1759.The Peshwa had supported Syed Achchan of Surat with the view of putting him under an obligation so as to secure some future advantages, and this year lent him some troops as a bodyguard. The Nawáb of Cambay, who was also indebted to the ministerial party, left his dominions to pay a visit to the Peshwa at Poona. Khanderáv meanwhile plundered Lunáváḍa and Ídar, whilst Sayájiráv was similarly engaged in Soráth.
1761.Dámáji Gáikwár accompanied the Peshwa to Delhi, and was one of the few Marátha leaders that escaped after the defeat at Pánipat. On his return to Gujarát he successfully opposed an expedition by the Nawáb of Cambay against Bálásinor and re-took the estates of Jawán Mard Khán. He also strengthened his position in Sorath and Káthiáváḍa against the Peshwa’s party.
1761.The Peshwa, being hard pressed by his rival the Nizám, began in this year to make overtures to the East India Company’s officers in Bombay, with a view to getting the aid of European artillery and gunners. He at first offered to give up a valuable tract of land in Jambusar. But the English would accept no territory but the island of Sálsette, the town of Bassein, and the small islands in the harbour of Bombay. These the Marátha government declined to give up, so negotiations were broken off.
1762.Next year Raghunáthráv, as guardian of the son of Báláji, named Mádhavráv, who was still a minor, conferred the title of Senápati on one of the Jádhav family who had formerly borne it. The administration of Gujarát, however, which had always accompanied the title when held by the Dábháde family, was left practically in the hands of Dámáji, and no mention of any transfer of it was made at the time Jádhav was appointed commander-in-chief. Discontented with the empty honour thus conferred, Rámchandra, the new Senápati, joined the Nizám’s party, and on account of this defection the Peshwa, two years afterwards, cancelled the appointment and restored the office to the Ghorpade family, one of whose members had held it long before. This put an end to the connection of Gujarát with the chief military dignity of the Marátha state.
Intrigues of Rághoba, 1768.After Mádhavráv Báláji came of age he had constantly to be on this guard against the plots of his uncle Raghunáthráv, who had refused to accept the share in the government offered him by the young Peshwa. Raghunáthráv, perhaps instigated by his wife, had no doubt great hopes of obtaining a share in the whole power of the administration, and suspecting Mádhavráv to be aware of his designs, looked upon all the overtures made by the latter as intended in some way or other to entrap him. He therefore collected an army of some 15,000 men in Báglán and Násik, and hoping to be joined on his way by Jánoji Bhonslé, advanced towards Poona. In his army was Govindráv, son of Dámáji Gáikwár, with a detachment of his father’s troops. The Peshwa, without giving Jánoji time to effect
The Maráthás, a.d. 1760–1819. a junction with Raghunáthráv, even if he had been prepared to do so, defeated his uncle’s army at Dhorap, a fort in the Ajunta range, and carried off Rághobá and Govindráv to Poona, where they were placed in confinement.
Death of Dámáji Gáikwár, 1768.Not long after this action Dámáji died. He had brought the fortunes of the Gáikwár house to the highest pitch they ever reached and not long after his death the family influence began to decline. It was his personal authority alone that was able to counteract the usual tendency of quasi-independent Marátha states towards disintegration, especially when they are at a distance from the central power. Khanderáv and Sayájiráv had shown frequent signs of insubordination (as for instance in their espousal of the cause of Rangoji) and a desire to establish themselves in an independent position, but the sagacity of Dámáji foresaw the advantage such a partition would give an enemy like the Peshwa, and his tact enabled him to preserve unity in his family, at least in resistance to what he showed them to be their common foe.
Disputed Succession.The quarrel for the succession that arose on Dámáji’s death was the first step towards the breaking up of the Gáikwár’s power. Dámáji had three wives. By the first he had Govindráv, who however was born after Sayájiráv, the son by the second wife. His sons by the third wife were Mánáji and Fatesingh. Govindráv was in confinement at Poona near the court, and therefore in a position to offer conditions for the confirmation of his rights without loss of time.
In the Hindu law current amongst Maráthás, there are to be found precedents in favour of the heirship of either Govindráv or Sayájiráv. Some authorities support the rights of the son of the first wife whether he be the eldest or not, others again regard simply the age of the claimants, deciding in favour of the first born, of whatever wife he may be the son. Rámráv Shástri, the celebrated adviser of Mádhavráv Peshwa, is said to have expressed an opinion in favour of the rights of Sayájiráv. Govindráv, however, was on the spot where his influence could be used most extensively. Sayáji, moreover, was an idiot and a puppet in the hands of his half brother Fatesingh. Govindráv applied at once for investiture with the title of Sená-Khás-Khel. A payment of 50½ lákhs of rupees to the Peshwa on account of arrears of tribute and a fine for his conduct in taking part with Rághobá was a strong argument in his favour, and when he agreed to a tribute previously demanded from his father of Rs. 7,79,000 yearly and to maintain a peace contingent at Poona of 3000 horse, to be increased by a thousand more in time of war, there could be little doubt as to the legitimacy of his claim, and he was duly invested with his father’s title and estate.
1771.For reasons not apparent Sayáji’s claims were not brought forward till nearly two years later. Govindráv had never been allowed to join his charge in Gujarát, so that he could exercise no interference in that direction, and the court affairs in the Dakhan left perhaps little time for the disposal of Sayájiráv’s application, even if it had been made. Sayáji had entrusted his interests to Fatesingh, a man
The Maráthás, a.d. 1760–1819. of considerable ability, who came at once to Poona to get a reversal of the recognition of Govindráv. The Peshwa was glad to have this opportunity of undoing so much of Dámáji’s work and dividing the Gáikwár family against itself, so using the verdict of Rám Shástri as his weapon, he cancelled the former grant in favour of Govindráv, and appointed Sayájiráv with Fatesingh as his mutálik or deputy. The latter, by agreeing to pay an extra sum of 6½ lákhs of rupees annually, got permission to retain the Poona contingent of Gáikwár horse in Gujarát, on the pretext that Govindráv would probably attack his brothers on the earliest opportunity. Thus, whatever happened, all went to the profit of the Peshwa’s party and to the injury of the tax-paying Gujarát ryot.
1773.Fatesingh retired in triumph to Baroda, and opened negotiations with the English in Surat, as he had been endeavouring to do for a year past without success. In January 1773, however, he succeeded in getting an agreement from the Chief for Affairs of the British Nation in Surat, that his share in the revenues of the town of Broach, which had been taken by storm in 1772 by the English, should not be affected by the change of masters. In the same year Náráyanráv Peshwa was murdered, and Rághobá was invested by the titular king at Sátára with the ministerial robe of honour. Govindráv Gáikwár, still in Poona, reminded the new Peshwa of the good offices of the Gáikwár family at Dhorap and elsewhere, and found means of getting reinstated as Sená-Khás-Khel. In 1774 he set out for Gujarát, and collecting a fair number of adherents on his way, he attacked Fatesingh. 1774.After various engagements of little importance, the latter found himself shut into the city of Baroda, which was invested by Govindráv in January 1775.