obtained most favourable terms from Aurangzeb, and in fact was left in perfect independence, though doubtless this was done with the intention of crushing him when an opportunity should present itself.

§ 5. Sivaji's prosperity.-In 1674 Sivaji was solemnly enthroned at Raigarh. He was then weighed against gold, and the sum, 16,000 pagodas, given to Bráhmans. From that time he assumed the most high-sounding titles, and maintained more than royal dignity in all his actions.

His kingdom was now both extensive and powerful, and the extraordinary faculty which the Mahrattas always possessed for plundering made him also a very rich monarch. In 1676 he still further extended his influence and empire by a very successful expedition into the Carnatic. His latter days were much embittered by the bad conduct of his son, Sambaji, who was a youth of violent temper and unrestrained passions, and who actually, at one time, deserted to the camp of the Mughul general because his father had punished him for some outrageous conduct.

§ 6. His death and character.-Sivaji died at Raigarh, of fever, brought on by a swelling in his knee-joint, on April 5, 1680. He was a daring soldier, a skilful general, and an able statesman. Though the predatory warfare which he carried on necessarily caused dreadful sufferings, he was always anxious to mitigate those sufferings as far as possible. In order to gain his ends he was sometimes guilty, as in the murder of Afzal Khán, of the utmost cruelty and treachery. But he was never wantonly cruel, and it was possibly remorse for his crimes that caused the religious zeal, which he had always manifested, to degenerate in his old age into superstition and austerity. This religious zeal had the effect of infusing into the Mahrattas an intense national enthusiasm, which attached to their cause all those Hindu subjects of Delhi who were discontented with their Muhammadan masters.

CHAPTER XVII.

THE PROGRESS AND DECLINE OF THE MAHRATTA POWER.

§ 1. Báláji Viswánáth, the First Peshwá. § 2. Báji Ráo, the Second Peshwá. § 3. The Mahratta Confederacy. § 4. Báláji Báji Ráo, the Third Peshwá. § 5. The Third Battle of Pánipat. § 6. Madhu Ráo, Fourth Peshwá. § 7. Náráyana Ráo, Fifth Peshwá. § 8. Madhu Ráo Nárayana, Sixth Peshwá; and the First Mahratta War. § 9. The Battle of Kurdlá. § 10. Báji Rảo II., the last of the Peshwas; and the Second Mahratta War. § 11. The Third Mahratta War. § 12. Causes of the Downfall of the Mahratta Power.

§ 1. Báláji Viswánáth, the First Peshwá.-The short reign of Sambaji, the son of Sivaji, was entirely taken up with wars against the Portuguese (see Chap. XVIII.) and the Mughals, and he was at length taken prisoner by Aurangzeb, and put to a cruel death. Sivaji's grandson, a boy of six, was at the same time captured, and kept a prisoner for years amongst the Mughuls. He is generally known by the nickname Sáhu (thief), given him by Aurangzeb, and the result of his education at the Mughul Court was that he became indolent and luxurious. When he was at length liberated after the death of Aurangzeb, he willingly professed himself a vassal of the Mughul empire, and left all the government of the Mahratta kingdom to his minister, Báláji Viswánáth.

Báláji Viswánáth was a wise and able Bráhman who was taken into Sáhu's service about the year 1712, and made Peshwá or minister, an office which his ability soon made paramount even over the kingly one, and which he was able to make hereditary in his family. From this time the succession of Mahratta Rájás, descendants of Sivaji, is of less historical importance than that of their so-called prime ministers, the Peshwás, who were the real heads of the Mahratta power.

In 1718 the dissensions between the Sayyids and Nizám-ul-mulk, which ended in the battle of Sháhpur (see Chap. XV. § 1) enabled the Peshwá to interfere in the affairs of Delhi. He marched an army to Delhi to help the Sayyid Husain, and in 1720 obtained from him a treaty granting the Mahrattas the chauth or fourth part of the revenues of the Deccan, the sirdeshmukhi (see Chap. XVI. § 4), and the swáráji (absolute control) of the districts between Poona and Sátára.

