HINDUS
(Part 7)
The Legend of Peshwa Bajirao Ballal Bhat
Becoming the Peshwa:
After the sudden death of the first Peshwa, Balaji Vishwanath in 1720, his 20 years old son Bajirao was appointed the next Peshwa of Marathas in the same year. However, Maratha Leaders like Shripat Rao Pratinidhi, Naro Rao Mantri opposed this decision. However, Chhatrapati Shahuji cleared their doubts and immediately made Bajirao the Commander-in-chief of entire Maratha Army.
Mughal Emperor Muhammad Shah started rebelling against the Maratha Empire, and Nizam of Deccan also misunderstood this new Peshwa just because of his very young age. However, Bajirao was not a man to be underestimated.
Campaign against Nizam:
In 1721, 21 year old Bajirao met Nizam-ul-mulk Asaf Jah of Deccan to settle agreement of various territories and Maratha rights to collect taxes. However, Nizam refused to the agreement and said that he denied Maratha rights.
After this incident, Mughal Emperor saw threat from Nizam by his growing power and Nizam was made Wazir by Mughal Emperor Muhammad Shah and sent to Awadh (Ayodhya). Apparently, Nizam rebelled against this order and resigned from the post of Mughal Wazir. He assembled his army and marched to Delhi. The emperor sent an army to Agra, but was defeated in the battle of Sakhar-kheda. Then Mughal Emperor was forced to recognise him as the viceroy of Deccan. Marathas, led by Peshwa Bajirao, helped him to win this battle. And for this Bajirao was honoured with jewels and elephants.
Nizam wanted to please both Mughal Emperor Muhammad Shah and Chhatrapati Shahuji. However, he wanted to make sovereign kingdom of his own and made Marathas rival of Deccan. He started rebelling against Maratha forces. In response, Marathas marched towards Deccan with forces under the leadership of Fatehrao Bhosle in 1725. However, Marathas were forced to retreat.
They again marched towards Deccan after the monsoon season, but again they had to retreat. Meanwhile, Sambhaji II had become rival and claimed for the throne of Chhatrapati. This had become a dispute in Marathas and they were busy in solving that. Nizam saw it as a golden opportunity and sent a messenger at Satara court. He refused to give any taxes to Marathas as he didn’t understand whom to give. To Sambhaji II who were claiming of the throne of Chhatrapati or to the Shahuji who already was the Chhatrapati. Nizam offered to act as an arbitrator in this dispute. His spokesperson in the Satara court was Parshuram Pant Pratinidhi who was enemy of Peshwa Bajirao. Besides, Sambhaji II had a supporter in the court, named Chandrasen Yadav, who had fought against Bajirao’s father ten years ago.
Now Bajirao was very well-aware if Sambhaji II became the Chhatrapati, he would surely make someone else new Peshwa. Might be Shripat Rao Pratinidhi who had opposed his coronation as Peshwa. So, Bajirao convinced Shahuji to refuse Nizam’s offer.
In response, Bajirao marched towards Deccan in Auguast 1727 and persuaded major territories of Nizam. However, while Bajirao was away, Nizam invaded Pune and crowned Sambhaji II as the new Chhatrapati. He left Fazal Beg Pune with an army in case Maratha tried to reclaim.
While returning to Deccan, Nizam faced Bajirao’s army. Bajirao had been very furious since he had heard the news of making Sambhaji II a new Chhatrapati by invading Pune. Bajirao defeated Nizam in the battle of Palkhed and forced him to sign agreement of peace. Then, Bajirao invaded Pune and secured Shahuji’s post as the Chhatrapati.
Bajirao had made Shahuji Chhatrapati again, and this act must be honoured. So, Chhatrapati Shahuji gifted Bajirao the city of Pune and made a beautiful palace for him, named Shaniwarwada. Bajirao along with his wife Kashibai, his son Balaji Bajirao (Nana Saheb) and his mother Radhabai moved to Pune’s new palace. Bajirao declared Pune as the capital of Marathas so that Chhatrapati Shahuji could live in Satara peacefully.
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| Ruins of Shaniwar Wada, Pune |
Malwa Campaign
After defeating Nizam, Bajirao had turned his gaze towards the southern parts of Malwa to collect taxes. Seeing growing power of Marathas, Mughal Emperor Muhammad Shah appointed Girdhar Bahadur as the governor of Malwa in 1728.
In response, Bajirao sent an army in the leadership of his younger brother Chimanji Appa, to march towards Malwa. Mughal forces was once again defeated by Marathas in the battle and Marathas reclaimed the Malwa. Bajirao himself marched towards the boundaries of Rajasthan. After defeating Nizam, his only aim was to wave saffron flag in northern parts of Hindustan which were still under Mughal Rule or rebelling against Maratha Rule.
