पानीपत १७६१ (मराठा साम्राज्य एवं पानीपत महायुद्ध इतिहास)

CRITICAL BIBLIOGRAPHY 135 will be found interspersed in many other volumes also For studying the char- acters of the main actors in the Panipat drama it is necessary to study most of the other volumes for the pre Panipat period, and sometimes even the later volumes The characters of the individuals are the one sure and constant guide from which we can correctly judge their activities in a proper perspective A man's life is never compartmental, and it is unjust and unhistorical to judge events in the lives of these individuals, from the bare data concerning particu lar events and, therefore, from a partial angle What a man will do under given circumstances mainly depends on his past, which is reflected in his char- acter Historians are not the advocates of the historical characters but their post mortem judges Unfortunately, very few historians correctly understand their proper role and praise or blame the historical characters in detail We have tried to study each single character separately, completely and in detail, and then come to form certain notions about the proper manner of judging their actions in this study, a procedure we think absolutely essential To at- tain this end, we had to utilize all the available material in the var ous volumes of original letters concerning these individuals 12-13-14 Shindeshahi Itihasach n Sadhane Part I (1929), Part II (1930), and Part III (1937) These contain a few original letters from Panipat itself Others throw a flood of light on the inner workings of Shinde affairs. Specially valuable is the correspondence of the diplomats connected with the Shinde family which is collected for publication in the third volume Ramaji Anant Dabholkar who was the Diwan of the Shindes from 1750 to 1761, and died after Panipat, was the chief director of Shinde affairs and his corre- spondence is the most valuable of all Sir Jadunath has overlooked these volumes and his description of the battle is deficient on that account. 15 16 17-18 Four Incomplete Manuscript Bakhars about Panipat were examined by us but they contain no authentic or new material They are gossipy in their contents and their burthen is all the same Malika Zamani is given as the ch ef instigator in calling Ahmad Shah Abdali Bhau and Bal- vantrao Mehendale are depicted as proud and bad Holkar and Shinde were against the war, but Bhau was adamant and bent on honour Only three per sons remained fighting to the last, v.z Bhau, Jankoji and Tukoji Shinde A portion of these Bakhars, especially that containing Malika Zamani's part in it is found incorporated in Bhausahebanchi Bakhar, the Bakhar published by Parasnis in his Marathyanche Parakrama (Bundelkhand part) and similar other attempts The theme was a favourite one with all Maratha clerks of the Peshwa times and they copied the story from wherever they could 19 A few pages of Bhausahebanchi Ka fijat were supplied to us by Mr K V PURANDARE These pages contain a few verbal changes but no new information We note this fact here to show that even the Ka fijat, though it was over shadowed by the more complete and the enlarged Bakhar, was still copied by a few in Maharashtra Rao Bahadur SANE was able to get only one copy of this Ka fijat and had to rely on that one alone He concluded there- from, that the Kaifijat was a rare brochure But this does not seem to have been the case

136 PANIPAT 1761 20 Raghunath Yadav's Panipat Bakhar Though ostensibly written by a court clerk and that by order of a member of the Peshwa's family, this is the most worthless of all the Panipat Bakhars 21 Aitihasik Lekha Samgraha Vol I (1897) by V V KHARE con tains a few letters on the Panipat Campaign 22 23 Chandrachuda Daftar Vol I (1920), and Vol II (1934) also contain a few letters dealing with the northern India affairs and bear evidence to the Maratha advance and rule upto Attock on the Indus 24 25 Holkarachin Kaifiyat (published in the Kavyetihasa Samgraha by K N SANE (1886), and Holkarachi Thaili (RAJ III, No 172 and Itihasa Samgraha) These are both explanatory after-thoughts, to justify Mal harrao Holkar's conduct in the Panipat affair That he ran away at the previous behest of Bhau in order to escort Parvatibai, the wife of Bhau, is now proved to be false, on the authority of contemporary letters How an imaginary turn can be given to historic events is proved by these attempts 26 Aitihasik Patren, Yadi Vagaire Lekha (2nd Ed 1929) This contains the autobiography of Nana Phadnis which we take to be written some- time soon after the event when the author was extremely grieved and repentant and almost on the point of forsaking the world to lead the life of a recluse, and not after thirty years as assumed by Sir Jadunath There is nothing incorrect in it when compared with the original letters Other letters in this volume are also important for the northern Indian affairs of the Marathas 27 Aitihasik Patravyavahara (1930) This volume also contains valuable correspondence, amongst them being an important letter by Nana Phadnis from the Panipat camp Sir Jadunath has wrongly understood it, as his translation of a line in it gives exactly the reverse meaning 28 Persian Akhbars (news letters) in manuscript form existing in the archives of the Bharat Itihasa Samshodhak Mandal contain valuable material not found elsewhere about the Panjab campaign of the Marathas, ending in the far famed carrying of the Maratha banners beyond the Attock to Peshawar 29 Bhau's Ballad (published in BDCRI 4 3) in the Jathi dialect of Hindusthani copied for us after the dictation of a Muslim ballad singer of Siwa, five miles to the south of Panipat, contains a more complete version of the ballad than that published in the Sardesai Commemoration Volume by Dr KANUNGO and also one given in pieces in the Marathi publication 'Bhaunchya Virakatha' Our copy which contains both prose and poetry, gives valuable information in deciding the field of battle, the environment and the actual point on the river Jamuna where Abdali crossed 30 ELLIOT and DOWSON, History of India (1877), Vol VIII, con tains selected translations of (1) Tarikh i Alamgir-Sani, (E & D CII) (ii) Manazil ul Futuh, by Md Ja'far Shamlu (E & D CIII)

