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The Maratha entry into the North: the background

The Maratha entry into the North: the background

Not a sudden political phenomenon, the Maratha entry into the Delhi politics dates
back to the times of Shahu. Balaji Vishvanath, the first Peshwa, marched to Delhi in
1718 to obtain approval of the Emperor Farrukhsiyar for the peace treaty agreed
between Shahu and Husain Ali. The treaty was finally approved in March, 1719 b>
Muhammad Shah. The prestige of the Marathas further increased under Baji Rao
whose mother Radha Bai undertook pilgrimage tour to various places in northern
India including Kuruksherra and everywhere she was provided escort by the imperial
government and local chiefs. Then followed Baji Rao’s sudden appearance before
Delhi on March 28, 1737 when after having plundered the suburbs of the capital and
routing a Mughal force, the Maratha army, in its return march visited Rewari (March
31). But the first phase of Maratha ascendancy at Delhi court may be said to have
actually begun from the death of wazir Qamr-ud-din and Emperor Muhammad Shah
in 1748 and continued with short intervals till the battle of Panipat in 1761.

The Marathas gained considerably in the struggle for power between the Turani and
Irani parties at the Delhi court. They at first supported Safdar Jang, the head of Irani
party against Tntizam-ud-daulah, son of the late Qamr-ud-din Khan. Safdar Jang
employed them against Rohillas and the Bangash Afghans (1751) who were
committing aggression in
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 PDF Allahabad. The Maratha
 Care
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victories in these ventures brought forth Dattaii Sindhia for the first time into
prominence. In view of the Abdali invasion (1751-52) the Marathas entered into a
subsidiary alliance with Safdar Jang, which is very important in so far as it explains
the causes of the Maratha entry into the north. According to the terms of agreement
the Peshwa was promised thirty lakhs of rupees for keeping Abdali out of India;
another twenty lakhs for defending the Empire against internal danger; was granted
chauth on the revenues of Sind, Panjab, and certain districts in upner Ganga Doab to
meet the expenses; further he was to be appointed governor of Agra, Mathura,
Narnaul and Ajmer without disturbing the existing administrative set up. But the pact
did not materialise. The Emperor had formally ceded the Punjab to Abdali and his
agent Qalandar Khan had been given the royal rescript to this effect (April 23, 1752).
Since there was no more necessity of the Maratha help, the Emperor declined to
confirm the treaty. The Maratha leaders demanded fifty lakhs for their immediate
withdrawal, and further started plundering the area around the capital which greatly
worried the Delhi court. The Marathas finally retired with a promise that Ghazi-ud-
din (the eldest son of Nizam-ud-mulk) who was friendly to them would be appointed
viceroy of the Deccan. But the promise could not be fulfilled. Ghazi-ud-din was
poisoned to death by other aspirants to his new assignment.

In 1753 the Marathas joined the Emperor and deserted their old ally Safdar Jang who
was deeply involved in the struggle for power at Delhi court. Raghunath Rao
accompanied by leading Maratha nobles with a huge army was sent to the north to
procure money, but before their arrival Safdar Jang was defeated, returned to
Lucknow and died a broken hearted man (October, 1753). Passing through Rajasthan
the Maratha army reached Delhi (May, 1754) while its advance guard under Khande
Rao Holkar marched to the capital, had interview with the Emperor (December 22,
1753) and received presents. The wazir Intizam-ud-daulah and the mir-bakshi Imad-
ul-mulk— the deadly enemies, had their own plans — the former aiming at a united
front of the Nawab of Oudh, Surajmal and Rajput princes, while the latter with his
Maratha allies contemplating means to keep intact their hold over the Emperor. In
this struggle for power Imad-ul-mulk came out as the prime-minister, deposed
Ahmad Shah and declared Alamgir II as the Emperor. As Raghunath Rao did not get
the promised price for his assistance to the wazir, the Marathas took recourse to
plundering the capital and its adjoining region. The Maratha soldiers first started
molesting the villages in the northern suburbs of Delhi (August 31, 1754). The
suffering Dahiya farmers of Jalalpur and other villages near Narela retaliated making
surprise attack on the Deccanese foraging parties and carrying of their horses and
property. Malhar Rao fought them and attacked their three villages— Jalalpur, Nahra
 Notes
and Nahri. Many other villages Tests suffered
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of the  PDF the
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same fate and the booty
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carried off from them sold in Delhi. Complaints made to the imperial authority
against these outrages were of no avail. Imad eventually agreed to pay eighty two
and a half lakh of which only one third could be collected. The new Emperor showed
his gratitude to the Marathas by issuing a royal script (October 25, 1754) by which
Kurukshetra and Gaya, the two holy places of the Hindus, were surrendered to the
Peshwa and the Muslim officers were withdrawn at these places which were then
placed under Hingne brothers, Peshwa’s agents at Delhi. Raghunath Rao after
crossing the Jamuna returned via Badarpur, Gurgaon, Jhajjar, Narnaul, Singhana to
Pushkar, while Malhar Rao followed the route via Naraina, Rewari and Pataudi
districts levying tributes from Gujar and Baluch landlords of Haryana.

