SHAHU’S SIGNIFICANCE

Even while in battle, there was absolutely no incident where he had given cruel punishment to anybody forcefully. Shahu treated everyone with affection, and reined everybody in. He used to know how to keep his men together. It was as if the so-called negative impacts that his father’s behaviour had on the kingdom, were etched onto his heart forever. He would completely forgive crimes committed by people, and would engage them in the cause of the kingdom. The moment they proved themselves by succeeding in their allocated tasks, he would reward them with huge gifts and Inams etc. and would always keep them happy. He would sometimes display his authority, sometimes request them humbly. He had excellent magnanimity. He would himself lived simply and would draw satisfaction from other people’s happiness and joy. Even when some assassins had attacked him, they themselves could not summon up the courage to raise their weapons against him. Shahu told them, “If the stewards see, they will punish you,” and sent them on their way. “This way Maharaj was Ajatshatru, to whom even an enemy would not feel like betraying.”

Shahu himself was not a renowned diplomat or a creative person, but he utilised people having such qualities. He was an excellent judge of people’s qualities. He used to always pay careful attention to the prosperity of his subjects. He mostly engaged in activities like settling down disused land, providing some concessions to the subjects in chaotic campaign times, reducing the revenue assessment demands, completing new revenue assessments. His sister’s husband Tarale’s Shankaraji Mahadik oppressed his subjects in the Inam villages under his control. There is a letter which warns him after protesting his actions which contains extremely harsh language to the effect, “Such behaviour by a Watandar is not seen from the Narmada to Rameshwar. The subjects are not to be subjected to thievery.”

“Even if he removed them from office, or granted them the office only upon payment of tributes, even after engaging in all kinds of affairs, nobody opposed or disobeyed him. This way, Maharaj enjoyed many days of unadulterated authority through high revenue assessments and huge plans.”

As the kingdom’s primary principal, Shahu would take care of everyone. He would participate in their joys and sorrows, would try to understand their hearts through activities like festivals, galas, celebratory feasts etc. and ensure that his influence remained permanently over them. Bajirao was blessed with boys, Shahu celebrated the festivals of their birth. Much donations were given away, Maharaj himself went and attended the ceremonial feast. All the big and small courtiers had attended these feasts. “Vishwasrao was born. Sugar was distributed. Brahmins were given donations. The feasts were arranged for everyone with Maharaj being given the first priority.”

Shahu would ensure similar care was taken in case of all his important colleagues. On such celebratory occasions as marriages, all the Sardars would treat Maharaj to celebratory feasts. Shahu would bring such occasions about on purpose sometimes.

Another aspect of Shahu’s capability comes to one’s mind. Like Bengal or Madras provinces, the end of Maharashtra’s glorious fortune did not occur in the middle of the eighteenth century, but the Maratha Confederacy displayed huge prowess in the battles at Panipat and Kharda, attained immortality for its name in the annals of history, and lasted around seventy-five years more than all other native powers. Most of the credit for this must be given to Shahu’s calm, quiet and encouraging politics. All the provinces and the kingdoms in Hindustan were in decline. In the past five hundred years a rare Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj had been born who stood up against the situation he faced. The westerners were slowly winning by overthrowing the huge Mughal Empire, one province at a time. In such a time of crisis, Shahu generated a new strength in the Maratha kingdom in the first half of the eighteenth century, and established a sound respect for the Marathas all over the Hindustan. This was not a small feat.

Shahu’s elder sister Bhawanibai was married into Tarale’s Mahadik family. Zulfiqar Khan had captured his two mothers, Sambhajiraje’s concubines, and Madan Singh at Raigad in 1689. Two mothers meant, his mother Yesubai and grandmother Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s wife Sakwarbai. Jotyaji Kesarkar, Moropant Sabnis, Uddhav Yogdeo Rajadnya and many other colleagues were accompanying Shahu in the Badshah’s captivity for eighteen years. When he was captured, Shahu was just seven years old. After he captured Shahu, Badshah employed a Marathi Pantoji (teacher) and facilitated some kind of education for Shahu. Similarly, he married Shahu two times with Ambikabai (Shinde), and Savitribai (Jadhav). Shahu also had a concubine named Birubai.

To be continued…

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…

BRITISH ATTACK PONDICHERRY

The easy collapse of Madras was on account of the little attention the British had given to their defence. For three years, before Madras was captured by the French, the British at Fort St George had no officers commanding their military. It was in December 1746, after the fall of Madras, that the Directors at London decided to appoint the fifty-year-old veteran Captain Stringer Lawrence – who had seen some action in Europe and had been recommended to them – to India. It was another year before Lawrence could reach India. Officials at Fort St David were already training troops to defend the fort. One of these was the twenty-one-year old Robert Clive, who was promoted to ‘Ensign’ in March 1747. The minute of his appointment said, “Mr Robert Clive, Writer in the service, being of Martial Disposition, and having acted as a volunteer in our late engagement, we have granted him an Ensign’s Commissions upon his application for the same.”

