Draft:Sheo Bhatt's Invasion of Bengal
| Sheo Bhatt's Invasion of Bengal | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Later Maratha invasions of Bengal | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Bengal SubahSupported by  East India Company | |||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
Mir Qasim Mir Jafar Tilak Chand (POW) Ghulam Mustafa Muhammad Ali.svg){kind=small} Kaushal Chand (POW) |
 Sheo Bhatt Chimna Sau Bhaskar Pandit | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| Unknown | Unknown | ||||||||
Initially tasked with collecting chauth from Bengal, Sheo Bhatt resumed raiding Bengal after Mir Qasim, the new Nawab, failed to pay. Sheo Bhatt attacked Birbhum, Burdwan, and Midnapur, leading to British military response. Despite Sheo Bhatt's claims that these territories belonged to Orissa and his occasional attempts at reconciliation, the British remained cautious and sought to expel the Marathas from Orissa. They planned an expedition with Nawab Mir Qasim's financial support, but the Nawab later withdrew. In 1763, Sheo Bhatt supported Mir Qasim against the British, but after assurances from the British, he ceased support. Despite efforts to resolve the chauth payments, no settlement was reached before Sheo Bhatt's tenure ended.[1][2][3][4][5]
Background
[edit]Sheo Bhatt who was appointed as the first Hindu Maratha governer of Orrisa was deeply upset by the conspiracy against him and was resolved to seek revenge. He instructed Janoji to have Mirza Saleh collect the full amount of chauth from Mir Jafar. However, Mirza Saleh did not comply. Consequently, Sheo Bhatt offered to collect the chauth from the Nawab if he were appointed Subahdar of Orissa. Janoji Bhonsle agreed to this offer, but Sheo Bhatt was delayed at Nagpur and could not assume his new office immediately. He managed to secure a parwana from Janoji Bhonsle for Chimna Sau to govern Orissa, and Chimna Sau arrived at Cuttack, where he took control of part of the Barabati fort.[1][2][3][6]
Mirza Saleh, who was allied with the Nawab and supported by the British, faced opposition from Chimna Sau, as the British feared losing their influence if Chimna Sau became Subahdar. This led to intermittent conflicts between the two sides over the next two years. Despite Sheo Bhatt's eagerness to take charge of Orissa, he was hindered by Janoji's conflicts with his brother Mudhoji I, who was rumored to be plotting Janoji's assassination. Mudhoji I mobilized his forces for revenge, further delaying Sheo Bhatt's departure.[1][2][3][6]
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.[1][2][3][6]
Invasions
[edit]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.[1][2][3][7][8][6]
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.[7][8][6][1][2][3]
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.[7][8][6][1][2][3]
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.[1][2][3][4][7][8][6]
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.
— 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.[7][8][6][1][2][3]
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.[7][8][6][1][2][3]
Peace with Marathas
[edit]British efforts to expel the Marathas had significantly angered Sheo Bhatt. In 1763, a conflict arose between Mir Qasim and the British over demands for preferential trade terms. Sheo Bhatt corresponded with Mir Qasim, who claimed he had already defeated the British and urged Sheo Bhatt to collaborate with him to collect the chauth. Mir Qasim also sent Sheo Bhatt a sanad for Jaleswar and Midnapur, prompting Sheo Bhatt to send Bhaskar Pandit and Buli Khan to assist Mir Qasim.[1][2][3]
Alarmed by the situation, the British dispatched Aga Muhammad Ali and Ghulam Mustafa Munshi to the Marathas, promising to address the chauth payments if they refrained from supporting Mir Qasim. This assurance was confirmed by Vansittart, the British Governor of Bengal, who wrote to Sheo Bhatt, promising to settle all arrears of chauth if the Maratha forces did not join Mir Qasim's troops. Convinced, Sheo Bhatt ceased his support for Mir Qasim. Following the British victory over Mir Qasim, Sheo Bhatt congratulated them, hoping that a closer relationship would lead to a resolution of the chauth issue. However, he was unable to secure a settlement with the British during his tenure as governor.[1][2][3]
