पानीपत १७६१ (मराठा साम्राज्य एवं पानीपत महायुद्ध इतिहास)

creates a marsh and a bog To the south-east of Panipat such a condition
prevails near the village of Goyenla At such places, ferrying by boats is neither
possible nor necessary during the fair season, and people ford the river through
knee-deep to chest deep water Where the edges are sharp and the river basin
narrow—though nowhere would it be less than half a mile in breadth—the
waters generally collect in one deep stream wh ch has then to be crossed by
boat. This situation must ever be borne in mind when visualising Abdali's
movements and changing camps The Maratha army had chosen for its camp
the site to the north west and south west of Panipat The imperial road passed
directly through the town of Panipat, and the Maratha army had completely
taken possession of it on the northern side Though there is no mention of the
canal in any original letter on Panipat, we believe that the famous Alı Mardan
Khan Canal was still⁹ flowing along or at a short distance to the west of the
Maratha camp, thus at once supplying a part of the camp with water, and
also acting as a fosse to the Maratha camp on that side The Maratha camp
seems to have spread over a long distance to the north of Panipat, if we are
to believe in the traditional description supplied by the ballad singer o Siwa
It provides the information that the 700 elephants of Bhau were kept at
Gharonda, which is ten miles to the north of Panipat. Incidentally, it means
that there was a sufficient water supply for these elephants in the vicinity, sug
gesting that the place must be along a tank or canal ¹⁰ We have come to this
conclusion from the fact that there was no complaint about the dearth of
water, though there was a dearth of everything else Abdalı first came dı
rectly opposite to Panipat with a view to meeting the Marathas and deciding
the contest at one stroke But the Marathas, entrenching themselves strongly
foiled Abdalı s plan of taking a quick decision by direct attack From their
secure base they were able to defy hım in his camp and even to assume an of
fensive Bhau marched out of his moat a little under the cover of his strongly
placed guns, built temporary stands for his movable guns and from them
opened fire on Abdalı s camp ¹¹ The shots reaching Abdalı s tents and killing
his men and anımals, obliged hım to vacate it and pitch again at a distance
of some five miles to the south east along the river bank near the villages of
Behrampur, Bapaulı, Mırzapur and Goyen'a ¹² In making this retrograde
movement, Abdali seems to have cared for the supply of water which was per
haps completely stopped by the Marathas using up the canal water higher up
above Panipat, as well as for the easy communication with the Doab by merely
fording the river, so as to need no boats to fetch his supplies The Marathas
had hit upon a well protected site, no doubt, with the canal marshes on the
west side, the Panipat hill on the east side and a deep broad, dry moat on the
front and facing side But once entrenched, they had no space to move one
way or the other, while Abdalı remained free to change his camp as it suited
hım At first his line had spread along the Dahad, Siwa, Risalu villages, but
in a few days he receded and settled down along the Dimana village This first
9 See Appendix. "Was the Imperial Canal Flowing, etc" at the end of this chapter
10 BDCRI 41 3
11 SPD 2.131
12 Raj 3.224 Bhau Kaifiyat p 14, SPD 2.131, BDCRI 4.1 2-81
P F.-9