पानीपत १७६१ (मराठा साम्राज्य एवं पानीपत महायुद्ध इतिहास)

50 PANIPAT 1761 to move north to the strong fort of Sukartal and remain there At the begin ning of October, he was reported to have left his camp at Sambharam Serai and moved to Ahmad Ganj 79 But soon after he came to Shahadra, opposite to Delhi on the bank of the Jamuna, and encamped there with Shuja and Najib A distant cannonade was also sometimes indulged in by both the armies from the two banks of the river It could not be very effective from a distance of more than a mile with the artillery of those times Besides, none of the parties was willing to waste its ammunition for merely terrifying without military effect Internal trouble was also brewing amongst Abdalis allies Shuja and Najib were strange bed fellows whom only destiny had brought together Najib had promised that no demands for money would be made on Shuja if he joined Abdalis camp This hope was belied, for the hungry and grabbing Afghans tried to make encroachments on him, knowing full well that he was rich This led to a quarrel between Shuja and the Durranis Shuja felt himself deceived by the false promise of Najib and was almost in a repentant mood 63 The Abdali troops, on the other hand, were reluctant to continue their stay in India amidst misery and destitution, with little hope of earning anything in the future Bhau had sent one Bhavanishankar as a Vakil to Shuja across the Jamuna and Shuja also sent his Vakil to Bhau in return 64 It seems from Kashiraj s account that he also accompanied Raja Devidatta, Shuja's envoy But there is no corroboration of the same in Marathi correspondence, a fact which makes one suspicious about the truth of his narrative As Bhau was not satisfied with Raja Devidatta, he sent him back with Bhavanishankar This Bhavanishankar is scarcely mentioned anywhere in the Marathi nar- rative as a person of importance Kashiraj says he was a native of Auranga bad and belonged to his caste As the Brahmins of Aurangabad had taken to Persian studies, they were in great demand at the courts of various north Indian potentates who had any dealings with the Marathas Knowing both Persian and Marathi, they were able to correspond and interpret between the Maratha and other courts, and settled in various capitals The Hingne family was also engaged by the Peshwa for the same qualifications Bhavanishankar first came in contact with the Peshwa in his dealings with Shah Nawaz Khan at the Nizam s court, and seems to have spread his influence over Bhau also 65 As Nana Fadnis in his Autobiography adversely comments on Bhavani shankars influence over Bhau and expresses himself in disapproving terms about his conduct it may be taken as a general opinion of the Maratha camp about the man Bhau over rode the opinions of intimates like Balvantrao Mehendale and Nana Purandare and completely put his faith in Bhavani shankars advice, which was also the main cause of Bhaus decision to follow Ibrahim Khan Gardis French tutored mode of warfare. Perhaps, even in the succes ful Udgir campaign, 66 Bhau had followed Bhavanishankars advice and the thundering success in it had established Bhavanishankar in Bhau's con fidence Whatever the fact, his conduct of peace parleys at this juncture did not prove succes sful as Najib-ud daulah threw every obstacle in the way Mal 63 Raj 1.235, 216 64 Samra 2.297