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UISTORY OF INDIA.
[Book HI.
A.D. 1759.
New iiiva- Bion of Ah- med Sliiih Dooranee.
Prospect of a Mahratta empire.
in league with the Roiiillas, inflicted a severe loss on an iwjlated detachment, and drove it across the Ganges. Datajee Scindia, the Maliratta in command of the main body, deemed it expedient to come to terms, and a kind of peace, not intended to be long kept, was patched up.
One main inducement to the peace was tiie rumoured a])j>roach of Ahmed Shah Dooranee. When his son Tiraoui- amved from the Punjab, he was en- gaged in suj)pressing a revolt among the Beloochees. This delayed him till September, 1759, when he commenced a new Indian campaign by cro.ssing the Indus at Pesliawer, and continuing his course to Saharunpoor, at some dis- tance beyond the left bank of the Jumna. While he was thiLS advancing, Ghazi-u-din — remembering how Alumgeer had formerly obtained the protection of Ahmed, and nearly succeeded in expelling him from his viziership — was deter- mined not again to run a similar risk, and followed the course which his cruel and perfidious natui-e dictated, by causing the unhappy monarch to be as.sas- sinated in November, 1759. Shah Alum, the heir apparent, was then absent in Bengal, and the new prince whom Ghazi-u-din seated on tlie throne was never recognized. There was tlius no ostensible sovereign at Delhi ; the Mogul empire had ceased to exist.
When the Mogul empire was extinguished, the general expectation was that a Malu'atta empire would immediately arise on its ruins. Originally confined to a limited district in the Deccan, the Mahrattas had established their ascen- dency in every part of India, possessing immense tracts of territory in absolute right, and levying heavy tribute from nearly the whole of the remainder. One great obstacle to the establishment of a consolidated Mahratta empire had been disunion among the members composing its confederacy. Saho, its nominal I lead, had been deprived of aU real power by the Peishw^a. Latterly, indeed, he was unfit for government, and died in a state of imbecility, in 1749. This event led to new complications, which were not arranged until many of the chiefs had acquired a kind of independence and become the founders of minor dynasties. Among the more conspicuous of these were Petajee Guicowar in Gu.jerat, Mulhar Rao Holkar, and Datajee Scindia, who, by obtaining an assignment to nearly the whole revenues of Malw^ah, secured the dominions wdiich still bear their name and are possessed by their descendants. Other chiefs who have not left such permanent traces of their authority were equally powerful. Ragojee Bosla and Ragoba have been already mentioned. Another, Sedashao Rao Bhao, or simply "the Bhao," a cousin of the Peishwa Balajee, possessed great influence, but had been contented, while the other chiefs were pursu- ing distant conquests, to remain in the Deccan as home minister and com- mander-in-chief He was acting in this capacity v4ien Ragolia retui-ned from his campaign in the Punjab. His .success had not been obtained without a very heavy outlay, and the Bhao, on learning that, instead of bringing any sum into the treasury, he had made it liable to a debt of nearly £1,000,000
