विस्तारः (द्रष्टुं नोद्यम्)
Govindrao Kale, who long resided at the Court of Haidarabad, thus writes to Nana Phadnis, and congratulates the Maratha Government on the signal achievements of Mahadji Sindia in regulating the affairs of the Emperor at Delhi, and fulfilling the objects of Maratha policy. 2nd July 1792.
If I were to adequately express what I have felt, upon reading your most inspiring letter, giving an account of the crowning glories achieved by Mahadji at Delhi, I should have to write volumes ; still I cannot repress my enthusiasm, and I make myself so bold as to transgress the ordinary limit, and write some of the uppermost thoughts of my mind. Each single item gives occasion for a separate congratulation.
India extends from the Indus to the southern ocean; beyond the Indus comes Turkistan; these limits of India have been under Hindu control since the days of the Mahabharata. But some of the later Hindu kings lost their old vigour, and yielded to the Yavanas who therefore became powerful. Delhi was captured by the Chagtais; the culminating point came in the reign of the great Emperor Alamgir. Every sacred thread was subjected to a tax of Rs. 3/8 for payment of jazia; pucca or cooked food came to be offered for sale in shops, and people were compelled to buy it. This oppression brought about a reaction.
The epoch making Shivaji rose in a small corner to protect the Hindu religion. Thereupon came such luminaries as Peshwa Balajirao and Bhau Saheb, who gave fresh light and hope to the whole of India. This spirit later on possessed Mahadji Sindia so much, that he was able to fulfil the ancestral purpose. If we had tawarikh-writers like the Muhammadans, they would have written volumes on Mahadji’s victories, for they know how to magnify small things up to the skies. We Hindus are of a reverse temperament. We do not speak out even about signal doings. Impossibilities have indeed been achieved.
The Patil-bova (Mahadji) broke the heads of those who tried to raise them. All wished him ill luck, but he did accomplish his object dauntlessly. This victory will surely bear the desired fruit on the model of the great Shivaji. Let no evil eye soil this glorious result. Not only have territories and kingdoms been acquired by this victory, but the protection of the Vedas and the Shastras, the foundation of religion and unmolested worship, the preservation of Brahmans and cows: in fact, this suzerain regal power of the Marathas, this fame and gloryall have now been achieved and proclaimed in the loudest accents to the world. To preserve this grandeur will be the glory of Patil-bova and yourself.
You must not be remiss in this task. All doubts about our supremacy over India have been set at rest. Grand Maratha armies must now be stationed on the plains of Lahore, for there exist countless evil-doers, who rejoice at our reverses and try to compass our downfall.