09-08-2006, 11:45 PM
<!--QuoteBegin-Bodhi+Sep 8 2006, 09:58 PM-->QUOTE(Bodhi @ Sep 8 2006, 09:58 PM)<!--QuoteEBegin--><!--QuoteBegin-Bharatvarsh+Sep 8 2006, 09:52 AM--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Bharatvarsh @ Sep 8 2006, 09:52 AM)<!--QuoteEBegin-->Najib Khan was too ambitious (2) and aimed a pathan Empire at Delhi. Madhaosing and Vijaysing had joined him in this enterprise, in order to relive themselves from the clutches of the detested Marathas.
The harrowing accounts of Abdaliâs attrocities (20) at Mathura, Varundawan and the rest of places within about a hundred miles radius from Delhi, in the lines of Changiz Khan and Taimulang, are even today most painful to read. But the terrible wail of grief and cries of the sufferers, were unable to move the Rajput sympathy to action against Abdali like this Jats. Far from it, not a finger was raised nor a word was spoken.
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I guess by the time of Abdali, Mughals were weakened forever, so an opportunity for Rajputs to have collaborated with Marathas, Sikhs, Jats and overthrow the remaining traces Muslim imperial rule, and even provide leadership in doing that?
Digvijay, do you have some insights about Rajput princes' stand on Abdali's series of invasions? What do Rajput records say about Abdali's period?
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The site maratharajputrelations fails to mention that during Abdali's invasion of 1757, and his sack of Mathura Vrindavan (defended by the Naga Sannyasis) etc, a Maratha army under Raghunath Rao was fighting against Raja Madho Singh of Jaipur.
It was only after Abdali's departure that the Marathas moved into Delhi.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->So Abdali entered India again, harassed by marauding Sikhs; but this time the Afghans plundered Delhi in January 1757. Punjab, Kashmir, Sind, and Sirhind were ceded to him; but after raiding the Jat country south of Delhi, Abdali departed, leaving Najib Khan in Delhi and his son Timur Shah as viceroy at Lahore with his general Jahan Khan as vizier. Sikhs rebelled, but Jahan Khan defeated them at Amritsar and desecrated their shrine. The Marathas ousted Najib and made a treaty with Imad-ul-Mulk in June 1757 that doubled their share to half of all the revenues they collected in Mughal dominions. <b>Marathas led by Raghunath Rao invaded Rajputana and plundered old Delhi in August, making peace with the Rohillas the next month.</b> Then 50,000 Maratha troops entered the Punjab in 1758, driving the Afghans out of Sirhind and Lahore.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
http://san.beck.org/2-10-Marathas1707-1818.html
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Maratha Polity:</b>
As seen above the raids of the Marathas spilled over into Gujarat, Malwa, and Bundelkhand. The alliance with Berads, Nayaks and Gonds in the south became an alliance with Rajput and Afghan landlords, and with Bhil and Koli tribesmen, in the north. The provinces of Malwa and Bundelkhand became the gateways to Delhi for the Marathas. To an extent the same story was repeated in Bengal, Bihar, and Orrisa but here the temporary alliances with local powers (indigenous Rajas and Afghan rebels) were more opportunistic than political in nature. In Delhi and Rajputana the Marathas came as conquerors and not as allies of the indigenous powers, while in Ruhelkhand, Agra, and Punjab they were actually allies of the Mughals!
The Maratha domination of the Mughal Empire was inefficient and wavering. The reason for that ironically was the successful guerrilla war they had fought against the Mughal invaders in the Deccan! The numerous Maratha armies operated under their own chiefs, who sometimes cooperated with their King and his ministers, but more often went out to raid on their own and only sent a portion of their earnings to the King. This system of government could not be reformed by Raja Shahu, since he had lived as a royal prisoner for 18 years and had no contact with the Maratha nobles and no standing among the common soldiers.
