Raghunath Rao
This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these template messages)
|
Raghunath Rao Narayanrao | |
---|---|
Succeeded by | Madhavrao II |
Personal details | |
Born | Maratha Confederacy | 18 August 1734
Spouse | Anandibai |
Children |
|
Parents |
|
Profession | Peshwa |
Military service | |
Battles/wars | |
Military career | |
Service/ | Maratha Army |
Rank | Peshwa |
Unit | Peshwa's Cavalry |
Battles/wars | See list
|
Raghunathrao Bhat, also known as Ragho Ballal or Ragho Bharari[1] (18 August 1734 – 11 December 1783), was the younger son of Peshwa Bajirao I who served as the 11th Peshwa of the Maratha Empire for a brief period from 1773 to 1774. He succeeded his Nephew Narayanrao.
He was known for his various military campaigns that played an important role in Maratha expansion in Northern India. He also fought the Battle of Delhi (1757) agents the Rohillas and bringing Northwestern India and the surrounding territory under joint Maratha rule for a brief period.[2]He also engaged in various conflicts against the Durrani Empire such as the Siege of Sirhind and Battle of Peshawar in 1758.
Raghunathrao was involved in the Assassination of his Nephew Narayan Rao in 1773. After being removed from the position of Peshwa, he then sided with the East India Company in the First Anglo-Maratha War in 1775 in attempt to regain the role of Peshwa, however he was unsuccessful. He was succeeded by Madhavrao II in 1774.
Early life
Raghunathrao Bhat, also known as "Raghoba", "Raghoba Dada" and "Ragho Bharari," was the younger brother of
Maratha conquests
In his early years he fought with great success in the north. His expedition during 1753–1755 was concluded by an advantageous treaty with the
Assassination of his Nephew
The period between 16 and 30 August the assassination of Peshwa Narayanrao was carried out by Raghunathrao and his wife Anandibai. Since Raghunathrao could not leave his confinement, the preparations for the plot were carried out by Tujali Pawar, an influential personal servant.[3] Tujali additionally felt he had been wronged by Narayanrao and possibly Madhavrao, and regardless of whether this supposed offense was real or not, it motivated him to play an integral part in the plot. While the previous plan involved simply capturing Narayanrao, the new plan involved his murder and was partly based on the assumption that Sakharam Bapu would remain neutral with regards to the plot.[4]
Legal consequences
Ram Shastri, the Nyayadhish ("Chief Justice") of the Maratha empire, likely began looking into the killing of Narayanrao immediately after the incident despite Raghunathrao's opposition.[5] The investigation lasted for around six weeks and decisions were made in accordance with established judicial practices. Shastri found Raghunathrao as the main culprit and in addition about fifty persons more or less responsible for the murder (forty nine males and one female servant). Of these forty nine men, thirteen were Gardis (eight Hindus and five Muslims), twenty six were Brahmin, three were Prabhu and seven were Marathas. The twenty six Brahmins were essentially clerks who acted as agents in planning and executing the details of the plan. Vyankatrao Kashi, his brother Laxman and Sakharam Hari Gupte were the three Prabhus who were declared to have played a prominent role in the plot. When Shastri approached Raghunathrao, the latter downplayed the murder as a private, personal affair and asked the former to not concern himself with it. Shastri on his part, without an ounce of fear, told Raghunathrao that he was the main culprit for the murder of his nephew. Hence Raghunathrao and the general public understood the degree of power that lay with the judiciary in a well-governed state. But Shastri was dismissed from his office by Raghunathrao and went back to his native village.[6]
Barabhai Council
