Template:Infobox military conflict
The Maratha invasions of Bengal (1742–1751), were the a series of raids by the Maratha forces in the Bengal Subah (Bengal, Bihar, parts of modern Orissa), after the successful campaign in the Carnatic region at the Battle of Trichinopoly. The campaigns were carried out under Raghuji I of Nagpur.[1] Between April 1742 to March 1751, the Marathas invaded Bengal five times in 1742, 1743, 1744, 1745 and 1748 respectively,[2] causing widespread economic losses in the Bengal Subah.
The resurgent Maratha Empire emerging from Maharashtra quickly repulsed the Mughals and subjugated them to the confines of Delhi. It was during this period they were at the doorsteps of the independent Bengal Subah, particularly Orissa. They conducted raids within Bengal and plundered cities and villages and caused widespread devastation.[3][4] However, due to their relentless attacks and raids the Nawab would be more partial towards signing the treaty eventually agreeing to cede Orissa to the Maratha Empire to ensure peace for both states.[5]
Background
The Maratha invasions of Bengal were driven by Maratha imperialism, aiming to dismantle the declining Mughal Empire. Initiated by Peshwa Baji Rao I, the Marathas sought to expand their dominance, with Raghuji Bhonsle targeting Bengal for its wealth and lack of Maratha tribute. Political instability in Bengal, coupled with invitations from ousted Nawab Sarfaraz’s (Template:Reign) allies, prompted Raghuji’s invasions.Template:Sfn
According to Muslim writers the invasions were encouraged by Nizam-ul-mulk to divert Maratha attention from Deccan. Contemporary Bengali works like Bhratacandra's Annadāmangala portray the invasions as Hindu resistance against Muslim oppression.[6] He presented the Bargis as agents of Shiva.[7] Bhratachandra's narrative could be biased as he was court poet of Krishnanagar Zamidari and imprisoned by Nawab of Bengal after failing to pay tribute.Template:Efn Another contemporary Hindu poet Gangarama’s Mahārāştrapurāņa suggests initial public hope in Maratha intervention, followed by disappointment and eventual support for Bengal's Muslim government.[6] The atrocities in against Hindus prevented viewing the Marathas as Hindu liberator.[7]
Lastly, seeking revenge against Alivardi Khan, the relatives and partisans of the former Nawab Sarfaraz Khan, invited Raghuji, to invade Alivardi's dominion. The Riyaz-us-Salatin asserts that Mir Habib went to invite the Marathas following the defeat of Murshid Quli II in the Battle of Phulwari. The Siyar al-Mutaqherin by Ghulam Hussain Khan, however, claims that Mir Habib was captured by the Marathas while engaged in fighting at Katwa.[8]
Invasions of Bengal
First invasion (1742)
Template:Main In 1742, Bengal experienced its initial encounter with the Maratha invasion. In April, Maratha forces under Bhaskar Ram sent by Raghuji Bhonsle to collect chauth tribute, invaded Bengal via Odisha. They advanced unopposed through Odisha and Panchet, near modern Raniganj, reaching near Burdwan. Nawab Alivardi Khan rushed to Burdwan on 15 April but faced constant Maratha skirmishes and plundering, causing severe food shortages. He broke through to Katwa amid heavy losses and hardships. At Katwa, the Marathas had already plundered and burned granaries. A Maratha detachment under Mir Habib who had defected now with the Marathas, raided Nawab's capital Murshidabad in early May. Alivardi hurried back, arriving on 7 May; the Marathas retreated to Katwa, looting villages en route.[9][10] As rains approached, the Marathas considered withdrawing, but Mir Habib convinced them to stay. They captured Hooghly, installed Shesh Rao as governor, and used Katwa as headquarters, aiming to expand beyond the Hooghly River toward Dhaka. During the 1742 rainy season, fighting paused, but Marathas ravaged Burdwan, Murshidabad, Nadia, Birbhum, Midnapore, Santal Parganas, and Odisha up to Balasore, committing atrocities. Gangaram wrote in his poems that the people fled with belongings, only to be robbed, mutilated, or killed; women were abducted and raped, villages burned.[11][12] Many Bengalis migrated eastward for safety. Alivardi used the lull to regroup at camps near Murshidabad, reinforced by nephew the Naib Nazim of Bihar Zain-ud-Din Ahmed Khan and Saif Khan from Purnia. In late September 1742, he launched a surprise attack on Bhaskar Ram's camp at Katwa routing the Marathas. They fled across the Bhagirathi and Ajay rivers; Alivardi pursued through Panchet, Bankura, Midnapore, and Odisha, driving them beyond Chilika Lake by December. En route, Marathas plundered towns and killed Odisha's deputy governor Shaikh Masum at Jaipur. Alivardi appointed Abdul Nabi Khan as replacement and returned to Murshidabad on 10 February 1743 after two months in Odisha.[13][14]
