पानीपत १७६१ (मराठा साम्राज्य एवं पानीपत महायुद्ध इतिहास)

THE JUDGMENT 111
latdar. There is evidence of troubled times and consequent non-realisation of
Government dues by him from 1750 onwards In 1755 a similar condition
is found repeated ⁸ From the unpublished Dabholkar papers (Nos 159, 163,
164, 165, 166) it is clear that Sadashivrao Bhau and even Raghunathrao who
was in the north at the time, were very suspicious of all the sardars and the
mamlatdars in the north ⁸ᵃ Gangoba Chandrachud the Holkar's Diwan,
Ramaji Anant Dabholkar the Shinde's Diwan, and Govindpant were sup-
posed to be acting in collusion, and grabbing Government dues by an under-
standing among themselves Bhau seems to have threatened Govindpant with
an investigation into his revenue dealings even then Govindpant had not sub
mitted accounts for some five years So he was peremptorily called to Poona
and Govindpant was very apprehensive of the result He wrote to Ramajipant
his fear of losing the credit and the fruit of his thirty years' service if the in
vestigation against him went wrong He asked Ramaji to help him in his dif-
ficulties as both were sailing in the same boat! His visit to Poona was de-
layed for a year more on account of local difficulties After defeating Sayyad
Ali Askar Kubda sent by the Wazir Ghazi ud din to occupy the Mahals granted
to the Marathas at the beginning of 1756, settling the affairs in the north and
making arrangements for his absence, he came to Poona at the end of the
year and remained there for some ten months He seems to have satisfied the
Peshwa and his exacting Diwan, Bhau Bhau sent back with him two au-
ditors, Janardan Apaji Erande and Trimbak Krishna Kanitkar, to check his
accounts and, in general, to control Govindpant in his revenue matters They
lived in the north for three years till Panipat, and still they could not succeed
in doing what they had been appointed to do! Govindpant became entangled
in other political matters and went with Dattaji Shinde to the north The au-
ditors, becoming hopeless, were on the point of returning to Poona at the end
of 1759, but somehow they were prevailed upon to remain in the north on
Govindpant's promise to come and settle the accounts to their satisfaction
The correspondence between Govindpant and the auditors proves that Govind-
pant was not efficient in keeping his accounts nor could he be treated as blame-
less or above suspicion Why he was not dismissed for his negligence before
Panipat is again a moot point It may be that while Bhau was charging him
with embezzlement, the Peshwa was perhaps shielding him in the affair Even
after the Panipat disaster, the Peshwa is not found condemning Govindpant
or calling his sons to account for their father's negligence. Thus it appears
that there was something wrong in the system of administration devised by the
Peshwa Every Government officer of some standing looked upon himself as
a small chief in those days Sardars like Shinde, Holkar, and Pawar, thought
themselves more as partners in the empire than as servants of the Peshwa
What was allowed by the Peshwa to these higher men out of necessity, was
usurped by lesser men Antaji Manakeshwar, Naro Shankar, Vitthal Shivdeo,
Gopalrao Barve, Govindpant Bundele, and the Hingne brothers tried to pose
as equals in some way with the fortunate sardars Their rivalry had vitiated
the whole atmosphere, and it was difficult for the Peshwa either to dis-
⁸ SPD 2.29,30 RAJ 1 158, 159, 160
⁸ᵃ Shinde 3.316.