Meanwhile, in March 1747 the factors at Fort St David wrote to the Nizam-ul-Mulk seeking his help and accusing the French and the Nawab of Arcot for abetting the invasion against them. The Nizam gave a directive to Anwaruddin Khan – which reads remarkably similar to a letter written by Shahu to Chimaji Appa and Bajirao in the aftermath of the capture of Vasai. It supports the general impression prevalent about the British nation at that time, and tells us why they were generally supported not just by the Peshwa but also the Nizam. The Nizam’s order read, “The British nation, from ancient times, are very obedient and serviceable, besides which, they have always proved to be a set of true people and it is very hard that they meet with these troubles, misfortunes, and destruction. I, therefore, write you to protect, aid, and assist them in all respects and use your best endeavours in such a manner that the French may be severely chastised and rooted off, that His Majesty’s sea-port town may be restored to their right, establish themselves in their former place, as before, and carry on their trade and commerce for the nourishment of the place.”

Naseer Jung went a step further and wrote to Anwaruddin that he was sending an army to punish the French, recover Madras and give Pondicherry to the British. The letter heralds the alliance of Naseer Jung with the British in the not too distant future. To secure Naseer Jung’s help, a sum of one hundred thousand rupees was paid by the British to obtain “one thousand of your horsemen to assist and defend the British.”

In the same month that the Nizam sent his letter to Anwaruddin Khan, and just when Dupleix’s expedition against Fort St David was at the gates of the fort, a British squadron under Commodore Griffin approached the Coromandel coast – arriving from Aceh, a port on the north-western tip of the island of Sumatra. The French had to rush back to protect Pondicherry, which had been denuded of all its troops. The capture of Fort St David once again failed, and it became a springboard for future exploits by the British on the Coromandel coast. Also, it was Anwaruddin’s youngest son Mohammed Ali who helped the British to survive on the eastern coast, and this was to develop into a strong alliance in the years to come. More important for the British was the arrival of the portly middle-aged (now) Major Stringer Lawrence to take command of the garrison at Fort St David.

The mission to wipe out the British on the east coast failed as Dupleix had no support at sea. After he lost the support of Anwaruddin, Dupleix planned to enter the politics of the Carnatic on his own account. He began to scout for a rival to Anwaruddin for appointment as the Nawab of the Carnatic. With Chanda Saheb’s family in Pondicherry, he decided to seek the release of Chanda Saheb from the Marathas. Dupleix wrote to Shahu, Nanasaheb Peshwa, Raghuji Bhosale, Fatehsingh and Shripatrao Pratinidhi and agreed to ‘endeavour to collect’ the amount for which Chanda Saheb would be ransomed by the Marathas and ‘ensure the money reaches you’. The letters written in early December 1746, began diplomatic moves in the Maratha courts that were destined to bring the absentee aspirant to the Carnatic, to fight and become the Nawab of Arcot.

The Anglo-French war continued in the Coromandel. The second French attack on Cuddalore was defeated by an ambush planned by Stringer Lawrence, and in 1748 a coordinated land-and-sea attack was launched against Pondicherry under the command of the British Admiral Boscaven. An attack on the outlying fort of Arriankuppam led to the “loss of a hundred British white soldiers” – during its defence led by Jacques Law and La Touche. The small fort was captured by the British. However, firing on the British fleet from the Pondicherry fort led to its retreat.

As British troops approached Pondicherry, Dupleix wanted to demolish some places of worship to strengthen its defences. Ananda Ranga Pillai, a devout Hindu and Dupleix’s interpreter, was shocked to find Dupleix order the destruction of the Hindu temple of Ishwaram, for reasons of military strategy. Pillai noted that Dupleix could not do the same to a nearby mosque, as he was warned that not only would he find himself without sepoys, but they would fall upon the workers and all perish together. Ananda “sadly reflected that it was unfortunate for the Tamils that they had not acted with the same vigour and courage.”

A little later, Dupleix sent out sorties to repel the British and during one such affair, Paradis, the Swiss officer who had defended Madras against Mahfuz Khan, was mortally wounded. The first recorded act of ‘valour’ by Robert Clive occurred during this skirmish before Pondicherry. When the French grenadiers attacked the British, they had three platoons, of which one was under Clive. The other two platoons abandoned post and the French crept forwards. Clive – although he went back for more ammunition at one stage – stood his ground, with two bullets passing through his hat and coat. This was to be the last British attempt in that decade to take Pondicherry, as the two nations shortly signed the treat of Aix-la-Chapelle declaring peace in Europe.

As long as the Anglo-French war of Europe spilled over on the Coromandel coast, young men who had come from England always had the chance to double up with a military career in addition to their poorly paid job as writers. While Dupleix continued his attempts to remove the British from the east coast, Robert Clive acquitted himself well against French attacks. Moreover, Clive now had the guiding hand of the veteran Stringer Lawrence to guide his future career.

To be continued…

BATTLE OF THE ADYAR

While Dupleix and Bourdonnais were still quarrelling over the fate of Madras, Nawab Anwaruddin was unhappy at the turn of events. Dupleix had written to him that Madras would be captured from the British and given to him. The Nawab began to suspect that he had been cheated. He, therefore, sent an army with his son Mahfuz Khan to evict the French from Madras. It was given the large size of the Nawab’s army, considered a simple campaign that would teach the French a lesson.

