Maratha invasions of Bengal

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Maratha expeditions in Bengal
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Maratha Invasions of Bengal
Part of Battles involving the Maratha Empire
DateApril 1742 – March 1751
Location
Bengal Subah (Bengal, Bihar, parts of modern Orissa)
Result Signing of a peace treaty (1751)[1]
Territorial
changes		 Incorporation of
Nagpur State[2]
Belligerents

Maratha Confederacy

  • Nagpur
Nawab of Bengal
Commanders and leaders
Janoji Bhonsle
Sabaji Bhonsle		 Alivardi Khan
Gopal Singha Dev
Mir Jafar
Chitrasen Rai [3]
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 (1742–1751), also known as the Maratha expeditions in Bengal, were the frequent invasions by the

Raghoji Bhonsle of Nagpur.[4] The Marathas invaded Bengal five times from April 1742 to March 1751,[5]
which caused widespread economic losses in the Bengal Subah.

Invasions of Bengal

First invasion (1742)

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.[6][7]

Later conflicts

There were a total of five invasions between 1742 and 1751.

Western Bengal and Bihar died in the overall conflict.[10][9] Contemporary accounts of the invasions report mass gang rape against women,[11][12][13][14] and mutilation of victims by the Marathas which included cutting off their hands and noses.[15] 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.[16] Zamindars outside the affected districts and also from the districts that involved this conflict were affected by the Maratha raids.[17]

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.

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.[10] 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.[19]

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.[20]

The further attacks took place in 1748 in Bihar, on Murshidabad in 1750, and in 1751 in Western Bengal.[21]

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.[22] 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.[23]

End of hostilities and aftermath

In 1751, the Marathas signed a peace treaty with the

Nawab of Bengal and agreed to never cross the Subarnarekha River.[24] The territories beyond the Subarnarekha River were now ceded to the Marathas, 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.[1][25] Thus de facto Maratha control over Orissa was established by 1751, while de jure it remained a part of Bengal Subah till 1752.[1] After the assassination of Mir Habib, the governor of Orissa in 1752, the Marathas formally incorporated Orissa in their dominion,[25] as part of Nagpur kingdom
.

The

Nawab of Bengal agreed to pay Rs. 1.2 million annually as the chauth of Bengal and Bihar, and the Marathas agreed not to invade Bengal again.[4][26] The Nawab of Bengal also paid Rs. 3.2 million to the Marathas, towards the arrears of chauth for the preceding years.[5]

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 978-81-8475-530-5. Archived
    from the original on 18 March 2022. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
  2. 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.
  3. ISBN 0521410746
    .
  4. ^
    OCLC 77864804
    .
  5. ^
    ISBN 9781932705546. Archived
    from the original on 23 April 2023. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
  6. ^ Gupta, Brijen Kishore (1966). Sirajuddaullah and the East India Company, 1756-1757: Background to the Foundation of British Power in India. Brill Archive. Archived from the original on 1 February 2024. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
  7. ISBN 9780521028226
    .
  8. ^
    ISBN 978-0-521-04545-2. Archived
    from the original on 23 April 2023. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
  9. ^
    ISBN 9780521028226
    .
  10. ^
    ISBN 9780521031592
    .
  11. ^ 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.
  12. ^ 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
  13. ^ 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
  14. ^ 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
  15. 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.
  16. ISBN 9789845123372. Archived
    from the original on 23 April 2023. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
  17. ISBN 978-0-521-52654-8
    .
  18. ISBN 9780521028226
    .
  19. ISBN 978-0-521-02822-6
    .
  20. ^ McLane 2002, pp. 166–167.
  21. ISBN 978-1-84331-038-9. Archived
    from the original on 18 March 2022. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
  22. ISBN 978-1-84331-152-2. Archived
    from the original on 18 March 2022. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
  23. ISBN 978-93-5283-619-2. Archived
    from the original on 18 March 2022. Retrieved 18 March 2022. 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.
  24. 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.
  25. ^ a b ড. মুহম্মদ আব্দুর রহিম. "মারাঠা আক্রমণ". বাংলাদেশের ইতিহাস. ২৯৩–২৯৯.
  26. ISBN 978-81-7099-014-7. Archived
    from the original on 6 February 2024. Retrieved 12 March 2024.

Bibliography
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