Alivardi Khan successfully repelled the invasion, although not without the unfortunate consequence of Murshidabad and Hooghly suffering from plundering.[15][16]
Second invasion (1743)
Raghuji I lead the Marathas and attacked and captured Katwa and Hooghly in Bengal. Alivardi Khan conscripted tribal and peasant levies from Birbhum. He responded to the Maratha attack by attacking the Maratha camp at Katwa in the First Battle of Katwa from the rear, at nightfall leading to a Subah victory. The Marathas believing a much larger force had been mobilized, evacuated out of Bengal on 17 September 1742. Bhaskar Pant the Maratha commander, was killed in action.[17] In 1743, Raghuji occupied Burdwan with his camp at Katwa.[18]
Third invasion (1744)
The Marathas tried again in 1745 where they succeeded in occupying Orissa to take Katwa. The force of 20,000 horsemen ravaged Murshidabad and moved onwards to Katwa. The force was led by Raghuji Bhonsle, the Maratha ruler of Nagpur where he and his force were defeated by Alivardi Khan at the Second Battle of Katwa.[17]
Fourth invasion (1745–1747)
The Battle of Burdwan oversaw Alivardi Khan heavily repulsing and defeating the Janoji Bhonsle led Marathas. By way of the jungles of north Birbhum and the Khargpur hills (south of Mungir), Raghuji arrived near Fatua which he pillaged heavily, and then turned south-west, plundering Shaikhpura and many villages in the Tikari zamindari, till he struck the Son river.[18] An army was amassed to defend against the invading Maratha forces at Orissa after the dismissal of Mir Jafar by Alivardi Khan.[19]
Fifth invasion (1748–1751)
Janoji Bhonsle and Mir Habib enlisted in the army of Afghans at Rani Sarai to fight against Alivardi Khan at the Battle of Rani Sarai. Alivardi Khan was able to break the Afghan lines and make them retreat through the use of war elephants by his eager generals and eventually he won the battle.[20]
Campaign timeline
Atrocities during Maratha invasions
There were a total of five invasions between 1742 and 1751.[42] The continuous conflict took a heavy toll on the population of Bengal.[4] During that period of invasion by the Marathas, light cavalry called as "Bargis", perpetrated atrocities against the local population of Bengalis and Biharis. As reported in Burdwan Estate and European sources, the Bargis are said to have plundered villages.[42] Jan Kersseboom, chief of the Dutch East India Company factory in Bengal, estimated that perhaps 400,000 civilians in Western Bengal and Bihar died in the overall conflict.[3][4] According to Sabyasachi Bhattacharya in the Bengal region 14 out of every 1,000 people was killed resulting 350,000 deaths.[43] Contemporary accounts of the invasions report mass gang rape and Wartime sexual violence against women and children,[44][45][46][47] and mutilation of victims by the Marathas which included cutting off their hands and noses and forced castrations The Marathas enslaved children in Bengal.[45][48] Many of the Bengalis in western Bengal also fled to take shelter in Eastern Bengal, fearing for their lives in the wake of the Maratha attacks.[49] Zamindars outside the affected districts and also from the districts that involved this conflict were affected by the Maratha raids.[50]
Historians generally view Maharashta Purana particularly as a "contemporary mirror" of the Maratha plunders.[51] Dalrymple states that the Maharashta Purana presents a clear and vivid depiction of the invasions.Template:Sfn
Historian William Dalrymple quotes Gangaram's Maharashtra Purana, a contemporary account describing the atrocities committed by the Marathas in Bengal:Template:Sfn Template:Blockquote
The Bargi atrocities were corroborated by contemporary Dutch and British accounts.[52][3] The atrocities devastated Bengal's economy, as many of the people killed in the Bargi raids included merchants, textile weavers,[3] silk winders, and mulberry cultivators.[4] The Cossimbazar factory reported in 1742, for example, that the Bargis burnt down many of the houses where silk piece goods were made, along with weavers' looms.[3] In 1743 two Maratha armies invaded - one belonged to Raghuji Bhosle, the other to Balaji Rao again. Alivardi Khan was obliged to pay a subsidy and promise to pay him chauth (tax) in the future.[53]
