Siege of Barwara (1757)

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Marathas under Raghunath Rao and Malhar Rao Holkar laid siege to the fort of Barwara. The fort was successfully defended by the garrison. After which the Marathas agreed to a smaller sum than what was initially demanded.

Siege of Barwara and Tonk fort
Date April–July 1757 A.D. Location Present day Tonk, Rajasthan Result Stalemate[1]
Belligerents
Kingdom of Jaipur	Maratha Empire
Commanders and leaders
Sawai Madho Singh	Raghunath Rao Malhar Rao Holkar

When Ahmed Shah Durrani's scare was looming large over the Indian horizon, Peshwa Raghunath Rao reached Rajputana along with Vithal Shivadev Vinchurkar and a strong contingent of Malhar Rao Holkar. The Peshwa was then joined by his half brother Shamsher Bahadur and Antaji Mankeshwar with their contingents. This stronghold wanted to get pending payments of chauth from small kingdoms in Rajputana and then reach to abdali as early as possible. While pressing Sawai Madho Singh for payment, he laid siege on the fort of Barwara belonging to Rajawat clan of Kachhwaha Rajputs, in April 1757.

In the meantime Ahmad Shah had come and gone without Raghunath's lifting a finger to defend the holy places of Hindustan or to prevent the foreign invader from carrying away the treasures of the land or leaving sacked dry for the Marathas, who would come after him.^[2] When Abdali had invaded India, Raghunath Rao instead of fighting him, assumed a despondent tone from the outset and wrote a letter to on 16 February 1757:

Our troops are not yet assembled, We have no money. Abdali is strong. It requires very great resources to chastise him. Send Dattaji Schindia quickly to me from the Dakkan.

On 16 February 1757, his Diwan Sakha Ram Bapu writes:

Month of Phalgun will be over before my contingent and that of Malhar are mustered. Abdali is a powerful enemy.^[3]

Instead of making efforts to win Sawai Madho Singh's support to fight Ahmad Shah Durrani, Raghunath Rao and Malhar Rao Holkar laid sieges on his forts. The Jaipur minister Kanni Ram offered to buy Raghunath Rao off by paying the same pending tribute as agreed upon in the past, Raghunath Rao rejected the offer demanding more money even as a loan. As quoted by Sir Jadunath Sarkar in his book Fall of the Mughal Empire Vol II:

″Raghunath would not listen to it. He demanded 40 to 50 lakhs of rupees in cash and the cession or the Jagir worth 14 lakhs given by the Emperor to Jaipur, some years ago, appertaining to fort Ranthambhore, in addition to Rampura, Bhanpura, Tonk, Toda and Hinglaz-garh. He was determined either to secure these gains by consent or to remain here for 4 months and gain territory worth 40 to 50 lakhs by war″.^[4]

″Madho Singh wisely rejected those exorbitant terms and put his capital and other forts in a vigilant and active state of defence. The total Maratha force in the region including Maratha contingents now numbered 13,000. But Jaipur fort had a garrison of 17,000 and the Raja's generals patrolled its strength day and night. Sanganer was held by Dalel Singh Rajawat who was strengthened (10th. May) with six tumbrels of powder and shot. Madho Singh called his feudatories one by one and made them swear on the sacred leaf of 'Beel Patra' to resist the southern invaders to death. His determination to fight rather than accept Raghunath's humiliating terms became manifest to all″.^[5]

Raghunath first laid siege to the fort of Barwara. The Marathas tightly besieged the fort, but failed to capture it.^[1] Madho Singh refused to surrender and this forced the Marathas to besiege the fort for three months. This proved to be very expensive for Raghunath as he had to feed his large army in a hostile territory. At last Raghunath Rao wrote to the Peshwa on 12 July 1757 in support for his prayer for remittance:

I have no money, nor is any loan available, my troops are in debt, prices here are very high. I am daily getting my food only by sacking the villages.^[1]

The siege of Barwara fort proved to be an expensive venture for the Marathas. Jaipur paid 6 lakhs and promised 11 in total but Raghunath Rao's campaign proved to be too expensive for what he received.^[1]