts ‘piracy’. Kanhoji, therefore, became a common enemy for the Siddis and the Europeans.

Kanhoji’s ships were the larger Pals, the Shibad, the Machwa, the Galbat, and the Ghurab. Of these, the Ghurab was the chief, supported by the smaller Galbats which were essentially row-boats that towed the larger ships to the sea.

Ghurabs or Grabs have rarely more than two masts, although some have three; those of three are about 300 tonnes burden; but the others are not more than 150; they are built to draw very little water, being very broad in proportion to their length, narrowing, however, from the middle to the ends, where instead of bows they have a prow, projecting like that of a Mediterranean galley. The grabs carried a number of guns, two of them from nine to twelve pounders, placed on the main deck so as to fire through portholes over the prow, and the rest usually six to nine pounders fitted to give a broadside.

Galbat or Gallivat – a large row-boat of about seventy tonnes, much used in the shallows on the coast of Hindustan from Bombay to Goa; as they are frequently used by pirates, they are constructed so as to carry six or eight large cannon, beside petteraroes (a small gun); which are furnished with forty or fifty stout oars, by which means they are rowed at the rate of four miles an hour. They will carry from two to three hundred men in each, who fight and row by turns.

To be continued…

WESTERN COAST

The Arabs and the Maratha coastal seafarers were perhaps the last to enter the lucrative business of attacking ships with goods for easy money. The Arabs and the Portuguese fought many wars, and once the Arabs even attacked Diu. The anarchic conditions in the second half of the seventeenth century extended to the provinces of Bengal and Bihar, where Mughal Governors came down heavily on the Europeans.

The Marathas were one of the few seafaring people in India who assembled a fleet of warships. The long Indian coastline was difficult to guard and in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the arrival of the Portuguese, the Dutch, the British, and the French led to a chain of ports used by the trading companies, from Chandernagore in Bengal to the ports of Gujarat. The lucrative trade in Indian cotton, silk, pepper, and the market for European goods in India, brought European companies to Indian shores either by acts of Parliament as in the case of England, or through companies managed by the king, as in the case of the French or the Portuguese. Bit by bit, these early adventurers who voyaged over huge distances across uncharted seas, surviving shipwrecks and disease, came to India to make big fortunes through trade. The entire East was open for trade and the goods brought huge profits back home in Europe.

Bit by bit, the Europeans began to build factories and forts, and imported guns to defend themselves. Later, they were drawn into local conflicts, as in the Carnatic. On India’s western coast, the Portuguese were the first and the most pre-eminent of the seafarers and demanded that anybody plying the sea needed to obtain a passport, or cartez, from them. Gradually, this was challenged, and the British and the Dutch began to ply their ships without a Portuguese cartez.

In the seventeenth century, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj founded his Swarajya and gave a clarion call that the rule of the Bahmani Sultans or the Mughals was anything but ‘self-rule’ and in fact, a period of bondage. The Swarajya of Shivaji Maharaj was etched out from his patrimony in Pune and enlarged to the Konkan coast in 1658, when he captured the town of Kalyan. Here, in the inland waterway of that town, he hired a Portuguese father-and-son surnamed Viegas and some more of their creed to build the first Maratha warships. The Portuguese at Goa did not look kindly at this, and soon asked their countrymen to withdraw. By then, the Marathas had learnt the basics of ship-building. The Maratha Navy was, therefore, founded in 1659. The purpose of the Navy, besides defence, was to protect the merchant vessels that travelled across the Arabian Sea to littoral states. After 1664, many coastal forts were built that gave the Maratha navy safe harbours. The role of the British at Bombay was recognised for the value they brought to goods produced in the Maratha country. Their transgressions were kept in check and from time to time, when they supported either the Mughals or the Sultan of Bijapur, they were punished.

The Navy grew over the next twenty years, and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj is known to have gone by the sea to attack the port of Basnoor in the Bijapur kingdom in the 1670s. The names of the first captains of the navy that come down to us are men like Daryasarang, Maynak Bhandari, and Daulat Khan. Besides the Portuguese, there were the Siddis or Habshis (Abyssinians) – and these men came from Abyssinia and joined the Bijapur kingdom. They held many sea forts, of which the chief was the island of Janjira. The Habshis had acquired sufficient strength to rule over a contiguous piece of land in the Konkan, and along with the Portuguese, indulged in religious oppression of the local populace. Maratha rule over Konkan could only be secured provided the Siddi, the most powerful of the rulers there, be adequately controlled. Without a navy, this was difficult. Sir Jadunath Sarkar writes, “Without a navy, his subjects on the sea-coast and for some distance inland would remain exposed to plunder, enslavement, and slaughter at the hands of the Abyssinian pirates.”