While Shastri was conducting his investigation, Sakharam Bapu ensured that pregnant Gangabai, the widow of Narayanrao, was secure and safe from harm's way. If Gangabai were to give birth to a male child, he would become the heir to the kingdom. But if she were to give birth to a female child, Sakharam Bapu contemplated the idea of making Ali Bahadur, the grandson of Baji Rao, the Peshwa of the Maratha empire. He convinced most of the Maratha chiefs from Raghunathrao's camp to switch sides without rousing his suspicion. He laid the foundations of a group of twelve Maratha officials and chiefs who were collectively known as the Barabhai Council ("Twelve Comrades"). These included Nana Phadnavis, Haripant Phadnavis, Babuji Naik, Maloji Ghorpade, Bhavanrao Pratinidhi, Raste, Patwardhans with the addition of Mahadji Shinde and Tukoji Holkar.[7]
Second Northern Expedition (1757-1758)
At the end of 1756, Ahmad Shah Abdali was preparing to invade India and Delhi once again. Nanasaheb Peshwa, Ragunathrao, Sidhojiraje Gharge-Desai-Dehmukh, Malharrao Holkar and Dattaji Shinde prepared an army and it was decided that Marathas being the protectors of the Mughal Emperor would make another expedition to North India to stop another Afghan invasion. Nanasaheb Peshwa gave the command of this expedition to Ragunathrao and Malharrao Holkar was asked to assist Ragunathrao. Malharrao Holkar left for Indore at the end of 1756 and Ragunathrao followed him with his army after few weeks in October 1756.[citation needed]
Maratha affairs in Rajputana (February 1757 - July 1757)
Raghunathrao reached Indore on 14 February 1757 with Santajirao Wable and was joined by Malharrao Holkar. The purpose of Raghunathrao's northern expedition was twofold: first was to defend the Mughal Emperor from Afghan invasion and second to collect taxes and tributes to meet with Peshwa's growing debts. So in the middle of May 1757, Raghunathrao sent an advance force of 20,000 into the Ganga Doab to recover lost possessions of Marathas, and with Malharrao Holkar and the remaining force decided to invade Rajputana to collect taxes. Due to the fortified lands and the martial nature of the people, Raghunathrao was unable to even gather funds for the subsistence of his army and constantly sent letters to Poona asking the Peshwa for funds.
I am feeding myself only by looting villages. In this country most places are fortified, and not a grain of food can be obtained without fighting. I have no money, and cannot even raise a loan. My soldiers have been fasting for one or two days at a time.
— Raghunathrao's letter to Peshwa
The Maratha army moved through Mewar from Indore and on its way collected a ransom of one lakh from Jawad and attacked Ranikheda in March 1757. Reaching Jaipur in April 1757, Ragunathrao demanded pending payments from Madho Singh and laid siege to Barwada, then belonging to the Shekhawats. Lacking siege materials the Maratha army could not force the Shekhawats to surrender, and the long-standing siege started taking its toll on the Maratha army. Kaniram, who was the Jaipur minister offered Raghunathrao payment as agreed in the past between Marathas and Rajputs, but Raghunathrao was adamant. He demanded 40 to 50 lakhs and territory worth 14 lakhs or threatened to wait out the siege and take territory worth 40 to 50 lakhs from the Rajputs. Madho Singh, king of Jaipur refused all of Raghunathrao's terms and asked all his feudatories to fortify their posts and stay vigilant. The Maratha army in Rajputana at the time did not have the numbers necessary to storm forts of Barwada and Jaipur and so on 12 July 1757 Raghunathrao agreed to peace talks with Madho Singh. He accepted a payment of eleven lakhs from Jaipur, six of which were paid immediately. On 12 July 1757, Raghunathrao wrote to Peshwa:
I have no money, nor is any loan available. My troops are in debt. Prices here are very high. I am daily getting my food only by sacking the villages.