110 PANIPAT 1761
yond the Ganges The original plan of Bhau when proceeding towards Kunj
pura in October was frustrated by Abdali's daring in crossing the Jamuna at
his back This fact changed the strategy in such a manner that Bhau had to
fall back on Govindpant s support because he found it impossible to return to
Delhi in the face of Abdali Herein Bhau was completely non plussed
Abdalis daring could have been met only by a counter daring on the part of
the Marathas Bhau's original plan was to proceed farther north from Kunj
pura and replenish his army He expected Abdali to follow him towards the
north in a parallel line across the Jamuna through the Doab, as his calcula
tion for the subsidence of the Jamuna waters made him believe When he
heard on his way to Kurukshetra that Abdali had begun crossing above Bagh
pat, he should have proceeded farther north and crossed over into the Doab
by the Budhia Ghat as first intended Instead, he returned by the same path
and found to his dismay that it was impossible to pass by Abdali towards Delhi
or to defeat him by direct attack in an open pitched battle Because he re-
ceived this first check, he had to fall back on Panipat and dig trenches there
so as to follow a different mode of warfare to suit Ibrahim Khan's Gardi
troops Looking historically, it seems that in this Bhau took a wrong decision.
Once taken, the only strategy which remained open was to make Abdali at
tack him in his strong, almost impregnable, entrenched position, but who was
to make Abdali attack? No single valiant captain could have succeeded in the
move So Bhau expected hunger to do the work If somebody in the rear could
cut off Abdali's supplies he would have to move and either attack the Mara
thas as Bhau wanted him to do or return to Afghanistan without offering a
battle Placed in such straits, Bhau was found urging Govindpant to do the
needful Govindpant came into the rear as ordered and tried his luck He
lost his life in the attempt, proving that the work was beyond his strength and
that Abdali was a far more consummate general than Bhau imagined him to be.
This discussion should prove that Govindpant cannot be charged with not obey
ing orders and doing his best We believe that any other captain would have met
the same fate and could not have succeeded in cutting off the supplies, as the
Ruhelas in that region were well organised and vigilant
The charge of not sending the sums called for stands on a different
level There is no evidence available on the point of Govindpant's ability to
pay As a Kamavisdar of thirty years' standing, the public as well as the
Peshwa probably took him to be a rich man Whether he had funds at his
disposal when Bhau called for them is a moot point We suspect that the ideas
about his riches were ill founded Like all other mamlatdars of the time, he
was also very cautious in money matters and would not easily part with money
But there is no external evidence, as in the case of Naro Shankar, for Govind
pant's having spent money lavishly on any work or in any matter There are
no temples or ghats or forts built by him, which would prove his ever having
been an opulent man On the other hand, complaints about non realisation
of Government dues in his rented Mahals is a theme found repeated through
out the period under discussion We do not suggest that Govindpant was above
board in all his money dealings But the Peshwas estimates about his vast
riches seem to be ill founded Nor do we think him to be an efficient mam

THE JUDGMENT 111
latdar There is evidence of troubled times and consequent non realisation of
Government dues by him from 1750 onwards In 1755 a similar condition
is found repeated 8 From the unpublished Dabholkar papers (Nos 159, 163,
164, 165, 166) it is clear that Sadashivrao Bhau and even Raghunathrao who
was in the north at the time, were very suspicious of all the sardars and the
mamlatdars in the north 8a Gangoba Chandrachud the Holkar's Diwan,
Ramaji Anant Dabholkar the Shinde's Diwan, and Govindpant were sup-
posed to be acting in collusion, and grabbing Government dues by an under-
standing among themselves Bhau seems to have threatened Govindpant with
an investigation into his revenue dealings even then Govindpant had not sub
mitted accounts for some five years So he was peremptorily called to Poona
and Govindpant was very apprehensive of the result He wrote to Ramajipant
his fear of losing the credit and the fruit of his thirty years' service if the in-
vestigation against him went wrong He asked Ramaji to help him in his dif-
ficulties as both were sailing in the same boat' His visit to Poona was de-
layed for a year more on account of local difficulties After defeating Sayyad
Ali Askar Kubda sent by the Wazir Ghazi ud din to occupy the Mahals granted
to the Marathas at the beginning of 1756, settling the affairs in the north and
making arrangements for his absence, he came to Poona at the end of the
year and remained there for some ten months He seems to have satisfied the
Peshwa and his exacting Diwan, Bhau Bhau sent back with him two au
ditors, Janardan Apaji Erande and Trimbak Krishna Kanitkar, to check his
accounts and, in general, to control Govindpant in his revenue matters They
lived in the north for three years till Panipat, and still they could not succeed
in doing what they had been appointed to do! Govindpant became entangled
in other political matters and went with Dattaji Shinde to the north The au-
ditors, becoming hopeless, were on the point of returning to Poona at the end
of 1759, but somehow they were prevailed upon to remain in the north on
Govindpant's promise to come and settle the accounts to their satisfaction
The correspondence between Govindpant and the auditors proves that Govind
pant was not efficient in keeping his accounts nor could he be treated as blame-
less or above suspicion Why he was not dismissed for his negligence before
Panipat is again a moot point It may be that while Bhau was charging him
with embezzlement, the Peshwa was perhaps shielding him in the affair Even
after the Panipat disaster, the Peshwa is not found condemning Govindpant
or calling his sons to account for their father's negligence Thus it appears
that there was something wrong in the system of administration devised by the
Peshwa Every Government officer of some standing looked upon himself as
a small chief in those days Sardars like Shinde, Holkar, and Pawar, thought
themselves more as partners in the empire than as servants of the Peshwa
What was allowed by the Peshwa to these higher men out of necessity, was
usurped by lesser men Antaji Manakeshwar, Naro Shankar, Vitthal Shivdeo,
Gopalrao Barve, Govindpant Bundele, and the Hingre brothers tried to pose
as equals in some way with the fortunate sardars Their rivalry had vitiated
the whole atmosphere, and it was difficult for the Peshwa either to dis-
8 SPD 2 79,30 Raj 3 158, 159, 160
8a Shinde 3 316.

