पानीपत १७६१ (मराठा साम्राज्य एवं पानीपत महायुद्ध इतिहास)

THE MARATHAS IN THE PANJAB AND BEYOND 7 Maratha army first approached Sarhind which was governed by Abdus Samad Khan, a valiant general of Abdali He was at this time on a punitive expedi- tion against Alasingh Jat, the founder of the Patiala State Hearing that the Marathas were advancing, he settled accounts with Alasingh, quickly returned to Sarhind and made preparations for defending it The Maratha troops were not more than fifty thousand in number, though rumour had swelled it to two lakhs In the first week of March 1758, they began the siege of Sarhind which does not seem to have continued long Abdus Samad Khan tried to escape but was captured along with Jang Baz Khan and other Afghans The Mara- thas and the Sikhs thoroughly looted Sarhind and afterwards destroyed it • Hearing of the fall of Sarhind, Jahan Khan, who had advanced from Lahore to help Abdus Samad, returned precipitately The Maratha forces advanced further, Adina Beg Khan leading them on the way Seeing them rapidly advancing with confidence, Jahan Khan and his ward, the boy Timur, lost heart, as they had not more than twenty five thousand troops with them to de- fend themselves The valiant captain Manaji Paygude led the vanguard of the Marathas with ten thousand horse along with one thousand Mughals un- der Khwajah Mirza On the 20th April, 1758, the Marathas entered Lahore Prince Taimur and Jahan Khan had already evacuated it on the day previous and carried all their property beyond the Ravi The Marathas, after taking charge of the fort, quickly crossed the river and pursued the Afghans upto the river Chinab Only the Durrani troops of Taimur escaped hurriedly with Jahan Khan at their head All his other troops, Turkish, Afghan and Indian, were over powered by the Marathas, who took vast spoils in their camp The Marathas would have pursued Jahan Khan still further, but fortunately for him the river was deep and unfordable and all the boats necessary for crossing the river had been taken to the other side by Taimur Sultan ⁷ Raghoba stayed in Lahore only for a month and then prepared to re- turn to the Deccan at the express orders of the Peshwa leaving the administra- tion of the whole province in the hands of Adina Beg who agreed to pay seventy five lakhs a year to the Marathas An equal revenue was to go to the Wazir at Delhi as his half share in the bargain The Maratha corps engaged in this famous campaign were those of Manaji Paygude Gangadhar Bajirao Retharekar, Gopalrao Ganesh Barve, Rayaji Sakhdeo, Renuko Anaji and • Bapuji Trimbak, besides the Holkars contingent Hari Raghunath Bhide, a fast friend and supporter of Raghoba, had also accompanied them Why Raghoba was not allowed to continue in the Panjab is difficult to say In his only available letter (Note 6) he writes that he was returning because the Peshwa had recalled him As a matter of fact the five years from 1757 to 1761 were the most critical years in Indian history The Marathas who aspired to take into their hands the political control of the whole continent, had to keep their attention on the problems arising in all corners of India The Peshwa had recalled his brother from Lahore probably because he thought the Deccan politics were more important, and wished to end the French influence at the court of the ⁷ SPD 27.218, 220 Shinde 3 93, 94