पानीपत १७६१ (मराठा साम्राज्य एवं पानीपत महायुद्ध इतिहास)

24 PANIPAT: 1761
was to keep the enemy at a distance from the city till Holkar's arrival so as
not to be besieged within the city walls. But this was the very reason why the
Durrani made haste and crossed over simultaneously at various points. It
seems that none of the parties placed by Dattaji with a few thousand troops
each could stand against the enemy's advance with fire from the light cannon
placed on the elephants, who swam across in front. Practically the whole of
the Shinde contingent was composed of horsemen used to sword and lance,
unlike the Ruhelas who were footmen armed with muskets and rifles. The
result was that in fights from a distance the Marathas were always at a dis-
advantage. When almost all the Maratha parties had been completely routed
with heavy loss of life, Dattaji received news from Janrao Wable, a veteran
captain of horse, that half the army of the enemy had crossed the river. Dat-
taji sent Bayaji Shinde to help Janrao in holding the ghat at Buradi, which is
some three miles away from the village of that name. Receiving the news
that Bayaji was worsted with his three thousand horse, and he himself killed
by a bullet-shot, Dattaji ordered his whole contingent to follow him to the river-
bank. He tried to go to the Buradi Ghat not from the west side but from the
south-west along the village of Jagatpur. He crossed first an ordinary nullah
and then the lake-like inner stream. When he entered the part overgrown with
rushes, his cavalry could not keep any line or move in any close formation.
The Ruhela infantry, which was lying in ambush in the rushes, opened fire
from here, there and everywhere, and made it impossible for Dattaji to proceed.
Janakoji who was accompanying Dattaji though forbidden, received a bullet-
wound on the right upper arm. The news of this incident had the effect of still
more demoralising the Maratha troops, and each tried to turn back to escape
what seemed certain death. Dattaji was advised by those near him to order a
retreat. But before anything could be done, he himself fell down with a bullet-
wound in his ribs. The Afghans then rushed out and completed the rout of the
Maratha army with a heavy massacre. The story of the wounded Dattaji being
taunted and kicked by Mian Qutb Shah and his cutting off Dattaji's head after
some talk, seems more dramatic than true and an invention of the author of the
chronicle. We have no belief in it.
There was no regular battle at Buradi Ghat and the two armies were
never drawn together in battle array, nor is the number of casualties known.
Yashvantrao Jagdale, Bayaji Shinde and Maloji Shinde were the noted persons
who lost their lives in this action. Govindpant Bundele does not seem to have
taken any part in guarding the ghats as written in the chronicle, though he
was not far away from the field of battle. Perhaps he was in the camp of
Janakoji a few miles away from Delhi. On the Afghan side, Shuja-ud-daulah
does not seem to have been present in Abdali's camp nor any of his troops
like the Gosawi corps. Therefore, the story given in the Bhau Bakhar of
Shuja begging for the head of Dattaji and Umraogir Gosawi buying it for two
lakhs and afterwards attending to his full funeral rites must be treated as pure
fiction written to console the Shinde family and recommend Ragho Ram Page
and Rajaram Chobdar to their attention. The action was fought mainly be-
tween the Ruhelas of Najib and Qutb Shah, and Dattaji, though the Dur-
ranis followed soon after to turn it into a rout and pursue the Shinde contin-