The naval arm of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was thus necessary to check these foreign elements. Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj did not just build ships, but many forts along the coast, chief of these were at Colaba, Vijaydurg, and Sindhudurg. On islands near Mumbai, Goa, and Janjira, he erected forts like Padmadurg, Suvarnadurg, and Khanderi to threaten the alien powers. The Maratha navy could boast of two to three hundred ships with six to eighteen guns each. These small ships were easy to manoeuvre and to navigate, some with two masts and larger ships with three masts. Their speed and manoeuvrability gave them an edge over the well-armed larger ships of the Europeans.

After 1680, Sambhajiraje, the son and successor of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, spent many years battling the Siddis and the Portuguese on the Konkan strip. After the Bijapur kingdom was extinguished by Aurangzeb in 1685, the Habshis went over to the Mughals.

To be continued…

CHRONOLOGY – BAJIRAO

A brief timeline that can be drawn for the beginning of the times of Bajirao as follows.

Date	Events
18 August 1700	Bajirao born.
2 April 1720	Balaji Vishwanath dies.
17 April 1720	Bajirao granted protocol robes of the office of the Peshwa.
8 May 1720	Nizam crosses the Narmada and comes to Deccan.
20 May 1720	Nizam captures Ashirgad and arrives at Burhanpur.
19 June 1720	Battle of Khandwa. Dilawar Ali dies.
27 June 1720	Nizam returns to Burhanpur.
20 July 1720	Nizam cantons at Shevgaon.
31 July 1720	Battle of Balapur. Aalam Ali dies.
10 August 1720	Shankaraji Malhar dies.
September 1720	Shahu-Bajirao meeting.
30 September 1720	Pratnidhi’s Bankapur campaign.
8 October 1720	Sayyed Hussein Ali murdered near Jaipur.
14 November 1720	Sayyed Abdullah arrested (murdered later on 11 October 1722).
15 December 1720	Chandrasen defeated on the Godavari.
21 December 1720	Mughals besiege Bhilwadi.
4 January 1721	Bajirao-Nizam meeting at Chikhalthana.
February 1721	Vazir Aamir Khan dies. Nizam recalled to the north.
February 1721	Nizam and Mubarij Khan in the Carnatic.
21 October 1721	Nizam goes to the north.
18 January 1722	Nizam arrives at Delhi.
13 February 1722	Nizam meets Badshah. Appointed Vazir.
May 1722	Haidar Quli Khan arrives in Gujarat.
30 August 1722	Giridhar Bahadur appointed as Subedar of Malwa.
2 October 1722	Nizam goes to Malwa.
8 October 1722	Bajirao embarks on northern campaign.
24 October 1722	Haidar Quli Khan recalled from Gujarat.
5 December 1722	Bajirao meets Aiwaj Khan in Khandesh.
January 1723	Nizam arrives in Malwa.
13 February 1723	Nizam meets Bajirao at Badkashan.
15 May 1723	Nizam starts towards Delhi from Malwa. Azimullah appointed as Subedar of Malwa.
4 July 1723	Nizam at Delhi, meets Badshah.
18 July 1723	Chandrasen fights Santaji Pandhare, Santaji dies.
7 December 1723	Nizam appoints his son as Vazir and himself returns to Deccan.
27 January 1724	Bajirao embarks on Malwa campaign from Satara. Mubarij Khan attacks Shahu.
10 January 1724	Bajirao-Portuguese Treaty.
24 February 1724	Nizam leaves Agra.
27 February 1724	Shahu calls all Sardars.
27 March 1724	Shahu sends Sumant to meet Aiwaj Khan.
18 May 1724	Bajirao-Nizam meeting at Nalchha.
