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 292

JIISTOKY OF INDIA

[Book II.

A.D. —

The Mahrattas

Tlieir country.

His

marriage

Auniii^'zelje'.s supremacy was now firmly established in every part of" liin- (loostan. In the Deccan, on the contrary, a new power had aj^peared ; and a struggle, about to commence, was destined not to tenninate till it had laid the Mogul empire in ruins. A race of native Hindoo.s, called Mahrattas, occujjied a tract of the Deccan, bounded on the noith by the mountain range which forms the water-shed between the basins of the Nerbudda and the Taptee, by the sea on the west, by the Wurda on the east, and in other directioiLS by a line drawn obliquely from the vicinity of Goa through Beder to Chandah. Within this tract the great physical feature is the range of the Western Ghauts, descending precipitously to the sea through the narrow i-ugged strip known by the name of the Concan, but sloping gradually towards the interior, so as to form a lofty table land. This country, studded over with natural fortresses, and rendered almost inaccessible by forests and mountain.s, was admirably adapted to be the abode of a nation of marauders. Such the Mahrattas were, and had been from time immemorial. Strong, active, and daring, full of craft and void of honour, they were ever on the alert to pursue their own interest, while utterly regardless of the means. Descending suddenly into the plains they spread devastation on every side, and before they could be overtaken were hastening back laden with booty to their mountain fastnesses. The teiTor of their name was thus widely spread ; and many of their neighbours piirchased exemption from their ravages by annual payments. The three Mahometan sovereigns of Alimednuggur, Bejapoor, and Golconda, being by their position brought into frequent communication with the Mahrattas, naturally endea- voured to turn their military qualities to good account by employing them as soldiers. In this way not a few of them acquired distinction, and rose to offices of trust. MuUik Amber, the celebrated prime minister and -s-irtual sove- reign of Ahmednuggur, in particular, made great use of their ser'ices, and was so well satisfied with them that not a few of his most distinguished officers were Mahrattas. One of these, called Jadu Rao, had attained to a command of 10,000 men. Subordinate to him, and under his immediate protection, was another Mahratta, named Malojee Bosla. The latter, as he brought into the field only a few mounted retainers, could not have been a person of much con- sequence ; but he was one of those bold and dexterous adventurers on whom no opportunity of advancing his fortune was ever tlirown away.

Malojee, accompanied by his son Shahjee, a boy of five years of age, was attending a great Hindoo festival, when Jadu, at whose house it was celebrated, giving way to the hilarity of the occasion, took up his daughter, a gii'l of tliree years old, and placing her and Shahjee on his knees, laughingly exclaimed, " What a fine couple ! They ought to be man and wife ! " No sooner had the words passed his lips than Malojee started up, and took the company to witness that Jadu's daughter was affianced to his son. Jadu, who boasted of a Rajpoot descent, was indignant that one whom he probably regarded as a mere under-