In fact Raja Shahu and his successors were Kings only in name and the real power had passed into the hands of hereditary Brahman Prime Ministers, the Peshwas. Balaji Vishwanath, the first Peshwa, was engrossed in securing Raja Shahu's position against his Maratha enemies and in gaining recognition for his rights[45] at the Mughal court---he had no time to bring the numerous Maratha armies to heel. His son Baji Rao I, despite his famous victories over Mughals and Rajputs in North India, and over the Nizam[46] and the Portuguese in the south, could not curb the raiding activities of individual Maratha chiefs. Baji Rao even fought battles against chiefs like Trimbak Rao Dhabade and Raghuj Bhonsle and ultimately had to agree to divide the Mughal provinces with his rivals---each dominating and raiding his assigned region[47].
[45] <i>These included the right to collect rent and taxes from the Mughal provinces in the Deccan.
[46] Firuz Jang's son was entitled Nizam-ul-mulk, regulator of the state, and was made governor of the Deccan but with his base in the former Golconda city of Haidarabad. The Mughal part of the Deccan was annexed back to Maharashtra.
[47] The administration of these regions was continued undisturbed with only minor changes made by the new rulers. For example in 1755 the Mughal Emperor abolished taxes on Hindu pilgrims at Gaya and Kurukshetra, which places had been transferred to the Peshwa. Balaji Rao, the third Peshwa, posted Damodar Hingane at these places to collect those taxes and send them now to the Pune treasury!</i>
But even such division of territory, sanctioned by Raja Shahu himself, could not prevent clashes between Maratha chiefs, whether for financial or political reasons. Thus Raghuji Bhonsle was beaten out of Bengal by the third Peshwa, Balaji Rao, who made a settlement with the Mughals about the tribute of that province in 1743. But Raghuji complained to Raja Shahu and the latter made a fresh partition of the eastern provinces between the two chiefs---without telling the administrators of those regions about it! Thus the Nawab of Bengal when threatened again by the Bhonsle army complained, "<i>When terms have been settled with Raja Shahu, why is Raghuji coming here? He is the Raja's servant and a friendly agreement has been made about this province; now call him back and restrain him</i>!"
In another example, a dispute arose over the succession to the throne of the Kingdom of Jaipur in 1743 between the stepbrothers Ishwari Singh and Madho Singh. The Peshwa and Raja Shahu supported Ishwari Singh, but Malhar Holkar the Peshwa's general supported Madho Singh and even sent a contingent of cavalry under his own son to support him against the forces of Ishwari Singh! In 1747 the Peshwa proposed to divide the Jaipur Kingdom between the two brothers saying, "Thus both princes would be preserved and our interests would be served." This proposal was angrily rejected by Ishwari Singh for ancestral kingdoms could not be divided between brothers; such divisions repeated in other kingdoms would only create anarchy all around. The Peshwa's other officer Sindhia also disagreed with this somersault of policy; his Diwan Ramchandra Baba said, "<i>We shall get no money out of it. Our King (Raja Shahu) took up Ishwari Singh's cause and by his order I went and helped him. If you now turn against Ishwari Singh, we shall lose all credit among the public</i>."
But in 1755 the Sindhia family itself was guilty of what we would today call insubordination. That year the Peshwa sent a large army under his brother Raghunath Rao to collect tribute and subsidies from Rajputana, from the Jats of Bharatpur, and from the Delhi Empire (a thin sliver of land along the Yamuna River covering the cities of Delhi, Aligarh and Agra)[48]. Jayapa Sindhia decided to place Ram Singh on the throne of Jodhpur by ousting his cousin Raja Bijay Singh and thus hoped to gain a large sum from that place. But after several months of campaigning he failed to realize this objective and was repeatedly ordered by Raghunath Rao to join him in Jaipur and from there move on to complete their mission in Delhi. Even the Peshwa wrote to him to make friends with Raja Bijay Singh and pacify Ram Singh with a small estate but Jayapa would not obey his master!
[48] <i>After performing these duties this force was also supposed to swerve east into Awadh and obtain the Hindu holy cities and a large succession fee from Nawab Shuja-ud-daulah. </i>
The result was that while the grand army under Raghunath lay scattered across Rajputana Ahmad Shah Abdali invaded the Delhi Empire in 1757, sacked the cities of Delhi, Mathura, Vrindavan, and Agra, and as quickly returned home. Thus when Raghunath eventually recovered the Maratha position in Delhi there was no money left to sustain his forces and he had to invade Punjab in 1758 to extract whatever wealth could be found there---this brought the Marathas into direct conflict with the Afghans and led eventually to the Third Battle of Panipat between the two sides in 1761 (see RMA-II).