2 June 1724	Subedar Giridhar Bahadur arrives at Ujjain.
11 June 1724	Nizam captures Aurangabad.
27 July 1724	Kamruddin Khan appointed Vazir at Delhi.
29 July 1724	Shahu orders his Sardars to remain neutral.
3 September 1724	Nizam attacks Mubarij Khan from Aurangabad.
30 September 1724	Battle of Fatehkherda (Sakharkherda). Mubarij Khan dies. Nizam declares virtual independence.
January 1725	Nizam arrives at Hyderabad.
28 February 1725	Nizam’s envoy meets Bajirao.
8 April 1725	Pratinidhi defeats Bhagwantrao Amatya at Panhalgad.
April 1725	Bande and Pilaji Gaikwad spar at Khambayat. Pilaji defeated.
April 1725	Marathas start implementing Chauth over Gujarat.
2 June 1725	Giridhar Bahadur appointed as Subedar at Ujjain.
20 June 1725	Nizam appointed as Subedar of Deccan by Badshah. Bajirao granted imperial Firmans.
November 1725	Bajirao’s Chitradurga Campaign.
30 December 1725	Shahu writes Treaty for Sambhaji II.
March 1726	Rambhaji Nimbalkar, Udaji Chavhan, Turktaj Khan cause troubles in Shahu’s territory.
Monsoon 1726	Sambhaji II takes Nizam’s support.
23 August 1726	Shahu orders to get Nilkanthrao Jadhav released.
August 1726	Shahu dispatches Rayaji Jadhav against Udaji.
November 1726-April 1727	Bajirao’s Shrirangapatnam Campaign.
Summer 1726	Nizam campaigns in the Carnatic.
19 November 1726	Sultanji Nimbalkar removed from Sarlashkar office.
End-August 1726	Sultanji Nimbalkar and Chimnaji Damodar join the Nizam.
21 September 1726	Khando Ballal dies.
4 March 1727	Bajirao stays at Shrirangapatnam.
27 August 1727	Bajirao attacks Nizam.
29 September 1727	Sidhoji Nimbalkar appointed Sarlashkar.
September 1727	Nizam instructs Sawai Jaisingh against Shahu.
October 1727	Nizam attacks Bajirao.
5 November 1727	Bajirao defeats Aiwaj Khan. Attacks Gujarat afterwards.
8 February 1727	Siddi destroys the Parashuram temple.
19 December 1727	Sarbuland Khan grants the Chauth of Gujarat to the Marathas.
December 1727	Nizam wreaks havoc in Pune province.
8 February 1728	Nizam marries off Sambhaji II at Pune. Bajirao wreaks havoc in Khandesh. Chimaji Appa and Shahu at Purandar.
25 February 1728	Battle of Palkhed. Bajirao defeats Nizam. Sambhaji II leaves Nizam and returns to Panhalgad. Brahmendra Swami arrives at Dhawadshi.
May 1728	Pilaji campaigns in Daman province. Kanhoji revolts. Senapati Piraji Ghorpade (Kolhapur) dies. Son Ranoji made new Senapati.
6 March 1728	Treaty of Mungi-Shevgaon. Dawalji Somvanshi appointed Sarlashkar. Replaces Sidhoji Nimbalkar.
June 1728	Mohammed Khan Bangash defeats Chhatrasal at Jaitpur.
29 November 1728	Battle of Amjhera. Two Subedars killed. Chimaji achieves unprecedented victory.
13 December 1728	Chimaji Appa at Ujjain.
20 December 1728	Bhawaniram attacks Chimaji Appa.
January 1729	Udaji Chavhan surrenders to Shahu.
February 1729	Bajirao enters Bundelkhand.
12 March 1729	Bajirao-Chhatrasal meet at Mahoba.
28 April 1729	Bajirao defeats Bangash. Govindpant Bundele appointed (at Bundelkhand).
December 1729	Pawar-Holkar capture Mandavgad.
4 July 1729	Kanhoji Angre dies.
27 September 1729	Khanderao Dabhade dies.
21 July 1729	Sekhoji Angre appointed Sarkhel.
October 1729	Jaisingh appointed Subedar of Malwa.
1730-1731	Period of Chhatrasal Bundela’s peak prowess.
