Maratha Invasions of Bengal
Part of Battles involving the Maratha Empire
DateAugust 1741 – May 1751
Location
Bengal Subah (Bengal, Bihar, parts of modern Orissa)
Result

Stalemate

  • Maratha failure to conquer Bengal.
  • Signing of a peace treaty (1751)[1]
  • Maratha Army agreed to never cross the Subarnarekha River[2]
  • De facto Maratha control over Orissa by 1751, but de jure remained a part of Bengal Subah till 1752.[1]
  • After the assassination of Mir Habib, the governor of Orissa in 1752, Marathas formally incorporated Orissa in their dominion.[3]
  • Nawab of Bengal agreed to pay Rs. 1.2 million of tribute annually as the chauth of Bengal and Bihar, and the Marathas agreed not to invade Bengal again.
  • The Nawab of Bengal also paid Rs. 3.2 million to the Marathas, towards the arrears of chauth for the preceding years.[4]
Territorial
changes		 Incorporation of Orissa into the Nagpur State[5]
Belligerents

Maratha Confederacy

 Nawab of Bengal
Commanders and leaders
Raghoji I
Bhaskar Pandit †
Janoji Bhonsle
Sabaji Bhonsle		 Alivardi Khan
Gopal Singha Dev
Mir Jafar
Chitrasen Rai [6]
Rai Durlabh
Ghulam Mustafa Khan
Ataullah Khan
Zainuddin Ahmed
Abdus Salam
Sheikh Masum
Syed Ahmed Khan
Strength
40,000 (in 1742)
12,000 (in 1748)		 15,000 Cavalry and 8,000 Musketeers (in 1748)
Casualties and losses
Unknown Unknown

The Maratha invasions of Bengal (1741–1751), also known as the Maratha expeditions in Bengal, were the frequent invasions by the Maratha forces in the Bengal Subah (Bengal, Bihar, parts of modern Orissa), after their successful campaign in the Carnatic region at the Battle of Trichinopoly. The leader of the expeditions was Raghoji Bhonsle of Nagpur.[7] The Marathas invaded Bengal five times from August 1741 to May 1751, which caused widespread economic losses in the Bengal Subah.

Invasions of Bengal

From 1741 to 1751, the Marathas under Raghuji Bhonsle invaded Bengal six times. The first one in 1741, as also the third in 1744, was led by Raghuji's general Pandit Bhaskar Ram Kolhatkar or Bhaskar Pandit. The second in 1742 and the fourth in 1745 were led by Raghuji himself. The fifth in 1747 and the sixth in 1748 were undertaken by Janoji and Sabaji respectively. These invasions caused heavy destruction in the armies of the Nawab of Bengal. Nawab Alivardi Khan was successful in repelling all the invasions. In 1743 two Maratha Armies invaded - one belonged to Raghuji Bhosle, the other to Balaji Rao. To persuade the latter to withdraw, Alivardi Khan was obliged to pay him a subsidy and promise to pay him chauth (tax) in the future.[8] The continuous conflict took a heavy toll on the population of Bengal.[9]

First invasion (1741)

After the ascension of Alivardi Khan as the Nawab of Bengal, the provincial governor of Orissa, Lutfullah Tabrizi Rustam Jung, more commonly known as Murshid Quli II, revolted against him. The revolt was crushed by Alivardi in March 1741, but Murshid Quli II escaped with his family and took shelter of Raghuji Bhonsle, the Maratha ruler of Nagpur. Raghuji agreed to assist Murshid Quli II in regaining Orissa. Murshid Quli II's son-in-law Mirza Baker, assisted by Maratha troops and the rebel forces of Orissa (who were dissatisfied with the governor of Orissa), invaded Orissa in August 1741. Orissa's governor, Syed Ahmed Khan (a nephew of Alivardi Khan), was defeated and captured along with his family.[3]

Hearing of this, Alivardi rushed to Orissa and Alivardi's commander Mir Jafar freed Syed Ahmed and his family.[3] Alivardi regained control of Orissa and returned to Murshidabad. The Marathas retook Orissa in 1749.