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
http://www.airavat.com/guerrila_warfare2.htm
The harrowing accounts of Abdaliâs attrocities (20) at Mathura, Varundawan and the rest of places within about a hundred miles radius from Delhi, in the lines of Changiz Khan and Taimulang, are even today most painful to read. But the terrible wail of grief and cries of the sufferers, were unable to move the Rajput sympathy to action against Abdali like this Jats. Far from it, not a finger was raised nor a word was spoken.
[right][snapback]57005[/snapback][/right]
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I guess by the time of Abdali, Mughals were weakened forever, so an opportunity for Rajputs to have collaborated with Marathas, Sikhs, Jats and overthrow the remaining traces Muslim imperial rule, and even provide leadership in doing that?
Digvijay, do you have some insights about Rajput princes' stand on Abdali's series of invasions? What do Rajput records say about Abdali's period?
[right][snapback]57015[/snapback][/right]
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
The site maratharajputrelations fails to mention that during Abdali's invasion of 1757, and his sack of Mathura Vrindavan (defended by the Naga Sannyasis) etc, a Maratha army under Raghunath Rao was fighting against Raja Madho Singh of Jaipur.
It was only after Abdali's departure that the Marathas moved into Delhi.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->So Abdali entered India again, harassed by marauding Sikhs; but this time the Afghans plundered Delhi in January 1757. Punjab, Kashmir, Sind, and Sirhind were ceded to him; but after raiding the Jat country south of Delhi, Abdali departed, leaving Najib Khan in Delhi and his son Timur Shah as viceroy at Lahore with his general Jahan Khan as vizier. Sikhs rebelled, but Jahan Khan defeated them at Amritsar and desecrated their shrine. The Marathas ousted Najib and made a treaty with Imad-ul-Mulk in June 1757 that doubled their share to half of all the revenues they collected in Mughal dominions. <b>Marathas led by Raghunath Rao invaded Rajputana and plundered old Delhi in August, making peace with the Rohillas the next month.</b> Then 50,000 Maratha troops entered the Punjab in 1758, driving the Afghans out of Sirhind and Lahore.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
http://san.beck.org/2-10-Marathas1707-1818.html
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Maratha Polity:</b>
As seen above the raids of the Marathas spilled over into Gujarat, Malwa, and Bundelkhand. The alliance with Berads, Nayaks and Gonds in the south became an alliance with Rajput and Afghan landlords, and with Bhil and Koli tribesmen, in the north. The provinces of Malwa and Bundelkhand became the gateways to Delhi for the Marathas. To an extent the same story was repeated in Bengal, Bihar, and Orrisa but here the temporary alliances with local powers (indigenous Rajas and Afghan rebels) were more opportunistic than political in nature. In Delhi and Rajputana the Marathas came as conquerors and not as allies of the indigenous powers, while in Ruhelkhand, Agra, and Punjab they were actually allies of the Mughals!
The Maratha domination of the Mughal Empire was inefficient and wavering. The reason for that ironically was the successful guerrilla war they had fought against the Mughal invaders in the Deccan! The numerous Maratha armies operated under their own chiefs, who sometimes cooperated with their King and his ministers, but more often went out to raid on their own and only sent a portion of their earnings to the King. This system of government could not be reformed by Raja Shahu, since he had lived as a royal prisoner for 18 years and had no contact with the Maratha nobles and no standing among the common soldiers.
In fact Raja Shahu and his successors were Kings only in name and the real power had passed into the hands of hereditary Brahman Prime Ministers, the Peshwas. Balaji Vishwanath, the first Peshwa, was engrossed in securing Raja Shahu's position against his Maratha enemies and in gaining recognition for his rights[45] at the Mughal court---he had no time to bring the numerous Maratha armies to heel. His son Baji Rao I, despite his famous victories over Mughals and Rajputs in North India, and over the Nizam[46] and the Portuguese in the south, could not curb the raiding activities of individual Maratha chiefs. Baji Rao even fought battles against chiefs like Trimbak Rao Dhabade and Raghuj Bhonsle and ultimately had to agree to divide the Mughal provinces with his rivals---each dominating and raiding his assigned region[47].
