पानीपत १७६१ (मराठा साम्राज्य एवं पानीपत महायुद्ध इतिहास)

44 PANIPAT: 1761 outside the city and place guns around the citadel. Bhau himself had ad- vanced by this time from Mathura and was encamping at the famous serai at Chhatah Now he advanced in haste via Hodal and Palwal and reached Delhi on 31st July By this time the small party of Afghans under Yakub Ali Khan had been battered in the citadel and now with the coming of Ibrahim Khan's park of artillery, they found it impossible to continue the struggle and sued for peace. They were allowed to march out and go back to Abdali with their arms and baggage Their number was only eight hundred.⁵⁹ The Mara- thas occupied the Red Fort on the 1st of August and celebrated their first vic- tory amidst jubilations Bhau himself seems to have sojourned there for a few days to arrange for the administration of the palace, city and the fort till he moved to Shalimar Gardens to the north-west of Delhi. He appointed Naro Shankar as the guardian of the palace and the city with six thousand troops made up of cavalry and infantry. Baloji Palhande was made the keeper of the fort. Sadashivrao Bhau's camp at Delhi after the first fortnight was near the Shalimar Gardens watered by the famous Ali Mardan Khan canal. The place is still very charming, filled with the fragrance of the blossoms of the lucat trees during September and October. The water pavilions of the lux- urious Mughal Emperors are still to be seen there with their mural paintings of birds and flowers, though in a dilapidated condition. Already three con- querors, namely, Nadir Shah, Ahmad Shah and Raghunathrao, had lived in them during two decades Now Bhau had occasion to halt there. Though from the military point of view the possession of Delhi was no great gain, it restored the prestige of the Maratha name. Ahmad Shah was, at this time, camping at Anupshahar on the Ganges but he was unable to send any succour to his nominee, Yakub Ali Khan.⁶⁰ Shuja-ud-daulah was ac- tually encamping just on the opposite side of the Jamuna⁶¹ but he was also helpless to do anything in the matter. Perhaps they knew that it was impos- sible to face Ibrahim Khan's artillery and therefore remained silent. In the popular mind, however, the Maratha prestige, lost and lowered by the previous year's events, was completely restored. Shuja, who had willingly joined Abdali, began to waver in his resolution.⁶² He began to exert himself in the peace- move. The Indian allies of Ahmad Shah Abdali in this campaign had joined their forces with his as a lesser evil only. The trans-Gangetic Ruhelas under the leadership of the sagacious Hafiz Rahmat had no love lost for Najib Khan, whose faithlessness and unscrupulous dealings they would not approve. The lame Ahmad Khan Bangash was always shaky in his resolution, never being sure which side to choose. His situation was always precarious as his district of Farukkhabad was situated amidst the more powerful states of Oudh, the Ruhelas, the Marathas and the Jats. Though weak, Ahmad Khan was not unselfish either. He would side with the Marathas with a view to gain some ⁵⁹ Bhau Kaifiyat p 9 Raj. 1.223 ⁶⁰ Illiot. 8 147 ⁶¹ Raj. 1.224. ⁶² Ibid. 1.191