पानीपत १७६१ (मराठा साम्राज्य एवं पानीपत महायुद्ध इतिहास)

PANIPAT 71
been taken away. Abdali, therefore, despatched a select force of some five
thousand horsemen under impetuous Atai Khan, the Durrani Wazir's nephew,
who had recently come from Afghanistan. A few thousand Ruhelas also joined
him to show him the way and properly guide him in their home lands. Cross-
ing the Jamuna at Baghpat and covering some fifty miles in a day and night,
they suddenly alighted upon Govindpant as he was somewhere between Ghazi-
ud-din-nagar (now Ghaziabad) and Meerut. It seems that one Jeta Gujar,
a robber-chieftain in that area, had promised a ransom to Govindpant, and
Govindpant was stopping to recover it. Jeta communicated the news to Abdali
and he sent this force. It is also said that the Ruhelas had assumed different
colours, seeing which Govindpant thought the army from a distance was that of
Naro Shankar.30 While Govindpant was preparing to take a bath and to dine
in the afternoon after a day's hard work, he was overtaken by Atai Khan's
cavalry. He suddenly snatched a horse and began to run with his army. In
the hurry of flight twice he came down from his horse, as he was not properly
seated on a saddle, but reseated again by others. But when he fell for the third
time, none returned to save him, even his son who was accompanying the army
having fled away to a distance. Govindpant's head was cut off and his whole
camp looted. The Maratha loss was some four hundred.31 The rest of the
Maratha army with Govindpant's son Balaji after first having fled to the south,
afterwards returned to Delhi. Atai Khan returned with the loot which con-
tained a good quantity of grain, and Najib presented Govindpant's head to
Ahmad Shah. He sent it to Bhau, announcing his triumph in the undertaking.
The news had already reached Bhau by 23rd December,32 though the head
reached Bhau's hands two or three days later, from which it appears that the
attack on Govindpant must have taken place on 20th December or so, and not
on the 17th as assumed by Sir Jadunath.33 Govindpant had atoned for all his
past sins of commission and omission with his life, and, therefore, the gravamen
of accusations against him is taken away. He might be called slovenly and
not up to the mark in military matters; but none can say that he was disloyal.
After Govindpant's death, when the plan of cutting off Abdali's sup-
plies and directing these to the Maratha camp had failed, the real difficulties
of the Maratha camp began. The Maratha camp was short of not only food
and fodder, but also of coined money necessary to make cash payments for any
supplies brought to the camp from the Panjab. Bhau found it difficult to fetch
money from Delhi where it had been deposited by Govindpant. The first batch
of soldiers from Payagude's troops under the leadership of Krishnarao Ballal,
carrying with them one lakh, ten thousand, started on 22nd December and seems
to have reached the Maratha camp in safety.34 But the second batch under
Parashar Dadaji carrying one and a half lakhs with them, which started on
2nd January, 1761, was cut off by Abdali, as Abdali had shifted his camp
for the last time on 30th December, and was now lying astride the imperial road

30 Bhau Bakhar 129
31 RAJ 1376.
32 Ibid. 1.272.
33 Fall 2.311.
34 RAJ. 1.281.