पानीपत १७६१ (मराठा साम्राज्य एवं पानीपत महायुद्ध इतिहास)

THE BATTLE 97
amongst the assailants He proceeded still farther when again a party at-
tacked him, drawing him out of the tall grass where he was hiding Here
again some old soldier took pity on the boy and thus he was finally saved
Because it was the eighth day of the bright half of the lunar month, the moon
was shining overhead in the evening till she set after midnight This circum
stance, while it was useful to some in covering their flight, was also responsible
for the long pursuit by the Afghan troops over that plain and the heavy
slaughter of non combatants running on foot for their lives But many more
were killed by the surrounding villagers who had suffered terribly during the
last three months by the constant tramp of soldiers The Karnal Gazetteer has
recorded that the villages of Phurlak (twelve miles to the north), Bala (fifteen
miles to the north west), and Dahar (six miles to the south west of Panipat)
had migrated to other areas forsaking their sites This will give an idea of
the devastation wrought in the surrounding area It is not recorded as to
when the elephant on which Bhau's wife, Parvatibai, Nana Fadnis's mother
and wife were seated, got itself separated from the other troops From the
Maratha chronicles it appears that this elephant was not far behind Bhau's
line of battle Once her elephant touched the elephant on which Vishwasrao's
corpse had been placed covered under some cloth Then only she came to
know of Vishwasrao's death and began to weep and wail If this fact is truly
reported, it means that she was half a mile behind the fighting line The
chronicles report that one captain with 500 shepherds¹¹ had been specially ap
pointed for the protection of Parvatibai The name of this captain is given as
Visaji Krishna Jogdand, a name which is not found mentioned in any original
document He had been ordered to follow the army to Delhi if it success
fully cut its passage through the Afghan lines, but if the battle turned into
a defeat, as soon as Bhau's fall was reported, he should cut off Parvatibai so
as to avoid her falling into the hands of the Afghans But neither this Visaji
nor his shepherds seem to have done anything according to order They ran
away at the first shock and tried to save their lives! Only a personal servant,
Janu Bhintade, never left her for a moment and tactfully brought her back
to Panipat out of the turmoil¹² when only half an hour of the day remained
She got down from her elephant and followed Janu Bhintade for some time
on foot Fortunately they met one Virsingrao Baravkar with his good horse
He took her on his horse and fastening her at his back, carried her out of a
sea of Afghans with rocks of corpse heaps in the middle Being a skilful horse
¹¹ Why the Marathi chronicles have reported the fact of 500 shepherds (Dhanagar
in Marathi) as specially appointed for the protection of Parvatibai is a mystery Many of
the followers of Malharrao Holkar were by caste like him Dhanagars (shepherds) Was
it is to suggest that Malharrao had a hand in the protection of Parvatibai? If so why is the
name of the captain specifically given as Visaji Krishna Jogdand? The mystery of this
reference is rendered still more mysterious by the tale of Parvatibai as we found current in
the region surrounding Panipat. A septuagenarian Gaud Brahmin told us the same fact
of shepherds (Gujars) being specially charged with the protection of Parvatibai We think
that Bhau who was prepared for all eventualities had done some such thing for extricating
his wife out of the turmoil by some safe comparatively unfrequented path only known
to these local Gujars many of whom must have been certainly serving in the Maratha camp
during all these months. It is not unlikely that because some of them acted as guides
through the jungle to the south west of Panipat that Janu Bhintade and other loyal Marathas
were able to cut their way out of the danger zone.
¹² SPD 2 149 (p 171)
P F—7