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By the end of June 1759, the conflict between [[Janoji Bhonsle]] and [[Mudhoji I]] had eased somewhat. Sheo Bhatt finally reached [[Cuttack]] in July 1759 with a force of about 4,000 horsemen and 1,500 foot soldiers. By then, a settlement had been reached, and Mirza Saleh had ceded the Subahdarship to Chimna Sau. Sheo Bhatt then took over the province from Chimna Sau. | By the end of June 1759, the conflict between [[Janoji Bhonsle]] and [[Mudhoji I]] had eased somewhat. Sheo Bhatt finally reached [[Cuttack]] in July 1759 with a force of about 4,000 horsemen and 1,500 foot soldiers. By then, a settlement had been reached, and Mirza Saleh had ceded the Subahdarship to Chimna Sau. Sheo Bhatt then took over the province from Chimna Sau. | ||
==Invasions== | |||
Initially, the task was to collect chauth from Bengal. Following [[Mir Jafar]]'s replacement by [[Mir Qasim]] as [[Nawab of Bengal]], the new Nawab was reminded of the [[chauth]] payment but chose to remain silent. Fearing invasion if the chauth was not paid, Firt Shon Bhatt's threats had no effect. Consequently, Sheo Bhatt decided that since the Nawab had breached the 1751 treaty, he too could disregard the Maratha part of the agreement and resume his previous practice of Bengal Invasion by raiding [[Bengal]] beyond the Subarnarekha River. | |||
Sheo Bhatt began by plundering Birbhum. The British urged [[Mir Qasim]] to counter Sheo Bhatt's actions and stationed troops in Midnapur to guard against Maratha incursions into Burdwan and Midnapur. Sheo Bhatt demanded three lakhs of rupees from Tilak Chand, Raja of [[Burdwan]], and when the demand was unmet, he attacked and plundered Burdwan and Midnapur, creating significant unrest. As British troops approached, Sheo Bhatt retreated to [[Cuttack]]. | |||
Sheo Bhatt claimed that Burdwan and Midnapur were part of [[Orissa]] and should not fall into the hands of either the Nawab or the British. The British countered that [[Burdwan]] was granted to the Company by the Nawab and the King to cover military expenses, while Midnapur had long been independent of [[Orissa]] and was now under the Company’s control for maintaining troops. | |||
In 1761, Sheo Bhatt invaded Midnapur again, plundering it thoroughly. The British retaliated, capturing the money Sheo Bhatt had collected from Pataspur, a region under his control. To pressure Tilak Chand into paying the demanded sum, Sheo Bhatt appointed Rai Govind to the zamindari of Chitnam Berda, which belonged to Tilak Chand, but failed to achieve his goal. | |||
{{Quote|text=Gentlemen The Bengal Province having suffered much from the incur- sions and ravages of the Marathas over it since they had possession of Cuttack, we have determined, in concert with the Nawab, to send a force to rout them from that place and restore that province to the Subah-ship of Bengal, to which it by right pertains. | |||
"It is about twelve years since the [[Nawab of Bengal]], after a long and ruinous war with the Marathas gave them an assignment upon the Cuttack province for receiving an annual stipulated sum on account of the Chauth. The Marathas, under pretence of collecting their share, usurped by degrees the entire possession of the province, and not contented with that, still continued to harass the neighbouring parts of Bengal, and more particularly the provinces of Midnapur and Burdwan, which now belong to the Company.|author=Bombay Committee to [[Marathas]]}} | |||
Despite ongoing tensions and occasional raids, Sheo Bhatt sometimes showed a willingness to reconcile. The British appointed Khushal Chand at [[Cuttack]] to manage correspondence with Madras. Though initially imprisoned, Khushal Chand was later released, and British communications were resumed. When a British shipwrecked near Puri, Sheo Bhatt ensured the survivors reached safety and even offered to send representatives to Calcutta to resolve disputes over Pataspur and other territories. | |||
Despite these efforts, the British remained wary of the [[Marathas]], suspecting their intentions and fearing further raids into Bengal. This led them to devise a plan to expel the Marathas from Orissa. They proposed that Nawab [[Mir Qasim]] lead an expedition into Orissa, with British support. The Nawab would cover the expedition's costs and assign part of the revenue from Cuttack to the British to cover these expenses. Initially, the Nawab agreed to this plan, and a British force under Ellis was prepared to march. However, the Nawab later reconsidered and declined to bear the financial burden, causing the plan to fall through. | |||