Raghunathrao

Raghunathrao, also known as Ragho Ballal or Raghoba Dada (18 August 1734 – 11 December 1783), was the younger son of Peshwa Bajirao I who served as the 11th Peshwa of the Maratha Empire for a brief period from 1773 to 1774.

He defeated Rohillas at the Battle of Delhi (1757), resulting in the Marathas becoming the de-facto rulers of Delhi with Mughal Emperor Alamgir II having no actual power. He also led successful campaigns against the Durrani Empire at Sirhind and Attock and brought Northwestern India and modern day parts of Pakistan mainly Punjab till Peshawar under Maratha rule (1758-59) for a brief period.

Ahmad Shah Durrani sought revenge against the Marathas for capturing Punjab and defeating the Durrani armies. He made preparations for another campaign in India. Raghoba asked for a large financial assistance in order to check Abdali's advance which was refused by Peshwa Nana Saheb. Nana Saheb's decision of not sending Raghoba as the main commander of Maratha armies against Ahmad Shah Abdali along with other factors ultimately culminated in the defeat at Panipat.

After the death of Nana Saheb, his son Madhavrao I became the new Peshwa under the regency of Raghoba. The untimely death of Madhavrao I created a vacuum for the post of Peshwa. Raghoba wanted to become Peshwa but was opposed by many of the Maratha nobles who saw Madhavrao I's younger brother Narayan Rao as the legitimate Peshwa. Raghoba aiming to seize position of Peshwa for himself assassinated his nephew Peshwa Narayan Rao in 1773. However his reign was short lived as Narayan Rao's infant son Sawai Madhavrao was recognized as the legitimate Peshwa by the Maratha nobles in 1774. Due to his removal from the position of Peshwa, Raghunath Rao sided with the East India Company in the First Anglo-Maratha War. His attempt was foiled as Marathas defeated the company in that war. He later died of an unknown reason in 1783 at Kopargaon.

Early life

Raghunathrao Bhat, also known as "Raghoba", "Raghoba Dada" and "Ragho Bharari," was the younger brother of Nanasaheb Peshwa. His father was Peshwa Bajirao I & mother was Kashibai. Raghunathrao was born in Mahuli near Satara on 8 December 1734. Much of his childhood was spent in Satara. A small time after his birth, his step-mother, Mastani gave birth to his brother, Krishna Rao, also named Shamsher Bahadur I.

First Northern Expedition (1753-1755)

In his early years he fought with great success in the north. His expedition during 1753–1755 was concluded by an advantageous treaty with the Jats. Raghunathrao helped Imad ul mulk imprisoning Mughal Emperor Ahmad Shah Bahadur and made Alamgir II puppet monarch. He returned after taking over several forts, but made little economic gains.

Second Northern Expedition (1757-1758)

At the end of 1756, Ahmad Shah Abdali was preparing to invade India and Delhi once again. Nanasaheb Peshwa, Ragunathrao, Sidhojiraje Gharge-Desai-Dehmukh, Malharrao Holkar and Dattaji Shinde prepared an army and it was decided that Marathas being the protectors of the Mughal Emperor would make another expedition to North India to stop another Afghan invasion. Nanasaheb Peshwa gave the command of this expedition to Ragunathrao and Malharrao Holkar was asked to assist Ragunathrao. Malharrao Holkar left for Indore at the end of 1756 and Ragunathrao followed him with his army after few weeks in October 1756.

Maratha affairs in Rajputana (February 1757 - July 1757)

Raghunathrao reached Indore on 14 February 1757 with Santajirao Wable and was joined by Malharrao Holkar. The purpose of Raghunathrao's northern expedition was twofold: first was to defend the Mughal Emperor from Afghan invasion and second to collect taxes and tributes to meet with Peshwa's growing debts. So in the middle of May 1757, Raghunathrao sent an advance force of 20,000 into the Ganga Doab to recover lost possessions of Marathas, and with Malharrao Holkar and the remaining force decided to invade Rajputana to collect taxes. Due to the fortified lands and the martial nature of the people, Raghunathrao was unable to even gather funds for the subsistence of his army and constantly sent letters to Poona asking the Peshwa for funds. The Maratha army moved through Mewar from Indore and on its way collected a ransom of one lakh from Jawad and attacked Ranikheda in March 1757. Reaching Jaipur in April 1757, Ragunathrao demanded pending payments from Madho Singh and laid siege to Barwada, then belonging to the Shekhawats. Lacking siege materials the Maratha army could not force the Shekhawats to surrender, and the long-standing siege started taking its toll on the Maratha army. Kaniram, who was the Jaipur minister offered Raghunathrao payment as agreed in the past between Marathas and Rajputs, but Raghunathrao was adamant. He demanded 40 to 50 lakhs and territory worth 14 lakhs or threatened to wait out the siege and take territory worth 40 to 50 lakhs from the Rajputs. Madho Singh, king of Jaipur refused all of Raghunathrao's terms and asked all his feudatories to fortify their posts and stay vigilant.

The Maratha army in Rajputana at the time did not have the numbers necessary to storm forts of Barwada and Jaipur and so on 12 July 1757 Raghunathrao agreed to peace talks with Madho Singh. He accepted a payment of eleven lakhs from Jaipur, six of which were paid immediately. On 12 July 1757, Raghunathrao wrote to Peshwa: But no help was provided by the Peshwa from Pune. Having thus concluded the business in Rajputana, Raghunathrao and Malharrao Holkar with the remaining Maratha forces started making for Delhi to liberate it from the Afghan agents at the end of July 1757, by which point of time Ahmad Shah Abdali was well away to his country.

Marathas enter the Ganga Doab (May 1757 - July 1757)

The Maratha troops sent by Raghunathrao to recover lost possessions in the Ganga Doab under the command of Sakharam Bapu, Vithal Shivdev, Tatya Gangadhar and Antaji Mankeshwar into the Ganga Doab reached Agra in May 1757. On reaching Agra, the Marathas made peace with Suraj Mal and advanced to the Yamuna. They crossed the Yamuna at Agra, occupied Etawah and Sikandra, and encamped at Kasganj on the southern bank of the Ganga on 17 June 1757. Antaji Mankeshwar went to Anupshahr about 2 July 1757. Meerut which was occupied by Najib Khan's agents resisted the Marathas but were swiftly defeated. Imad-ul-mulk sent his diwan Nagar Mal to Anupshahar to establish friendly relations with the Marathas once again. Shuja-ud-daulah had agreed to remain neutral in the conflict between Najib-ud-daulah and the Marathas. Thus most of the Doab was freed of Najib's agents and came under the control of Marathas.

Battle of Delhi (July 1757 - September 1757)

Ahmad Shah Abdali, before heading home in Afghanistan, kept Alamgir II on the throne with Imad-ul-Mulk as his wazir. But Abdali gave all the real power to Najib-ud-Daulah, his supreme agent in India and made him Mir Bakhshi. Alamgir II, Imad-ul-Mulk all wanted to be free from Najib Khan's dominance and asked the Marathas for aid in liberating Delhi from Afghan influence. Ragunathrao agreed and marched on the imperial capital in July 1757. Sakharam Bapu who was present in the Doab region at the time, occupied Patparganj, and Shamsher Bahadur with the artillery division reached Rewari

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