112 PANIPAT 1761
miss an unwanted officer or to replace him by a better one If Govind
pant did not prove serviceable enough during the Panipat campaign, the result
must be attributed to the defective system and not to the individual. But
supposing that Govindpant did not send the funds to Bhau even though
he did possess them, his non compliance had little to do with the military side
in the Panipat affair. Ample funds in the hands of Bhau at Panipat would
not have brought him the necessary supplies which depended solely on the
military strength to fetch them. Even Bhau, writing to his son after Govind
pants death is not found speaking anything against him. The Peshwa heard
the news of Govindpant's death after his crossing the Narmada in January
1761. Writing a letter⁸ᵇ of condolence to his son, the Peshwa eulogised his
faithful services unto death, a befitting end to a long life of faithful serv-
ice. The Peshwa wanted to treat the sons of Govindpant as children in
his own family. This shows that the Peshwa had no information or
suspicion of Govindpant's dereliction in the Panipat campaign. Balkrishna
Dikshit writing from Benares about Govindpant's end, remarked,⁸ᶜ 'A great
man has passed away.' Thus it would seem that contemporary opinion did
not condemn Govindpant. It was only when survivors from Panipat, who
wished to absolve themselves from all blame, began to put the whole responsi-
bility on those who had died that Govindpant came in for his share in the
condemnation along with Bhau and Balwantrao. The Bhau Bakhar puts the
whole affair in such a dramatic form as to lead to the inevitable disaster. It has
made Govindpant a friend of Najib Khan⁹ from the beginning of the campaign,
where he is shown as an accessory of Malharrao in shielding Najib against
Dattaji Shinde's wrath! Govindpant is the agent who made Dattaji accept
Najib's treacherous proposal of building a bridge over the Ganges, so as to de-
lay the affair till the arrival of Abdali! Later on, Govindpant is represented
as having refrained from attacking Najib's family and treasure in his trans-
Ganges raid by accepting five lakhs as a bribe. Ultimately Govindpant is killed,
according to the Bakhar, not by Atai Khan, but by Najib's Ruhelas! Now
from what we know of Govindpant's relations with the Shinde family from the
very beginning, it cannot be imagined that he would do anything of the kind,
especially against the Shindes. There is positive proof in his letters to Ramaji
Anant, the Diwan of the Shindes, that Govindpant favoured Jayapa Shinde in
preference and perhaps as against Malharrao Holkar.¹⁰ In Dattaji's cam-
paign against Najib, Govindpant is throughout acting under his orders. He
escorts the women in the Shinde family after Dattaji's death. It will be seen
from these antecedents that there was no likelihood of his acting in collusion
with Najib as stated by the Bakhar and by RAJWADE. The Bakhar is thus
proved to be a prejudiced and partial document. It is worth noting that the
Bakhar does not condemn Holkar for the Panipat disaster, though earlier he is
shown as acting against the Shindes as well as the Peshwa. Beginning with a
prejudiced mind against Govindpant, mainly on the presentation of the Bakhar,
RAJWADE was simply carried away in his thought when he alighted on a big
⁸ᵇ Bundelkhand Prakarana p. 147
⁸ᶜ RAJ 3.511
⁹ Bhau Bakhar pp 50 60 130
¹⁰ Shinde 3.314 15 16

