Maratha invasions of Bengal

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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
  • Signing of a peace protocol[1]
  • Maratha Army agreed to never cross the Subarnarekha River[2]
  • De facto Maratha control over Orissa in 1741, but de jure remained a part of Bengal Subah till 1751.[3][4][5]
  • After the assassination of Mir Habib, the governor of Orissa in 1751, Marathas formally incorporated Orissa in their dominion.[3][5]
  • 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.[1][6][2]
  • The Nawab of Bengal also paid Rs. 3.2 million to the Marathas, towards the arrears of chauth for the preceding years.[7]
Territorial
changes		 Incorporation of Orissa into the Maratha Empire[8][5]
Belligerents
Flag of the Maratha Empire.svg Maratha Empire

Nawab of Bengal

Mallabhum
Commanders and leaders
Flag of the Maratha Empire.svg Raghuji Bhonsle
Flag of the Maratha Empire.svg Bhaskar Pandit †
Flag of the Maratha Empire.svg Janoji Bhonsle
Flag of the Maratha Empire.svg Sabaji Bhonsle

Alivardi Khan


Gopal Singha Dev[10]
Strength
Flag of the Maratha Empire.svg 40,000[5] (in 1742)
12,000[11] (in 1748)		 15,000 Cavalry and 8,000 Musketeers[11] (in 1748)
Casualties and losses
Flag of the Maratha Empire.svg Unknown 400,000 civilians deaths[12]

The Maratha invasions of Bengal (1741-1751),[13][14] also known as the Maratha expeditions in Bengal, refers to the frequent invasions by the Maratha forces in the Bengal Subah (West Bengal, Bihar, parts of modern Orissa), after their successful campaign in the Carnatic region at the Battle of Trichinopoly. The leader of the expedition was Maratha Maharaja Raghoji Bhonsle of Nagpur.[15] The Marathas invaded Bengal six times from August 1741 to May 1751. Nawab Alivardi Khan succeeded in resisting all the invasions in western Bengal, however, the frequent Maratha invasions caused great destruction in the western Bengal Subah, resulting in heavy civilian casualties and widespread economic losses.

List of Battles[edit]

Template:Expansion List of battles fought between the Maratha empire and the Bengal Subah.

Name Of Conflict (Time)

Maratha commander Bengal commander Outcome
First Battle of Midnapur (1742) Bhaskar Ram KolhatkarMir Habib Alivardi Khan Bengal Victory
• The Bengal forces defeated the Maratha forces and they were driven from Orissa beyond the Chilka lake.[16]
Battle of Birbhum (1743) Raghoji Balaji Rao
Alivardi Khan 		Bengal Victory
• The Maratha forces under Raghoji compelled to leave Bengal.[17]
First Battle of Katwa (1744) Bhaskar Ram KolhatkarTemplate:Assassinated
Alibhai Qarawwal †
Mir Habib 		Alivardi Khan Bengal Victory
• Maratha forces retreated.[18]
Battle of Champanager (1745) Raghoji Alivardi Khan Bengal Victory
• Alivardi Khan with 600 men defeated Raghoji who had over 6000 men.[19]
Second Battle of Katwa (1745) Raghoji
Mir Habib 		Alivardi Khan Bengal Victory
• Maratha retreat
Second Battle of Midnapur (1746) Sayyid Nur Mir Jafar Khan Bengal Victory
• Family of Mir Habib taken as prisoners.[20]
Battle of Burdwan (1747) Janoji Bhonsale Alivardi Khan Bengal Victory[21]
Battle of Ranisarai (1748) Janoji Bhonsale
Mir Habib
Shamsir Khan 		Alivardi Khan Bengal Victory
Alivardi Khan defeated combined Afghan and Maratha forces.[22]
Third Battle of Midnapur (1749) Mir Habib Dost Muhammad Khan
Mir Qasim Khan 		Bengal Victory[23]
Battle of Cuttack (1749) Nilla PunditTemplate:POW Alivardi Khan Bengal Victory[24]
Siege of Barabati (1749) Sayyid NurTemplate:Surrender
Dharmadas HazariTemplate:Surrendered
Sarandaz Khan † 		Alivardi Khan Bengal Victory
• Fort surrendered to Nawab
• Orissa recovered.[25]
Fourth Battle of Midnapur (1750) Mir Habib Mir Jafar Khan Bengal Victory
• Mir Habib retreated to Jungle.[26]

