पानीपत १७६१ (मराठा साम्राज्य एवं पानीपत महायुद्ध इतिहास)

108 PANIPAT 1761 Wazir Safdar Jang * Malharrao was head strong but he had also the knack of neatly and vigorously carrying out a piece of work on which he had set his heart or on which a challenge was offered to him In the dispute for suc- cession at Jaipur he had taken a different attitude from the Peshwa and Ram- chandra Bawa, but ultimately he forced his will on the others and executed the thing in his own manner Similarly, after Ghazi ud din s poisoning in 1752 when the Peshwa went back on his promise to his sardars, Malharrao and Jayapa were suspected of being in collusion with Tarabai and Mahadoba Purandare so as to checkmate the Peshwa s plans for the governance of the Maratha Empire ³ Even that suspicion was ultimately found to be wrong These examples will show the tenor of Malharrao s previous life, and can ac- count for the suspicion which fell upon him during the Panipat campaign, of acting hand in glove with Najib, Shuja and Surajmal In popular mind, this suspicion proved correct as Malharrao could escape from the disaster un- scathed with most of his troops but we have no faith in this judgment Sa- dashivrao Bhau very well knew Malharrao's ways in politics, but had decided to take a different line in this campaign on his own responsibility Not only Malharrao but other sardars also were dissatisfied with Bhau on account of his financial exactions To balance his budget after Raghunathrao's deficit cam- paign of the Panjab, Bhau had put the burden of the Peshwa's debts on the shoulders of the various Saranjamdars and Jagirdars Malharrao had to pay 30 lakhs for this debt tax ⁴ but due to the debacle after Dattaji Shinde s death, Malharrao had not found it possible to pay it in time before the Panipat cam- paign Holkar's Diwan Gangoba Chandrachud is found putting excuses⁵ for the non payment of this accepted debt tax Bhau was naturally dissatisfied with Malharrao and other sardars for their non payment of this tax which had put a strain on his treasure purse Malharrao was always a man of tight purse, but there does not seem to be any ground for suspicion that there was any bickering between Bhau and his sardars on this point during the Panipat cam- paign Those who think him acting in collusion with Surajmal Jat should note the fact of his behaviour after the disaster Holkar's Kaifiyat,⁶ ostensibly written to represent Malharrao's side, positively tells us that he would not put his faith in Surajmal and remain in his territory to recoup himself When one Jat zamindar tried to stop him in his flight by catching hold of the reins of his horse, Malharrao asked his companion, Govindrao Bule, to cut off the Jat's hand, and drove away precipitately for fear of treachery This anecdote represents Malharrao s mind He would not put faith even in his friend, for who could guarantee that the Jat Raja had not changed his mind as a result of the disaster? Malharrao's whole manner was that of a very suspicious and overcautious man taking no risks The anecdote is supported by the fact of his flight through the Jat s territory south of Mathura without sojourning in it He took a road skirting on the Jat dominion, but not through it, and went direct to Bhind via Agra, crossing the Chambal and the Kuwari along the river

• Shinde 3.25 3 Purandare 1.311 4 Satara, 2.292. • 5 S P D 21 184 6 Kavyetihasa Sangraha No 18, 2nd Ed. 1930 p 23