CRITICAL BIBLIOGRAPHY 137 (iii) Nigar-nama-i-Hind, of-Saiyid Ghulam Ali (E. & D. CXLIII) (iv) Ibratnamah by Faqir-ud-din Md. of Allahabad (E. & D. CXIX) (v) Tarikh-i-Ibrahim Khan (E. & D. CXXI). Of these Ibratnamah and Tarikh-i-Alamgir-Sani are used for Ghazi-ud- din's acts, especially the assassinations of the Emperor and others. Tarikh-i- Ibrahim Khan and Nigar-namah practically copy their accounts of the Panipat battle from Kashiraj. But Shamlu was present on the battle-field as a servant of Shah Pasand Khan who commanded the left wing of Abdali's army. His figures are inflated no doubt but certain casual references of his are helpful in deciding a few controversial points. Though both Kashiraj and Shamlu were eye-witnesses, present on the battle-field during the battle, both could see only a corner of the battle, and that which was least engaged, in the first half of the day. But Shamlu knew much more of the Abdali side than Kashiraj from the inside, just as Kashiraj naturally knew more of the Maratha side. Shamlu's remark that Ahmad Shah drove away the Shindes from the banks of the river Attock and pursued them as far as Burya and Sarangpur (p. 146) is helpful in pointing out the farthest line of Maratha advance in the Panjab. It had not stopped at the Chinab as Sir Jadunath says,¹⁵ but had reached the Indus itself as can now be proved by other contemporary material. Shamlu also gives the account of the precarious passage of Abdali's army across the Jamuna by the Budhia Ghat to Sarangpur, which is also so written in Marathi papers, while later on it somehow has assumed the form of Saharanpur, which it retains today. This is one of the instances where bad pronunciation and in- correct writing has changed a purely Hindu name into a Muslim-looking one. Shamlu's account of the battle which ensued before crossing, corroborates the account in Bhau Sahebanchi Bakhar. He also gives the behaviour of the Abdali troops when they entered Delhi after defeating Dattaji Shinde. They looted it, notwithstanding the fact that they had come to protect the city from the Marathas and even the earnest intercession of Malika-i-Zamani who was the chief instigator of Ahmad Shah in calling him to India was not able to stop it. Shamlu's account of Ahmad Shah's cantonment at Anupshahar is useful in visualizing the difficulties in the Doab. His account of the patrol round the Maratha camp and cutting off of Maratha parties bringing cash from Delhi, corroborates the Marathi chronicles. But Shamlu is most useful in deciding the beginning of the battle and falsifying Kashiraj in his palpably untrue state- ment that just before the battle in the early hours of the morning a Maratha valet of Bhau came with the last chit. Shamlu states that Ahmad Shah, after noticing "clouds of dust ascended upto heaven" ordered Shah Pasand Khan to go forth and ascertain the cause thereof. He rode through the plain between Abdali's camp and the Maratha camp by an unfrequented path and took "four hours to advance half a kos." As Shamlu was accompanying Shah Pasand Khan, there is no cause to suspect his statement as untrue though written after thirty-five years, because no man would forget such an event ¹⁵ Fall 2.76.