1730	Bangash appointed Subedar of Malwa.
1730	Murarrao Ghorpade meets Shahu at Satara.
1730	Shahu invades Sambhaji II. Sambhaji and Udaji Pawar counterattack.
8 January 1730	Trimbakrao Dabhade appointed Senapati. Yashwantrao appointed Senakhaskhel.
February 1730	Chimaji Appa and Udaji Pawar enter Gujarat. Pawagad captured.
23 March 1730	Pratinidhi defeats Sambhaji II. Captures his queens and brings them to Satara.
June 1730	Abhay Singh appointed as Subedar of Gujarat.
10 October 1730	Abhay Singh captures Ahmedabad.
1730	Marathas defeat Portuguese at Khambayat.
12 July 1730	Shahu orders Angre to capture Vishalgad.
8 August 1730	Kolhapur’s Sambhaji II sends Nilkanth Trimbak Pradhan to Shahu requesting treaty.
September 1730	Jaipur’s Deep Singh’s embassy to Satara.
November 1730	Deep Singh meets the Nizam at Aurangabad and returns.
November 1730	Shahu’s Sardars arrive at Panhalgad to bring Sambhaji II for treaty.
25 November 1730	Bhav Singh Toke granted benefice by Bajirao.
December 1730	Nizam starts for Dabhade’s aid.
16 December 1730	Sambhaji II starts from Panhalgad.
December 1730	Bajirao arrives at Surat. Chimaji Appa in Khandesh.
29 January 1731	Bajirao confiscates the Pawar Mahals.
29 January 1731	Udaji Pawar’s benefice confiscated.
17 February 1731	Shahu and Sambhaji II meet at Jakhinwadi.
12 March 1731	Sambhaji II arrives at Satara.
17-28 March 1731	Bangash-Nizam discuss plans on the Narmada.
March 1731	Bajirao-Abhay Singh meeting at Ahmedabad.
25 March 1731	Bajirao arrives at Saanvli in attack on the Senapati.
1 April 1731	Battle of Dabhoi. Senapati Trimbakrao Dabhade defeated, dies.
8 April 1731	Bajirao fights the Nizam near Surat.
13 April 1731	Treaty of Warana. Sambhaji II returns to Kolhapur.
29 May 1731	Bajirao arrives at Satara.
10 February 1732	Bajirao-Portuguese Treaty.
12 February 1732	Bajirao meets Sekhoji Angre at Colaba.
29 July 1732	Peshwa distributes Malwa Mahals.
27 November 1732	Sambhaji II comes to Satara for second time.
December 1732	Nizam and Bajirao meet at Rohe-Rameshwar.
20 October 1732	Chimaji Appa goes on Malwa Campaign.
February 1733	Jaisingh blockaded near Mandsaur.
April 1733	Bajirao attacks Siddi.
May 1733	Pratinidhi and other Sardars enter Konkan.
7 June 1733	Chimaji returns from Malwa.
8 June 1733	Raigad captured.
8 July 1733	Battle of Govalkot.
28 August 1733	Sekhoji Angre dies.
August 1733	Shahu felicitates Shinde-Holkar.
December 1733	Bajirao wraps up campaign against Siddi.
6 December 1733	British and Siddi enter into treaty against Marathas.
December 1733	Pilaji Jadhavrao on Malwa Campaign.
10 January 1734	Siddi Ambar killed in battle beneath Raigad.
8 March 1734	Marathas capture Bankot.
22 April 1734	Shinde-Holkar capture Bundi fort.
July 1734	Rajputs band together against the Marathas.
November 1734	Pilaji Jadhavrao on Bundelkhand Campaign.
1734	Portuguese start building fortress at Thane.
13 February 1735	Shinde-Holkar defeat the Mughals near Rampura.
14 February 1735	Radhabai embarks on Kashi pilgrimage. Returns towards end of May 1736.
28 February 1735	Holkar plunders Sambhar.
24 March 1735	Khan Dauran and Jaisingh fulfil Chauth agreement at Kota.
6 July 1735	Shinde-Holkar felicitated at Pune and Satara.
