Goddard at once refused to force Rághobá to take any course other than the one he should select of his own free will; for Sindia did not appear to be aware that the English were now at war with the ministers on their own account and not as allies of an ex-Peshwa. Negotiations were broken off and Sindia and Holkar dislodged from place after place without any decisive engagement being fought. General Goddard was preparing monsoon quarters for his army, when he heard that a division of a Marátha force which had been plundering the Konkan in order to cut off supplies from Bombay had attacked parts of the Surat Athávisi. He detached some troops under Lieut. Welsh and sent them to the south, whilst he remained himself on the Narbada. Lieut. Welsh drove back the marauders and took possession of the forts of Párnera, Indargad, and Bagváda.
After the monsoon of 1780, General Goddard went to besiege Bassein, leaving Major Forbes in charge of the Gujarát army. This officer posted one body of troops at Ahmedábád for the protection of Fatesingh, another at Surat, and a third at Broach. Two battalions of Bengal infantry were sent to Sinor and some few men to Dabhoi.
1781.An attack was made by Sindia on the newly acquired district of Sinor, but Major Forbes successfully resisted it and Sindia’s position with regard to his own dominions was now such as to prevent him from sending more expeditions against Gujarát.
The military necessities of other parts of India were such as to induce General Goddard to apply to Fatesingh for an increase to
The Maráthás, a.d. 1760–1819. his contingent, in accordance with the treaty of 1780. After some personal communications with this Chief in Gujarát, General Goddard was able to arrange with the Gáikwár for the defence of part of that province and thus set free some European troops for service elsewhere.
Treaty of Sálbai, 1782.No further attack was made in this direction during the continuance of the war which came to an end on 17th May 1782. The treaty of Sálbai between an envoy of the Governor General on one side and Mahádáji Sindia as plenipotentiary for the Peshwa and minister of Poona on the other, replaced the Marátha territory in Gujarát exactly where it was on the outbreak of hostilities against Rághobá in 1775. It was, however, specially stipulated that no demand for arrears of tribute during the late hostilities should be made against the Gáikwár, a clause that led to misunderstandings many years later. The town of Broach was given over to Sindia in accordance with the secret negotiation of 1779 and the votes of the Bengal and Bombay Councils. The territory round Broach yielding a revenue of three lákhs of rupees, ceded by the Peshwa, was likewise returned. Rághobá was granted a pension of 25,000 rupees a month and allowed to select his own place of residence. He went to Kopargaon and there died a few months after the conclusion of the treaty of Sálbai. Thus came to an end one of the chief sources of disturbance to the Poona government. For the next six years no event of any political importance took place in Gujarát, which province was left almost entirely to the administration of the Gáikwár family.
Death of Fatesingh, 1789.In 1789, however, Fatesingh died, leaving Sayájiráv without a guardian. Mánáji, a younger brother, at once seized the reins of government and began the usual sort of negotiations to secure his recognition by the Poona government. He paid a nazarána of 3,13,000 rupees and agreed to pay up thirty-six lákhs of rupees as arrears, though it is not clear on what account, unless that sum had accrued since the treaty of Sálbai, or was part of the long standing account left open by Dámáji in 1753. Mánáji, however, was not allowed to succeed to the post of guardian without opposition. Govindráv Gáikwár was living at Poona, and, though he had himself little influence with the Peshwa’s immediate adherents, he had managed to secure the then powerful Sindia on his side. This chief, since his recognition as plenipotentiary at the treaty of Sálbai, had been gradually making good his position with the Peshwa and his favourites as well as with the leading Marátha nobles, so as to be able to successfully oppose Nána Phadnis when the time came for a coalition of the outlying chiefs against the ministerial party. Govindráv offered his son Ánandráv as husband for the daughter of Sindia, a proposal which it is not probable that he ever intended to carry out. A grant of three lákhs of rupees was also promised, in return for which Sindia allowed his garrison in Broach to assist Govindráv’s illegitimate son Kánhoji to reach Baroda. Mánáji applied to the Bombay Government on the grounds that the steps taken by Govindráv were contrary to the provisions of the treaty of 1780. As however this treaty had been abrogated by the later agreement at Sálbai, the Bombay Government declined to interfere. Mánáji’s agents at Poona
The Maráthás, a.d. 1760–1819. contrived to get Nána Phadnis to propose a compromise, to which however Govindráv, at the instigation probably of Sindia, declined to accede. Before any decision was reached Mánáji died.
1793.Nána detained Govindráv in Poona till he had agreed to hold by former stipulations and to cede to the Peshwa the Gáikwár’s share in the districts south of the Tápti together with his share of the Surat customs. To this the Government of Bombay demurred as an infraction of the provision of the Sálbai treaty whereby the integrity of the Gáikwár’s possessions was assured. Nána Phadnis at once withdrew his proposals. Govindráv at last joined his brother at Baroda on 19th December, and took up the office of regent.
Ába Shelukar Deputy Governor of Gujarát, 1796.For two years Gujarát remained quiet. In 1796 Bájiráv, son of Rághobá, succeeded to the Peshwa’s dignity and at once appointed his younger brother, ten years of age, governor of Gujarát. In accordance with Marátha custom a deputy was sent to take charge of the province, one Ába Shelukar, and he too seems to have administered vicariously, for next year (1797) we find him amongst those taken prisoners with Nána Phadnis when that minister was treacherously seized by Daulatráv Sindia in the Dakhan. Ába was released on promising to pay ten lákhs of rupees as ransom. 1797.He then joined his appointment as subhedár in order to take measures to get together the money he required.
Disputes between Ába and Govindráv Gáikwár.Bájiráv Peshwa was anxious to embroil Ába with Govindráv, whom he knew to be favourable to Nána Phadnis and too powerful to be allowed to acquire influence beyond the reach of head-quarter supervision. A cause of quarrel soon arose. Daulatráv pressed Ába for part payment of the above ten lákhs, and the latter being unable to squeeze enough out of his own territory, forced contributions from some of the villages administered by the Gáikwár. Govindráv at once took up arms against him and applied for aid to the English Agent at Surat. In this city Governor Jonathan Duncan had just assumed chief authority in accordance with an agreement between the English and the Nawáb. Duncan was anxious to secure for his government the land round Surat and the Gáikwár’s share in the chauth of the town and district. Govindráv, when this demand was made, referred the Governor to Poona, knowing that under the treaty of Sálbai the British Government had no more right to acquire a share of the Gáikwár territory than the Poona authorities had when they made a somewhat similar demand in 1793, which was withdrawn as stated above. Before the reference could be made, Ába was penned up by Govindráv’s own army in Ahmedábád and forced to surrender that city. He was kept in confinement for more than seven years.
Gujarát farmed to the Gáikwár, 1799.In the same year (1799) the Peshwa, apparently without formally revoking the appointment of his brother Chimnáji as Subhedár, gave Govindráv a farm for five years of his whole rights in Gujarát, at the rate of five lákhs of rupees a year. These rights included shares in the Káthiáváḍa and Sorath tribute, the revenue of Petlád, Nápád, Ránpur, Dhandhuka, and Gogha, together with rights to certain customs dues in Cambay and a share in the revenue of the city of Ahmedábád.
The Maráthás, a.d. 1760–1819. Govindráv unfortunately died a month before this farm was formally made over by the Peshwa.