Maratha Ditch

Maratha Ditch (archaic spelling: Mahratta Ditch) was a three-mile long moat excavated around Kolkata (then known as Calcutta) in the present Indian state of West Bengal, in 1742, as a protection against possible attacks by marauding Bargis, as the Marathas were known locally. The Bargis, however, never came to the city. Later, the ditch proved to be useless when the Nawab of Bengal, Siraj ud-Daulah, came and ransacked the British settlement in 1756. The ditch was never completely built. It was mostly filled up in 1799 to build the Circular Road and the balance was filled up in 1892–93. It earned Kolkatans the sobriquet "Ditchers". The area bound by the ditch was considered to be the original town of Kolkata.

For about ten years (1741–1751) the spectre of Bargi invasion and large scale plundering of the countryside dominated the western part of Bengal. Bargi invasions took place almost as an annual event. Bargi is corruption of a Marathi word which meant horsemen who were provided with horses and arms by the Maratha Empire in contrast to the siladars, who had their own horses and arms.

The Bargi invasions played on the creative impulse of the people. Even to this day, mothers in Bengal sing the cradle song to put their children to sleep -

Alivardi Khan became Nawab of Bengal in April 1740, after defeating and killing Sarfraz Khan. His rule was challenged by Sarfraj Khan’s brother-in-law Rustam Jung, who was naib nazim (deputy governor) of Orissa. Alivardi defeated him in a battle at Falwaei, near Balasore, placed his own nephew as naib nazim of Orissa and left for his capital, Murshidabad. Rustam Jung sought the assistance of the Maratha ruler of Nagpur, Raghoji I Bhonsle. He regained control of Orissa with the assistance of Marathas, who in the process discovered how easy it was to plunder the rich countryside in Bengal. Alivardi returned to Orissa and again defeated Rustam Jung, but before he returned to Murshidabad, a Maratha cavalry under Bhaskar Padit was sent to Bengal by Bhonsle. They entered through Panchet and started looting the countryside.

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