For medieval India history, incidents that don’t fit into an overarching Hindu versus Muslim narrative tend to be removed from popular discourse. The 1741 Maratha invasion of Bengal is one such example.
The lane refers to an actual ditch built in the 1740s along what was then the northern extremity of Calcutta. Its purpose? To stop the marauding bands of Maratha cavalry who were pillaging Bengal at the time.
In 1741, the cavalry of Raghoji Bhosle, the Maratha ruler of Nagpur, started to pillage western Bengal under the command of Bhaskar Pandit. Bengalis called these Marathas “Bargis” which is a corruption of the Marathi word, “bargir” (etymology: Persian) which means “light cavalry”. Malik Ambar, the celebrated Prime Minister of the Ahmadnagar Sultanate, had instituted the Deccan practice of guerrilla warfare, which at that time took the name bargir-giri. These swift hit-and-run guerrilla tactics became a part of the military heritage of the Deccan, being used to great effect by Shivaji and, eventually, by the Marathas against the hapless residents of Bengal.
Bargir-giri
In the 1740s, the bargir-giri of Bhosle’s army confounded the forces of Nawab Alivardi Khan, the ruler of Bengal. While the Bengali army tried its best and even defeated the Marathas in the few times they fought head-to-head, most of the time, the Maratha cavalry would simply skirt the Khan’s slow-moving infantry, being interested only in looting.
In the 10 years that they plundered Bengal, their effect was devastating, causing great human hardship as well as economic privation. Contemporary Dutch sources believed that the Bargis killed 4 lakh Bengalis and a great many merchants in western Bengal, writes historian PJ Marshal, “were permanently crippled by losses and extractions”.
In the Maharashtra Purana, a poem in Bengali written by Gangaram, the poet describes the destruction caused by the raiders in great detail:
This time none escaped,
Brahmanas, and Vaisnavas, Sannyasis, and householders,
all had the same fate, and cows were massacred along with men.
So great was the terror of the Bargi that, in a Gabbar-esque twist, lullabies were composed in which mothers would use the fear of a Maratha raid to get their children to go to sleep. These poems are popular amongst Bengalis even today. One of them went something like this:
Chhele ghumalo, paada judaalo bargi elo deshe
Bulbulite dhaan kheyechhe, khaajnaa debo kishe?
Dhaan phurolo, paan phurolo, khaajnaar opay ki?
Aar kotaa din shobur koro, roshoon boonechhi
A very inelegant translation:
When the children fall asleep, silence sets in, the Bargis come to our country
Birds have eaten the grain, how shall I pay the tax (to the Bargi)?
All our food and drink is over, how shall I pay the tax?
Wait for a few days, I have sown garlic.
The ditchers of Calcutta
Not only did the Bargis loot the countryside, but in a sign of their effectiveness, managed to raid the capital of Bengal, Murshidabad and even sack the house of one of the richest Indians at the time, the Marwari banker, Jagat Seth.
In spite of this, the Marathas never did attack Calcutta, in all probability being paid off by the British. The ditch, though, did serve to provide citizens with a nickname: ditchers, i.e everyone who lived south of the ditch, in “proper” Calcutta. Eventually the ditch was filled up and was made into what is now Upper Circular Road.
After a decade of pillage, the Marathas eventually stopped their raids after the harried Nawab, accepting defeat, handed over Orissa to Raghoji Bhosle.
Past through the lens of the present
Of course, as Aakar Patel points out in his column, this history of the Marathas is usually never given popular currency. The Marathas are often portrayed as a proto-national force, acting as agents of either India or Hindu nationalism. This is a common tendency and modern nations often construct myths where they extend themselves back into time. Many Pakistanis imagine that its Islamic nationalism existed during the time of Qutb-ud-din Aibak and many Indians think that a Hindu nationalism was furthered by the Marathas looking to set up a – to use Vinayak Savarkar’s term – “Hindu Pad Padshahi”.
Ironically, the very phrase “Hindu Pad Padshahi” is taken entirely from the Persian language, showing how seamless the transition was from the so-called Muslim Deccan sultanates and the Mughals to the so-called Hindu Marathas. And, of course, such a simplistic view of history must also leave out pillaging bands of Marathas attacking a predominantly “Hindu” West Bengal even as a “Muslim” Nawab struggles to push them out. Today’s India is so caught up with the binaries of “Hindu” and “Muslim” that it tends to see the past in those terms as well. But the past is a different country.
