240 J. Beames —Notes on the History of northern Orissa. [A r o. 3, 
Orissa. At this time Raghoji Blionsla was ruler of Berar holding his court 
at Nagpur. Habib’s negociations were made in the first instance with 
Bhaskar Pandit or Pant (as the Marathas corrupt the word) Dewan of 
Raghoji. With his master’s permission Bhaskar Pant made an attack 
upon Behar in the first instance with twelve thousand horse and got as far 
as Pachet, before Ali Verdi could get up from Orissa to oppose him. A 
battle was fought at Katwa in which the Marathas were victorious, and 
Mir Habib having been (probably on purpose) taken prisoner, at once 
installed himself as Bhaskar’s adviser, and enabled him to take possession 
of the town of Hugli, and subsequently to overrun the country as far as 
Midnapore. Ali Verdi, however, was not discouraged, he again attacked 
the Marathas and drove them through Midnapore, skirmishing as they 
retreated as far as Balasore. Here they made a stand, and a battle took 
place on the high land now occupied by the Civil station of Balasore, a 
little to the south of the camp of Murshid Kuli mentioned in a preceding 
paragraph. The result of the battle was unfavourable to the Marathas, 
for they retreated on Cuttack, taking the opportunity, however, of plunder¬ 
ing everything they could lay hands on as they went. From Cuttack 
they retreated through the hills to Berar. 
Immediately on their return to Nagpore, Raghoji Bhonsla him¬ 
self resolved to make an attack on Bengal and marched at once. He 
arrived at a place between Katwa and Bardwan, but the Maratha Peshwa 
Balaji Rao having been incited by the Emperor of Delhi to restrain his 
turbulent feudatory, had marched through Allahabad, Patna and Bhagal- 
pur, effected a junction with Ali Verdi Khan at Mursbidabad and bore 
down on Raghoji. The latter having no mind to come to open blows 
with the Minister of his nominal sovereign, retreated but was overtaken 
and defeated, after which with the remnant of his forces he marched 
again through Balasore, plundering and destroying as he went, back to 
Berar. 
Into the confused history of Maratha politics in those days it is 
not necessary to enter. Suffice it to say that Raghoji Bhonsla was, next 
to the Peshwa, the most powerful Maratha noble of the time, and shortly 
after his return to his capital he marched on Sattara, and extorted from 
the puppet Raja a deed by which, while the rest of the countries under 
Maratha rule, or rather misrule, were retained by the Peshwa, to Raghoji 
himself were assigned the revenues of Oudh, Behar, Bengal and Orissa. 
The Raja was possibly giving away a good deal more than he possessed, 
but that did not much matter, Raghoji’s horsemen, with their long spears, 
might be trusted to settle the rest. 
In the cold weather of 1744 Raghoji sent an army of 20,000 
horse into Orissa apparently by way of Sambhalpur. Ali Verdi met them in 
