पानीपत १७६१ (मराठा साम्राज्य एवं पानीपत महायुद्ध इतिहास)

10 PANIPAT 1761
turned to Delhi after appointing Sadik Beg, a deputy of Adina Beg, as the
chief revenue collector in the regions around Sarhind There was an idea of
appointing Naro Shankar¹³ in place of Sabaji Shinde, but it never materialized
After camping at Bahlulpur and Machhiwada on the south bank of the Satlaj
for a month or so, the Shindes returned with Naro Shankar Their return this
time was also due like the return of Raghoba in the previous year, to the
Peshwas advice cum orders The Peshwa was overburdened with debts He
was writing letter after letter to Dattaji Shinde to take up some new venture
which would fill the Peshwas treasury and add a new province to the Maratha
dominions Lahore Allahabad Benares, Patna and lastly Bengal were to be
taken over one after the other This meant dealing with Najib Khan, Shuja-
ud daulah Ghazi ud din the Prince Ali Gauhar and last but not least, the
English Sitting at ease in his cosy citadel in Poona and ruminating over the
thoughts of conquest over the whole of India was all right as a chamber pas
time but the Peshwa never seems to have realized the actual difficulties in that
path That a man of Ahmad Shah's type would take the ousting of his son
from the Panjab lying down was obviously impossible, still, the Peshwa in
sisted on the Shindes returning to Delhi instead of proceeding to Attock and
holding that line against all attacks
The Marathas remained in the Panjab only for a brief period, from
April 1758 to October 1759 They were, constitutionally, acting as agents of
the Mughal Emperor and were normally trying to make use of the local ma
chinery of government in carrying on the administration and collecting the
revenues They had to dismiss the Afghan nominees, no doubt, but in their
place they generally appointed the Mughals Whether the Marathas had
acted wisely in taking upon themselves such a hazardous adventure as trying
to conquer the Panjab and hold it out against such an exceptional man as
Abdali must be judged by the result, which is history A thoughtful historian
will always consider that it was a wrong step for the Peshwas to cross the
Narmada without first taking possession of the south up to Rameshvaram
After having crossed that river, they should have at least stopped at the Chambal
and first secured the overwhelmingly Hindu provinces of Allahabad and Oudh
which were just adjoining to the north, instead of touching the hornet's nest
at Delhi The Peshwa thought of first grasping the reins of the central govern
ment at Delhi and thus getting legal control over the whole empire That it
was a wrong step, impossible of fulfilment on account of the selfish, unpatriotic
and pusillanimous attitude of the ruling Muslims is proved at the bar of his
tory and no amount of casuistry can take away the blame from the Marathas
for the fundamental mistake of choosing the wrong path
From the military point of view, it was no wise step for the Marathas to
lengthen their line of communication by five hundred miles at one stretch Al
ready the distance of one thousand miles from Poona to Ambala was long
enough for them to defend successfully To step beyond Sarhind was almost a
mad man's behaviour The climate of the regions, with its extremes of heat
and cold, was not very propitious and was well nigh beyond the endurance
¹³ SPD 2.100