The river Adyar south of Fort St George, separated the two armies and Dupleix, probably egged on by the former Nevayat nobility sheltering in Pondicherry, decided to take a stand against Mahfuz Khan. On 31 October 1746, a five-hundred-strong army with three hundred Frenchmen and two hundred trained sepoys from the Coromandel left Pondicherry for the defence of Madras. Paradis, a Swiss officer with Dupleix, led the French force. Simultaneously, letters were dispatched to the Nawab at Arcot and Mahfuz Khan – including one from Madame Dupleix – seeking a peaceful resolution to the problem. Nevertheless, the stage was set for an army or a European trading nation to challenge the Nawab of the Carnatic.

Mahfuz Khan approached Madras from Shriperumbudur, asking the local Nayaks to join his army. He first reached the walls of Madras with his 3000-strong army and cut off the food and water supply of the town. The French guards, who were ordered to remain within the fort, fired at them from the walls. As the shortage of food and water began to affect the defenders, the French commander at Madras decided to oppose the Nawab and sent out 400 men with two field guns. The intention was to remove the enemy from the water tank. Seeing the small French army, the Nawab’s cavalry recklessly charged at them. Undaunted by the sight the French moved forward slowly. Once the cavalry was in range of their guns, the French fired with their field pieces.

Until then, guns had not been of much use in a battle against an Indian cavalry force. The usual loading time of a musket being about fifteen minutes, ordinarily an Indian cavalry could reach the musketeers and begin their fearsome slaughter with swords and spears. However, the Nawab’s cavalry was caught in a second volley that came in a far quicker time from the French gunners. The rapid loading and firing time of the French guns stopped the advancing Mughal cavalry. A third and a fourth volley followed in rapid succession. This time, the Nawab’s cavalry, which was sustaining considerable damage among its ranks, turned around and fled headlong across the Adyar river, losing seventy men and all their baggage. As for Mahfuz Khan, on hearing the gunfire, he mounted his elephant and fled from the scene.

This did not quite end the battle. Early next morning, Dupleix’s four hundred and fifty Europeans under the command of Paradis reached Madras. Not seeing their own men south of the Adyar, they crossed over early next morning, and came face to face with ten thousand of the Nawab’s men. Undeterred, Paradis kept advancing in what then seemed an unequal battle. He then let loose a volley and followed it with an infantry charge. The effect was stunning. The ten-thousand strong army turned and fled.

This rout of a Mughal army by a much smaller French contingent at the Adyar was to dictate battles in the years to come. The Nawab’s army was unaccustomed to a battle fought with European field pieces and muskets. The French sustained no losses in men. Dupleix was ecstatic. To Ananda Ranga Pillai, he exclaimed, “… even if there were 400 men, 50 of our soldiers could easily defeat them. You know very well the disposition, character and quality of the people of this country.”

Emboldened by his success, Dupleix now decided to send an army against Fort St David, a few miles south of Pondicherry. The old Nawab Anwaruddin sent his youngest son Mohammed Ali with 2500 horse and some British troops to chastise Dupleix. Although Paradis had proved himself to be a good commander, he had to hand over the command to Major General Bury, who outranked him. However, before they reached the town of Cuddalore, Bury was driven back by the British. This forced Dupleix to seek peace with the Nawab and send him a gift of mangoes – to which Anwaruddin replied he would have preferred Madras.

To be continued…

MADRAS FALLS

In September 1746, the Anglo-French war began off the Coromandel coast. Commodore Barnett was dead by then and was succeeded by Captain Peyton. When the French fleet that was sent to attack Madras came face to face with Peyton, he panicked at seeing their new row of guns and fled the battle, heading for Bengal. When the British fleet did not reappear, the French fleet under Bourdonnais approached Madras and opened fire. The three hundred men in the fort were hardly fighters. A stray French shot opened the locks of an arrack godown and the British troops proceeded to get themselves drunk.

The Nawab once again asked Dupleix not to attack the British. To this diktat, Dupleix airily replied that he was planning to capture and then hand over Madras to the Nawab. Five hundred French troops, alighting from their ships led the force and called for the surrender of Madras. The British Governor Morse, not the most active of men, asked the Nawab for help. Meanwhile, the French attacked. The firing from land forces and from the sea unnerved the British and Morse decided to negotiate with the French.

A daughter of Madame Dupleix who was married to an Englishman lived in Madras, and she wrote to La Bourdonnais that Morse was ready to talk of surrender. The French occupied the city of Madras on 21 September 1746. La Bourdonnais seemed to be willing to settle for a ransom from the British for the city, and began negotiating the amount with a private gift for himself. La Bourdonnais, interested in loot rather than establishing a long-term political state, had thoroughly looted the village of St Thome along with his brother.

