Panipat - The battle of stalwarts

1761 - a year of great turmoil in medieval India. Death of Baji Rao Peshwa and accession of Madhav Rao as Peshwa with Raghunath Rao as guardian, fall of Pondicherry, Shah Alam II became Mughal Emperor, Shuja-ud-Daulah Nawab of Awadh becomes ‘Wazir’, Rise of Haider Ali as a ruler of Mysore and also Third Battle of Panipat. It was the year that decided who is going to rule India in future. Yes 245 years ago on 14 January 1761 a decisive blow was struck to the Marathas, which since then faced a fading glory. It was Third battle of Panipat that resulted in this situation.



A backdrop

Peshwa Bajirao1 (1720-1740) enunciated the Maratha policy of northward expansion. He expressed that by directing our efforts to Hindustan, the Maratha flag shall fly from Krishna to Attock and from Attock to Cuttuck. It was the result of pursuance of this policy that the Marathas started swallowing the Mughal territories, which was a weak entity as compared to its past strength. Involvement to the Marathas in the Mughal administration was also increased which was the main cause of the battle. The Marathas helped Imad-ul-Mulk to become the Wazir, who remained as a mere puppet at the hands of the Marathas. As per the agreement with Wazir Imad, the Marathas reached Punjab for the protection of northwest frontier. This alarmed the indomitable Afghan warrior-king Ahmad Shah Abdali. (Abdali invaded the Punjab six times between 1748 and 1752, and he seized and sacked Delhi.) He soon marched into India to protect his territory as the Marathas had ousted his agent from Punjab. Thus the base for a grand battle was set.

The Marathas because of their reckless expansion policy were now left friendless. As against this Ahmad Shah Abdali was able to garner the support of the Muslim chiefs. The only Maratha ally at this juncture was Suraj Mal Jat of Bharatpur. He advised the Marathas to fight the battle from his capital city instead of from the plains. This was suggested in acknowledgement of the superiority of the Afghan forces. But the Marathas refuted the suggestion of Suraj Mal Jat (and perhaps paid a heavy price of it…) who removed his support from the Maratha camp for this cause.

Peshwa Balaji Bajirao also known as Nanasaheb grasped the state of affairs and dispatched a powerful army to meet the challenge. Commander-in-Chief of the Maratha army was Sadashiv Rao Bhau, cousin of Peshwa. The nominal control of the army was given in the hands of Vishwas Rao, minor son of Peshwa. An able general Ibrahim Khan Gardizi who was trained by the French when he was under Nizam headed the artillery department.

The Action Day ----- 14 Janaury 1761.

After a long wait the starving yet gallant Maratha camp opened the offensive. The day was Sankranti – a sacred day for Maharashtrians – but the result was tragedy. The Maratha army was completely routed. The superiority of the Afghan forces, constant bickering among Maratha commanders and exhaustion of food and fodder had sealed the fate of nearly one lakh Maratha soldiers of whom many perished on that single day. One more important reason for loss of Marathas was it’s accompanying of many priests and women from Pune who had expressed their desire to visit Kashi. According to some sources this cavalcade was comprised of more than 50,000 people. Peshwa Nanasaheb under the pressure from the ecclesiastical class granted the permission. This led to unwanted bifurcation of manpower and money, which was provided to Sadashiv Rao Bhau. This grant of Peshwa Nanasaheb also proved heavy for the Marathas on the battlefield.

Suraj Mal Jat whose offer that Marathas had refuted earlier assisted the fleeing soldiers in medical aid and food. All the Maratha commanders along with Vishwas Rao , Sadashiv Rao Bhau , Jankoji Sindhia, Tukoji Sindhia, Ibrahim Khan Gardizi perished on the battle field. Even the artillery of Ibrahim Khan Gardizi, which was blazing the enemy camp, could not save the day for the Marathas. The only Maratha general who came back after the battle was Mahadji Sindhia.

Looking at the expediency of the situation Peshwa Nanasaheb also marched towards the battlefield at Panipat. But while on the march towards the battlefield the news of Maratha defeat and death of Vishwas Rao and Sadashiv Rao Bhau reached the Peshwa. Hearing this news the Peshwa broke down and subsequently died in Pune in June 1761.

No other battle in the history of India was so short with consequences so disastrous and far reaching as the Third battle of Panipat. According to Sir J.N.Sarkar “ It was a nationwide disaster. There was not a single home in Maharashtra that had not to mourn a loss of a member, and several houses lost their head. An entire generation of leaders was cut off at one stroke.”


Consequences

IT was a full-blown disaster for the Marathas who were set to be the only power in India to take on the Imperial mantle and build an Indian empire. Their political prestige was also shattered as a consequence. Certainly the battle was also a severe blow to the Afghans who inspite of winning the battle did not benefit from the victory. The losses suffered by the Marathas and the Afghans paved in an easy way for the British ascendancy in India.

Harshal Ravindra Mahajan.
(The writer is author of ‘A Rendezvous with Sahyadri’)