4 February 1735	Bajirao settles down Angre arrangement at Colaba.
6 November 1735	Saadat Khan captures Ghazipur.
5 December 1735	Siddi recapture Bankot.
3 February 1736	Bajirao halts at Udaipur.
4 March 1736	Bajirao and Jaisingh meet near Kishangad.
26 April 1736	Sambhaji II visits Satara fifth time. Shitole and Ghorpade reconcile.
19 April 1736	Siddi Saat dies in Battle of Rewas.
End-May 1736	Bajirao returns to Pune.
November 1736	Bajirao embarks on campaign to the north this time for Delhi.
10 January 1737	Marathas capture Bhilsa.
1737-1740	Shahu’s Miraj Campaign.
18 February 1737	Marathas capture Ater.
12 March 1737	Saadat Khan attacks the Marathas in the Doab.
27 March 1737	Chimaji Appa captures Thane’s fortress.
28 March 1737	Mughal Sardars gather at Mathura.
28 March 1737	Bajirao attacks Delhi.
5 April 1737	Bajirao returns to Jaipur.
7 April 1737	Nizam embarks towards the north from Burhanpur.
May 1737	Bajirao starts campaign against Portuguese.
10 May 1737	Nizam crosses the Narmada and goes to the north.
28 May 1737	Nizam meets Pilaji at Sironj.
July 1737	Bajirao returns to Pune.
1 July 1737	Chimaji Appa returns to Pune after wrapping up first Vasai campaign.
2 July 1737	Nizam arrives at Delhi. Meets Badshah.
October 1737	Nizam embarks on campaign to Malwa from Delhi.
30 November 1737	Bajirao arrives on the banks of Narmada.
13 December 1737	Nizam and Bajirao battle near Bhopal.
16 December 1737	Nizam blockaded at Bhopal.
26 December 1737	Raghuji Bhosale-Shujaat Khan battle.
7 January 1738	Treaty of Sarai-Dorai (Doraha).
6 February 1738	Bajirao plunders Koyar Pargana.
December 1738-May 1739	Second campaign against Vasai.
29 December 1738	Battle of Tarapur starts.
8 January 1738	Nadir Shah arrives at Lahore.
9 January 1738	Mahim captured.
12 January 1739	Vyankatrao Ghorpade attacks Goa.
15 January 1739	Vyankatrao Ghorpade captures Madgaon.
24 January 1739	Baji Bhivrao dies in Battle of Tarapur.
13 February 1739	Nadir Shah defeats Badshah at Sirhind.
7 March 1739	Nadir Shah arrives at Delhi. Engages in many brutalities at Delhi.
9 March 1739	Saadat Khan consumes poison and commits suicide.
29 April 1739	Raghuji Bhosale attacks Aavji Kavde.
25 April 1739	Nadir Shah issues a Firman addressed to all Hindi rulers and Peshwa to protect the Badshah.
1 May 1739	Nadir Shah leaves Delhi for homeland.
27 April 1739	Vyankatrao-Portuguese enter into Treaty of Goa.
1 May 1739	Passionate attack on Vasai.
5 May 1739	Maratha-Portuguese Treaty.
12 May 1739	Vasai falls into Maratha hands.
June 1739	Inchbird meets Chimaji Appa and Treaty of Thane.
12 May-12 July 1739	Captain Gordon’s embassy to Satara.
3 October 1739	Pratinidhi captures Miraj.
November 1739	Mastani put under security guards at Shaniwarwada.
8 November 1739	Pratinidhi captures Athni station from Udaji Chavhan.
24 November 1739	Mastani escapes security to join Bajirao at Patas.
12 December 1739	Bajirao attacks Naseer Jung.
14 January 1740	Inchbird meets Bajirao in camp on the banks of Godavari.
26 January 1740	Mastani kept under imprisonment at the Parvati garden.
27 February 1740	Naseer Jung defeated. Treaty with Bajirao.
12 March 1740	Naseer Jung and Bajirao meet at Aurangabad.
28 April 1740	Bajirao dies.