— Raghunathrao's letter to Peshwa on 12 July 1757
But no help was provided by the Peshwa from Pune. Having thus concluded the business in Rajputana, Raghunathrao and Malharrao Holkar with the remaining Maratha forces started making for Delhi to liberate it from the Afghan agents at the end of July 1757, by which point of time Ahmad Shah Abdali was well away to his country.[8]
Marathas enter the Ganga Doab (May 1757 - July 1757)
The Maratha troops sent by Raghunathrao to recover lost possessions in the Ganga Doab under the command of Sakharam Bapu, Vithal Shivdev, Tatya Gangadhar and Antaji Mankeshwar into the Ganga Doab reached Agra in May 1757. On reaching Agra, the Marathas made peace with Suraj Mal and advanced to the Yamuna. They crossed the Yamuna at Agra, occupied Etawah and Sikandra, and encamped at Kasganj on the southern bank of the Ganga on 17 June 1757. Antaji Mankeshwar went to Anupshahr about 2 July 1757. Meerut which was occupied by Najib Khan's agents resisted the Marathas but were swiftly defeated. Imad-ul-mulk sent his diwan Nagar Mal to Anupshahar to establish friendly relations with the Marathas once again. Shuja-ud-daulah had agreed to remain neutral in the conflict between Najib-ud-daulah and the Marathas. Thus most of the Doab was freed of Najib's agents and came under the control of Marathas.[8]
Battle of Delhi (July 1757 - September 1757)
Ahmad Shah Abdali, before heading home in Afghanistan, kept Alamgir II on the throne with Imad-ul-Mulk as his wazir. But Abdali gave all the real power to Najib-ud-Daulah, his supreme agent in India and made him
Raghunathrao reaches Delhi and the Attack Begins (August 1757 – September 1757)
Raghunathrao reached Khizrabad on 11 August 1757 with his lieutenants where he was joined by Sakharam Bapu who had crossed over from Doab. Raghunathrao sent two Maratha divisions to attack Delhi. The first division fought their way to the old city through
The Marathas were unable to storm the fort from the south, so Raghunathrao decided to attack the fort from all sides and lay siege to the place. Grain supply to the fort was stopped and Maratha troops encircled the fort. Najib countering these plans placed guards and cannons on all sides of the fort, preventing the Marathas from getting in the range of these cannons.
Malharrao Holkar with Vithal Shivdev led the Maratha soldiers to attack Delhi fort from the Northern side of
Peace talks crumble and Battle renewed (30 August 1757 – 1 September 1757)
The battle was renewed on the night of 29 August 1757, when Raghunathrao attacked the
Najib-ud-daulah surrenders and agrees for Peace Talks (September 1757)
With famine raging in the city, many soldiers started deserting Najib Khan and leaving the city, and only a few remaining loyal with him. Being hopelessly outnumbered Najib realized that surrender was the only option. Malharrao convinced Raghunathrao and Imad-ul-mulk for peace while Abdul Ahad Khan pressed Najib to agree to peace. On 3 September 1757, Qutb Shah and Najib Khan visited Malharrao's camp at Qudsiabad and accepted all terms of surrender. This created some animosity between Malharrao and Raghunathrao, as Raghunathrao was in command of the Northern expedition and peace talks were conducted by Malharrao Holkar.
The peace became operative on 6 September 1757 where Najib vacated his seat with all the Rohilla soldiers and their belongings and encamped at Wazirabad. Raghunathrao released all Rohilla prisoners. Grain was brought from ferries and supplied to the starving city and Maratha soldiers started guarding the city. Imad-ul-Mulk replaced Najib's agents in the city with his own men o high posts. Ahmad Khan Bangash was made imperial Paymaster-General. Thus, Delhi was freed from Rohilla and Afghan influence by the wazir and Marathas.[8]
On 22 October 1757, Raghunathrao and Malharrao Holkar left Delhi after celebrating the Dasahara festival and entered Doab. Raghunathrao marched to Garh Mukteshwar to bathe in those holy waters and Malharrao Holkar started plundering Saharanpur district, which was Najib Khan's jagir. Najib with his Afghan forces retreated against the Maratha onslaught and moved to his interior domains. Then, Raghunathrao and Malharrao decided to withdraw from the Doab, and gave its lands to the Wazir, Imad-ul-Mulk and started focusing on Punjab expedition to liberate that province from the Durrani empire.[8]
Maratha Invasion of Punjab (October 1757 – May 1758)
Siege of Sirhind (February 1758 – March 1758)
Ahmad Shah Durrani (of present-day Afghanistan) had annexed the province of Punjab from the Mughal Empire in his invasion of 1757. He had appointed his son Timur Shah as the governor of Punjab province. Timur Shah began strengthening his position in Punjab by sending Sarfaraz Khan to deal with Adina Beg, the Mughal governor of Punjab. Adina Beg successfully repelled Sarafraz Khan's invasion, but he knew his cause was doomed as he only had 10,000 troops with him. So he opened negotiations with Raghunathrao who was currently in Delhi. Adina Beg promised to pay 1 lakh rupees for each marching day and half a lakh for each day of halt.