Later conflicts

There were a total of five invasions between 1742 and 1751.[10] According to the 18th-century Bengali text Maharashtra Purana written by Gangaram, the Hindu Maratha warriors invaded and occupied western Bengal up to the Hooghly River.[11] During that period of invasion by the Marathas, warriors called as "Bargis", perpetrated atrocities against the local population of Bengalis and Biharis. As reported in Burdwan Kingdom's and European sources, the Bargis are said to have plundered villages.[10] 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.[12][9] Contemporary accounts of the invasions report mass gang rape against women,[13][14][15][16] and mutilation of victims by the Marathas which included cutting off their hands and noses.[17] Many of the Bengalis in western Bengal also fled to take shelter in East Bengal, fearing for their lives in the wake of the Maratha attacks.[18] Zamindars outside the affected districts and also from the districts that involved this conflict were affected by the Maratha raids.[19]

They shouted over and over again, 'Give us money', and when they got no money they filled peoples' nostrils with water, and some they seized and drowned in tanks, and many died of suffocation. In this way they did all manner of foul and evil deeds. When they demanded money and it was not given to them, they would put the man to death. Those who had money gave it, those who had none were killed.

The Bargi atrocities were corroborated by contemporary Dutch and British accounts.[20][12] The atrocities devastated Bengal's economy, as many of the people killed in the Bargi raids included merchants, textile weavers,[12] silk winders, and mulberry cultivators.[9] 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.[12]

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.[21]

The further attacks took place in 1748 in Bihar, on Murshidabad in 1750, and in 1751 in Western Bengal.[22]

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.[23] 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.[24]

End of hostilities

In 1751, the Marathas signed a peace treaty with the Nawab of Bengal. The territories beyond the Subarnarekha River were now ceded to the Marathas,[1] according to which, Mir Habib (a 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.[3] It made the Nawab of Bengal a tributary to the Marathas. He agreed to pay Rs. 1.2 million annually as the chauth of Bengal and Bihar, and the Marathas agreed not to invade Bengal again.[7] The Nawab of Bengal also paid Rs. 3.2 million to the Marathas, towards the arrears of chauth for the preceding years.[4]

