भारतीय इतिहास के ६ स्वर्णिम पृष्ठ (वीर सावरकर - विदेशी आक्रान्ताओं पर विजय गाथा)

Umraos, ‘Nizams and Nawabs’, who had been so far engaged in riotous actions and ravaging the country to their own sweet will, were so much overawed and struck dumb by this extraordinary heroism of the Marathas in recapturing the whole of Punjab and the adjoining territories, that they began to join the Maratha General Raghunathrao as subordinate allies. The Sikhs had been recently gaining control over things in Punjab and they were infuriated by Abdali’s wanton act of demolishing their at Amritsar and filling up their holy lake round it with filth, mud, stones and bricks during his retreat to Kabul for fear of the Marathas. They had, therefore, become inveterate enemies of Abdali, and mighty leader of one of their powerful ‘Missals’, namely Alasingh Jat (whom the Maratha correspondence of the times referes to as ‘Ala Jat’) had joined the Marathas openly in the battle of Sirhind. Hence, as almost all these leaders and parties who had been then active in the political movements in Punjab were favourable to such a grand ovation to be given to Raghunathrao, it was agreed on all hands that the imperial ceremony felicitating the triumphal entry into Lahore of Raghunathrao at the head of his army should be celebrated after the Maratha general’s successful campaign towards Sindh. The Triumphant March of Raghunathrao Peshwa in Punjab 1066. Taimurshah, who fled beyond the frontier, tried to carry with him the immense treasure the Muslims had plundered in India, and it was to seize that treasure that Raghunathrao entered Punjab in hot pursuit of the Pathan army, which ran helter-skelter. Conquering more than half of Punjab of Abdali, Raghunathrao drove them off to the frontier. Leaving the rest of the work of regaining the frontier to the other Maratha companies and brigades, he returned to Lahore, the Capital of Punjab, in order to consolidate the Maratha gains and settle the affairs there and lay a firm foundation of the Maratha power in the newly accquired territory. On the 11th of April, 1758, he made his triumphant entry into Lahore with all the regalia and his victorious army. 1067. A magnificent ovation was given to him in order to glorify this victorious entry of his, attended with feasting and dancing. Raghunathrao sojourned in no less a place than the imperial palace itself. The other prominent Maratha warlords had also put up in big palaces in Lahore or the camps in the vicinity of the city. Everywhere, hundreds of well-adorned elephants, horses, camels and fatted bulls paraded through the streets. Various big Hindu-Muslim from different places, Emirs, Umraos, the so-