List of Conflicts
[edit]This list details the military Conflicts between Marathas and Bengal Subah Supported by British East India Company
|
Name Of Conflict (Time) |
Maratha Commander | Bengal/British Commadar | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plunder of Burdwan (1761) |
Sheo Bhatt
|
Unknown
|
Maratha Victory[1] |
| Plunder of Birbhum (1761) |
Sheo Bhatt
|
Unknown
|
Maratha Victory[1] |
| Plunder of Burdwan and Midnapur (1761) |
Sheo Bhatt
|
Tilak Chand
|
Maratha Victory[1] |
| Battle of Cuttack | Sheo Bhatt
|
UnknownUnknown
|
Bengal-British Victory[1] |
| Plunder of Midnapur
|
Sheo Bhatt
|
Unknown
|
Maratha Victory[1] |
| British attack on Marathas at Midnapur (1761) |
Sheo Bhatt
|
Unknown
|
British Victory[1] |
| Raid of Burdwan and Midnapur |
Sheo Bhatt Bhaskar PanditChimna Sau
|
Mir Qasim Unknown
|
Maratha Victory
|
| Attack on Cuttack | Sheo Bhatt
|
Kaushal Chand (POW)
|
No Result[1] |
| March to Jaleswar (1763) |
Bhaskar Pandit
|
Muhammad AliGulam Mustafa (as British Reagent) |
Peace Treaty
|
Aftermath
[edit]In 1764, Sheo Bhatt, unable to meet his financial obligations to Janoji Bhonsle, was dismissed and replaced by Chimna Sau as the governor of Orissa. Sheo Bhatt was imprisoned on April 12, 1764, but Mukund Pandit, with some of Sheo Bhatt’s men, attacked Chimna Sau’s forces and was defeated, resulting in several casualties. Following Sheo Bhatt’s removal, Orissa experienced significant disorder as various zamindars exploited the situation, including the zamindar of Dhenkanal, who murdered Sheo Bhatt’s adopted son and seized his property.[1][2][3]
Bhaskar Pandit, Sheo Bhatt’s brother and the faujdar of Balasore, fled with local zamindars to avoid capture by Chimna Sau due to arrears in revenue collection. Sheo Bhatt managed to escape from Nagpur, traveled to Oudh, and unsuccessfully sought support from Lord Clive. He obtained an Imperial Parwana from Delhi appointing Janoji Bhonsle as the Nizamat of Orissa and raised a contingent of 500 horsemen from Januji. Despite these efforts, Chimna Sau, who had aligned with the British, was well-prepared to counter Sheo Bhatt’s attempt to regain control.[1][2][3]
Sheo Bhatt returned to Orissa and established his base at Kunjar, gaining the support of several zamindars and causing disturbances, including setting fire to Cuttack’s suburbs. He claimed British backing and sought support from Motte in Sambalpur, but the British rejected his claims and supported Chimna Sau instead. By February 1767, Sheo Bhatt was decisively defeated, ending his turbulent bid to regain power. Despite his dismissal, Sheo Bhatt is remembered for his effective revenue administration, having established a settlement of 18,00,000 Arcot rupees with a notable revenue system.[1][2][3]
Reference
[edit]
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x Ray, Bhabani Charan (1960). Orissa Under Marathas 1751-1803. pp. 31–39.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Ray, Bhabani Charan (1957). "Sheo Bhatt Sathe in Orissa". Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. 20: 229–235. ISSN 2249-1937.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Mukerji, T. K. (1949). "The Way the English Tackled the Question of the Chouth of Bengal (1761-1785)". Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. 12: 245–249. ISSN 2249-1937.
- ^ a b Das, Binod Sankar (1984). Changing Profile of the Frontier Bengal, 1751-1833. Mittal Publications. p. 72.
- ^ Sinha, K. N. (1969). Studies in Anglo Maratha Relations. Lok Chetana Prakashan. p. 27.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Das, Binod Sankar (1978). Studies in the Economic History of Orissa from Ancient Times to 1833. Firma KLM. pp. 96–100. ISBN 978-0-8364-0200-1.
- ^ a b c d e f The Quarterly Review of Historical Studies. Institute of Historical Studies. 1974. p. 38.
- ^ a b c d e f Datta, Kali Kinkar (1949). "The Marathas in Orissa". Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. 12: 299–301. ISSN 2249-1937.