The chauth was paid annually by the Nawab of Bengal up to 1758, until the East India Company seized control of Bengal.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Sengupta, N. (2011). Land of Two Rivers: A History of Bengal from the Mahabharata to Mujib. Penguin Books Limited. p. 156. ISBN 978-81-8475-530-5. Archived from the original on 18 March 2022. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
  2. ↑ Nitish K. Sengupta (2011). Land of Two Rivers: A History of Bengal from the Mahabharata to Mujib. Penguin Books India. pp. 158–163. ISBN 9780143416784. Archived from the original on 27 February 2022. Retrieved 15 September 2020. Alivardi showed exemplary courage and military skill in every frontal battle that took place between his forces and the Marathas, in each of which, almost without exception, he had the upper hand.
  3. 1 2 3 4 ড. মুহম্মদ আব্দুর রহিম. "মারাঠা আক্রমণ". বাংলাদেশের ইতিহাস. ২৯৩–২৯৯.
  4. 1 2 Jaswant Lal Mehta (2005). Advanced Study in the History of Modern India 1707-1813. Sterling Publishers Pvt. ISBN 9781932705546. Archived from the original on 23 April 2023. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
  5. ↑ Sen, Sailendra Nath (2010). An Advanced History of Modern India. Macmillan India. p. 15. ISBN 978-0-230-32885-3. Archived from the original on 27 February 2022. Retrieved 10 June 2021. In 1751,...promising cession of the province of Orissa...Orissa came under the Bhonsle's control.
  6. ↑ McLane, John R. (1993). Land and local kinship in eighteenth-century Bengal. Cambridge University Press. pp. 155–156. ISBN 0521410746.
  7. 1 2 Government of Maharashtra (1974). Maharashtra State Gazetteers: Wardha District (2nd ed.). Bombay: Director of Government Printing, Stationery and Publications, Maharashtra State. p. 63. OCLC 77864804.
  8. ↑ Marshall, P. J. (1987). Bengal: The British Bridgehead: Eastern India 1740-1828. The New Cambridge History of India. Vol. II.2. Cambridge University Press. p. 70. ISBN 978-0-521-02822-6.
  9. 1 2 3 P. J. Marshall (2006). Bengal: The British Bridgehead: Eastern India 1740-1828. Cambridge University Press. p. 73. ISBN 9780521028226.
  10. 1 2 C. C. Davies (1957). "Chapter XXIII: Rivalries in India". In J. O. Lindsay (ed.). The New Cambridge Modern History. Vol. VII: The Old Regime 1713–63. Cambridge University Press. p. 555. ISBN 978-0-521-04545-2.
  11. ↑ P. J. Marshall (2006). Bengal: The British Bridgehead: Eastern India 1740-1828. Cambridge University Press. p. 72. ISBN 9780521028226.
  12. 1 2 3 4 Kirti N. Chaudhuri (2006). The Trading World of Asia and the English East India Company: 1660-1760. Cambridge University Press. p. 253. ISBN 9780521031592.
  13. ↑ Gupta, Brijen Kishore (1962). Sirajuddaullah and the East India Company, 1756-1757: Background to the Foundation of British Power in India. Brill Archive. p. 23. Archived from the original on 26 February 2022. Retrieved 18 November 2021. horrors perpetrated by the Marathas on women and children which included gang rape.
  14. ↑ Edwardes, Allen (1966). The Rape of India: A Biography of Robert Clive and a Sexual History of the Conquest of Hindustan. Julian Press. p. 131. Archived from the original on 26 February 2022. Retrieved 25 April 2021. 'Tis reported that no fewer than 10 or a Dozen of 'em will rape a beautiful Woman, that they cut off the Cullions [testicles] of Men & embugger Children of both sexes thereafter selling them into slavery
  15. ↑ Seminar. R. Thapar. 1989. Archived from the original on 26 February 2022. Retrieved 25 April 2021. Repeated Maratha invasion of Bengal from the 1740s causing mass migration of people, ... in the beginning the Marathas raped and violated women, but later, the villagers took to guerrilla tactics to resist them
  16. ↑ The New Cambridge Modern History. CUP Archive. 1970. p. 555. Archived from the original on 26 February 2022. Retrieved 18 November 2021. they indulged in the unspeakable practice of gang-rape
  17. ↑ McDermott, Rachel Fell (28 June 2001). Mother of My Heart, Daughter of My Dreams: Kali and Uma in the Devotional Poetry of Bengal. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-803071-3. Archived from the original on 26 February 2022. Retrieved 18 November 2021. The Marathas plundered, stole, set fire to villages and crops, tortured the inhabitants, cutting off their victim's hands and noses, raping them, and drowning them.
  18. ↑ Aklam Hussain (1997). History of Bangladesh, 1704-1971. Vol. 2. University of Michigan, Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. p. 80. ISBN 9789845123372.
  19. ↑ McLane, John R. (25 July 2002). Land and Local Kingship in Eighteenth-Century Bengal. Cambridge University Press. pp. 166–167. ISBN 978-0-521-52654-8.
  20. ↑ P. J. Marshall (2006). Bengal: The British Bridgehead: Eastern India 1740-1828. Cambridge University Press. pp. 72–73. ISBN 9780521028226.
  21. ↑ McLane 2002, pp. 166–167.
  22. ↑ Habib, I.; Panikkar, K.N.; Byres, T.J.; Patnaik, U. (2002). The Making of History: Essays Presented to Irfan Habib. Anthem South Asian studies. Anthem Press. p. 233. ISBN 978-1-84331-038-9.
  23. ↑ Markovits, C. (2004). A History of Modern India, 1480-1950. Anthem South Asian Studies. Anthem Press. p. 194. ISBN 978-1-84331-152-2. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
  24. ↑ Mahajan, VD (2020). Modern Indian History. S. Chand Limited. p. 42. ISBN 978-93-5283-619-2. However, the Marathas were the greatest menace to Ali Vardi Khan. There were as many as five Maratha invasions in 1742, 1743, 1744, 1745 and 1748.

Bibliography

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