पानीपत १७६१ (मराठा साम्राज्य एवं पानीपत महायुद्ध इतिहास)

The disaster minimised by the Marathas in political interest—Rumours of Bhau and Janakoji being alive—Its good effect—Ahmad Shah completely disillusioned—Returns to Afghanistan 98 99, Loss of human lives in the battle, 100, The massacres of the fugitives after the battle—The spoils of the battle 101, Exaggerated account of captured booty— The after events beli the reports—It was a Pyrrhic victory, 102, Maratha food arrange- ments during the battle—And their mode of warfare, 103, The Maratha appearance and their camp and arms 104 105 CHAPTER VII THE JUDGMENT 106-127 The death of the Commander in chief was made use of by the survivors and renegades by making him a scape goat—Bhau not a free man in peace talks—The Peshwa's share in diplomacy—Bhau not a first rate general—His mould more civil than military—Ahmad Shah on the other hand a completely military man—The Marathas not warlike in the same sense as the Afghans 106, Bhau's ideal and aim different from those of the other Marathas—The guerilla mode handed down by Shivaji—No pitched battle—Useful for de- fence but not for conquest—Malharrao Holkar differs from Bhau and so cannot be con- demned 107, His behaviour throughout his life similar 108 Not treacherous but lukewarm —Govindpant Bundele's case—Rajwade's charges against him—He was a revenue col- lector and not a military captain—His age and habits of life against military dash— Geographical factor makes him all important 109 Abdalis daring puts Bhau in a quandary —Only a similar counter daring could have saved Bhau—Govindpant not a fit man for military duty—Bhau's suspicions about Govindpant—Not a rich man nor efficient not above board 110 Acting hand in glove with various administrative officers—Boastful man- ner, procrastinating—All Maratha officers took the air of chiefs or partners in the empire 111, The Peshwa's system of recruitment for the services defective—No trained staff— Nepotism—Govindpant made a scape goat because he died—Rajwade begins with preju- dice against him 112 Lights upon a sheaf of papers and carried away by the partial presentation of the affair—Changes dates to suit his interpretation—Caste prejudice— Govindpant intimate with the Peshwa family 113 Rajwade's charge proved only as far as the accounts were concerned—Peshwa ought to have devised a better system 114, Level of the population low the main defect—Bhau not proud but prejudiced—Feared but not loved by the surrounding people 115, The misfortune of the Marathas—Bhau not below the average as a General—His sound pleas in advance of the times—The initial mistake of the cavalry at the back of Ibrahim Khan who led the vanguard of the marching hollow square 116 Ideas and orders not understood nor followed because there was no previous training in the new system—Bhau was going on systematically, but he suc- cessively failed in diplomacy, manoeuvring, daring and was trying the final ordeal of pitched battle to destroy the enemy—No unity of thought, no co ordination of effort—The inherent defects of the Maratha system exhibited at Panipat 117, Marathas imitators and not inventors—No proper assimilation of foreign models—Waywardness no comrade- ship—Individual initiative but no collective effort—Personal prosperity the aim—Not indi- viduals but system responsible for the disaster 118, The death of Nanasaheb Peshwa— Not a consequence of the disaster—his health failing for a number of years—Hereditary defect—Addicted to women—Second marriage 119 Probable causes—Medical, astrological, personal 120, Panipat only gave the last shock—Nanasaheb was not in a position to help Bhau—Marathas unconscious of the things surrounding them 121, The Marathas fought for a cause creed and country—The victory did no good to Abdali but ruined the Marathas —Bajirao took a wrong step and it was blindly followed by his sons—Consolidation neg- lected—Ignorance of political forces—No progressive education 122 Defective geographical knowledge, no maps—No written documents or books for the education of younger peo- ple—In short backward civilisation—Marathas no robbers but aspiring to be rulers— Fight for a higher principle 123, Keeping their word sanctity of contract—Bhau requested by the Mughal emperor to relieve him from the burden—Marathas become enemies of all and friends of none—They would have been more successful if they had not accepted the burden of running the Mughal State 124, They were the most powerful forward tolerant, civil and ethical amongst the Indian people of those days—And still they failed 125 The Marathas took to arms as the last alternative—They were ranked non-martial by the British in the 19th century—Fight for a cause but no useless spilling of blood by them— War a moral necessity under certain circumstances—But the military force of a nation not necessarily the manifestation of its moral force—War not a school for virtues— Marathas fought for a cause a principle and not for material gain or glory at Panipat, 126, Abdali also fought for a cause disinterestedly—Derived no benefit from his victory— The Maratha aim was fulfilled one foreigner went away—But another entered by the back door as a result—The irony of history best illustrated by Panipat, 127 XXIV