Sikh/Maratha Relations
Sikh / Maratha Relations over half a century from 1758 to 1806 alternated between friendly cooperation and mistrust born out of rivalry of political and military ambitions. Although Shivaji (1627-80), the founder of Maratha power, and Guru Gobind Singh (1666-1708), the creator of the Khalsa, both rose against the tyiannical rule of Aurarigzeb, and although the Sikhs' real crusade in the Punjab had its birth on the banks of the River Godavari in Maharashtra, the two forces did not come in direct contact with each other until the Marathas, in a bid to fill the power vacuum caused by the fall of the Mughal empire, expanded their influence as far north as Delhi. By this time, when the Marathas had reached the zenith of their power, the Sikhs, caught in the pincer grip of Mughal and Afghan persecutors, were still struggling for survival.
Ahmad Shah Durrani during his fourth invasion (November 1756 - April 1757) had occupied the Punjab. He appointed his young son, Taimur, his viceroy at Lahore along with his trusted general Jahan Khan as his deputy. Adina Beg, who had been reinstated as faujdar of the Jalandhar Doab, on being harassed by Taimur and Jahan Khan, sought the help of the Sikhs. With their help he was about to defeat the Lahore force sent against him in December 1757. But not sure about the strength of the Sikh forces that would be available against a heavier force led by Jahan Khan or even lead by Durrani himself, also invited ( January 1758) Raghunath Rao, who was stationed at Delhi to join his combined force. Rao at the head of a large Maratha army, was offered 1,00,000 rupees for each day's march and 50,000 rupees for each halt. On 8 March 1758, Raghunath Rao arrived near Sirhind where Adina Beg and his Sikh allies joined him. Sirhind was besieged and on 21 March the town fell and was sacked thoroughly. The Sikh / Maratha coalition was soon strained over the distribution of spoils. The Sikhs, owing to their initiative and knowledge of the local geography, took the lion's share, but the Marathas, who were already being paid by the day, demanded a share proportionate to the number of troops.
The situation was saved by Adina Beg who brought about peace between the two. To avoid any further clash during their march together, it was agreed that Sikhs would remain two marches ahead of the Marathas. The combined Sikh/Maratha army occupied Lahore on 20 April 1758, the Afghan prince and his deputy had fled northward the previous day. Raghunath Rao appointed Adina Beg governor of Lahore and leaving two small garrisons at Attock and Multan returned to Delhi. In November 1759, Ahmad Shah Durrani, invading India for the fifth time, wiped out the Maratha forces in the Punjab. He inflicted a crushing defeat on the Marathas in the third battle of Panipat (January 1761).
The next contact of the Sikhs with the Marathas was in January-February 1765 when they both fought on the side of Jawahar Singh of Bharatpur, against Najib ud'Daula, the Ruhila chief who had killed the Jat ruler's father, Suraj Mall, in a battle at Delhi in December 1763. Jawahar Singh hired the services of both the Sikhs and the Marathas to avenge his father's death. The Sikhs, 15,000 strong, under Sardar Jassa Singh Ahluvalia defeated the Ruhilas in a battle fought on the northern outskirts of Delhi on 4 February 1765, but Jawahar Singh did not succeed in his venture owing to the faithlessness of the Maratha commander, Malhar Rao, who along with some treacherous Jat officers arrived at a secret understanding with Najib ud'Daula, forcing the Bharatpur ruler to accept peace. Now Jawahar Singh had another score to settle with the Marathas. They had supported his brother, Nahar Singh, in his claim to the throne of his father. He now took nearly eight thousand Sikhs into his pay to make another assault. He defeated them in a battle fought near Dholpur on 1314 March 1766 and occupied Dholpur, formerly held by Nahar Singh as an appanage.
Jawahar Singh with his Sikh troops then went to the help of the Jat prince of Gohad against the Marathas. Together they raided the Maratha territory in central India. Jawahar Singh was assassinated in June 1768 and his brother, Ratan Singh, who succeeded him, was assassinated the following year. A civil war then broke out between their half-brothers, Naval Singh and Ranjit Singh. The Sikhs sided with Ranjit Singh while Naval Singh invited the Marathas and the Ruhilas to assist him. A fierce battle took place on 24 February 1770, in which the Maratha cavalry was severely mauled. Naval Singh however carried the day and the Sikhs had to retire to the Punjab.
Although the Sikhs were now masters of Punjab, the Marathas had re-emerged as the strongest power in India. Mahadji Scindia, chief of Gwalior, occupied Delhi in January 1771 and the nominal Mughal Emperor Shah 'Alam II, who had been living under British protection at Allahabad, returned to the imperial capital early in January 1772 as the Marathas' protege. Mahadji was appointed VakiliMutlaq or Regent Plenipotentiary of the Mughal Empire in November 1784. His principal duty was to restore peace and order in the country and to supply the Emperor with sufficient funds which largely came as revenue from the crownlands. The Sikhs, free from the danger of foreign invasions after the death of Ahmad Shah Durrani in April 1772, had been plundering the crownlands north of Delhi and in the Ganga Yamuna Doab; now revenues from these lands had almost completely ceased to make it to Delhi. Now even the last remaining bit of the former Mughal imperial city was no longer secure against the Sikh raids.