Hearing of this, Abdus Samad Khan Mohmand of Sirhind, a close ally of Abdali, marched to Thaneshwar in October 1757, where he was joined by Najib-ud-daulah's son. Raghunathrao and Malharrao avoided the bait of attacking Abdus Samad Khan and circled around Delhi for a time. Then in December 1757, Malharrao laid siege to Kunjpura and raided most of the territories from Delhi to Thaneshwar. At this time, Abdus Samad Khan was on an expedition against Ala Singh and was greatly alarmed at the approach of the Marathas. He quickly settled the expedition and returned to Sirhind fort on 12 January 1758 and started making defensive preparations. But Malharrao again did not rise to the bait and retreated from Kunjpura after exacting a tribute of five lakhs.
Raghunathrao entered Punjab in February 1758 with
Siege of Lahore (April 1758)
Timur Shah's position at Lahore was a delicate one, Ahmad Shah Abdali was busy in
On 15 September 1758, only a few months after victory, Adina Beg died at
Regency
After Maratha defeat at
Legend has it that the original command was "Hyala Dharaava" (Have him seized) written on a parchment of paper, and while the message was handed over to Anandibai to pass it on to the minions, she changed the letters to mean "Hyala Maraava" (Have him killed). And therefore when the assassins attacked the young Peshwa, he ran over outside of the house of Raghoba crying "Kaakaa, malaa waachwaa" (Uncle, save me). His cry fell on deaf ears as Raghoba stood by imagining Narayanrao to be overacting while his nephew was eventually killed. After Narayanrao's murder, Raghoba became Peshwa, but he was shortly overthrown by
At Kasegaon near Pandharpur the first battle between the Baarbhai and Raghobadada took place in 1774. He then went to Khambhat with hope of getting help from the British, who did not help but transported him to Surat from their ship.
At
However, the company was not yet ready for war, so that the treaty between the Baarbhai and the company was signed at
In 1776, Raghunathrao unsuccessfully tried to get help from
Death and aftermath
Raghunathrao Bajirao moved to
In popular culture
- In the 1994 Hindi TV series The Great Maratha, Raghoba's character was portrayed by Bhushan Jeevan.
- In the 2014 Indian Marathi-language film, Rama Madhav, he is portrayed by Prasad Oak.
- In 2019 Hindi film Panipat, he was portrayed by Kashyap Parulekar.
See also
- Battle of Attock
- Javji Bamble
References
- ^ Indian History Congress (1966). Proceedings. Vol. 28. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
- ^ Kohn, George C. Dictionary of Wars.
- ^ Sardesai, Govind Sakharam (1948). New History of the Marathas Volume III: Sunset over Maharashtra (1772-1848). Phoenix Publications. p. 22.
- ^ Sardesai, Govind Sakharam (1948). New History of the Marathas Volume III: Sunset over Maharashtra (1772-1848). Phoenix Publications. p. 24.
- ^ Sardesai, Govind Sakharam (1948). New History of the Marathas Volume III: Sunset over Maharashtra (1772-1848). Phoenix Publications. p. 28.
- ^ Sardesai, Govind Sakharam (1948). New History of the Marathas Volume III: Sunset over Maharashtra (1772-1848). Phoenix Publications. pp. 30–31.
- ^ Sardesai, Govind Sakharam (1948). New History of the Marathas Volume III: Sunset over Maharashtra (1772-1848). Phoenix Publications. pp. 39–40.
- ^ a b c d e f g Sarkar, Jadunath (1934). Fall of the Mughal Empire Vol. 2. C. Sarkar & Sons, LD. pp. 154–157, 189–193.
- ^ Thomas William Beale, An Oriental Biographical Dictionary: Founded on Materials Collected by the Late Thomas William Beale, BiblioBazaar, 2010
- ^ Percy Sykes, Hist Afghanistan V 1 & 2, Routledge, 10 Jul 2014,
- ISBN 9788131300343.
- ^ The Asiatic Journal and Monthly Register for British and Foreign India, China, and Australia, Volume 10. Parbury, Allen, and Company. 1833. p. 22.