पानीपत १७६१ (मराठा साम्राज्य एवं पानीपत महायुद्ध इतिहास)

SADASHIVRAO'S APPOINTMENT FOR NORTHERN INDIA 41

Chambal, at which Bhau's councillors laughed again and said, "Shinde and Holkar, Antaji Manakeshvar, Govindpant Bundele, Vitthal Shivdeo and Naro Shankar who had acted as officers with full powers in these parts, are now ill at ease at our coming and can never feel happy at the event" We reproduce these lines not because we believe in their truth but because they show an un- dercurrent of thought diametrically opposite to that of Bhau's policy There was a good substratum of truth in Holkar's advice To proceed against Abdali with heavy camp equipage and the encumbrances of women and chil- dren with a paraphernalia of private servants on a lavish scale, was certainly a mistake Delhi could never have been a secure base for the Marathas in the circumstances then existing In all previous campaigns of the Marathas in the Delhi region, they had suffered from want of food and fodder, not to say money The circumstances had grown even worse now, as Bhau experienced to his cost later on There was no valid reason to believe that the circumstances would have been different in the present campaign But Bhau felt confident of overcoming any difficulty and crossed the Chambal to Dholpur,⁴⁵ which in those times was not a Jat capital but a place of pilgrimage

The Maratha army crossed the Chambal on 8th June, and encamped near the Muchakunda tirth⁴⁶ near Dholpur The whole army went through the ceremony of a holy bath and sojourned for a few days there An eclipse of the sun on the 13th of June⁴⁷ added to the merit of the pilgrimage in this holy place The delay caused by the performance of the rites of pilgrimage frustrated Bhau's original plan of crossing over the Jamuna before the rains near Agra into Govindpant Bundeles districts and attacking Abdali from that base Agra was only some twenty five miles distant from the Maratha camp between the Chambal and the Gambhira, alias Banaganga, river But Bhau was unable to cross that small river and reach Agra for about a month more The monsoon had set in somewhat early that year, and the small river was in spate On his left hand was the Parvati, in front the Gambhira and at the back the Chambal The region is extremely uneven At every hundred yards there is a ravine, a continuous up and down The land is sandy and the rivers and streams, though shallow, spread over for miles across the banks It is dif- ficult to set foot in the bed of the river and there is not enough water for boats to cross In fact, no boats are available on those streams, for after a few days the water is completely drained away and only level sands, yellow and white in colour, are left to act as witnesses for the temporary floods The whole camp must have suffered terribly because camping in those regions looked almost impossible

Though Sadashivrao Bhau could not cross the insignificant river Gambhira, he was able to meet Shinde and Holkar and discuss with them the future problems and line of action, as both of them were encamping on the same side of the Gambhira in the vicinity of Keraoli The first to see Bhau was Gangoba Chandrachud, Holkar's Diwan, on 15th June ⁴⁸ Gangoba be

45 Raj 1 199 46 Bhau Bakhar p 113 47 13th of June was 30 Jyestha, Autobiography of Nana Phadnis, K. Patre Yadi 192. 48 Raj 1.203