on such a day $^{16}$ Shamlu's account of Ahmad Shah's arrangement of his army also supplies a clue in correctly visualizing the battle array, which seems to differ a little from Kashiraj's account The last important point made clear from Shamlu's account is the fact of Ahmad Shah's apprehension in the first half of the day that "he would not be able to with stand" the impetuous Maratha attack led by Bhau on the Abdali centre, and his despatch of a person "to mount the ladies of his household on fleet steeds and keep them ready for any eventualities That shows that Ahmad Shah was not at all sure of certain victory as made out by later historians and com mentators Incidentally it shows Ahmad Shah's wisdom and precaution against any mishap Shamlu openly says that "by Ahmad Sultan's good for tune one Zamburak ball struck Vishwasrao on the forehead and another hit Bhau on the side," meaning thereby that good fortune and accidents had not a little to do with the Maratha defeat Shamlu also corroborates the fact of the Maratha army's sudden desertion from the battle field and the stampede which followed Shah Pasand Khan received the news of this central struggle through couriers (p 154), which again shows the distance separating the various divisions on the battle field Shah Pasand Khan had not possibly moved much from his original place in the battle array and charged Malharrao and Janakoji only after knowing the defeat of the centre Shamlu only shows that they fled, though Malharrao fled westwards and Janakoji eastwards Sham- lu's account of the Maratha camp after the battle when 30,000 matchlockmen were so struck with terror and consternation that they would not lift their hand to strike anybody who came amidst them for loot, is most illuminative of the psychic effect of defeat We think that the Marathas had exhausted their ammunition and hence were helpless to do anything They were only putting on a bold face to conceal their deficiency Shamlu also notes that a Maratha chief had been stationed in hindmost rank of their army and was later on seen fleeing towards the south side with six or seven thousand horse, and would not meet even "three individuals," but ran away pell-mell "at the mere firing of the guns and took another direction," shows that Bhau had not, as assumed by Sir Jadunath, left his camp unprotected in the last resort He had prop- erly arranged everything, but everything went astray as luck would have it Altogether we do not think of Shamlu as a worthless witness as Sir Jadunath seems to think, and have fully utilised his account for what it is worth As Shamlu was in the latter part of his life living in India, he had ample oppor- tunities of conversing with other survivors from the field and of refreshing his memory of the Panipat battle field That he had not lost interest in the af- fairs of the Marathas is clear from his mention of Shah Alam's return to Delhi in the company of the Marathas, and his anecdotes about Mahadaji Shinde's lameness and the skeletons of the Maratha horses at the caravanserai of Sone pat—incidents which he only relates 31 Sayyid Nuruddin Hasan Khan's Life of Najib-ud-daulah, transla- tion by Sir Jadunath SARKAR in the Islamic Culture, 1933, presents one view of the life of this unscrupulous and mischievous man in Indian history Najib $^{16}$ ELLIOT 8.152.

CRITICAL BIBLIOGRAPHY 139 it was who gave a crooked turn to the whole trend of Indian politics in the middle of the 18th century He fooled all who came into contact with him, both friend and foe He rose as a servant of Ghazi ud-dın, the Wazir, and ultimately ruined him, by his treachery He made use of Malharrao Holkar as a god father and did mortal harm to the Maratha politics in the north He brought Shuja over to the side of Abdali and sent him empty handed back to Oudh for fear of being looted by his allies Shuja did not think even of taking leave of Ahmad Shah Abdali before decamping! Najib had not done any good to Ahmad Shah either, through whose help he became what he was He made use of the Shah by the argument of race and religion, and that way completely ruined the Marathas But what permanent benefit accrued to Islam from his acts? He had misinformed Ahmad Shah about the relative strength of the political parties in India as a result of which Ahmad Shah could not reap any permanent advantage His troops could not get even their salary from him and the forty lakhs of rupees a year which Najib promised to him from the Indian lands he had conquered were never paid Not only that politically at the end of the great battle Ahmad Shah had to bestow the Wazir ship of the Indian Empire on the hated regicide Ghazi ud din, a creature of the Marathas, and not on Shuja, his ally in the late war All this is well ex emplified by this life, written by an admirer though it is 32 Bihari Lal Munshi's Short Life of Najib-ud daulah, translated by Sir Jadunath SARKAR, in the Islamic Culture, 1936 Though sketchy, it still adds a few more facts to his life It supplies details in his dealings with Dattaji Shinde, especially Najib's ruse of instructing the Afghans of Kunjpura to put on scarlet caps and move like the Persian Qzzlbashas in order to start the rumour of the coming of Abdali to India This rumour makes it clear why Sabaji Shinde, the Governor of the Panjab, returned long before the ac tual coming of Abdali and why Govindpant Bundele is found writing, very early, letters about the Shah's coming It had the effect of demoralizing the Maratha side It does not add anything to our knowledge of Panipat, however 33 Samin Shaikh Ghulam Hasan's (pen name Samin) narrative, translated by W IRVINE in Indian Antiquary, 1907 This narrative gives a vivid picture of Ahmad Shah's camp, army and political behaviour, in his Indian campaign of 1756 57 The writer is poeti- cally minded He possesses the journalist's facile pen supplying vivid descrip- tion He is gossipy too, introducing anecdotes and stories amidst his narrative In fact, he tries to reproduce from memory things reported to him by others, such as Imad ul mulk's story He wrote his piece in 1782 at the behest of Captain Jonathan Scott To judge from the production, this man's memory seems to be unusually strong, but it is idle to call it a diary as is done by Sir Jadunath SARKAR (p 293, Fall, Vol 2) The picture of Ahmad Shah's army on the march, his camp discipline, etc seem exaggerated and are more in the form of psychic vision than of sober description His introduction of poetry at intervals exemplifies his mind Sir Jadunath has used Samin's description of Ahmad Shah's army

