mAdhava rAv on English

[mAdhava rAv’s letter to mahadji at Delhi in Jan-Feb 1772. He died late that year.]

I quite appreciate the value of a performance which the English desisted from undertaking. I should, however, like to know what amount of money and territory the Emperor has given you. You have now been out there for three seasons. The Emperor has attained his cherished object, but I don’t see what you have gained. Our men have shed their blood, in return for which you must acquire money and territory proportionate to the sacrifice.

Have you at least freed the holy places of Kashi and Prayag from Muslim control ?+++(5)+++ You must. Likewise recover the cost of the troops employed and the debts our Government have incurred in this venture.

The English if they had been so minded, did certainly possess the strength to place the Emperor on his ancestral throne : but as their power is mainly based on the sea, they declined to go a long way inland without a corresponding advantage. Now, you must remember never to allow the English to make a lodgment at Delhi. If they once obtain a footing, they can never be dislodged.+++(5)+++ Of all the European nations, the English are certainly the strongest. They have seized strategic points and have formed a ring round the Indian continent, from Calcutta to Surat.+++(5)+++