पानीपत १७६१ (मराठा साम्राज्य एवं पानीपत महायुद्ध इतिहास)

PANIPAT 79
they were and carry on their lives as best as they could under the circumstances
We believe that the presence of such a hostile element at their back must have
helped the Afghan side much in various ways Spying and sending news dis
closing the Maratha position was easy for this population. Besides these, the
two sons of Nejabat Khan Ruhela of Kunjpura were captives in the Maratha
camp What happened to them is nowhere recorded, and there is no ground
for thinking that they were beheaded. Perhaps, in the turmoil just after the
defeat, they might have freed themselves and joined the populace in destroying
the Maratha camp followers in revenge That the Marathas had not destroyed
any edifice wantonly is clear from the undamaged condition of the splendid
tombs of the Saint Bu Ali Qalandar and Ibrahim Lodi with the ancient
mosques adjoining. This is a clear proof of the mildness of Maratha rule even
under the stress of war Their civil manners and inoffensive attitude have
cost the Marathas not a little in history.
That Bhau, in his Panipat campaign, created a tremendous impression
in the Panipat locality is clear from many legends about Bhau, Parvatibai,
Janakoji Shinde and Vishwasrao. The Bhau ballad current in the surround-
ing area, and still sung by itinerant Jogis, Muslim and Hindu, is a living proof
of the impress so created, and this was natural. The camping of lakhs of men
in the locality for about three months was a thing that had never before oc-
curred even in those war-like times. The earlier battles in the Panipat-Karnal-
Thanesar locality had been bloody and decisive from the political point of
view, no doubt, but they were never fought to the last in the proper sense of
the word, nor was there such a massacre of camp followers after the event
The result is seen in the creation of legends. The Jogi, who copied the Bhau
ballad for us (published in the Bulletin of the Deccan College Research Insti-
tute, 4.3 of 1943), does not record Bhau's death, following in this respect the
Maratha chronicles, and says that he went to the village of Bhaopur, some
twelve miles to the south-west of Panipat. There he lived for a long time with
a Fakir, evidently incognito, hiding his identity. Thence he went to Kairana
across the Jamuna after some years, his further life being not known to the
men in the Panipat locality. That Bhau did not die on the battle field and
lived long afterwards became the traditional belief throughout India, giving
rise to imposters who gave themselves out as the real Bhau, and created politi-
cal problems adversely affecting the Maratha history. We think that the bal-
lad singer's account of Bhau living in Bhaopur is a transparent attempt to con-
nect the already existing village of Bhaopur (founded and named after some
Bhaosingh, a name common in the locality) with the name of Bhau, the Mara-
tha general Such a legend is recorded about another place in the Muzaffar-
nagar Gazetteer on page 9 (1920, Reprint) of the U P Series: "The Jamuna
in the extreme north of the district appears to occupy much the same place as
formerly, and on the south also, it washes the high mound on which stood a
Maratha fort still connected with the name of Sadasheo Bhau It may fur-
ther be safely conjectured that the channel of the river has not changed much
at this point since Panipat Between these two extreme points, however, the bed
of the river is tortuous and uncertain" We have seen the mound ourselves
near the village of Isapur on which now stands not a fort but a bairagi's ashrama