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தஞ்சை மராட்டிய
the Sirkhel of Bava Saheb was harassed. But yet it was he who raised Pratap Singh to the musnad. He entertained the idea of usurping the throne for his daughter by giving her in marriage to the son of Chanda Saheb.
Saiyid had a brother named Kasim. He was very faithful to the king. So he revealed the intrigues of his brother to the king.
When Saiyid wanted the permission of the king to celebrate his daughter's marriage, the king advised him to have the marriage at Tiruvidaimarudur. Accordingly, after the marriage, Saiyid planned to enter the fort with his army at the dawn of the next day and capture the fort. The plot of Saiyid was disclosed by his brother to the king. After conferring with his ministers Mallarji Gade Rao, Annappa Settigai, and Manoji Rao, the king sent for Saiyid and had him killed. Then Annappa Settigai was given the
post of Sirkhel cum Commander and Mallarji Gade Rao was appointed the Killedar of Thanjavur.
Then the king went on pilgrimage to Rameswaram. On his way he was given a warm reception by the Raja of Ramanathapuram.
Chanda Saheb after taking the fort of Tiruchirapalli, attacked Thanjavur. His collegue, Safdar Ali occupied the tract of land to the west of Tiruvaiyaru constructed a dam on the (Kaveri) and held his sway for two years.
Pratap wanted help from Satara to defend himself. Shahu sent a formidable army consisting of 60,000 cavalry under the command of Raghoji and Fateh Singh. Safdar Ali fled to Tiruchirapalli. Raghoji and Fateh Singh chased him and killed him. After taking Chanda Saheb prisoner, they occupied Tiruchirapalli. Then they invited Pratap to take over the fort. As he declin
the offer they placed the fort in the charge of Manoji Ghorpade and left for Satara.
Now Sirkhel Annappa Settigai did not behave properly. So he was removed from the post. -
Morarji Gaorpade now conceived the idea of taking Thanjavur. So he
sent his minister Innis Khan with an army. Pratap Singh sent Manoji against him and Innis Khan fled away.
Muhammed Arab, a friend of Chanda Saheb enlisted the support of the French at Pondicherry and began to plunder the Thanjavur region. Pratap Singh sent his Killedar Mallarji Gade Rao and his general Manoji against him. They killed him and returned with rich booties.
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