[45] <i>These included the right to collect rent and taxes from the Mughal provinces in the Deccan.
[46] Firuz Jang's son was entitled Nizam-ul-mulk, regulator of the state, and was made governor of the Deccan but with his base in the former Golconda city of Haidarabad. The Mughal part of the Deccan was annexed back to Maharashtra.
[47] The administration of these regions was continued undisturbed with only minor changes made by the new rulers. For example in 1755 the Mughal Emperor abolished taxes on Hindu pilgrims at Gaya and Kurukshetra, which places had been transferred to the Peshwa. Balaji Rao, the third Peshwa, posted Damodar Hingane at these places to collect those taxes and send them now to the Pune treasury!</i>
But even such division of territory, sanctioned by Raja Shahu himself, could not prevent clashes between Maratha chiefs, whether for financial or political reasons. Thus Raghuji Bhonsle was beaten out of Bengal by the third Peshwa, Balaji Rao, who made a settlement with the Mughals about the tribute of that province in 1743. But Raghuji complained to Raja Shahu and the latter made a fresh partition of the eastern provinces between the two chiefs---without telling the administrators of those regions about it! Thus the Nawab of Bengal when threatened again by the Bhonsle army complained, "<i>When terms have been settled with Raja Shahu, why is Raghuji coming here? He is the Raja's servant and a friendly agreement has been made about this province; now call him back and restrain him</i>!"
In another example, a dispute arose over the succession to the throne of the Kingdom of Jaipur in 1743 between the stepbrothers Ishwari Singh and Madho Singh. The Peshwa and Raja Shahu supported Ishwari Singh, but Malhar Holkar the Peshwa's general supported Madho Singh and even sent a contingent of cavalry under his own son to support him against the forces of Ishwari Singh! In 1747 the Peshwa proposed to divide the Jaipur Kingdom between the two brothers saying, "Thus both princes would be preserved and our interests would be served." This proposal was angrily rejected by Ishwari Singh for ancestral kingdoms could not be divided between brothers; such divisions repeated in other kingdoms would only create anarchy all around. The Peshwa's other officer Sindhia also disagreed with this somersault of policy; his Diwan Ramchandra Baba said, "<i>We shall get no money out of it. Our King (Raja Shahu) took up Ishwari Singh's cause and by his order I went and helped him. If you now turn against Ishwari Singh, we shall lose all credit among the public</i>."
But in 1755 the Sindhia family itself was guilty of what we would today call insubordination. That year the Peshwa sent a large army under his brother Raghunath Rao to collect tribute and subsidies from Rajputana, from the Jats of Bharatpur, and from the Delhi Empire (a thin sliver of land along the Yamuna River covering the cities of Delhi, Aligarh and Agra)[48]. Jayapa Sindhia decided to place Ram Singh on the throne of Jodhpur by ousting his cousin Raja Bijay Singh and thus hoped to gain a large sum from that place. But after several months of campaigning he failed to realize this objective and was repeatedly ordered by Raghunath Rao to join him in Jaipur and from there move on to complete their mission in Delhi. Even the Peshwa wrote to him to make friends with Raja Bijay Singh and pacify Ram Singh with a small estate but Jayapa would not obey his master!
[48] <i>After performing these duties this force was also supposed to swerve east into Awadh and obtain the Hindu holy cities and a large succession fee from Nawab Shuja-ud-daulah. </i>
The result was that while the grand army under Raghunath lay scattered across Rajputana Ahmad Shah Abdali invaded the Delhi Empire in 1757, sacked the cities of Delhi, Mathura, Vrindavan, and Agra, and as quickly returned home. Thus when Raghunath eventually recovered the Maratha position in Delhi there was no money left to sustain his forces and he had to invade Punjab in 1758 to extract whatever wealth could be found there---this brought the Marathas into direct conflict with the Afghans and led eventually to the Third Battle of Panipat between the two sides in 1761 (see RMA-II).
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
http://www.airavat.com/guerrila_warfare2.htm