Even the capture of Madras did not really spur the French into making any plans to build an Indian Empire. The entire focus then was to secure an advantage in trade over the British. Bourdonnais was seriously contemplating selling Madras back to the British. His relations with Governor Dupleix, however, were far from cordial. Dupleix refused to acknowledge the Naval chief as his equal. When his victorious ships reached Pondicherry, Dupleix – by firing only fifteen guns in welcome – signalled his own superior rank to Bourdonnais. This led to acrimony between the Governor and the chief of the Navy, at a time when the French needed unity of command. An incisive observation by Ananda Ranga Pillai in his diary says, “The Governor and he entertain a mutual dislike for one another. The former is aggrieved because M de la Bourdonnais does not regard himself as his subordinate, maintains a guard of honour of troopers, keeps at his residence a party of soldiers and troopers, and conducts everything independently, and without consultation with him, whilst M de la Bourdonnais holds that he is on a par with the Governor, and is consequently entitled to all the honours accorded to that functionary.”

The dispute between the Governor and Bourdonnais was eventually settled with an early onset of the northeast monsoon that wrecked the French ships and drowned 1200 men, effectively ending Bourdonnais’ power-base. Leaving Madras in the hands of Dupleix’s troops, La Bourdonnais sailed back to the Isle of France, ending his involvement in Indian affairs. On his way home, Bourdonnais was even taken prisoner by the British. Later, he was paroled and sent to France, where he was charged with maladministration and imprisoned for three long years in the Bastille. He died shortly after his release in 1753.

The capture of Madras had raised French hopes. Dupleix himself wished the destruction of British trade in India. However, he had disobeyed Anwaruddin Khan and feared an attack. And on the departure of the French fleet, Dupleix feared a British reprisal. He considered a complete removal of British interests on the east coast, therefore, as the best way forward.

Dupleix cancelled La Bourdonnais’ treaty for the handover of Madras and transferred all the British to Pondicherry. Among the British prisoners was young Robert Clive. When La Bourdonnais’ agreement about Madras was cancelled, Clive broke his parole and escaped from Pondicherry to reach Fort St David, a small British fort near Cuddalore just a few miles from Pondicherry. Ironically, this place had once been offered for sale to the French by the Maratha ruler Rajaram in 1690. They did not have the money to pay for it and the British merchants quickly moved in to buy from the Marathas. It was here that Clive joined other Englishmen in preparations to defend themselves from another assault by French troops. To kill British trade, Dupleix also tried to remove all the traders at Madras to Pondicherry with their goods. Although this did not meet with success, French officials enriched themselves with the plunder of Madras.

To be continued…

BACK STORY – ROBERT CLIVE

The era of Benoit Dumas saw off the threat to Pondicherry from the Marathas in 1741 without any recourse to arms. Governor Dumas retired to France ushering in the Governorship of François Dupleix. Dupleix was no stranger to India, having stayed in Pondicherry and later successfully managed the French affairs at Chandernagore. He arrived at Pondicherry at a turbulent time. When Anglo-French rivalry had spread across the world, from the Americas to Asia.

It was just two months after Anwaruddin Khan was appointed as Nawab of Arcot – and Bhaskarram was assassinated in Bengal – that the British East India Company ship Winchester reached Madras. It was the end of a long journey that began on the Thames on 10 March 1743. The ship left along with a sister ship named Princess Louisa, which was wrecked six hundred kilometres off the West African city of Dakar with all lives lost. The Winchester, however, survived the winds and storms, but was swept towards Brazil, where it ran aground and needed extensive repairs. From May 1743 to February 1744, the ship was in Brazil. It could then head for the Cape of Good Hope, where after a brief halt of eleven days, it endured the rough crossing of the Indian Ocean and reached Madras on 31 May 1744. It was a warm evening when the ship dropped anchor, and next morning, a boy-man not yet nineteen years old, landed on Indian soil with the designation of ‘writer’. His name was Robert Clive.

Robert Clive was born in 1725 to Richard and Rebecca at Styche, but his childhood was spent with his aunt at Manchester. At the age of nine, when his aunt died, he moved to London to live with his parents. ‘High-spirited’ is a word used by chroniclers of Clive, who mention some of his exploits in school that involved ‘climbing up a church wall to place a stone on a spout projecting from a gargoyle.’ Employment in the British East India Company – founded in 1600 but enlarged when it was reconstituted in 1709 – was an attractive career for a young man in England at the time. Its trade was nearly a fifth of all of Britain’s imports, it was close to the Government and a job in the Company was considered lucrative. The Company paid poorly but expected its employees to make their profits by private trade. Richard Clive could get Robert a job as a ‘writer’ in the company and his first appointment was at Madras. On his way to India, besides being grounded off Brazil and losing the sister ship in a storm, he also managed to fall overboard and lose his ‘silver-buckled shoes, hat and wig’. On his first day in India, therefore, one finds Clive buying a hat, a wig, and a pair of silver buckles, among other sundries.

At Pondicherry, the French did not have the defences the city needed against any British attack. The situation in Europe was fluid, but in 1744, war finally broke out with England and France opposed to each other in the war of Austrian succession. In reality, this was a battle to win the lucrative slave trade to the Americas and win territory in the new continent. The norm so far had been to insulate the Indian colonies from the wars. However, French trade in India was rising rapidly and could soon prove a threat to the British interests, and this would soon bring a European war to India.