Baneswar Vidyalankar's text Chitrachampu attributed the victories of the Marathas to "the wonderfully fast horses they ride." Bharatchandra's Annadamangal attributed the attacks to a particular communal factor which was the destruction of temples at Bhubaneswar by Alivardi's soldiers.Template:Sfn
Vaneshwar Vidyalankar, courtier of the Raja of Burdwan wrote in 1744 AD,[54]
"Shahu Rajah's troops are niggard of pity, slayers of pregnant women and infants, of Brahmans and the poor, fierce of spirit, expert in robbing the property of every one and in committing every sinful act. They created a local cataclysm and caused the extirpation of the people of the Bengal villages like an (ominous) comet .... In one day they can cross a hundred yojans. They slay the unarmed, the poor, women and children. They rob all property and abduct chaste wives. If it comes to a battle, they secretly flee away to some other country. Their main strength lies in their marvellously swift horses. Such was the tumultuous ocean of Bargi troops."
Gangarama writes in the same year regarding the Maratha brutality: Template:Blockquote
The internal fights within the Alivardi Khan's military also contributed to their losses. For example, in 1748 Pathan soldiers rebelled and seized Patna which they controlled for some time. Another example is the faujdar of Purnea who departed from Alivardi and created a small autonomous state.[55] Apart from territorial losses, the Nawab of Bengal also suffered severe economic losses. Industries such as agriculture and trade were dislocated and a large number of people migrated from Western Bengal to the Northern and Eastern districts.[56]
The further attacks took place in 1748 in Bihar, on Murshidabad in 1750, and in 1751 in Western Bengal.[57]
End of hostilities and aftermath
In 1751, the Marathas signed a peace treaty with the Nawab of Bengal. Negotiations for a treaty were conducted between Mirza Saleh, representing the Marathas, and Mir Jafar, representing the Nawab. Mir Jafar introduced Mirza Saleh to the Nawab at Katwa, after which they proceeded to Murshidabad to finalize the treaty's terms. The agreement was formally signed with the approval of the Nagpur court in May or June 1751, based on the mutually agreed conditions.[58] The terms reads as follows:
- Mir Habib the former courtier of Alivardi Khan, who had defected to the Marathas was made provincial governor of Orissa under nominal control of the Nawab of Bengal.[59][60]
- From October 1751, 1.2 million Rupees will be paid annually as the chauth of Bengal and Bihar, and the Marathas agreed not to invade Bengal again.[1][61] The Nawab of Bengal also paid Rs. 3.2 million to the Marathas, towards the arrears of chauth for the preceding years.[2]
- The territories beyond the Subarnarekha River near Jalasore was fixed as the boundary of the Bengal subah, and the Marathas. Marathas agreed to never cross the Subarnarekha River.[5]
Thus de facto Maratha control over Orissa was established by 1751, while de jure it remained a part of Bengal Subah till 1752.[59] After the assassination of Mir Habib, the governor of Orissa in 1752, the Marathas formally incorporated Orissa in their dominion, as part of Nagpur kingdom.[60]
Notes
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Maharashtra State Gazetteers: Wardha District{{#if:Government of Maharashtra|, Government of Maharashtra}. Director of Government Printing, Stationery and Publications, Maharashtra State(1974)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Advanced Study in the History of Modern India 1707-1813{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Sterling Publishers Pvt.(2005). ISBN 9781932705546
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 The Trading World of Asia and the English East India Company: 1660-1760{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Cambridge University Press(2006). ISBN 9780521031592
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Bengal: The British Bridgehead: Eastern India 1740-1828{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Cambridge University Press(2006). ISBN 9780521028226
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Land of Two Rivers: A History of Bengal from the Mahabharata to Mujib{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Penguin Books India(2011). ISBN 9780143416784
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Template:Harvard citation no brackets
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Template:Harvard citation no brackets "Maratha atrocities against Hindus in Bengal prevented people from viewing the invaders as Hindu liberators although Bharatchandra did present the bargis as agents of Shiva."
