Peshwa Bajirao I & Maratha Expansion

PREFACE

The Marathas, a war-like people, inhabit the western part of the Deccan. Their early history is lost in dim antiquity. From the 5th century onward rose mighty kingdoms in the land, the Chalukyas, the Rashtrakutas and the Yadavas which knit the Marathas into a homo- geneous people. Under the aegis of these native dynas- ties the Marathas attained prosperity beyond measure: they developed their free institutions, built lovely temples, perfected their language and enriched their literature. After that for four centuries the tide of Islam swept every thing before it. Alauddin Khilji’s warriors carried the crescent to the southernmost corner of India and with the fall of the great Vijayanagar empire in 1565 under the hammer-blows of the Deccan sultanates, disappeared the last vestige of independent Hindu power in the south. Islam became triumphant throughout the length and breadth of this land.

The defeats of their armies in the field, the destruc- tion of centuries-long dynasties and the ruin that follow- ed in the social structure of society, brought on the child- ren of the soil a feeling of despair and deep frustration and created in their mind a sort of inferiority complex that they were no match for the foreign invaders, that they were in no way worthy to administer their affairs and that it was wise to reconcile themselves to the change of rulers and bend to the wishes of their new masters. It is to the glory of the Marathas that they were the first to shake off this intellectual paralysis and strike boldly for the libera tion of their homeland. Their early struggle for swaraj under Shivaji’s leadership is now familiar to students of history in the works of Sir Jadunath Sarkar, Prof. Raw- linson, Mr. Chintaman Waidya, the two Kincaids and the essay collection published by the Shivaji Karyalaya. The consolidation of Maratha power and its expansion beyond the limits of Maharashtra under Bajirao I is a less known chapter of Maratha history and the present work is the first attempt of its kind to place it before readers in a scientific manner.

Bajirao is looked upon as the greatest personality after Shivaji in Maratha history and the story of his career has an abiding interest. His achievements may be summed up as the establishment of Maratha supre- macy in the Deccan and of political hegemony in the north. When he was called to the Peshwaship in 1720 the Ma- ratha state was in a perilous condition. It was a house divided against itself, menaced on the east by the great Nizam-ul-mulk, its march southward barred by the same power and large part of its territory on the western sea- board yet in foreign hands. At his death he left the na- tion strong and united, its friendship solicited by Rajputs and Bundelas and its alliance courted by the Mughal rulers. The policy of northward drive the Peshwa pursu- ed so vigorously soon brought the Marathas to the gates of the imperial city and made them dictators of imperial policy. These stirring events are unfolded in the follow- ing pages.

The present work was submitted to the University as a thesis for the Ph. D. degree in 1941 and is now being published in a somewhat modified and abridged form. I take this opportunity to express my gratitude to my guide Sir Jadunath Sarkar without whose help and encouragement the work would never have been attempted.

Thanks are due to Major Dr. Maharaj Kumar

Raghubir Sinh of Sitamau for allowing me the use of valuable Persian MSS. in his possession and Father Candes of the Portuguese Church in Poona who kindly read with me the Portuguese records on the subject. Prof. Potdar at great inconvenience to himself went through the manus- cript and made valuable suggestions. My friends Messrs. Khare, of the Itihas Samshodhak Mandal, and M. V Gujar were likewise helpful to me in the preparation of the work. Lastly I must acknowledge my indebtedness to the University of Bombay for the substantial financial help it has granted towards the cost of the publication of this work.

Bombay, 1st. Nov. 1944.

G. DIGHE