In 1744, it was England that broke the convention and had a fleet sail to India under Captain Peyton. Dupleix – as indeed the British Governor Morse of Fort St George in Madras – depended on these fleets from Europe to tilt the balance of power in India. Bernard La Bourdonnais, the French naval commander had begun from France with a fleet to India some time earlier, however, when he reached the French-controlled Isle of France (now Mauritius), he was ordered to send his ships back by his rivals at the French court. Annoyed but helpless, La Bourdonnais sent the ships back, but commenced to build a new fleet at the Isle. This was the fleet that Dupleix requisitioned later, in his hour of need.

Anwaruddin Khan was already an old man when he became the Nawab of Arcot. Although the Nizam had been disappointed with the murder of the young Nawab Sadatullah II, he found no better choice than Anwaruddin to take his place. In the process, however, he ended the dynastic aspirations of the Nevayats and created a divide in the Carnatic. Of the Nevayats, Chanda Saheb was still in Maratha custody and striving to get his freedom, while Murtuza Ali remained at Vellore.

Anwaruddin was not oblivious to the rivalry between the French and the British. In 1745, he visited Pondicherry as well as the British port of Fort St David nearby, and wrote to Madras forbidding any hostilities between the two European powers. Governor Morse of Madras replied saying he would “not be the first” to disobey the Nawab. However, in the next year, matters got out of hand. The defences of Madras were, of course, quite ‘deplorable’. Commodore Barnett who had just been appointed to command the British ships in India in 1745 felt, “Such is the naked defenceless condition of the settlement on this the Coromandel coast, that a small reinforcement of the garrison of Pondicherry would put the enemy in condition to take this and St David in a few hours if there was no ship of war to protect them.”

To be continued…

ANGLO-FRENCH RIVALRY

Although the East India Company began operations at Surat on the west coast of India in the early seventeenth century, on the eastern side they began their trade at Machhlipatnam, sharing space with the more successful Dutch Company. Dutch and Portuguese rivalry, along with their inability to secure the local rulers’ support, soon forced the British to scout for a new place. Francis Day, one of their constituents, chose Madraspatnam further south. Madras was not a good harbour. However, the local Nayak rulers offered a good deal with favourable trade and customs’ duties, and permission to start a mint; all for a rent of two thousand Pagodas per annum. Francis Day had another reason to choose Madras. His mistress lived nearby at St Thome.

Soon, the British built Fort St George, which became the chief place of settlement for the Company in the south. The Dutch and the Portuguese were already there and the competition for trade sometimes became too intense. It was as late as in 1665 that the French formed their trading Company and the first French ships arrived in India.

In those years of European rivalry, Louis XIV of France ‘lured’ King Charles II of England to a treaty against the Dutch by sending him an ‘artful beauty’ named Louise Keroualle, and she succeeded in getting the English king to ‘sell’ himself to the French sovereign. Louise from all accounts was a formidable lady. She worked her way to become the English king’s chief mistress and also acted as a French spy, besides genuinely caring for Charles II. The Anglo-French alliance against the Dutch, a fellow Protestant state, was resented by the English people at the time.

In 1672, French ships reached Indian shores and they captured the town of St Thome near Madras from the Qutubshah of Golconda, where they began their trade. The Dutch were still at war with the French, and after two years, succeeded in evicting them from the place. Not long after, the French under François Martin outbid the Dutch and established their colony at Pondicherry in 1675. It was in 1677 that Maratha ruler Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj came to the Carnatic, and the Marathas occupied the region for the next two decades, until the fort of Jinji was surrendered to Mughal forces in 1698.

François Martin built Pondicherry, and although it was lost to the Dutch for a brief period, it became the principal French settlement in India. In 1688, Chandernagore was established on the river Hooghly in Bengal by obtaining a Firman from Aurangzeb. From 1713 onwards, the French and the British lived in peace in India, both earning handsome sums from their business activities. The key was to obtain cotton cloth to export to Europe and sell European broadcloth and woollens to India. The demand for woollens in a place like Madras can be easily imagined. Dedicated weavers who would supply goods to the traders were the key to massive profits. If the traders abandoned the place due to war, the colony also suffered.

This disturbance of trade and profit was the key to the conflicts with Indian powers as well as among the Europeans, and to the trading companies progressively building their own local militia with a few imported guns. Soon the French Navy and the Royal Navy began to participate in Indian wars. The companies were not on their own; while the British Company was supported by Parliament for the profit they brought Britain, the French Company was under the control of the King and his ministers. In a way, therefore, the British Company had greater latitude and independence before they were ‘controlled’ by Parliament.

The distance and time for a message to be replied from home countries took several months, and in the meanwhile, the situation in India often changed. The local Governor, therefore, had to take decisions on the spot. It was this autonomy that made the European Governors such powerful decision makers. Even then, without the support of the nation’s Navy, they could not achieve much.

During this time, the Nawabs of the Carnatic also depended on the French Governor Benoit Dumas for the security of their families and treasures. The friendly relations that existed between Arcot’s Nevayat Nawabs and the French colony, however, did not last. On the departure of Dumas, Dupleix took over as the Governor of Pondicherry in 1742, and as we shall see, Nawab Anwaruddin began to move away from the French.