In early 1729, he had already reached at the Rajasthan.
Bundelkhand Campaign
As soon as Bajirao reached the boundaries of Rajasthan, he received message from King of Bundelkhand, Chhatrasal, who was imprisoned in his own palace by Mughal Forces, led by Muhammad Khan Bangash. King Chhatrasal had rebelled against Mughal Rule to establish independent kingdom of his own.
Bajirao had already received messages from Bundelkhand, but he was too busy at Malwa. Finall, Bajirao agreed to help Bundelkhand, and marched towards it. He strategically tricked the Mughal Army at Bundelkhand and attacked at once. Meanwhile, King Chhatrasal also managed to escape from captivity and attacked Mughal Army from the other side with his Rajput Army. Mughal Forces were outnumbered, yet surrounded by Marathas and Rajputs. Seeing the big loss in the battle, Muhammad Khan Bangash escaped and went to Delhi. Bajirao had won the battle and made Bundelkhand an independent kingdom. A Hindu State helped another Hindu state.
King Chhatrasal offered few jagirs in gift to Bajirao along with his daughter Mastani. At Pune, there was a bit shock due to this relationship with Princess Mastani. The reason was only one. Mastani was daughter of King Chhatrasal from his Muslim Wife. On the other hand, Peshwai had made a rule not to mix blood. Bajirao had already accepted Mastani as his wife. Legend says that he was fascinated by her sword-fighting. In Bajirao’s sight, she was a great warrior.
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| Peshwa Bajirao and Mastani |
At Pune, neither Radhabai nor Chimanji Appa accepted Mastani as the wife of Bajirao. Bajirao had been caught in family dispute there. But he was not that fool who could forget the ambition of Marathas to establish Hindu Rule in all over Hindustan. He was always alert with enemy movements.
Battle of Dabhoi
Salbuland Khan, the Mughal Governor of Gujarat territories, had opposed the rights of Maratha to collect Chauth (Tax to Maratha Capital Treasury). Soon, he was replaced by Mughal Emperor with a new governor named Abhay Singh. He saw that Marathas had full rights to collect Chauth from Gujarat, and he allowed them to. This was a huge success for Peshwa Bajirao.
However, Trimbak Rao Dabhade refused to pay Chauth to Bajirao. He was commander of Chhatrapati Shahu, but he always envied success of Bajirao. Dabhade Clan had raided Gujarat several times during old Mughal Rule, so he thought there was no way to pay Chauth to present Peshwa. However, Bajirao thought otherwise. And Dabhade started rebelling against Peshwa.
Maratha Nobles of Gujarat, Gaekwad and Kadam Bande also didn’t want to pay any tax to Peshwa. They always wanted independent rule. However, Marathas should remain together. And Gaekwads and Kadams also supported Trimbak Rao Dabhade.
Meanwhile, after the defeat of Girdhar Bahadur, Mughal Emperor made Jaysinh II the governor. Jaysinh II agreed for with Marathas. However, Mughal Emperor refused and made Muhammad Khan Bangash new governor. Bangash made good alliance with Nizam, while Nizam shook hand with Sambhaji II. Sambhaji II shook hand with Trimbak Rao Dabhade. Now, the situation was like this: Trimbak Rao Dabhade, Gaekwad, Bangash, Sambhaji II v/s Peshwa Bajirao. However, the military forces were only with Gaekwad, Dabhade and Kadams.
On 1st April, 1731, Bajirao defeated the combined forces of Gaekwad, Dabhade and Kadams in the Battle of Dabhoi. By killing Trimbak Rao Dabhade, Bajirao won the battle. Bajirao ordered to investigate this rebel, and he came to know that Sambhaji II and Nizam interfered in this.
On 13th April, 1731, Bajirao forced Sambhaji II to sign treaty of Warna to the name of Chhatrapati Shahuji. Then, Bajirao went to Nizam and warned him if he interfered one more time and entire Deccan Army would be the destroyed by Bajirao. Nizam promised not to interfere anymore.
This was the great victory which almost scared Mughal Emperor. Peshwa Bajirao had completed 11 years as a Peshwa, and he merged almost 50% of the Hindustan in Maratha Empire. Chhatrapati Shahuji who had preserved his grandfather’s dream of Hindu Rule, was very happy to see that only one man, one Peshwa had established Hindu Rule in half of Hindustan. A new hope for Hindus had already been seen. Saffron Flag with Hindu Rule. However, this didn’t affected the happiness of Muslims too. Hindu Rule, the Maratha Rule was kind to every religions. They didn’t burden taxes on Hindu or Muslim Pilgrimage. They only taxed the territories, which would directly go to treasury of Chhatrapati. Well, that’s how kingdom works. And this wasn’t just a kingdom, this was an empire. A Hindu Empire.
