पानीपत १७६१ (मराठा साम्राज्य एवं पानीपत महायुद्ध इतिहास)

CRITICAL BIBLIOGRAPHY 137
(iii) Nigar-nama-i-Hind, of-Saiyid Ghulam Ali (E. & D. CXLIII)
(iv) Ibratnamah by Faqir-ud-din Md. of Allahabad (E. & D. CXIX)
(v) Tarikh-i-Ibrahim Khan (E. & D. CXXI).
Of these Ibratnamah and Tarikh-i-Alamgir-Sani are used for Ghazi-ud-
din's acts, especially the assassinations of the Emperor and others. Tarikh-i-
Ibrahim Khan and Nigar-namah practically copy their accounts of the Panipat
battle from Kashiraj. But Shamlu was present on the battle-field as a servant
of Shah Pasand Khan who commanded the left wing of Abdali's army. His
figures are inflated no doubt but certain casual references of his are helpful
in deciding a few controversial points. Though both Kashiraj and Shamlu
were eye-witnesses, present on the battle-field during the battle, both could see
only a corner of the battle, and that which was least engaged, in the first half
of the day. But Shamlu knew much more of the Abdali side than Kashiraj
from the inside, just as Kashiraj naturally knew more of the Maratha side.
Shamlu's remark that Ahmad Shah drove away the Shindes from the banks of
the river Attock and pursued them as far as Burya and Sarangpur (p. 146) is
helpful in pointing out the farthest line of Maratha advance in the Panjab. It
had not stopped at the Chinab as Sir Jadunath says,¹⁵ but had reached the
Indus itself as can now be proved by other contemporary material. Shamlu
also gives the account of the precarious passage of Abdali's army across the
Jamuna by the Budhia Ghat to Sarangpur, which is also so written in Marathi
papers, while later on it somehow has assumed the form of Saharanpur, which
it retains today. This is one of the instances where bad pronunciation and in-
correct writing has changed a purely Hindu name into a Muslim-looking one.
Shamlu's account of the battle which ensued before crossing, corroborates the
account in Bhau Sahebanchi Bakhar. He also gives the behaviour of the Abdali
troops when they entered Delhi after defeating Dattaji Shinde. They looted
it, notwithstanding the fact that they had come to protect the city from the
Marathas and even the earnest intercession of Malika-i-Zamani who was the
chief instigator of Ahmad Shah in calling him to India was not able to stop it.
Shamlu's account of Ahmad Shah's cantonment at Anupshahar is useful in
visualizing the difficulties in the Doab. His account of the patrol round the
Maratha camp and cutting off of Maratha parties bringing cash from Delhi,
corroborates the Marathi chronicles. But Shamlu is most useful in deciding
the beginning of the battle and falsifying Kashiraj in his palpably untrue state-
ment that just before the battle in the early hours of the morning a Maratha
valet of Bhau came with the last chit. Shamlu states that Ahmad Shah, after
noticing "clouds of dust ascended upto heaven" ordered Shah Pasand Khan
to go forth and ascertain the cause thereof. He rode through the plain between
Abdali's camp and the Maratha camp by an unfrequented path and took
"four hours to advance half a kos." As Shamlu was accompanying Shah
Pasand Khan, there is no cause to suspect his statement as untrue though
written after thirty-five years, because no man would forget such an event
¹⁵ Fall 2.76.