To be continued…

SHAHU’S JUDGEMENT

Shahu was a discerning judge of men. In fact, one can say, that he had perfectly carried out the responsibility to recognise the inherent capability in each of his men, and giving them the field of activity that would make perfect use of that capability to aid the kingdom in the end. Whatever little capability still remained residual in the Maharashtrians in those declining years of the eighteenth century, Shahu showed to the world a way to utilise it. One cannot hold him, or some specific person responsible, saying Shahu did not ensure that the independence of the Maratha Confederacy was made permanent. The whole nation was responsible for it. Shahu displayed a great foresight in handing over the reins of the kingdom to a youth like Nanasaheb. Shahu’s thoughts must have been vastly different in the two incidents – first when he handed over the office of the Peshwa to Bajirao in 1720, and then giving the same responsibilities to Nanasaheb twenty years afterwards. Both the events were different. Shahu was in the prime of his life then, while he was growing old now. Shahu would always remain suspicious about Bajirao, while he was never so about Nanasaheb. He would consider Nanasaheb as his own son. The task which Shahu had entrusted to Bajirao while giving him the office of the Peshwa, Bajirao had fulfilled the same to a large extent and expanded the kingdom. So, Shahu’s expectation that Nanasaheb would go beyond Bajirao and display even more wonderful results, was not in vain. At that time, the Pratinidhi did not even have the strength to manage his own affairs. Even though Raghuji Bhosale and other Sardars were brave and capable in their own individual capacities, they themselves did not consider them worthy of taking up the difficult responsibility of holding the kingdom together by controlling the strings of the office of the Peshwa. Shahu entrusted the reins of the administration to a youth like Nana. Due to this, at least fifty to sixty years were added to the overall life of the Maratha Confederacy. Otherwise, the Confederacy would have met its own Plassey even before Panipat the way Plassey occurred in 1757. If one reads the contemporary British accounts, and goes through their secret plans of the time, one can safely say, that Nanasaheb Peshwa must be given the credit to ensure that Satara did not see the advent of British Empire like Madras and Bengal around 1757.

The erstwhile Bakhar historians mention, “Bajirao Ballal Peshwa went to the Lord’s abode Kailasa on the thirteenth day of the waxing moon fortnight of the month of Vaishakh. Maharaj felt very sad. The morning drums were kept silent for three days. Office was closed. His mood remained bleak. After this, he gave the office of the Peshwa to Balaji Bajirao alias Nanasaheb. It was a big ceremony. All the Sardars and officials were given celebratory garments by the government. Maharaj told the court assembly, that Bajirao, in his short lifespan and his prime, had achieved success in five to ten campaigns of the kingdom. He earned funds for the government too. He did not waver from the cause. Balajipant (Nanasaheb) was young but wise. Everything will be fine. But he demanded one thing from everybody. If they all agreed to provide him that, he would state the demand openly. Upon that, everybody requested him to state, what was such a thing that they held but not the Maharaj himself. If they did not offer him, then their life was a waste. They were even ready to lay down their life upon his orders. It was just a matter of those orders being issued. Their service would never be found deficient. Upon hearing affirmations from them, Maharaj replied that he would relate his demand. Maharaj began saying, that Balajipant (Nanasaheb) is young. He would make huge plans, would try and execute them, sometimes even show his youthful inexperience. Without allowing their egos to impair their judgment, they all ought to sometimes ignore his mistakes, align themselves with his plans wholeheartedly, should display their loyalty to the throne and help him achieve great success. This was the Maharaj’s demand. Upon this, everybody paid their obeisance to the Maharaj, stated that Maharaj should focus on the Peshwa, and pledged upon God that if any of them committed treason, God Himself would never allow them a grain of food at Maharaj’s court. Everybody replayed the same oath. Maharaj was satisfied and bade them farewell.”

Among the many creditors of the late Bajirao Peshwa was Babuji Naik, who had lost the race to be appointed Peshwa. Miffed, he decided to embarrass Nanasaheb, who was beholden to pay his father Bajirao’s debts. At Bajirao’s death, a debt of fourteen lakh rupees was outstanding, and of this, Babuji Naik was owed thirty-six thousand rupees. A year after Bajirao’s demise, Babuji insisted that his debt be repaid at once. The embarrassed Peshwa had no ready money and the matter soon became a public spectacle. There was a custom called Dharna, wherein a Brahmin would sit and fast at the door of the debtor, and the fast continued either till the debt is paid or the Brahmin dies. Brahmahatya (death of a Brahmin) was considered a grievous sin on the head of the debtor. The daily embarrassment of the Dharna at the Peshwa’s door was finally cut short by Mahadaji Purandare who paid off the debt. The Peshwa then ordered Babuji Naik to leave Pune. Shahu, however, in keeping with his mild nature, gave Babuji a Jagir in the nearby town of Baramati instead, where his family stayed from then on.

