Canberra, 17 March 2023 The East India Company’s beginnings in India were not very promising, mainly because of the concerted Portuguese opposition and the inability of the English to obtain permission from the Mughal Viceroy of Gujarat to erect a factory in Surat. The Portuguese were opposed to any new arrivals in India and made […]
Continue readingThe Marathas Part 18 The March to Destruction: 50 Years of Chaos Section I: Early English Invasions
Canberra, 23 June 2022 Moroba Phadnavis who was the prime plotter in the repeated attempts to capture the infant Peshwa, his mother and the senior ministers of the Federation had not been chastened and remained at large to further pursue his nefarious activities, brought on by his intense jealousy of his cousin Nana Phadnavis, the […]
Continue readingThe Marathas Part 17 The Supreme Council of Calcutta: English Interlude
Canberra, 23 June 2022 In April 1774, when he started his retreat from his march towards Pune, Raghunath Rao entered into negotiations with the English East India Company through their Bombay Government. The English, still basking in the glow of the resounding victory Robert Clive had achieved in Bengal, readily grasped at the overtures although […]
Continue readingThe Marathas Part 13 Peshwa Baji Rao I Section IV A Peshwa Fades Away
Canberra, 26 December 2021 The Marathas always faced obstacles in establishing strong control over the coastal region of Konkan. The Sidis, and later the Portugues, individually contested the control over this narrow, but strategically important coastal strip. The control of Konkan translated to the control of the lucrative seaborne trade that also included horses and […]
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