पानीपत १७६१ (मराठा साम्राज्य एवं पानीपत महायुद्ध इतिहास)

50 PANIPAT 1761
to move north to the strong fort of Sukartal and remain there At the begin
ning of October, he was reported to have left his camp at Sambharam Serai and
moved to Ahmad Ganj 79 But soon after he came to Shahadra, opposite to
Delhi on the bank of the Jamuna, and encamped there with Shuja and Najib
A distant cannonade was also sometimes indulged in by both the armies from
the two banks of the river It could not be very effective from a distance of
more than a mile with the artillery of those times Besides, none of the parties
was willing to waste its ammunition for merely terrifying without military
effect Internal trouble was also brewing amongst Abdalis allies Shuja and
Najib were strange bed fellows whom only destiny had brought together
Najib had promised that no demands for money would be made on Shuja if
he joined Abdalis camp This hope was belied, for the hungry and grabbing
Afghans tried to make encroachments on him, knowing full well that he was
rich This led to a quarrel between Shuja and the Durranis Shuja felt
himself deceived by the false promise of Najib and was almost in a repentant
mood 63 The Abdali troops, on the other hand, were reluctant to continue
their stay in India amidst misery and destitution, with little hope of earning
anything in the future
Bhau had sent one Bhavanishankar as a Vakil to Shuja across the
Jamuna and Shuja also sent his Vakil to Bhau in return 64 It seems from
Kashiraj s account that he also accompanied Raja Devidatta, Shuja's envoy
But there is no corroboration of the same in Marathi correspondence, a fact
which makes one suspicious about the truth of his narrative As Bhau was
not satisfied with Raja Devidatta, he sent him back with Bhavanishankar
This Bhavanishankar is scarcely mentioned anywhere in the Marathi nar-
rative as a person of importance Kashiraj says he was a native of Auranga
bad and belonged to his caste As the Brahmins of Aurangabad had taken to
Persian studies, they were in great demand at the courts of various north
Indian potentates who had any dealings with the Marathas Knowing both
Persian and Marathi, they were able to correspond and interpret between the
Maratha and other courts, and settled in various capitals The Hingne family
was also engaged by the Peshwa for the same qualifications Bhavanishankar
first came in contact with the Peshwa in his dealings with Shah Nawaz Khan
at the Nizam s court, and seems to have spread his influence over Bhau also 65
As Nana Fadnis in his Autobiography adversely comments on Bhavani
shankars influence over Bhau and expresses himself in disapproving terms
about his conduct it may be taken as a general opinion of the Maratha camp
about the man Bhau over rode the opinions of intimates like Balvantrao
Mehendale and Nana Purandare and completely put his faith in Bhavani
shankars advice, which was also the main cause of Bhaus decision to follow
Ibrahim Khan Gardis French tutored mode of warfare. Perhaps, even in the
succes ful Udgir campaign, 66 Bhau had followed Bhavanishankars advice and
the thundering success in it had established Bhavanishankar in Bhau's con
fidence Whatever the fact, his conduct of peace parleys at this juncture did
not prove succes sful as Najib-ud daulah threw every obstacle in the way Mal
63 Raj 1.235, 216
64 Samra 2.297