पानीपत १७६१ (मराठा साम्राज्य एवं पानीपत महायुद्ध इतिहास)

SUKARTAL, BURADI AND AFTER 29 Leaving Deeg, Ahmad Shah proceeded south-west into the Jaipur ter- ritory plundering wherever he went. He ransomed the small local Rajas of Kadhake and Khobari (Kurke and Khohari?). He was thinking of proceed- ing against the non-committing Madhosingh to Jaipur. On the road he slaughtered the inhabitants of the resisting town of Mahwah²³ (twenty miles east of Bandikui), but spared the residents of Baswa²⁴ (ten miles north of Bandikui), as they offered ransom for their town. This was in the third week of February. There he received the news that the Marathas were looting the districts to the west of Delhi and had taken Rs. 10,000 as tribute from Kanaud.²⁵ Ahmad Shah, therefore, swerved north through Alwar territories,²⁶ leaving the direction of Jaipur. But before he could arrive near Delhi, Malharrao had formed another plan, depending upon Abdali's intended move against Jaipur which, had it been put into execution, would have engaged the Afghans there for at least a month or two. As Najib Khan and most of the other Ruhelas were accompanying Abdali on his march, Malharrao and his shrewd Diwan Gangoba Chandrachud thought of attacking the Ruhela lands in the Doab and beyond, in the absence of their proprietors. The Maratha army crossed the Jamuna to the south of Delhi on 20th February, 1760, and de- scended upon the rich town of Sikandrabad. There they halted and com- pletely looted the town on the Holi Day i.e. 1st March, 1760. They should have moved from the place the next day and proceeded farther, but there they heard that Najib Khan's treasure of ten lakhs was coming into the Doab on its way to the Abdali camp. It had come up to the bank of the Ganges opposite to the town of Anup Shahar. Getting this clue, they sent pickets to see where the Ganges could be crossed. In the meanwhile, Ahmad Shah hear- ing this move of Holkar, suddenly changed his direction and ran to the south of Delhi. Thence he detached Jahan Khan and Najib Khan with 35,000 troops unencumbered with any artillery or camp equipage. Surajmal Jat who in this guerilla war was helping the Marathas, came to know of this sudden move of Abdali and sent information of the same to Gangoba Chandrachud to warn him in time. The Maratha army had, therefore, already divided itself. The Shinde contingent under Janakoji as well as old Malharrao Holkar had fallen back towards Mathura and Agra. Rupram, the Jat envoy, accom- panied them. But the rest of Holkar's troops who never had any acquaintance with the Durrani ways and no experience of battling against them, laughed at the idea of running away on mere news of the enemy, and taunted the Shinde's troops as being faint-hearted. Janakoji, therefore, separated from Holkar and started towards Mathura. Malharrao himself personally followed him and ordered Gangoba Tatya to check the Durrani advance. But his corps was surprised, caught unprepared and massacred with heavy slaughter

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²³ KHARE 1.21 ²⁴ Ibid. ²⁵ SPD 2.118. ²⁶ Ibid. 21.186. ²⁷ Ibid. 2.121.