Meanwhile the Jám of Navánagar had died leaving a disputed succession. The chief’s Khavás or family slaves, instigated probably by agents from Ahmedábád, began to usurp the government, and the whole question was submitted by the Darbár to the Peshwa as being lord paramount. The Ahmedábád commander sent a body of two hundred cavalry to Navánagar, but before they could arrive, the Khavás’ revolt had been quelled by a British force detached from the contingent. They therefore dispersed through the province inciting discontent and revolt amongst the Játs and Káthis. In Kaira they instigated a tribe of Kolis to attack the British lines by night. Sitárám Rávji’s adherents also collected a force at Dhár, a state well-known for lending itself for such purposes, and kept the frontier in confusion. Severe measures at Poona and Baroda soon put an end to this state of things, and at last Trimbakji Dengle was surrendered to the British Government to answer for his share in the murder of Gangádhar Shástri. The discussion of the Gáikwár’s debts, however, was carried on all through the year at Poona, whilst Bájiráv was maturing his then vacillating plans for extirpating the British from the west of India.
Okhámandal ceded to the Gáikwár.In 1816 the chiefs of Okhámandal again betook themselves to piracy. Their territory was occupied by a British force. It will be remembered that in 1809 the Gáikwár’s government had become counter security for these chiefs, but owing to the distance of the district from a military post, the Baroda authorities found themselves unable to spare troops enough to put a check on the misconduct of their tributaries. In a.d. 1816, at the time of occupation, the Bombay Government informed the Baroda administration that they had no wish to permanently establish themselves at so distant a spot, which contained, moreover, a much frequented shrine of Hindu worship, and that they were willing to put the Gáikwár in possession if he would engage to keep up a sufficient force in the district to protect the neighbouring ports and shores from the pirates and wreckers that infested the island of Dwárká and the adjoining mainland. The Bombay Government made a point of asserting on this occasion, in opposition apparently to some proposal by the Baroda Darbár, that they could not admit that the mere fact of having become security or counter-security gave any preferential right to the possession of the country. Finally, the Gáikwár government agreed to the condition proposed, and the district was made over to them.
British Aid at Junágaḍh.In the same year (a.d. 1816) British aid was invoked by the Nawáb of Junágaḍh who was oppressed by a too powerful minister, backed by the Arab mercenaries. After a settlement of this dispute had been satisfactorily brought about, the Nawáb, in gratitude, waived his rights to tribute over the territories recently ceded to
The Maráthás, a.d. 1760–1819. the British in the peninsula, where his family had formerly great influence and considerable property. The escape of Trimbakji Dengle from Thána, and the subsequent attempts of the Peshwa to prevent the re-capture of his favourite and to re-unite the Marátha confederacy, led to the execution of a fresh treaty on June 13th, 1817, in accordance with the orders of the Supreme Government.
Treaty of Poona, 1817.It was intended to bind the Peshwa in such a way that he could never again enjoy the ascendancy amongst the Marátha chiefs to which he aspired. The Resident at Poona took this opportunity of also putting an end to the discussions about the mutual claims on each other by the Poona and Baroda governments. The Peshwa agreed to abandon all claims on any territory in possession of the Gáikwár and to accept an annual payment of four lákhs of rupees in satisfaction of all previous debts. The farm of Gujarát was made perpetual to the Gáikwár on the payment of four and a half lákhs annually, but the Káthiáváḍa tribute was made over to the British Government in liquidation of military expenses. The latter Government, by this treaty, also entered into possession of the Peshwa’s revenue in Gujarát, except that of Ulpád, which had been assigned to a favourite officer. All the Peshwa’s rights north of the Narbada were also ceded.
Treaty with the Gáikwár, 1817–18.These conditions necessitated a readjustment of the agreements with the Gáikwár. On November 1817, a definitive treaty, afterwards supplemented by one of November 1818, was executed between the Baroda and British Governments. The force furnished by the former state was found inefficient and the employment of a larger body of British troops was therefore necessary. To pay for these the Gáikwár ceded his share in the fort of Ahmedábád and the districts immediately surrounding that city.[17] He also made over some districts near Surat, and the town of Umreth in Kaira with the whole of the rights acquired by the perpetual farm of Ahmedábád. The British remitted the mughlái or dues taken by the Nawábs of Surat on the Gáikwár’s possessions near that city. Okhámandal having now been pacified, was also given up to the Gáikwár, but revolted four months afterwards and was not again subdued for a considerable time.
1819.At the final settlement of the dominions of the late Peshwa in 1819, the whole of his rights in Gujarát passed in sovereignty to the British, who remitted the four lákhs due from the Gáikwár in composition of arrears claimed by Bájiráv. 1820.The next year a special inquiry was made into the respective shares of the Peshwa and Baroda governments in the Káthiáváḍa tribute and in the extra allowance levied by the Gáikwár called ghás-dána allowance. In the course of this inquiry so many abuses of power and instances of extortion on the part of the Gáikwár’s officers were brought to light, that the Bombay Government on these grounds, and on account also of the general deterioration in the province since the
The Maráthás, a.d. 1760–1819.
Close of the Marátha Supremacy, 1819. Gáikwár’s troops were stationed there, prevailed upon Sayájiráv, who had now succeeded to the throne, to let the duty of collection be undertaken and superintended by a British officer stationed in Káthiáváḍa, who should, however, employ the Gáikwár’s troops on occasions of necessity. A similar arrangement was made with regard to the Mahi Kántha, where the effects of the settlement of 1811 had been much weakened by the disorderly conduct of the Gáikwár’s troops stationed there. The administration of nearly the whole of the province passed into the hands of the British and the period of Marátha ascendancy came to an end.