- ↑ Template:Harvard citation no brackets
- ↑ Template:Harvard citation no brackets
- ↑ Template:Harvard citation no brackets
- ↑ Template:Harvard citation no brackets
- ↑ Template:Harvard citation no brackets
- ↑ Template:Harvard citation no brackets
- ↑ Template:Harvard citation no brackets
- ↑ Bengal: The British Bridgehead: Eastern India 1740-1828{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Cambridge University Press(2006). ISBN 9780521028226
- ↑ Sirajuddaullah and the East India Company, 1756-1757: Background to the Foundation of British Power in India{{#if:Gupta|, Gupta}. Brill Archive(1966)
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 Dictionary of Battles and Sieges{{#if:Tony|, Tony}. Greenwood Press(30 November 2006). ISBN 978-0-313-33536-5
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 Template:Harvard citation no brackets
- ↑ Dictionary of Battles and Sieges{{#if:Tony|, Tony}. Bloomsbury Academic(30 November 2006). ISBN 978-0-313-33536-5
- ↑ A Comprehensive History of India: 1712-1772{{#if:Chandra|, Chandra}
- ↑ Template:Harvard citation no brackets "Bhaskar marched through Orissa unopposed and arrived in Cuttack. The fort of Barabati was captured on 19.4.1742."
- ↑ Template:Harvard citation no brackets "Mir Habib, by inveigling Muhammad Raza, the faujdar of Hugli, to an interview, seized him and secured possession of the fort through the help of 'Abul Hasan, a rich and influential merchant of the place."
- ↑ Template:Harvard citation no brackets "ভাস্কর পণ্ডিত মহা ধূমবামের সহিত দুর্গা পূজা করিতেছিলেন। আলীবর্দীর আক্রমণে ভীত হইয়া তিনি কাটোয়া হইতে পলায়ন করেন (২৭শে সেপ্টেম্বর, ১৭৪২)।" Template:Translation
- ↑ Template:Harvard citation no brackets "Bhaskar sent a detachment also to Orissa, where Alivardi's Deputy Governor, Shaikh Masum, bravely attempted to oppose it but was defeated and killed at Jaipur"
- ↑ Template:Harvard citation no brackets "Bhaskar, thereupon, fled towards Balasore but soon turned back and had a fight with the Nawab, at a distance of about four miles from Midnapur, which resulted in his defeat with a loss of several soldiers"
- ↑ Template:Harvard citation no brackets
- ↑ Template:Harvard citation no brackets
- ↑ Template:Harvard citation no bracketsTemplate:BreakTemplate:Harvard citation no brackets
- ↑ Template:Harvard citation no brackets "মারাঠাদেরকে অনুসরণ করিয়া আলীবর্দী বিহারে আসেন এবং মুহিব-আলীপুর নামক স্থানে ইহাদেরকে পরাজিত করেন (১৪ই নবেম্বর, ১৭৪৫)।"Template:BreakTemplate:Translation
- ↑ Template:Harvard citation no brackets
- ↑ Template:Harvard citation no brackets
- ↑ Template:Harvard citation no brackets "He soon marched against Raghuji, who had fled towards Katwah on hearing of his advance, and overtook him at Ranidighi (tank) near Katwah. A sharp engagement ensued, which resulted in the defeat of Raghuji with heavy losses in men and baggage, and compelled him to retreat to Nagpur"
- ↑ Template:Harvard citation no brackets "Mir Ja'afar defeated Saiyid Nur, the lieutenant of Mir Habib, near Midnapur on 12 December 1746."
- ↑ Template:Harvard citation no brackets "Alivardi strongly censured this disgraceful retreat of Mir Jafar Khan, and sent a strong force under Ataullah Khan Sabet Jang and Fakhrullah Beg Khan to reinforce his party at Burdwan. They had an indecisive engagement with the Marathas under Janoji joined with those under Mir Habib."Template:BreakTemplate:Harvard citation no brackets
- ↑ Template:Harvard citation no brackets "He personally led his army to Burdwan and defeated the Marathas in a furiously contested battle."Template:BreakTemplate:Harvard citation no brackets "But nothing daunted, this old man of seventy-one personally took command of his army, marched out of his camp, and after fighting a severely contested battle near Burdwan (March 1747) defeated Janoji and the entire Maratha army with heavy loss."