March towards Delhi
After defeating Siddis in the previous battle in 1736, Bajirao was all set to invade Delhi and pluck off the Mughal Rule from its roots. He had one saying: If you attack the root, the entire tree falls off. After the death of Trimbak Rao Dabhade, Bangash had no alliance remained with Marathas. He was in big trouble now. Therefore, Mughal Emperor reappointed Jaysinh II as the governor in place of Bangash. However, Maratha chief Holkar defeated Jaysinh II. After two more battle, Mughals agreed on Marathas’ right to collect Chauth from Malwa. And they payed 22 lakh Chauth to Peshwa Bajirao. And Peshwa Bajirao became deputy governor of Malwa.
Clever Bajirao had already understood that Mughal Emperor was weak now, and it might be the perfect time to attack Delhi and pluck off Mughal Rule. In November, 1736, Peshwa Bajirao marched towards Delhi. Hearing Peshwa’s march towards Delhi, Mughal Emperor sent Sadat Khan of Agra to stop and kill Bajirao. After crossing Yamuna, Sadat Khan met with the army of Malhar Rao and Pilaji Rao. However, Bajirao wasn’t the commander, he was still marching towards Delhi. Sadat Khan defeated Malhar Rao Holkar and retired to Mathura, thinking that Maratha Army had retreated. However, Bajirao was not a person who would retreat. He was still marching towards Delhi.
Peshwa Bajirao defeated Mir Hasan Khan in the battle of Delhi, but then he heard that a larger Mughal Army had approached towards Delhi to fight Maratha, he had to return. Mughal Emperor Muhammad Khan then went to seek help from Nizam, who had promised that he wouldn’t interfere. Nizam set out from Deccan, breaking the promise made to Peshwa. He met with Bajirao’s army at Bhopal, on the mid-way. Angry Bajirao couldn’t endure this betrayal and declared a battle against Nizam at once. Once again, Bajirao defeated Nizam and forced him to sign peace agreement. Since Nizam had broken promise of not interfering, Peshwa Bajirao punished him to pay 50 lakh chauth to Chhatrapati Shahuji. And Nizam once again swore.
Against Portuguese
Soon after the defeat of Nizam, Portuguese tried to rebel against Peshwa. However, Peshwa responded furiously this time and defeated the advanced forces of Portuguese. Once again, they were also forced to sign peace agreement by Peshwa.
Death
Peshwa was still in his youth. 39 year old Peshwa was again marching towards the Delhi, this time to end Mughal Empire forever. However, after crossing the Narmada River, he felt ill due to sudden fever, possibly a heatstroke. They stopped near Indore, where Peshwa was being treated to be recovered. As soon as the news went to Pune, Peshwain Kashibai rushed at Indore. But it was too late. On 28th April, 1739, Peshwa Bajirao died of illness. Once again, for Hindus, it was not an ordinary death. Whenever something big was going to happens, illness had killed that man. First, Shivaji fell ill at the age of 52, then Sambhaji was killed, then Peshwa Balaji Vishwanath died of illness at the age of 54 and now Shrimant Peshwa Bajirao Ballal Bhat died at the mere age of 39, again due to illness. No one could believe why the destiny of Hindus was so awful that they had to see these sorrows unexpectedly. Everyone knew that Peshwa Bajirao was going to attack Delhi with the forces of 100000 Maratha Soldiers. And Peshwa hadn’t lost a single war. He fought 40 battle in a row and won all of them. Mughal Emperor was extremely weak in power and couldn’t have controlled the attack of Peshwa. Yet, Peshwa died of illness and Hindus had to bear few more years under Mughal Rule.
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| Statue of Peshwa Bajirao Ballal Bhat |
However, there was one relief. Peshwa Bajirao had won 60% of Hindustan by then. And he had established Maratha Rule, the Hindu Rule, in most parts of the Hindustan. Historians believe that he might have died in the pressure of family dispute going on in his family. His mother and his eldest son Nana Saheb hadn’t accepted Mastani. He was also anxious about the future of his wife Mastani and their son Samsher Bahadur. However, he had already given some jagirs to Samsher Bahadur. It is said that Mastani committed suicide just after receiving the news of Peshwa’s death. And Nana Saheb took over the seat of Peshwa and started ruling Maratha Empire with the name of Balaji Bajirao. Thus, Marathas gained their third Peshwa. Peshwa Balaji Bajirao.
However, Marathas and Hindus would always owe to the greatest and second Peshwa of Maratha Empire, Peshwa Bajirao Ballal Bhat, who waved the saffron flag on 60% of Hindustan by re-establishing the Hindu Rule.
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