पानीपत १७६१ (मराठा साम्राज्य एवं पानीपत महायुद्ध इतिहास)

THE JUDGMENT 111
latdar. There is evidence of troubled times and consequent non-realisation of
Government dues by him from 1750 onwards In 1755 a similar condition
is found repeated ⁸ From the unpublished Dabholkar papers (Nos 159, 163,
164, 165, 166) it is clear that Sadashivrao Bhau and even Raghunathrao who
was in the north at the time, were very suspicious of all the sardars and the
mamlatdars in the north ⁸ᵃ Gangoba Chandrachud the Holkar's Diwan,
Ramaji Anant Dabholkar the Shinde's Diwan, and Govindpant were sup-
posed to be acting in collusion, and grabbing Government dues by an under-
standing among themselves Bhau seems to have threatened Govindpant with
an investigation into his revenue dealings even then Govindpant had not sub
mitted accounts for some five years So he was peremptorily called to Poona
and Govindpant was very apprehensive of the result He wrote to Ramajipant
his fear of losing the credit and the fruit of his thirty years' service if the in
vestigation against him went wrong He asked Ramaji to help him in his dif-
ficulties as both were sailing in the same boat! His visit to Poona was de-
layed for a year more on account of local difficulties After defeating Sayyad
Ali Askar Kubda sent by the Wazir Ghazi ud din to occupy the Mahals granted
to the Marathas at the beginning of 1756, settling the affairs in the north and
making arrangements for his absence, he came to Poona at the end of the
year and remained there for some ten months He seems to have satisfied the
Peshwa and his exacting Diwan, Bhau Bhau sent back with him two au-
ditors, Janardan Apaji Erande and Trimbak Krishna Kanitkar, to check his
accounts and, in general, to control Govindpant in his revenue matters They
lived in the north for three years till Panipat, and still they could not succeed
in doing what they had been appointed to do! Govindpant became entangled
in other political matters and went with Dattaji Shinde to the north The au-
ditors, becoming hopeless, were on the point of returning to Poona at the end
of 1759, but somehow they were prevailed upon to remain in the north on
Govindpant's promise to come and settle the accounts to their satisfaction
The correspondence between Govindpant and the auditors proves that Govind-
pant was not efficient in keeping his accounts nor could he be treated as blame-
less or above suspicion Why he was not dismissed for his negligence before
Panipat is again a moot point It may be that while Bhau was charging him
with embezzlement, the Peshwa was perhaps shielding him in the affair Even
after the Panipat disaster, the Peshwa is not found condemning Govindpant
or calling his sons to account for their father's negligence. Thus it appears
that there was something wrong in the system of administration devised by the
Peshwa Every Government officer of some standing looked upon himself as
a small chief in those days Sardars like Shinde, Holkar, and Pawar, thought
themselves more as partners in the empire than as servants of the Peshwa
What was allowed by the Peshwa to these higher men out of necessity, was
usurped by lesser men Antaji Manakeshwar, Naro Shankar, Vitthal Shivdeo,
Gopalrao Barve, Govindpant Bundele, and the Hingne brothers tried to pose
as equals in some way with the fortunate sardars Their rivalry had vitiated
the whole atmosphere, and it was difficult for the Peshwa either to dis-
⁸ SPD 2.29,30 RAJ 1 158, 159, 160
⁸ᵃ Shinde 3.316.