The word borgi comes from the Persian ‘burgis’, which means ‘ancient Maratha warrior’. You can understand that they are Marathi. They had sharp-edged spears in their hands. Although the original home of the Marathas is in the city of Maharashtra in India, they are spread all over South and West India. When Alivardi Khan was on the throne of Bengal, the Mughals were on the throne of Delhi at that time.
At that time these Marathas were famous as warriors. The Marathas had a fierce battle with the Afghans in the third battle of Panipat. Some of these deviant Maratha soldiers once became known as Bargi. They started violence all over India.
In 1740, Alivardi Khan sat on the masnad of Bengal and removed Sarfaraz Khan. As a result, Sarfaraz Khan's son-in-law became very angry. He continued to inspire Raghuji Bhonsle to attack Bengal.
There may have been a shortage of people in Bengal during the reign of Mr. Alivardi Khan, but there was not much unrest. But one day suddenly the cloud of disaster in the sky of Bengal!
In 1741, there was no talk, no message, a mob of looters started raging in the villages of Murshidabad. In the darkness of the night, a group of people started galloping their horses. They started burning village after village, killing people and taking everything away. The shops were all closed due to their oppression, people stopped leaving the house in fear. Shant Bangla suddenly became a Bengali of terror.
Alivardi Khan got the news that such burghers had attacked Murshidabad. The Nawab left with the army to stop the Bargis. But the Bargis were very strong. Surrounding the Nawab's forces, they blocked the way for all the juices. The Nawab got salvation from the hands of the bargis with many hardships of service.
Alivardi Khan once defeated in battle but to no avail. He also killed Pandit, the original Kandari sculptor of the attack. In the end, Raghuji Bhonsle was forced to make a treaty with him.
Chaith was forced to pay 12 lakh rupees and Bargi's attack came to an end.
But the attack did not decrease. They continue to loot from village to village. Alivardi Khan came to increase the army and expel them. But are the burghers so easily retreating? They fled from Murshidabad to Hughli in the south. There they built a new dormitory. They are forced to collect rent or taxes from the villagers.
Meanwhile, trade and commerce were on the rise and people were dying of starvation. Alivardi Khan tried no less to defeat them. Once he even resorted to tactics. He invited the sculptor Pandit along with 21 others to his tent for discussion. When they came to defend the invitation, the people of Nawab launched a surprise attack on them. The sculptor Pandit also died, but the gain was nothing. But even with so many things, the Bargis could not be shaken. Later Raghuji Bhonsle himself invaded Bengal. The mighty burghers retreated for some time but did not leave Bengal, their piracy began to run round and round.
For 10 long years, the river path of Bengal became red due to the attack of the Bargis. It is believed that more than 4 lakh people lost their lives due to the attack of the Bargis.
The baby slept in the neighborhood
In the country of Borgi,
Bulbuli ate rice
What will I pay rent?
In the face of the people, this Bargi panic took the form of a rhyme. The folk song written in their name for the terror they carried out in the nine years is firmly entrenched in the history of the region. So many years after the Bargi attack, the rhyme remains to put children to sleep.
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