पानीपत १७६१ (मराठा साम्राज्य एवं पानीपत महायुद्ध इतिहास)

His so-called kingdom can at most be styled an autonomous feudatory prin- cipality in the language of constitutions. And what was worse, he had ac- cepted this status not as a policy to tide over the times, but in all sincerity which he meant to keep. His gentleman's attitude sealed the fate of the Maratha State. Most of the men who had gone over to Shahu's side had gone with selfish motives of personal aggrandisement. They hoped to remain strong and almost free to do what they liked under a weak master such as Shahu was, on account of his precarious position between two mill-stones. The man who helped Shahu most in building up his party and stabilising his rule automati- cally became his Prime Minister or Peshwa. This was Balaji Vishwanath, comparatively a new man from Konkan and a careerist bent on utilising all opportunities to strengthen himself and his master, without regard to the dis- tant effects of his steps on the Maratha polity. Shahu did not know Shivaji's ideals and ideas, ways and means, because he had spent his boyhood and youth in the Mughal camp. Balaji would not know, because that would not have furthered him in his rise. Shahu wanted a new class of persons to keep his poise in the face of overbearing, old officials. Balaji, coming from an outside caste, looked down upon by the entrenched ministers (Deccan Brah- mins), wanted a needy master who would go out of the groove to do the need- ful. Besides, Balaji was endowed with all the personal qualities necessary for imposing oneself on persons of various denominations and motives. Being an outsider, he could pose as a third (disinterested) party in all tussles and quarrels, and would be accepted as such by others also. His position, in course of time, became unassailable. Balaji's opportunism is seen in his support to the Sayyid brothers, the king-makers. He invited their help for crushing Damaji Thorat in his internal rebellion against Shahu's rule, while he accompanied them to Delhi in order to facilitate their intrigues against the lawful emperor. In return he received fresh orders under the seals of puppet emperors, bestowing the Maratha king- dom on Shahu, and the release of Shahu's mother from captivity at Delhi. Thus Shahu's collapsing rule was propped up with Mughal support. In ad- dition, Shahu accepted the duty of serving the Mughal State with fifteen thou- sand troops, which were to be placed at the disposal of the Mughal viceroy in the Deccan to buttress his administration, one fourth revenue (Chauth) of the south being his wages for the same. Shahu was thus not only to be a creature of the Mughals, but was to guarantee the continuation of their rule in the Deccan. This was really cutting the roots of the Maratha State envisaged by Shivaji and reared carefully by his successors. Shivaji had envisaged the gradual withering away of the tree of Islam in India—though not necessarily through the agency of the Marathas—and planned his Maratha State for aid- ing the attainment of that end. The Marathas were expected to be the spear- head of the charge against Islam no doubt, but other Hindus were also ex- pected to act their part in the grand achievement. The end was not a Maratha empire spreading all over India but the complete freedom of all Hindus. If other provinces in India gained their freedom by their own exertions, so far so xi