§ 2. Báji Rao, the Second Peshwá.-Báláji died shortly after this treaty, and was succeeded by his eldest son, Báji Ráo, who was the greatest and ablest of all the Peshwás. Before 1736 he had conquered, from the Mughuls, the whole of Málwa and the territory between the Narbadá and the Chambal; and in that year he forced the Nizám-ulmulk, who had marched from the Deccan to help the em

peror, to sign a convention by which all these territories were granted to him, and fifty lakhs of rupees promised as compensation for the expenses of the war.

Báji Rao was also eminently successful in a great war against the Portuguese settlements on the west coast; and in May 1739 the Mahratta army took Bassein by storm from the Portuguese. The Peshwá after this aspired to conquer the whole Deccan, and attacked the Nizám's dominions; but he was obliged shortly afterwards to make peace, and he died in 1740.

§ 3. The Mahratta Confederacy.-The period of the third Peshwá may be regarded as that of the greatest Mahratta prosperity and power; and yet the confederacy was already showing symptoms of that disunion which ultimately destroyed it—for it was no longer completely under the rule either of the descendants of Sivaji (who, as we have seen, had long ceased to have any real power) or of the Peshwá. The Mahratta power was at this time strictly a confederacy of independent princes, who only obeyed the Peshwá when the latter was able to enforce his orders. Here is a list of the most important of these princes:

(1) and (2). Sáhu, the rightful representative of Sivaji as Rájá of the Mahrattas, reigning as Rájá of Sátára; and Sambaji, another descendant of Sivaji, who had established himself as Rájá of Kolhápur in opposition to Sáhu. The power of these two princes was never great.

(3). Sindia, who established himself in the north-east of Málwa. The descendants of this chieftain have generally been the most powerful of the Mahrattas. They all have borne the name Sindia; and though they were frequently at war with the English in the early times of which we are now speaking and a little later, yet in recent times the Mahárájá Sindia of Gwalior has been one of the most loyal feudatories of the British Indian empire.

(4). Malhár Ráo Holkár, who established himself as Rájá of Indore in Málwa. The successors of this chief

tain have always borne the name of Holkár, and have often been the rivals of the Sindia dynasty as the leaders of the Mahrattas.

(5). Raghuji Bhonslé was Rájá of Barár. The Bhonslé dynasty subsequently extended their power to the Bay of Bengal, by conquering Katak and nearly the whole of Orissa from the Nawab of Bengal. These eastern territories were taken from them by the English in the Second Mahratta War of 1803 (see § 10); and ultimately the dominions of the last Rájá of Barár were annexed by Lord Dalhousie in 1853.

(6). Damaji Gaikwár was Rájá of Baroda in Gujarát; and his descendants, who have always borne the title of Gaikwár, are still reigning in Gujarát as feudatories of the British Indian empire.

Besides all these there was of course the Peshwá, whose court from this time was held at Poona, and who was regarded as the head of the whole confederacy.

§ 4. Báláji Báji Ráo, Third Peshwá.—The eldest son of Báji Rao was Báláji Báji Ráo, and succeeded as Third Peshwá; the younger son was called Raghoba. Báláji Báji Ráo reigned from 1740 to 1761, a period full of important events, of which we can here only speak of the three most important. These were two great wars against the Mughuls under the Nizám of Haidarábád; and the disastrous conflict with Ahmad Sháh Abdálí, the Afghán invader (see Chap. XV. § 5).

The first war against the Nizám of Haidarábád, Salábat Jang, was in 1751-52. The Peshwá was defeated at RÁJÁPUR by the French allies of Salábat, under the celebrated Bussy (see Chap. XIX. § 2); but before the end of the year he obtained a large cession of territory from the Nizám.

The second war occurred in 1760. The Peshwá had obtained possession of Ahmadnagar; so the Nizám, Salábat Jang, marched against him. The result was a complete victory for the Peshwá, at the great battle of UDGÍR; and