Maratha Rule in Orissa

 The disintegration of the Mughal empire created a short of anarchical atmosphere in Orissa. There prevailed a state of insecurity and anxiety among the people. The administrators, in charge of Orissa, failed miserably to counteract against the Maratha invasion. The aggressive Marathas used this country as a spring board to get their economic ambition fulfilled by repeated invasions.

Mir Habib (Mir Habibullah Khan) went to Raghuji Bhonsle at Nagpur and sought his help for an invasion against Bengal. On his request Raghuji decided to divert his attention against Alivardi Khan and entrusted his Prime Minister Bhaskar Ram popularly known as Bhaskar Pandit for this invasion.

Bhaskar Pandit accompanied by Mir Habib entered into Orissa through Barmul pass with a large Maratha army and occupied Barabati fort on 19 April, 1742. From Barabati Bhaskar Pandit moved towards Burdwan via Midnapur. Alivardi at that time was not prepared for the onslaught and escaped.

Mir Habib followed him up to Murshidabad and with the help of about 700 Maratha horsemen plundered the city to avenge the treachery of Alivardi Khan who murdered Sarfaraj. He collected plenty of money and rescued his family members.

In Orissa, the Marathas did not face any resistance from any quarter. Shaikh Masum, the representative of Alivardi was too weak to meet the Marathas and he was easily killed by the Maratha troops. Then Alivardi found no way out and appealed to the nominal Mughal emperor Mohammad Shah at Delhi.

The Nawab of Oudh and Peshwa Balaji Baji Rao of Poona were asked to help Alivardi at his distress. Against these odds, Alivardi reorganized his army and defeated the Maratha army at Katwa and then marched towards Cuttack. Bhaskar Pandit in order to safeguard the booty had withdrawn via Chilika.

That enabled Alivardi for the easy recovery of Cuttack. He stayed in the Barabati fort for about two months and returned appointing Abdul Nabi Khan a powerful Afghan leader of Murshidabad as the Naib Nazim of Orissa. The return of Alivardi resulted in a sudden attack of Raghuji on Orissa.

Raghuji then marched towards Bengal to collect chauth from Alivardi. This design was foiled by the joint venture of Peshwa Balaji Baji Rao and Alivardi Khan. Raghuji then returned to Nagpur with his army.

Raghuji Bhonsle and Peshwa Balaji Baji Rao concluded a bilateral treaty in 1743 that allowed Bhonsle to exploit Bengal and Orissa. This prompted Raghuji to have a fresh attack on Alivardi’s kingdom. In the attack Alivardi killed Bhaskar Pandit treacherously in 1744. Consequent upon this Raghuji launched a fresh campaign against Alivardi to take vengeance of the murder of Bhaskar Pandit.

Alivardi was defeated. Raghuji demanded 3 crores of rupees as compensation. Mir Habib succeeded in occupying Orissa upto Midnapur. The presence of Maratha troops in Midnapur was considered as dangerous to the security of Bengal. Thus Alivardi resolved to oust the Marathas from Bengal. He led a campaign against Cuttack and captured the Barabati fort in June 1749. He quickly returned to Bengal.

After his return Mir Habib with the help of a huge army of 40,000 Maratha soldiers marched against Bengal. A prolonged war continued. Alivardi was growing old and due to his constant illness he could not wage an effective war against the Maratha adventurers. With the result he ensued for peace with the Marathas and finally a treaty was signed in 1751.

According to the treaty provisions, Mir Habib was accepted as the Naib Nazim of Orissa by Raghuji and Alivardi. The revenue of Orissa was decided to be paid to Raghuji as payment of arrears. Besides Alivardi was asked to pay rupees 12 lakhs every year as chauth to the Bhonsle.

River Sunamukhia was fixed as the boundary line between Bengal and Orissa. This agreement thus brought an end to the wars between the Marathas and Alivardi during 1741 to 1751. The adminis­trative responsibility of Orissa could be shifted to the control of the Marathas and Orissa remained under their protection from 1751 to 1803. Maratha Governors were appointed to look into the administration of Orissa who were also designated as “Tax Framers”.