- ↑ Template:Harvard citation no brackets
- ↑ Template:Harvard citation no brackets "Alivardi inflicted a crushing defeat on the allied Afghan and Maratha troops at Ranisarai, eight miles west of Barh, on the 18th of April, 1748."Template:BreakTemplate:Harvard citation no brackets "After the crushing defeat of his Afghan allies at Ranisarai (16th April), Janoji with Mir Habib and all their troops slipped past the Nawab and turned towards Murshidabad."
- ↑ Template:Harvard citation no brackets "The Marathas had stopped in the jungles of Midnapur, where they were pursued and defeated by Dost Muhammad Khan, Mir Kazim Khan, and some other generals of the Nawab."
- ↑ Template:Harvard citation no brackets
- ↑ Template:Harvard citation no brackets
- ↑ Template:Harvard citation no bracketsTemplate:BreakTemplate:Harvard citation no brackets
- ↑ 42.0 42.1 The New Cambridge Modern History{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Cambridge University Press(1957). ISBN 978-0-521-04545-2
- ↑ Template:Harvard citation no brackets "The head merchant at the Dutch factory in Bengal guessed that 'close to 400,000 people were killed in Bengal and Bihar' during the Maratha invasions. If 350,000 of those deaths were in Bengal and if Bengal's population had been 24 million or so at the start, that would suggest 14 out of every 1,000 people died."
- ↑ Sirajuddaullah and the East India Company, 1756-1757: Background to the Foundation of British Power in India{{#if:Gupta|, Gupta}. Brill Archive(1962)
- ↑ 45.0 45.1 The Rape of India: A Biography of Robert Clive and a Sexual History of the Conquest of Hindustan{{#if:Edwardes|, Edwardes}. Julian Press(1966)
- ↑ Seminar{{#if:|, }. R. Thapar(1989)
- ↑ The New Cambridge Modern History{{#if:|, }. CUP Archive(1970)
- ↑ Mother of My Heart, Daughter of My Dreams: Kali and Uma in the Devotional Poetry of Bengal{{#if:McDermott|, McDermott}. Oxford University Press(2001-06-28). ISBN 978-0-19-803071-3
- ↑ History of Bangladesh, 1704-1971{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. University of Michigan, Asiatic Society of Bangladesh(1997). ISBN 9789845123372
- ↑ Land and Local Kingship in Eighteenth-Century Bengal{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Cambridge University Press(25 July 2002). ISBN 978-0-521-52654-8
- ↑ Performance Narratives and the Mughal Factor. Oxford University Press(2009-03-05).
- ↑ Bengal: The British Bridgehead: Eastern India 1740-1828{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Cambridge University Press(2006). ISBN 9780521028226
- ↑ Bengal: The British Bridgehead: Eastern India 1740-1828{{#if:Marshall|, Marshall}. Cambridge University Press(1987). ISBN 978-0-521-02822-6
- ↑ Template:Harvard citation no brackets
- ↑ A History of Modern India, 1480-1950{{#if:Markovits|, Markovits}. Anthem Press(2004). ISBN 978-1-84331-152-2
- ↑ Modern Indian History{{#if:Mahajan|, Mahajan}. S. Chand Limited(2020). ISBN 978-93-5283-619-2
- ↑ The Making of History: Essays Presented to Irfan Habib{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Anthem Press(2002). ISBN 978-1-84331-038-9
- ↑ Template:Harvard citation no brackets
- ↑ 59.0 59.1 Land of Two Rivers: A History of Bengal from the Mahabharata to Mujib{{#if:Sengupta|, Sengupta}. Penguin Books Limited(2011). ISBN 978-81-8475-530-5
- ↑ 60.0 60.1 Template:Harvard citation no brackets
- ↑ History of Bagree-Rajya (Garhbeta): With Special Reference to Its Anti-British Role, from Late 18th Century Till the Present Times{{#if:Chatterjee|, Chatterjee}. Mittal Publications(1987). ISBN 978-81-7099-014-7
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