General Review.It remains to review generally the nature and characteristics of the Marátha connection with Gujarát, the chief events in which have been chronicled above. The most prominent feature has already been indicated at the beginning of this section and is apparent throughout the whole narrative. It is, in fact, the small space in history occupied during this period by the people, compared with the share appropriated to the actions of the government and its delegates. The reasons for this are as easily seen as the fact itself. From first to last the Marátha interests in Gujarát were, except at one or two special junctures, simply pecuniary ones. In comparison with other countries within reach of Marátha arms, Gujarát has always had a very large proportion of inhabitants engaged in commerce and manufacturing industries. It was the object of Śiváji to get as much booty as he could and carry it away then and there; hence the commercial classes and manufacturers presented the most favourable opportunities for pillage, and the agriculturists were at first only mulcted in forage and provisions. Rapidity of action was another of Śiváji’s aims, so not only were his visits short and their effects transitory, but all his booty consisted of property that could be carried away by his horsemen. No women or followers accompanied his expeditions, no prisoners were made excepting the few who could afford to pay a heavy ransom. Torture was resorted to only when the captive was suspected of having concealed his treasure. Cows women and cultivators were, according to Śiváji’s system, exempted from capture. Assignments on revenue were seldom made by him for fear of weakening his own authority. Subsequently the Marátha demands became more regular and assumed the form of a certain proportion of the revenue. The sar-deshmukhi and chauth were supposed to be calculated on the standard assessment so as to avoid subsequent claims as tribute or over-collection. In reality, however, they consisted of a fixed share in actual collections together with whatever extras the officer in charge could manage to extort, and which were, of course, kept undefined in any agreement. The expeditions, too, moved more leisurely and in greater force. The passes and roads in their rear were protected by their own comrades, so that the booty could be brought to the Dakhan in carts, and more bulky property therefore was removed than in former times. The times, too, when the demands were likely to be made were known to the headmen of the district and village, so that the cultivators could be pressed beforehand to furnish their share of the
The Maráthás, a.d. 1760–1819.
General Review. contributions. The extortion by this means passed from the commercial classes down to the agriculturists, the latter having also the burden of supporting a larger and more cumbrous army for a longer period.
When the power of the Dábháde and his deputy the Gáikwár was fairly established, a regular system of administration was introduced. It will be remembered that by the treaty of 1729 as few Marátha officers were to be employed as possible beyond those necessary to collect the Dábháde’s share of the revenue. In consequence, however, of the internal struggles of the Muhammadan chiefs, this minimum quota grew to be a large establishment, with the usual accompaniment of alienations and assignments for the support of the officers and their religious institutions which the weakness of the central power had allowed to become customary. The Dábháde himself was non-resident and his deputy usually being too valuable an assistant to be spared from the arena of Dakhan politics, the collection was left to sub-deputies and their subordinates, who in turn delegated a great part of their duties to village officers and even to strangers. The Dábhádes, who were throughout more interested in the Dakhan than in Gujarát, had, no doubt, an idea of raising up a power in the latter province in opposition to the administration of the Peshwa, which was conducted purely by Bráhman agency. It was soon evident, however, that all that could be done politically with Gujarát was to make it a treasury for the support of schemes that had to be carried out in the Dakhan.
The fertility of the soil and the facilities the country afforded for commerce and manufactures both tended to make it unlikely to become a field for recruiting. The inhabitants of the towns had fixed and lucrative occupations; the cultivators were mostly of a class which on account of the fertility of their land neither Muhammadan nor Marátha had been able to impoverish. The Maráthás had still to seek for soldiers in the rugged and barren country on the Gháts and in the Konkan, where the people could only look for a hand-to-mouth existence if they remained at home. The warlike tribes of Gujarát were, as has been already seen, too proud by birth and position to engage themselves to fight for any but their own race and interest. The aboriginal races were not likely to prove effective allies even if they had been willing to move from their own woods and fortresses. None of the Marátha governors of Gujarát seem to have consistently attempted to weld the various interests subordinate to them into a cohesion and unity that they might have made politically useful against the Poona influence. All that they endeavoured to do was to draw from their charge as much revenue as possible and to keep out interlopers. To the taxpayer the result was the same, whether his district was invaded by Kantáji or Piláji. If one anticipated the other in carrying off the harvest, the ryot still had to pay the latter for ejecting the intruder. The only resistance to be feared by the Maráthás was that, not of the cultivators, but of their own race or of the Rájput Girásiás. These latter were treated in all districts as mere robbers, probably because the class which bears that name near Rájpipla,
The Maráthás, a.d. 1760–1819.
General Review. where the Maráthás first came in contact with it subsists usually on blackmail. In the north, however, the Girásiás were landowners of great influence and fixed residence, not likely to be conciliated by the knowledge that the invaders of their country classed them along with Bhils and Kolis as mehvásis or outlaws.
In order to relieve the chief officials of direct responsibility for the revenue, the Gáikwár towards the last quarter of the eighteenth century if not before, introduced the system of letting out each revenue sub-division in farm for from one to five years at a fixed annual rate. The farmer was as often as not an absentee, but the supervision and administration were never entrusted to any one but a Marátha Bráhman. The revenue for the year was settled by an inspection of the accounts of previous years and the crops of each village. The amount was taken in kind, but the actual distribution of the whole on individual cultivators was left to the headman, who was in most cases made responsible for the assessment imposed on his village.