With his attempt to foist his own man as Peshwa ending in failure, Raghuji returned to the Carnatic with Babuji Naik, and Nanasaheb returned to Pune with his uncle and mentor Chimaji Appa. Raghuji’s efforts to deny Nanasaheb the appointment of the Peshwa coupled with his previous animosity towards Bajirao were to dictate relations of Babuji and Raghuji with Nanasaheb in the coming years. It would not be long before the feud would come to a head.

To be continued…

BATTLE OF DAMALCHERI

The Maratha army first reached the town of Kurnool, a little more than five hundred kilometres from Satara. Here, the Marathas defeated its Pathan Nawab and marched on towards Cudappah, a further two hundred kilometres south towards Arcot. Ananda Ranga Pillai, the Dubhasha (interpreter) with the French at Pondicherry wrote in his private diary, “A force of Maratha cavalry, 40,000 or 50,000 strong – so it appears – advanced upon Kandanur (Kurnool), and after levying from the inhabitants black-mail to the extent of 60,000 or 70,000 rupees, marched against Cudappah, where a day’s fighting ensued between it and a body of cavalry led by Abd-un-Nabi Khan. In this engagement, Abd-un-Nabi Khan fared ill; and he sent away his family for safety to the fort of Gendi (Gandikota).”

The victories at Kurnool and Cudappah opened the road to Arcot. From here, the path went through scattered low hills of the Eastern Ghats towards a pass in the hills at Damalcheri (Damalcheruvu). Over six decades earlier, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj had reached Jinji taking this path, and in April 1740, Raghuji also led his army towards the pass. The arrival of the strong Maratha army was already known to the French at Pondicherry and the British at Fort St George at Madras. At this time, Nawab Dost Ali’s main army was further south at Tanjore with his son Safdar Ali. With meagre forces at his command to defend Arcot, Dost Ali sent urgent summons to Safdar Ali and Chanda Saheb to rush to his aid. The Nawab himself, instead of fortifying himself inside the fort of Arcot, decided to try and stop the Marathas at the Pass of Damalcheri. Chanda Saheb began from Tiruchirappalli, and Safdar Ali journeying from Tanjore also sent messages that he was on his way. Arcot is, however, three hundred kilometres north of Tanjore, which was at least a week’s journey at that time,

Burhan, the later chronicler of the Walajahi dynasty of Arcot wrote, “Raghuji and Fatehsingh the two Sardars of the Marathas poured into Arcot with a great army. Ali Dost Khan intimated this fact to his son and sent for the Arcot army that was with him. Immediately Safdar Ali Khan set free the ruler of Tanjore, gave him back his kingdom, and marched leisurely and slowly… past Manzil after Manzil, enjoying the trip and hunting in the fields, unmindful of the enemy advances. Ali Dost Khan wrote another letter thus, ‘My life-break is almost at its last gasp. Come, so that I may live! When I am no more, for what purpose will you be coming?’”

At Pondicherry, Ananda Ranga Pillai wrote in his private diary, “It now appears that the Marathas are moving in the direction of the pass, in view to descend into the plains, but Nawab Dost Ali Khan, Hasan Ali, Siddi Zahoor, and Mir Asad are marching with all their foot and horse, to oppose the further passage of the enemy.”

By 16 May 1740, Hasan Ali, the youngest son of Dost Ali had reached the pass with two thousand men but Safdar Ali was still on his slow journey with a two-thousand-strong cavalry towards Arcot. On 17 May 1740, Chanda Saheb left Tiruchirappalli, even further away, with two thousand horsemen and sent a message to the French Governor Dumas that he planned to join Safdar Ali and Hasan Ali at the pass. The odds in the battle being against the Nawab, wealthy people from the entire region fled with their belongings to Pondicherry to take shelter with the French.

On 20 May 1740, the Marathas reached Damalcheri in overwhelming strength and noticed the Nawab’s army headed by Dost Ali blocking their path. Seeing the weakness of the Nawab, the Marathas offered terms. However, Dost Ali refused to submit. This proved fatal. While Dost Ali with nearly 7,000 horse and 15,000 foot-soldiers stood at Damalcheri pass, he had also sent others to block other points where the hills could be crossed. Chikka Rayalu, one of his subordinates, however, let the Marathas cross the line of hills – probably for a reward. This allowed the Maratha army to come to the rear of Dost Ali’s position. More important, Dost Ali’s artillery was all pointing in the opposite direction. The old Nawab fought furiously on two fronts with swords and spears, until both he and his son Hasan Ali were slain.

The Marathas fought excellently. Both the parties used their guns and muskets. Due to this, the Nawab’s army was blown away and Marathas secured a huge victory. The Marathas captured Dewan Mir Asad alive. This final battle at Damalcheri took place on 20 May 1740.