Mahadji Scindia tried to win over the Sikhs by diplomacy. He dispatched several agents, one after the other, to open parleys with the Sikhs; on the other hand, he won over Begam Samru to his side making over several parganahs to her in jagir. A treaty of "unity of interests and of friendship" with the Sikhs was concluded on 9 May 1785 according to which the Sikhs agreed to forgo rakhi in the Gang Doab and other crownlands in exchange for jagirs worth one million rupees a year granted to different sardars. To meet any external danger or internal disturbance both powers were to help each other. The Sikhs also agreed not to cause any injury to the territories of the British East India Company and the Nawab of Oudh. The treaty, however, did not endure beyond a month and the Sikhs entered the Gang Doab in June 1785 to collect rakhi.
In December 1785, Khushal Singh Singhpuria occupied Chhatand Banur which belonged to Raja Sahib Singh of Patiala, who soliciting help from the Marathas, regained the territory. In January 1786, in the struggle for succesion among the sons of Raja Gajpat Singh of Jind, Bhup Singh sought the Marathas' help against his brother, Bhag Singh, in lieu of which he surrendered Safidori to them.
In April 1789, Mahadji Scindia deputed two of his generals, Rane Khan and 'Alt Bahadur, to negotiate an alliance with the Sikhs, Sardar Baghel Singh Karor Singhia and Diwan Nanu Mall of Patiala. The latter, however, doubted Scindia's intentions and called for reinforcements from beyond the Sutlej. 12,000 Sikhs immediately responded to their call. Nanu Mall, however, presented himself before the Maratha generals and bought peace by offering 4,00,000 rupees as annual tribute and another 2,00,000 rupees as expenses of their army. Rane Khan pressed on towards Patiala. An inconclusive skirmish took place with the Sikhs on 15 April 1789 at Bhuncrheri, 16 km southeast of Paliala.
A settlement was at last arrived at according to which Baghel Singh was granted a large jagir on the condition that he would keep the Sikh chiefs from assailing the Marathas; the cisSutlej states acknowledged the supremacy of Mahadji Scindia. Several Sardars were granted jagirs or confirmed in their estates in the Gang Doab, after agreeing to prevent any other Sikhs from attacking the Doab. This pact was also short lived and the Sikhs resumed, from March 1790 onwards, their depredations without check or hindrance. Only once, in February 1794, the Marathas with the support of Begam Samru's well disciplined artillery regiment could frustrate the Sikhs' attempt to seize Saharanpur.
Mahadji Scindia died on 12 February 1794 and was succeeded by Daulat Rao Scindia. In September 1795, one of his generals, Nana Rao attempted to realize tribute due from the Sikh chiefs, but was beaten back. George Thomas, an Irish adventurer in the Marathas' pay was then given charge of the northern region. He kept fighting the Sardars on both sides of the Yamuna and was often successful because of his artillery, an arm the Sikhs were yet to possess. In April 1798, George Thomas gave up Maratha service and settled down at Jhajjar and Harisi as an independent chief. He expanded his power and carried out frequent raids on the territories of the cisSutlej Sikh chiefs, who in 1801 sought help from Perron, a French general in the service of the Scindias who commanded the northern division of the Maratha army. He readily agreed, but after the combined Sikh/Maratha troops forced George Thomas to surrender by the end of the year, the Sikh chiefs began to resent the heavy exactions imposed upon them by Perron. However this short spell of Maratha supremacy was broken by the emergence of the British as the dominating power in India.
Daulat Rao Scindia after his defeat at Lasvari on 1 November 1803, ceded to the British the districts of Delhi, Agra, Gurgaori, Rohtak and Hissar. The British also occupied the Ganga/Yamuna Doab.
Last meeting of the Sarbatt Khalsa
The last Sikh/Maratha contact look place in 1805 when Jasvant Rao Holkar, the Maratha chief of Indore, was defeated and pursued by the British General, Lord Lake, who entered the Punjab and sought help from Maharaja Ranjit Singh. The Maharaja, after consultation with his principal Sardars at Amritsar, in what is remembered as the last meeting of the Sarbatt Khalsa, only offered to mediate between Holkar and the British. As a result of the parleys that followed, two treaties were signed. The first treaty signed on 1 January 1806 by Lord Lake and Sardar Patch Singh Ahluvalia representing the British Governor General and Maharaja Ranjit Singh respectively, stipulated Holkar's exit from the Punjab; according to the second, between the British and Jasvant Rao Holkar, signed on 11 January 1806, the latter gave up his rights north of the River Chambal while the former undertook not to interfere with his territories south of that river.