Note: an earlier version of this article referred to the existence of semaphore towers in Bengal being connected to the Bargi raids. This is incorrect and has been removed.
We Jaibalaji are one of the best Movers and packers Thane providing all kind of services like packing, unpacking, loading, unloading and other corporate relocation services. Hire Jaibalaji Movers and packers in thane for trouble and damage free shifting experience.
The Best Five Packers and Movers Chandigarh are top packers and movers in Chandigarh. The workers of the Best Five Packers and Movers Chandigarh use effective packing techniques to prevent the risk of any damage and crash.
Excellent, I think I found the facts I required. I will see and online top great quality information to your website.
very interesting information, I really like it because it can add insight for me more broadly, thank you very much for this
The Truth of Shivaji !
http://thirdbattleofpanipatmaratha.blogspot.in/2015/12/shivajis-famous-letter-to-aurangzeb-in.html
Letter from Shivaji to Aurangzeb !
This firm and constant well-wisher Shivaji, after rendering thanks for the grace of God and the favours of the Emperor, – which are clearer than the Sun, -begs you to inform your Majesty that, although this well-wisher was led by his adverse Fate to come away from your august Presence without taking leave, yet he is ever ready to perform, to the fullest extent possible and proper, everything that duty as a servant and gratitude demand of him
May the Sun on your royalty continue to shine above the horizon of greatness!
LIE NO.1 – SHIVAJI WAS A DALIT — NOT A KSHATRIYA !
http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/another-shivaji-controversy/
http://www.digvijayasingh.in/chatrapati-shivaji-maharaj-to-each-ones-own.html
LIE NO.2 – SHIVAJI WAS NO UPHOLDER OF DALITS ETC. HE HAD A DALIT COMPLEX ! HE PAID 100000 GOLD COINS TO A BRAHMIN TO MAKE HIM A KSHATRIYA LINEAGED FROM THE SOLAR CLAN OF MEWAR ! THE SOLAR CLAN OF RAJPUTS WHO SOLD THEIR WOMEN TO AKBAR !
http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/another-shivaji-controversy/
http://www.digvijayasingh.in/chatrapati-shivaji-maharaj-to-each-ones-own.html
LIE NO 3 – NO BRAHMIN WANTED TO ORDAIN SHIVAJI THE LIMPET ! THE PAID BRAHMIN ORDAINED SHIVAJI THE LIMPET WITH THE TOE OF HIS LEFT FOOT !
http://www.digvijayasingh.in/chatrapati-shivaji-maharaj-to-each-ones-own.html
LIE NO.4 – SHIVAJI WAS A LIMPET WITH NO BRAIN ! THE BRAIN WAS HIS MOMMY – WHO WAS A BUDHIST !
LIE NO.5 – SHIVAJI WAS NO NATURAL GUERILLA ! HE WAS A LIMPET ! THE MAN WAS TRAINED BY MALLIK AMBAR AN ABYSSINIAN SLAvE GENERAL ! AMBAR WAS THE MILITARY GURU OF THE MARATHAS !
http://orkut.google.com/c21177-t3414cfd862869245.html
LIE NO 6 – SHIVAJI THE LIMPET – LIKE RANJIT SINGH – KNEW THE WORTH OF THE HINDOO ! HIS CHIEF OF NAVY AND ARTILLERY WERE MUSLIMS !
https://www.quora.com/How-does-Shivaji-qualify-as-a-Hindu-icon
LIE NO 7 – SHIVAJI THE LIMPET WAS A RAT !!! HE KILLED AFZAL KHAN LIKE A RAT ! AND THEN HE WAS ATTACKED BY 2 BRAHMINS FROM BEHIND ! AND WAS ALMOST KILLED !
Bhaskar Kulkari and Gokil Pant
LIE NO 8 – LIKE RANJIT SINGH – SHIVAJI WAS DESTROYED BY BRAHMINS AND POISONED AND KILLED BY THE BRAHMINS
Thank you for sharing your post with us. I really liked it.
Comments are closed.