The End.

ENVY OF RIVALS

In such documents, many times things are referred to as ‘northern plan’ and ‘southern plan’. But which of them better, which was worse, which was to be taken up first, and which later, etc. comparative estimates are not expressed anywhere in any of the three to four thousand documents. Instead, what we see is the emotion of a dilemma expressed in them. Seeing that Bajirao-Chimaji’s enterprise was succeeding and spreading in a short period of time, the other Sardars began getting jealous of them. They began crying that the Peshwas had progressed, and they had fallen behind. Everybody would feel that their side should become dominant. They felt, they just needed to take some loans from the moneylenders, maintain their own forces, and engage in campaign, to enable their dominance to grow. But the most significant aspect of this, which was individual prowess, was not to be bought by throwing money in the market. These people would conveniently forget this. If everybody would have been able to emulate easily the tasks like roaming around in foreign lands; securing intelligence through diplomats or spies; settling their own control in foreign lands through various conspiracies; if time comes, vanquishing the enemy in open battle; without inherent qualities like courage, adventure, intelligence and wisdom, then every man could have become Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj or Bajirao. Whichever people had the above qualities, they grew quickly. Whoever did not have them, they fell behind with equal speed. Bajirao’s campaigning was like a huge national school. Nobody was prevented from entering it. Krishnarao Chaskar was bad by nature, due to which he was imprisoned; while Fatehsingh Bhosale was a virtuous gentleman, due to which, he remained in the Peshwas’ service and achieved success as much as possible.

The conspiracies that would go on against Bajirao is excellently evident from the affair of the Mahuli fort. On 16 October 1735, Purandare wrote to the Peshwa, “Mahuli fort was captured by the Pantapradhan on 6 September 1735 from the Mughals. Pratinidhi intends to ensure that this is not digested by Peshwa. He is trying to entice the Sumant to participate in his plan to bring the Nizam up to Pedgaon, apply pressure, threaten Maharaj and cause the fort to be returned back just like that. But a bad intent will receive its punishment. Sumant is untrustworthy.”

The Mahuli fort near Kalyan was a gateway to Konkan. Should the Pratinidhi have helped the Peshwa to capture it or should he have opposed him? If nearby forts like Shivneri, Trimbak, Tringalwadi remained in Mughal hands then what was Swarajya? The Badshah had provided Shahu the written agreement about Swarajya. But to bring it under actual control on the ground, his own people went on raising such obstacles. Due to such actions, Bajirao too adopted a policy of always blocking any of the Pratinidhi’s actions. He had already softened the Sumant. Seeing Bajirao’s brilliance, even the Chhatrapati began acting under his awe, then what would happen with others? A capable man always impresses his own persona on any nation. This was what happened with Bajirao too. Kanhoji Angre and Khanderao Dabhade could not do much in front of Bajirao. But they recognised the situation and maintained their dignity. Kanhoji Bhosale was thrown into imprisonment. Raghuji Bhosale would act under Bajirao’s shadow. But he too recognised the capability of the Peshwas and charted an independent path. Fatehsingh Bhosale was sweet of nature, due to which he did not oppose the Peshwas. Chandrasen Jadhav and Udaji Chavhan too began grovelling in front of Bajirao.

This shows that Bajirao had acquired leadership position, not only at the Maratha court, but in the politics of all of Hindustan. He suppressed the Nizam numerous times. He forced the Badshah, Jaisingh and Khan Dauran to act as per his wishes. Saadat Khan could not even show his face in front of Bajirao. Nadir Shah recognised Bajirao’s brilliance, and preserved his own dignity through a letter expressing either friendship or empty threat. Overall, the assessment that Deep Singh had expressed about Bajirao, was correct in all respects. Bajirao’s eye kept on roving about all the primary locations around Hindustan like Patna, Banaras, Mathura, Delhi, Ajmer, Ahmedabad, Surat, Vasai, Kalyan, Goa, Karwar, Bengaluru, Tanjore, Hyderabad, Chanda, Burhanpur, Nagpur etc. He created assistants who were equally powerful and would even die for him. He placed his own circumspect diplomats at the courts of all primary rulers, and promoted the nation’s benefit through them. He generated amongst the Hindi general public both types of emotions towards himself, love and awe. He caused the rise of hundreds of Brahmin and Maratha families under his wings. Many things like this are expressed in these historical documents about Bajirao’s capability.

The way Bajirao’s hard and soldierly tendencies were expressed on a battlefield, similarly, it would be expressed in his speech and letters too as per the situation. Due to his piercing and passionate speech, people would not dare to face him or speak in front of him. Bajirao wrote, “We heard that Udaji Pawar was troubling Kanthaji Kadam in Gujarat. But these Sardars are themselves renowned. For them to engage in such petty quarrels is utterly ignominious. Do whatever you can to achieve final success. Threaten them in no uncertain terms. Show them this letter, that would be enough.”