The events as happened at the pass were reported in the proceedings of the British East India Company at Fort St George. On 23 May 1740, the President acquainted the Board, “Last night received advice that the Nawab Dost Ali Khan and his younger son Hasan Ali Khan and several other persons of note had been killed in an engagement with the Marathas at the pass of the hills which divide the province from Cudappah, the particulars of which engagement according to what we hear are as follows:

“The Nawab was lying at the pass with no more than two thousand horse, and about ten thousand peons of Bangar Veasum Nayak, the Marathas being then on the other side of the pass. Some overtures were made by the last for an accommodation, but not receiving any answer from the Nawab that was satisfactory, the Maratha army possessed themselves of the hills, and came down in his front; the Nawab’s forces were soon surrounded and the enemy charging them with firearms, the Nawab, his son Hasan Ali and several others about him were soon killed; after which the Marathas having proclaimed that, if the rest would disperse, they should not be pursued, the Nawab’s forces soon fled. Subedar (Safdar) Ali Khan, the Nawab’s eldest son, who was upon his march to his father but with no more than three thousand horse hearing of this defeat, turned back and ‘tis thought designs to shut himself up in Vellore.”

To be continued…

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE CARNATIC

After settling down the affairs at Aurangabad for fifteen days to a month further, Nizam started to go to Hyderabad. He reached there in the month of January 1725. At this time, Golconda was especially important. This strong fort had the most important treasury and equipment. Nizam bribed the officials there profusely and took all of that in his control. From this time, Hyderabad became the Nizam’s capital. One clever foreigner Anwaruddin Khan was a special favourite of the Nizam serving at Delhi. He came to the Deccan at this time for serving the Nizam. Nizam appointed him on the security of Hyderabad. He later rose to fame as the Nawab of Carnatic. One of the effects of the Nizam’s permanence was that, due to constant changes in the officials managing the Deccan affairs, a scene of constant quarrels, rebellions, battles etc. had prevailed all over, which changed hereafter. All the six provinces of Deccan came under the control of one person. Due to which, the administration got a unified discipline. The Marathas too had to decide their future policy considering the Nizam’s ownership. Due to which the Carnatic affairs acquired a special significance. To ensure the Nizam did not get any help from the north, Bajirao was forced to consolidate his foundations in Malwa.

A memorable document of Chimaji Appa is available, which describes the special significance that the Carnatic affairs acquired as mentioned above. This document reached Bajirao eight days after the battle of Sakharkherda. The document suggests Bajirao the points to discuss with the Nizam in their meeting. The list contains many clauses and highlights an important suggestion in relation to the Carnatic campaign. Chimaji suggests that the Nizam should ask Shahu to dispatch Bajirao to accompany himself on the Carnatic campaign with his forces. If at all, the Nizam himself did not go to the Carnatic, and sent Aiwaj Khan; then too, Bajirao should accompany him; and when either of them visited the Carnatic to establish their control, Bajirao accompanying them should try and implement the Maratha Chauth and Sardeshmukhi rights as well. This way, the troubles that arose around Pune would not arise in that province. This seems to be the meaning of the suggestion. Shahu had a decided policy that Bajirao should work in the north, while Fatehsingh Bhosale, the Pratinidhi etc. should work in the south. But if the Nizam himself asked for Bajirao, Shahu would not be able to refuse it. This was the overall plan. This was an effort to ensure the future arrangement that arose from this would be that the Peshwa’s control should prevail all over the kingdom equally and his area of responsibility should not be shared with anybody. According to this same policy, Bajirao went on his Carnatic campaigns in two years, 1725 and 1726, after this. Also, Nizam and Bajirao began operating in a single area hereafter, which was a memorable transformation in history.

It is important for the readers to understand the prevailing internal political situation in the Carnatic at this time. Dodda Krishnaraja Wodeyar was ruling at Shrirangapatnam and his reign lasted from 1714 up to 1731. These Wodeyar kings were erstwhile officials over Mysore province under the Bijapur Sultanate, who had become independent lately. Dodda Krishnaraja’s power was not that extensive. The Carnatic was primarily divided into two portions, Balaghat and Painghat. Bala meant higher, while Pain meant lower or plain. These words have been used in the erstwhile description at many places in Hindustan. The northern and western portions of the erstwhile Mysore princely state were high and mountainous. It was called Balaghat or Table Land. The eastern and southern sloping coastal region in the Madras province was called Painghat. These names were the prevalent nouns applied to north-west-central and south-eastern regions in common local language respectively. All this region belonged to the erstwhile Vijayanagar Empire. Later, some of its portions were captured by the Bijapur and Golconda Sultanates. Further, some of the other portions were regained by Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and his brother Ekojiraje. When Aurangzeb captured the kingdoms at Bijapur and Golconda, the Badshah’s power was established on these southern regions.

The Marathas, and mainly the family of Santaji Ghorpade, did not accept the Badshah, mounted a huge struggle, and brought much of the Carnatic under their control. After Aurangzeb’s death, when Shahu got the position of the Chhatrapati, he recognised his brothers at Tanjore and asked Shankaraji Mahadik to operate in those areas. Santaji’s brother Bahirji Hindurao Ghorpade and Bahirji’s son Sidhoji established their own rule all over the Carnatic based on their own strength, but in the Chhatrapati’s name, and made Gutti their central base. All this is described in the published papers from the Sondhe principality. If the dissension between Shahu and Sambhaji II had not come about, this enterprise of the Ghorpades would have got the support of the whole Maratha Confederacy, and not a single Muslim power would have remained in the Carnatic.

To be continued…