The Marathas inherited the Mughal system of administration in Orissa. Orissa under them was divided into two political divisions, one of which was distinguished by the name of Garjat and the other by that of Mughalbandi. These possessions were bounded by sea on the east, the Maratha province of Chhattisgarh on the west, the Chilika lake and Ganjam district on the south and the districts Jaleswar and Midnapur and Birbhum on the north. More than one third of the country was covered with jungles. The Garjat was held by 24 tributary chieftains.

The Raja of Khurda was the descendant of the royal family of Orissa and was the most powerful chief. He continued to exercise the regal privilege of conferring titles on the inhabitants of Mughalbandi and Garjat countries which was never objected to by the Marathas. Khurda was divided into number of jagirs.

The holders of the jagirs were called jagirdars. A very numerous important class of the Jagirdars who were of course the hereditary chiefs of the military of the country were Dala Beheras. Next sub-ordinate to them were Dalais. Every estate had a principal garh or fortress of brick, stone or mud to which was attached a band of Paik. The Paiks were the native hereditary militia class and were trained in the use of arms and were always ready to follow the command of their hereditary chiefs.

These tributary chiefs were intermediate superiors between the Maratha Government and the tenants of the soil. They were paying a stipulated quit rent either in cash or in kind. But there was no definite principle for collecting tribute from the feudatory chiefs. The Maratha Government acted as an umpire in case of boundary disputes between two chieftains.

They were secured in their forts. Most of the forts were surrounded by dense jungles. Many of the feudatory chiefs were often irregular in payment of the tribute and sometimes showed a spirit of insubordination to the Supreme Government in Orissa. There were instances of such insubordination. During the rule of Sheo Bhatt Sathe, the Raja of Dhenkanal murdered Buli Khan, an adopted son of Sheo Bhatt. At the same time, the Raja of Nilgiri plundered the inhabitants of some parts of Balasore.

In 1781, the Raja of Dhenkanal stopped the payment of tribute and organised an open resistance against the Maratha Government. The Raja of Kujanga was habituated in plundering vessels on the coast and acquired vast wealth. Briefly speaking, the Rajas of Khurda, Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar, Kujanga, Kanika, Dhenkanal, Talcher, Hindol, and Anugul were in habit of creating troubles against the Maratha Government.

The plain coastal tract extending from Subarnarekha in the north upto Chilika in the south was known as Mughalbandi. Mughalbandi was divided into 150 parganas under the control of 32 Amils. Each pargana was generally sub-divided into two, three, four or more Mahals. The assessment and collection of the revenue of the parganas was done through a number of officers variously designated as Choudhuris, Kanungoes, and Talukdars.

They were hereditary officers. They were enjoying rent-free lands and were also granted some commissions from revenue collections. The Talukdars collected revenue from the raiyats of Pahikast villages and through the Mukadams the Mukaddami ones. They were required to keep the raiyats happy, prosperous and satisfied. In case of any oppression over the raiyats if detected they were punished.

The general administration of Orissa was kept under the Subahdar who was appointed directly by the Raja of Nagpur. Under the Subahdar, there were a number of military officers designated as Faujdars. The Faujdar also enjoyed both civil and military authority. He was in charge of the general discipline of the division. He watched the movements of the strangers and supervised trade. These Faujdars were alfeo granted lands as their remunera­tion. The Faujdar was assisted by zamindars with troops during emergency situation.

Marathas encouraged image worship. The worship of Lord Jagannath at Puri received special attention of the Marathas. A number of villages and lands were assigned to the temple to meet the expenses of the rituals and ceremonies. Due to their patronisation pilgrims came in large number to visit the temple of Jagannath.

They did not want to bring any change in the time- old custom of the worship of Lord Jagannath. The Marathas were not indifferent to Muslim institutions. Rupees six thousand was reserved for charitable purposes every year on Brahmins, Mathas, Poor travellers and Mosques. The Kadam Rasul of Cuttack was regularly getting financial aid for its smooth management from the Maratha government.

During the Maratha rule a new type of nobility developed. A class rose into prominence due to the grace and favour of the Maratha Subahdar. Hunting was a special right granted to this class of nobility. Maratha revenue system was not harsh and it did not bring misery to the people. They generally respected the time old customs.

Annual settlements were conducted for collection of land revenue. Remission of land revenue was granted at the time of natural calamities. Taqavi (Taqavi) loans were also granted to the peasants during the years of calamity. Kauri was regarded as the chief currency and land revenue was collected in Kauri. Revenue collectors were specially instructed to keep the raiyats in good condition.