140 PANIPAT 1761 army We have no quarrel with the comparison, we only wish that Sir Jadu nath had also taken into account the methodology of Abdali's iron discipline and his barbarous methods in his dealings with both friends and foes, Hindus no less than Muslims, for comparison with the methods followed by "the lesser breeds beyond the law," (p 291, Fall, Vol, 2) by which epithet he introduces the Marathas into the comparison Where the Marathas found it impossible to recover even eighty lakhs proffered for their services in going through a politi cal revolution for deposing one Emperor and his Wazir and seating others in their places, after a sojourn of eight months in the Delhi region, Ahmad Shah gained crores from the city of Delhi alone in less than a month by threatening, bastonading of a Wazir and torture to his mother, and digging of (floors) houses, two years later The Marathas suffered historically because they stood on a different moral plane from their competitors 34 Ichalkaranji State History with its original papers edited by V V KHARE, 1913 A few letters giving news of the Panipat campaign and after are found in this collection, which are useful for deciding the point of the Peshwa's responsibility Abdali was intercepting the letters from Panipat to the Deccan and making use of the information for his own purpose As the Peshwa had not received any news from the north for more than a month, his plans naturally went astray Malharrao Holkar's line of conduct is illustrated in Govind Hari Patwardhan's letter (No 66) 35 The Earliest Persian Account of Panipat, translated by Sir Jadu nath SARKAR in the Sardesai Commemoration Volume, 1938 The account is for the most part accurate, and not inaccurate as read by the learned translator It correctly reports as far as it does and, what is more, supplies a few facts not noted in other documents, viz Abdali's crossing between Bagpat and Kheora (wrongly deciphered as Khekra by Sir Jadunath, which puts him on the wrong track), Bhau's posting of troops on the farther side of the Jamuna to stop Abdali's supplies (at Bhau Fort near Isapur?), Chimaji Pandit's raid across the Jamuna, winter rains, famine, Shah's pre carious position at noon, the panic caused by Bhau's getting down from elephant, slaughter and running away of the Marathas, women captives * 36 Vad and others—Selections from the Peshwa Diaries—useful for administrative details with correct dates and the itinerary 37 Itihasa Sangraha A defunct Marathi magazine, Vols I VIII, edited by Parasnis (1909-1917), contain a few stray but primarily important letters about the Panipat campaign, events leading to it and the aftermath They are interspersed under various headings and parts, viz Aitihasika Tipane- Charcha-Sphuta Lekha Goshti, etc Sir Jadunath has overlooked these letters for the most part and hence his treatment has turned defective in certain par- ticular

CRITICAL BIBLIOGRAPHY 141 38. Parasnis—Marathyanche ' Parakrama—Bundelkhand Prakarana (1895) contains casual information about Govindpant Bundele and his sons, also a worthless Panipat chronicle. 39. Bharata Itihasa Samshodhaka Mandal Quarterly Vols. I-XXIV, as well as its Annals and Conference Reports. These also contain valuable in- formation and discussions on the various topics connected with Panipat, its per- sonalities and politics. 40. Hingne Daftar Vol. I (1945), is useful for judging the Delhi politics during the pre-Panipat as well as post-Panipat period. Unfortunately here, too, no direct evidence bearing on the campaign is forthcoming.

BHAVAN'S LIBRARY This book should be returned within a fortnight from the date last marked below Date of Issue | Date of Issue | Date of Issue | Date of Issue 13 APR 1961 20 FEB 1966 18 OCT 1970