पानीपत १७६१ (मराठा साम्राज्य एवं पानीपत महायुद्ध इतिहास)

THE JUDGMENT 113
sheaf of papers connected with Govindpant. He thought that here was the key
to the understanding of the whole Panipat disaster! He so far forgot himself
as to change the dates of the original documents in his hand published in his
first volume (Nos 175, 181, 183, 184) He even went to the length of en-
tering into a discussion of a possibility of changed Eras¹¹ to suit his antedating
of the said letters! Even Govindpant's caste came in for criticism and was
tagged on to a letter of Naro Shankar, a Deshastha brahmin and not a Karhada!
When a critic is obliged to fall back on the caste of a man for explaining an
affair, he has fallen very low indeed! Govindpant as one of the most success-
ful Karhada brahmins of his time was naturally taken as a leader of his com-
munity In Benares, a large number of Karhada brahmins, well versed in
brahmanical lore, were residing during these times They formed, it seems,
more than half of the Deccani brahmins resident in that holy city During the
Panipat campaign and even before, a rivalry existed between these Karhada
brahmins and the Chitpavans headed by the Dikshit Patankar family, the mem-
bers of which acted as bankers, diplomats as well as the spiritual gurus to the
Peshwas! Sadashivrao wrote to Govindpant to settle the dispute as best he
could ¹² The language used by these spiritual gurus against other castes was
offensive and derogatory to their status Even the Peshwa is once found using
a word¹³ for the Karhadas (Ambhasta) which makes them rank lower in the
scale. As an individual, the Peshwa Balaji Bajirao, was a mild type of person,
paying attention mainly to politics and ignoring other squabbles Sadashivrao
Bhau, like his father Chimaji Apa,¹⁴ seems to be somewhat different, with caste
consciousness at the back of his mind Even the Peshwa Nanasaheb was
charged with being caste conscious by such an intimate family friend and serv-
ant as Mahadoba Purandare,¹⁵ his Diwan during the first half of his rule
Govindpant always tried to be on good terms with the Peshwa family from
the very beginning as he was a personal servant under Bajirao He was prob-
ably introduced into the Peshwa family by Radhabai, wife of Balaji Vishwa-
nath, who came from the Barve family of Newre from which Govindpant also
hailed Or it may be that he came to Bawdhan, near Wai, in the company of
Ramajipant Kolhatkar who also hailed from Newre But his previous intimacy
with the Peshwa family had by this time no value in the eyes of Sadashivrao
who was a strict task master The Peshwa was so overpowered with the sense
of indebtedness, that he had allowed a free hand to Sadashivrao in all state mat-
ters, and Sadashivrao Bhau seems to have antagonised one and all by his line
of conduct His opinion about Raghunathrao Dada and men of his persuasion
seemed to have steadily deteriorated for at least three years before he under-
took the Panipat campaign ¹⁶ Both military as well as civil sides in the state
were disaffected towards him Govindpant's statement in his letter to Janardan
Apaji that the Peshwa had then begun to search in small things, and that at
11 RAJWADE 1, note 265, RAJ 1, Introduction p 63, RAJ 1.282, note 325
12 Ibid 1 185
13 Ibid 3.501
14 Purandare 1 146
15 Ibid 1.275
16 Original letter in the Parasnis C.
P F—8