पानीपत १७६१ (मराठा साम्राज्य एवं पानीपत महायुद्ध इतिहास)

98 PANIPAT. 1761 man, he carried her safely across When his horse was exhausted by its dou˙ weight he got her down, when another cavalryman, Piraji Raoot, got her his horse and thus carried her twelve miles farther on When his horse l came exhausted he also left her behind, but all along Janu Bhintade kept ] company, walking or riding along by her side No Maratha would refuse he place on his horse on the road, and thus she was thirty miles to the south Delhi when she met Malharrao Holkar and Nana Purandare We have relat this event in detail because it falsifies Malharrao Holkar's plea as put do in Holkar's Thaili 13 Malharrao Holkar was neither charged by Bhau w the special defence of Parvatibai nor did he himself of his own accord do an thing to bring her out of the field Only casually and accidentally th met to the south of Delhi, a circumstance of wh ch Malharrao took full ˙ vantage in preparing his apology The description of the actual battle is very scanty in Marathi, th given in the chronicles being more or less personal and not useful for milita study The only eye-witness who speaks of the last effort of Bhau is the trut ful Nana Fadnis who was only nineteen years old at the time His au biography is a document by itself throwing considerable light on the who campaign It clearly sets forth his own prejudices but none can say that is anywhere untruthful From his writing it seems that Bhau was not u aware of the possibility of defeat, and had, therefore, made provision for t special protection of the women folk As a last resort, it had been decided kill them before they should fall into the hands of the Afghans From Na Fadnis's words, it looks as if Bhau had prepared himself for death But th was personal As a general he had taken care that none other should ha any scent of his personal decision except Nana Fadnis and one or two oth persons like Nana Purandare He had made every provision that was humar possible for the ensuing battle with minute care for all eventualities, but all i precautions came to nothing because the plan was not understood, and, if u derstood, not followed by anyone with zest, except by Ibrahim Khan Gar who was the author of it It is clear that the last fight was fought between t Maratha cavalry and the Afghan infantry But the majority of the Marath generals had, it seems, no faith in Ibrahim's plan and its possible success Th were expecting defeat rather than victory, and as such were more prepar for immediate flight, than for a fight to the finish by sticking to their pos At the same time they knew that precipitous flight at the very beginning w quite impossible, the other troops being engaged at the front It is curio to note that of all those who survived the battle, there is an overwhelmi majority of old men amongst the notables Malharrao Holkar, Vitth Shivdeo, Satvoji Jadhav, Damaji Gaikawad, Antaji Manakeshwar, Sabaji Shin Khanaji Jadhav, Janrao Wable and Gangoba Chandrachud were all age