पानीपत १७६१ (मराठा साम्राज्य एवं पानीपत महायुद्ध इतिहास)

98 PANIPAT. 1761
man, he carried her safely across When his horse was exhausted by its dou˙
weight he got her down, when another cavalryman, Piraji Raoot, got her
his horse and thus carried her twelve miles farther on When his horse l
came exhausted he also left her behind, but all along Janu Bhintade kept ]
company, walking or riding along by her side No Maratha would refuse he
place on his horse on the road, and thus she was thirty miles to the south
Delhi when she met Malharrao Holkar and Nana Purandare We have relat
this event in detail because it falsifies Malharrao Holkar's plea as put do
in Holkar's Thaili 13 Malharrao Holkar was neither charged by Bhau w
the special defence of Parvatibai nor did he himself of his own accord do an
thing to bring her out of the field Only casually and accidentally th
met to the south of Delhi, a circumstance of wh ch Malharrao took full ˙
vantage in preparing his apology
The description of the actual battle is very scanty in Marathi, th
given in the chronicles being more or less personal and not useful for milita
study The only eye-witness who speaks of the last effort of Bhau is the trut
ful Nana Fadnis who was only nineteen years old at the time His au
biography is a document by itself throwing considerable light on the who
campaign It clearly sets forth his own prejudices but none can say that
is anywhere untruthful From his writing it seems that Bhau was not u
aware of the possibility of defeat, and had, therefore, made provision for t
special protection of the women folk As a last resort, it had been decided
kill them before they should fall into the hands of the Afghans From Na
Fadnis's words, it looks as if Bhau had prepared himself for death But th
was personal As a general he had taken care that none other should ha
any scent of his personal decision except Nana Fadnis and one or two oth
persons like Nana Purandare He had made every provision that was humar
possible for the ensuing battle with minute care for all eventualities, but all i
precautions came to nothing because the plan was not understood, and, if u
derstood, not followed by anyone with zest, except by Ibrahim Khan Gar
who was the author of it It is clear that the last fight was fought between t
Maratha cavalry and the Afghan infantry But the majority of the Marath
generals had, it seems, no faith in Ibrahim's plan and its possible success Th
were expecting defeat rather than victory, and as such were more prepar
for immediate flight, than for a fight to the finish by sticking to their pos
At the same time they knew that precipitous flight at the very beginning w
quite impossible, the other troops being engaged at the front It is curio
to note that of all those who survived the battle, there is an overwhelmi
majority of old men amongst the notables Malharrao Holkar, Vitth
Shivdeo, Satvoji Jadhav, Damaji Gaikawad, Antaji Manakeshwar, Sabaji Shin
Khanaji Jadhav, Janrao Wable and Gangoba Chandrachud were all age