Such was Bajirao’s terror at home and everywhere around the kingdom. Chimaji Appa himself would first inquire about Bajirao’s mental state, and then go to meet him. His mother and household people too used to fear to face him or speak in front of him. Shahu too would have to deal with affairs as per Bajirao’s wishes. Later, Madhavrao Peshwa too followed in these same footsteps.

To be continued…

TROUBLE IN DECCAN

The Mughal Empire had met its death blow. The second power to face the same calamity in the same year, was that of the Firangi Portuguese. Coincidentally, these two Empires began almost at the same time, and although the European power did not spread into the hinterland, it formed an extremely well entrenched fanatical state.

There the similarities end. The reduction of Vasai and the brutal sack of Delhi in the same months of the year were a study in contrast. In Delhi, the Persian conqueror came to loot, won a military victory and then proceeded to humiliate the Mughal nobility before stripping them of all their wealth and vanity. Women were taken away in thousands by the invader and his men, from the ordinary householder to the palace; men were slaughtered, houses dug up for wealth, nobles tortured, and the most ignominious defeat that could be, was inflicted on the people of Delhi. Mohammedshah, sunk under decades of pleasure and vice, could do nothing more than bow his head, which, to his good fortune, still stayed on his body. The pompous nobles of the realm met a worse fate. Khan Dauran died in battle, Saadat Khan committed suicide, Kamruddin Khan was stripped and ‘exposed’ to the sun, and the Nizam’s property and harem was raided while he was forced to abandon his palanquin for a mule.

In Vasai, the victorious Chimaji Appa was a picture of restraint and moderation. The battle had been hard and the enemy valiant. The loss in men was colossal for the Marathas. The citadel of Vasai lay open to abuse and to loot. The Pindaris in the Maratha army could have rampaged through the remains of Portuguese possessions and burnt them to the ground. Yet, Chimaji and Pilaji Jadhavrao gave their enemy the privilege to be treated like ‘a warrior’. They went out with their heads held high, in uniforms, playing their band, to sail away on ships requisitioned and paid for by the victor. Their women were not just respected but protected, honoured and returned to their families. The contrast in the two victors could not have been starker or the tenets of the ‘Bharati’ war better defined.

The decimation of the two powers meant the Marathas stepped into the space of being India’s paramount power despite Shahu’s pretensions of being the Amir-ul-Umara of the Mughal Badshah. Bajirao’s letter to Chimaji clearly laid out his objectives of taking over the Mughalai – all Mughal assets in the north and the south – and for a while there was even talk of the Rana of Udaipur being placed on the throne of Delhi. This did not happen when Nadir Shah placed Mohammedshah back on the throne before his departure. Even if it had, the Rana would have been a ruler without power and beholden to the Maratha Peshwa.

The year 1739 thus marked a climactic change in the Indian political milieu; it was actually the shell of the Mughal Empire that lingered on, often miserably, for the next hundred odd years. The Portuguese restricted themselves to Goa from then on until the present Indian state evicted them in 1961.

It was time to grasp the prize and pronounce the Marathas to be the guardians of India’s destiny. However, this did not happen and destiny had something else in store over the next year or so. Even then, the Marathas had to tread the path towards supremacy in India and this was to lead to another climactic year two decades later in the fields of Panipat north of Delhi.

There was time on hand for the Marathas. Their enemies had vanished. The long campaigns were done. It was time to consolidate. That was when domestic turbulence reared its head and the rumbling began, this time, nearer home. Looking back, it was perhaps inevitable and overdue.

Stormy days lay ahead, and the finale was to be played out on the banks of the Narmada.

The month of May 1739 was indeed a happy one. Vasai, the last bastion of the Portuguese kingdom of the north Konkan had been captured. Nadir Shah had decided to return to his country.

After Nadir Shah left for his country, Bajirao wrote a letter to the Badshah and dispatched him an offering of 101 gold coins. The Badshah even replied, assuring that all the agreements which had been approved previously will be followed appropriately; the Jagir and Mansab would be granted; however, Bajirao should show that he can serve the Badshah as per the agreement (Dt 17 February 1740). However, the Nizam again began trying to avoid the implementation of those agreements. Here, Bajirao entered into treaties and agreements with all the Rajput kings in Bundelkhand, and strengthened his own control there. In this task, Govindpant Bundele helped him a lot. Bajirao had been working towards bringing the Nizam to his knees and forcing him to implement the previously entered agreements.

To be continued…