The fourth Durrani invasion of India in 1756 again necessitated the despatch of a
strong army from Poona to Delhi under Malhar Rao and Raghunath Rao. The former
left Poona earlier but was joined by the latter at Indore (February 14, 1757). By this
time Delhi was already under the Durrani occupation. Ahmad Shah appointed Najib-
ud-daulah mir bakshi (February 19, 1757) and was to act as his plenipotentiary after
the former’s departure from India. So long as Durrani was in India Raghunath Rao
was hesitant to march straight to Delhi. He instead entered Rajasthan first and when
Durrani reached the confines of Afghanisthan, planned the recovery of Gangetic
doab (June— July, 1757). The wazir Imad intended on putting the Marathas against
Najib whom the emperor also desired to get rid of. Malhar Rao and Raghunath Rao
joined the advance Maratha party in the suburbs of Delhi. A sharp encounter
between the Marathas and Najib took place on August 11.’ y\s a fresh Durrani
invasion in support of Najib, their best Indian ally, was feared, Ragunath Rao sent
Manaji Paygude for intelligence up to Thanesar and also urged the Peshwa to depute
Dattaji Sindhia to take his position in the Punjab and to keep himself in touch with
Abdali’s movements in that quarter. Death, desertion and famine forced Najib finally
to open negotiations with the Marathas. On September 3, Najib agreed to vacate
Delhi, resign the office of mir bakshi and pay an indemnity of five lakhs to the
Marathas who were thus left supreme in the capital.

Having ousted Najib from Delhi in September 1757, the Marathas entered Haryana
and collected revenues from Kamgar Khan Baluch in Rohtak district through his
superintendent Sathhami. Malhar’s women who had come to Kurukshetra for a
religious bath on a Somavati Amavasya day (January 9, 1758) were attacked at
Shahbad by a contingent of Abdus-Samad Khan, Abdali’s governor at Sarhind. The
Notes
Marathas fought bravely,slew Tests 
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further plundered Taraori and Karnal and collected a tribute of five lakhs from
Kunjapura, then crossed the Jamuna, met Raghunath Rao and discussed the scheme
of the conquest of the Punjab.

The expedition of Raghunath Rao began towards the end of February, 1758. Passing
through Thanesar the army reached Mughal-ki-Sarai near Ambala (March 5) and the
vicinity of Sarhind (March 8). With the assistance of Adina Beg and his Sikh allies, the
fort of Sarhind was captured, Abdali’s lieutenents Abdus-Samad Khan and Jangbaz
Khan were imprisoned and the city was given to plunder. As the formidable Maratha
army approached Timur Shah followed by Jahan Khan decided to return to
Afghanisthan (April, 1758). The Marathas, now complete master of the Punjab,
pursued the enemy till they captured Attock, Peshawar and Multan. After having
made proper arrangements for the administration of the newly acquired territories
Raghunath Rao ‘prepared to return (from Lahore) to the Deccan at the express orders
of the Peshwa’. He appointed Adina Beg, an experienced administrator, as the
Governor of the Punjab, who could successfully deal with the Sikhs, and from whom
the Marathas could easily realise the settled tribute. Satisfied with his achievements
Raghunath Rao returned to Delhi via Thanesar where they had a religious bath on
Somavati Amavasya (June 5).

