पानीपत १७६१ (मराठा साम्राज्य एवं पानीपत महायुद्ध इतिहास)

of man The reader will know more of him in the course of the narrative
further on
The rivalry and difference of opinion on questions of policy between
Shindes and Holkar shaped the Maratha history in north India in the way it
did Nanasaheb tried to keep his supremacy by balancing these two pillars
of the State This had a disastrous effect on Maratha politics The Peshwa
should have directed one of them in a different direction Their machinations
in the same field benefited the enemies of the Marathas The local officers of
the Peshwa, like the Hingne brothers and Antaji Manakeshwar in Delhi,
Govindpant Bundele and Naro Shankar in central India, had to take orders
from these two noblemen in matters civil or military They also took sides in
their rivalries and, in general, in northern Indian politics, as lesser grandees in
the same field Antaji Manakeshwar, the chief of the guards kept for the per
sonal protection of the Emperor, acted against the selfish interests of the
Hingnes, the Maratha ambassadors at the Delhi Court They were suspended
by the Peshwa for some time and Antaji Manakeshwar called back to the
Deccan All these men had rented mahals from the state as a side-business,
a thing which should have been forbidden by the Peshwa The state suffered
by their personal interest in the state lands Gangadhar Chandrachud the
Diwan of Holkar, and Ramaji Anant Dabholkar the Diwan of the Shindes,
also had their individual share in these bickerings, rivalries, back door machina
tions against each other The Peshwa's officers in Poona like Sakharam Bapu,
Mahadoba Purandare, Baba Fadnis, and others, were acting hand in glove with
one of the parties in their appeals to the central authority Unless this back
ground is kept in mind, the trend of Maratha politics will not be understood
The genealogy of the Peshwa and Shinde families given elsewhere should also
be remembered by the reader for a proper understanding of the narrative
Another factor which influenced individual actions in all fields was
the under current of caste consciousness The Peshwa and his relatives em
ployed in higher posts were Konkan Chitpavan Brahmins, in general rivalry
with the local Deshasth Brahmins of the Deccan plateau All civil ministers
of Shivaji and his immediate successors belonged to the latter class, now ousted
from their position by the new comers from the sea coast They naturally
felt the loss of their importance in the state The Karhada and Saraswat
Brahmins, both in a minority, tried to find independent scope for their abil
ities under different noblemen, besides the Peshwa The Marathas, who com
posed the bulk of the army and belonged to the puppet king's caste, bore a
silent resentment against the clerical usurpers of their supreme authority in the
state, and this had had its effect on politics, too Not all men perhaps not
even the majority, were affected by this virus, but its imperceptible effect
seems undeniable The rule of the Brahmin Peshwas had carried the clock
of social reform in Maharashtra backwards, when compared with the seven
teenth century Malharrao Holkar's advice to Jankoji and Dattaji Shinde
on this count, as presented in the Panipat Chronicle (Bhau Bakhar in Marathi)
may or may not be true, or it may be even taken as invented by the writer to
suit his construction, but the existence of such social undercurrent cannot be
doubted Its existence does not seem to have affected the Panipat campaign
in any vital spot, however
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