Maratha invasions of Bengal

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.^[6] Between April 1742 to March 1751, the Marathas invaded Bengal five times in 1742, 1743, 1744, 1745 and 1748 respectively,^[7] 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.^[8]

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 (r. 1739–1740) allies, prompted Raghuji’s invasions.^[9]

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.^[10] He presented the Bargis as agents of Shiva.^[11] 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.^[a] 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.^[10] The atrocities in against Hindus prevented viewing the Marathas as Hindu liberator.^[11]

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.^[12]

In 1742, Bengal experienced its initial encounter with the Maratha invasion. However, Nawab Alivardi Khan successfully repelled the invasion, although not without the unfortunate consequence of Murshidabad and Hooghly suffering from plundering.^[13][14]

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.^[15] In 1743, Raghuji occupied Burdwan with his camp at Katwa.^[16]

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.^[15]

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.^[16] An army was amassed to defend against the invading Maratha forces at Orissa after the dismissal of Mir Jafar by Alivardi Khan.^[17]

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.^[18]

There were a total of five invasions between 1742 and 1751.^[40] 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.^[40] 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.^[5] Contemporary accounts of the invasions report mass gang rape and Wartime sexual violence against women and children,^{[41][42][43][44]} and mutilation of victims by the Marathas which included cutting off their hands and noses and forced castrations The Marathas enslaved children in Bengal.^[42][45] 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.^[46] Zamindars outside the affected districts and also from the districts that involved this conflict were affected by the Maratha raids.^[47]

Historians generally view Maharashta Purana particularly as a "contemporary mirror" of the Maratha plunders.^[48] Dalrymple states that the Maharashta Purana presents a clear and vivid depiction of the invasions.^[49]

Historian William Dalrymple quotes Gangaram's Maharashtra Purana, a contemporary account describing the atrocities committed by the Marathas in Bengal:^[49]

They constantly shouted, 'Give us rupees, give us rupees, give us rupees. When they got no rupees, they filled their victims' nostrils with water, or drowned them in tanks. When they demanded money and it was not given to them, they would put a man to death... Bungalows, thatched-roofed houses, Vishnu-mandapas, they burned them all, large and small Every Brahman or Vaishnava or sannyasi whom they saw they killed, and they slaughtered cows and women by the hundreds.

The Bargi atrocities were corroborated by contemporary Dutch and British accounts.^[50][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.^[51]

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.^[52]

Vaneshwar Vidyalankar, courtier of the Raja of Burdwan wrote in 1744 AD,^[53]

"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:

“As soon as Bhaskar arrived again, he summoned all his captains and ordered them, “Draw your swords and kill every man and woman that you see.” When the commander spoke thus, they plundered and slew on every side with shouts of kill ! kill ! ! Brahmans, Vaishnavs, Sannyasis, women and cows were slaughtered by the hundred.”^[54]

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]

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:

1. 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.^[59][60]
2. 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.^[6][61] The Nawab of Bengal also paid Rs. 3.2 million to the Marathas, towards the arrears of chauth for the preceding years.^[7]
3. 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.^[8]

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,^[60] as part of Nagpur kingdom.