Maratha invasions of Bengal
| Maratha expeditions in Bengal | |||||||||
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| Part of Battles involving the Maratha Empire | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Maratha EmpireFaction of Murshid Quli II (1741) Afghan rebels (1746–1748) |
 Nawab of Bengal
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| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
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Raghuji Bhonsle Bhaskar Pandit † Janoji Bhonsle Sabaji Bhonsle Mir Habib Mirza Baker  Shamsher Khan † Sardar Khan † |
Alivardi Khan Mir Jafar Rai Durlabh Ghulam Mustafa Khan (defected) Ataullah Khan Jainuddin Ahmed † Abdus Salam Sheikh Masum † Syed Ahmed Khan
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| Strength | |||||||||
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40,000 (in 1742) 24,000 (in 1745) |
10,000+ (in 1747) |
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| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
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unknown |
400,000 civilians killed by Marathas |
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Military stalemate
Maratha political victory
The Maratha expeditions in Bengal, also known as the Maratha invasions of Bengal, refers to the frequent expeditions by the Maratha forces in the Bengal Subah, after their successful campaign in the Carnatic region at the Battle of Trichinopoly. The leader of the expedition was Maratha Maharaja Raghoji Bhonsle of Nagpur. The Marathas invaded Bengal six times from August 1741 to May 1751. Nawab Alivardi Khan succeeded in resisting all the invasions, however, the frequent Maratha invasions caused great destruction in Bengal and Orissa, resulting in heavy civilian casualties and widespread economic losses. The invasions came to an end with the signing of a peace treaty between the Maratha Empire and the Nawab of Bengal, which established a Maratha-supported governor in Orissa under nominal control of the Nawab of Bengal. During their occupation, the Marathas perpetrated a massacre against the local population, killing close to 400,000 people in western Bengal and Bihar.
The Nawab of Bengal became a tributary to the Marathas, with the former agreeing to pay Rs. 1.2 million of tribute annually as the Chauth of Bengal and Bihar, and the Marathas agreed not to invade Bengal again. The Nawab of Bengal also paid Rs. 3.2 million to the Marathas, towards the arrears of chauth for the preceding years. The chauth was paid annually by the Nawab of Bengal upto 1758, till the British occupation of Bengal.
From 1741 to 1751, the Marathas under Raghuji Bhonsle invaded Bengal six times. The first one in 1741, as also the third in 1744, were led by Raghuji's general Pandit Bhaskar Ram Kolhatkar. The second in 1742 and the fourth in 1745 were led by Raghuji himself. The fifth in 1747 and the sixth in 1748 were undertaken by Janoji and Sabaji respectively. These invasions caused heavy destruction in Bengal, however, each of the invasions was repelled by the Bengalis under Nawab Alivardi Khan. But the continuous conflict took a heavy toll on the population of Bengal.
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Wikipedia