Later conflicts[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Shoaib Daniyal (21 December 2015). "Forgotten Indian history: The brutal Maratha invasions of Bengal". Scroll.in.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Nitish K. Sengupta (2011). Land of Two Rivers: A History of Bengal from the Mahabharata to Mujib. pp. 158–163. ISBN 9780143416784. 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. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Sen, Sailendra Nath (2010). An Advanced History of Modern India. Macmillan India. p. 15. ISBN 978-0-230-32885-3.
  4. ↑ Sarkar, Jadunath (1991). Fall of the Mughal Empire (4th Vol. I ed.). Orient Longman. ISBN 978-81-250-1149-1.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named বাংলাদেশের ইতিহাস
  6. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named oum
  7. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Mehta2005
  8. ↑ Sen, Sailendra Nath (2010). An Advanced History of Modern India. Macmillan India. p. 15. ISBN 978-0-230-32885-3. In 1751,...promising cession of the province of Orissa...Orissa came under the Bhonsle's control.
  9. ↑ McLane, John R. Land and local kinship in eighteenth-century Bengal. Cambridge University Press. pp. 155–156. ISBN 0521410746.
  10. ↑ Buddhadev Nandi (19 January 2019). "Bishnupur — when myth transcends history". The Statesman.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Jadunath Sarkar, Fall of Mughal Empire Volume 1, Pg.90
  12. ↑ P. J. Marshall (2006). Bengal: The British Bridgehead: Eastern India 1740-1828. Cambridge University Press. p. 73. ISBN 9780521028226.
  13. ↑ McLane, John R. (2002). Land and Local Kingship in Eighteenth-Century Bengal. Cambridge University Press. p. 166. ISBN 9780521526548.
  14. ↑ Jaques, Tony (2007). Dictionary of Battles and Sieges: F-O. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 516. ISBN 9780313335389.
  15. ↑ SNHM. Vol. II, pp. 209, 224.
  16. ↑ Datta 1963, p. 79.
  17. ↑ Datta 1963, p. 86.
  18. ↑ Datta 1963, p. 90-92.
  19. ↑ Datta 1963, p. 98.
  20. ↑ Datta 1963, p. 100-101.
  21. ↑ Datta 1963, p. 101-102.
  22. ↑ Datta 1963, p. 105.
  23. ↑ Datta 1963, p. 106-107.
  24. ↑ Datta 1963, p. 107.
  25. ↑ Datta 1963, p. 107-108.
  26. ↑ Datta 1963, p. 113.

Invasions of Bengal[edit]

From 1741 to 1751, the Marathas under Raghuji Bhonsle invaded Bengal six times. The first one in 1741, as also the third in 1744, were led by Raghuji's general Pandit Bhaskar Ram Kolhatkar or Bhaskar Pandit, a Brahmin. 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 Bengal, however, each of the invasions was repelled by the armies under Nawab Alivardi Khan. But the continuous conflict took a heavy toll on the population of Bengal.[1]

First invasion (1741)[edit]

After the inauguration of Alivardi Khan as the Nawab of Bengal, the provincial governor of Orissa, Zafar Khan 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.[1]

Hearing of this, Alivardi rushed to Orissa and Alivardi's commander Mir Jafar freed Syed Ahmed and his family.[1] Alivardi regained control of Orissa and returned to Murshidabad. Marathas retook Orissa in 1749.[2]

End of hostilities[edit]

In 1751, the Marathas signed a peace treaty with the Nawab of Bengal, 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] It made The Nawab of Bengal a tributary to the Marathas who agrees to pay Rs. 1.2 million annually as the chauth of Bengal and Bihar, and the Marathas agreed not to invade Bengal again.[3][4] The Nawab of Bengal also paid Rs. 3.2 million to the Marathas, towards the arrears of chauth for the preceding years.[5]

The chauth was paid annually by the Nawab of Bengal up to 1758, until the East India Company took over.[6]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 ড. মুহম্মদ আব্দুর রহিম. "মারাঠা আক্রমণ". বাংলাদেশের ইতিহাস. ২৯৩–২৯৯.
  2. ↑ Jadunath Sarkar,Fall of the Mughal Empire Volume 1, Pg. 97
  3. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named scroll
  4. ↑ OUM. pp. 16, 17
  5. ↑ Jaswant Lal Mehta (2005). Advanced Study in the History of Modern India 1707-1813. ISBN 9781932705546.
  6. ↑ Jadunath Sarkar (1997) [First published 1932]. Fall of the Mughal Empire (4th ed.). ISBN 9788125011491. [1]
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