पानीपत १७६१ (मराठा साम्राज्य एवं पानीपत महायुद्ध इतिहास)

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