The Maratha settlement in the Punjab did not survive long. After Adina Beg’s death
(September 15, 1758) advance Maratha detachment from Peshawar and Attock were
recalled. Imad-ul-mulk sent his officers to eschect the cash and property of the
deceased governor but Raghunath Rao who had received the news of Adina Beg’s
death in Malwa, sent a strong force to the Punjab led by Sabaji Patel who overtook
Imad’s agents at Sonepat and drove them back to the capital and then proceeded up
to Peshawar. Another Maratha contingent led by Dattaji Sindhia was heading
towards the Punjab at the instruction of Raghunath Rao. This marked a reversal of
the Maratha policy in the north. In effect it meant the passing of Maratha leadership
from Malhar Rao, a follower of conciliation and compromise with regard to the
Muslims of northern India, to Dattaji Sindhia ‘a rough impatient hustling soldier.
Dattaji met Imad at Delhi who told him about the possible Durrani attack and
stressed the need for the fortification of the frontier outposts by the Marathas and
offered seven/eight lakhs of rupees for the purpose (January 31, 1759). Dattaji
accepted the terms, called Sabaji from Peshawar and met him at Machhiwara to
gather fresh information about the frontiers so as to make necessary administrative
changes.  Notes  Tests  PDF  Care
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After his return from the Punjab (May, 1759) Dattaji crossed the Jamuna opposite
Panipat at Ramraghat and encamped at Shamli, where he invited Najib to settle
terms. To over awe Najih, a large Maratha force was also sent to Saharanpiir district.
Najib agreed to the proposal. But Dattaji’s companions, in opposition to his wish,
wanted to capture Najib who also grew suspicious and the plot eventually failed due
to the courage show’n by Najib and his chief officers. This resulted in open breach
between Dattaji and Najib and remained a source of deadly hostility of the latter
towards the Sindhias in the following period.

As most of Najib’s territory fell into Dattaji’s hands, the former took up a defensive
position at Sukkartal (June 1759) and on September 15 repulsed Maratha assault.
Early November came the news of Abdali’s entry into the Punjab w’hich forced
Dattaji to raise the siege at Sukkartal (Dec. 8, 1759) and hasten to check the progress
of Durrani in the Punjab. Najib too left Sukkartal (December K) and advanced
towards Jamuna to welcome his master, Ahmad Shah Durrani. With the resume of
the circumstances leading to the Maratha entry into the politics of the Delhi court
and their subsequent movements in Haryana and the Punjab we shall now proceed
to Durrani invasion of India (1759).

The Durrani Invasion (1759-61)

After suppressing rebellions at home Ahmad Shah got ready to invade India. He had
this time the advantage of securing the co-operation of the Ruhelas who had been
harassed by the Marathas, and that of Nawab of Oudh who also came round the
view that the Marathas, who were fiiendly to Imad, the greatest enemy of his house,
cannot be relied upon. Ahmad Shah was also in constant touch with Najib-ud-daulah
his greatest Indian ally who had urged him to punish the Marathas. Shah Waliullah, a
Muslim theologian of Delhi, strongly advocated the revival of Muslim power in Ind’ia
in suppression of the Marathas, the Jats as well as the Sikhs. He wrote a detailed
letter to Ahmad Shah, ‘one of the most important documents of the 18th century’ it
appraised Abdali of the p ditical development in the country, requesting him to
relieve the Muslims from the Maratha domination. The Marathas, on the other hand,
 Notes
could not gain the support  Testsalready
of the Rajputs  PDF  Care
alienated by Balaji Rao’s
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unsympathetic policy towards them, nor could they secure the alliance of the Sikhs
who had now become a considerable pow’er in the Punjab. The undiplomatic policy
of Balaji in fact, deprived the Marathas of the support of many indigenous powers at
a very critical moment when they were required to face the formidable combination
of the Durrani and their Indian allies.

Ahmad Shah left Qandhar in the beginning of September and reached Lahore in
November (1759) and towards the end of that month brought Punjab under his
subjection. By that time the wicked wazir Imad had planned and executed the
murder of Alamgir II who was found in league with Durrani and Shuja-ud-daula of
Oudh, and declared Shah Jahan II (a Prince of the royal family), the new Emperor.
After making administrative arrangements for the proper governance of the Punjab,
the Abdali moved from Lahore by way of Govindwal, Khizrabad (near Rupar) Sarhind,
Ambala and Taraori. At the last mentioned place the Durrani soldiers were supplied
with scarlet caps prepared by the Afghans of Kunjapura under Najib’s instructions.

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