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

THE JUDGMENT 115
effectual in the end. Individuals, however great and towering, do not make
a nation. It is the level of the whole populace that ultimately tells.
SADASHIVRAO'S PERSONAL FACTORS
In the treatment of the Panipat campaign, Sadashivrao has been
shown as proud, capricious, self-willed, harsh and offensive in his dealings with
others. In this, both Kashiraj and the Marathi chronicles have combined in
the condemnation of Bhau, because both write after the event, keeping their
eye on the final disaster. But this seems incorrect. The personal letters of Bhau
in the Purandare Daftar¹ bear testimony to the quite different mould of his
mind He seems to be a straightforward, shy and guileless man in his cor-
respondence with his equals in the first half of his life before he became the
Diwan of the Peshwa in 1752. He is found referring every matter to Dhondo-
pant Purandare² who seems to be his guru in the beginning. Dhondopant
advised him on the points referred to for some time, but later on became weary
and stopped giving advice. A man who can write in the way he has written
to Dhondopant cannot be taken as proud or self-willed. He fears social ob-
loquy³ and is found currying favour with the Peshwa his cousin and his wife
Gopikabai, as well as Sakharam Bapu, Baburao Phadnis and Mahadoba
Purandare. These secretaries would not initiate Bhau into the state affairs for
fear of being ousted from their positions, as well as from their unwillingness to
interfere in the family squabbles of the Peshwa. Sakharam Bapu, the wisest
among them, clearly writes to Dhondopant that "Bhau is neither proud nor
easily led by anybody.⁴ Whatever wrong he does, he does through ignorance."
Of course Bhau naturally felt that he belonged to the Peshwa family and was
thus to some extent a master and not a servant like the other ministers, though
the Peshwa seems to have treated Bhau at first as only one of the secretaries
Only after Bhau had shown his capacity for administration and had played
a trick with the advice of Ramchandra Bawa, the Peshwa was brought to un-
derstand the real situation and consented to appoint him as the sole Diwan,
lest Bhau would go to Kolhapur and become a rival Peshwa there. As a
Diwan, Bhau is found to be an expert in financial matters and strict in admin-
istration. He antagonised most of the sardars and mamlatdars by his strict-
ness, since they were loose and undisciplined in their dealings. Nevertheless
the various Kamavisdars trembled before Bhau and would not get his con-
fidence. This had a disastrous consequence in the Panipat campaign. One and
all had to obey his orders, but none did it willingly. All would have liked to
run away from him at the first opportunity. A general must inspire not only
awe and respect, but should also be loved by his followers, a thing which was
not possible, it seems, in the case of Bhau. Bajirao with all his weaknesses was
loved by his followers; Sadashivrao was not This was the result not of his
1 Purandare, 1. 168, 169, 180, 181, 187
2 Ibid. 1. 171-3, 178, 180-1.
3 Ibid 1. 170, 176-8, 197, 211.
4 Ibid. 1. 182, 184.
Ibid 3.195.

114 PANIPAT 1761
the Poona Court nobody's reputation was safe, are true not only as far as
Govindpant himself was concerned, but are applicable to one and all The
whole trouble had arisen from the precedent of the Peshwa's own doings A
state servant (albeit the first minister) who had risen by flouting the orders of
his master could not hope to secure the willing obedience of his servants The
Peshwa had broken the unity of the state by concentrating power in his own
hands by all kinds of machinations and subterfuge, by relegating his co-minis-
ters in the state to a corner Now the same game was tried upon him by his
servants What is clearly seen by studying all the material and taking a com
prehensive view of the whole affair is that, both military as well as civil serv
ants in the Maratha State thought themselves in spirit more as partners in the
state than as servants who could be dismissed at will The trouble had been
growing for a long time, but seemed to be coming to a head just at this awkward
time when the state was engaged in a life and death struggle with a first class
enemy All the sins of commission and omission committed by the Peshwa
knowingly or unknowingly before, now came to visit him like the ghost at the
table of Macbeth Panipat thus proved to be the culmination of all previous
defects in the Maratha system, and was not the result of one man's misbe-
haviour or default That Sadashivrao Bhau was already prejudiced against
Govindpant, we have seen The Peshwa was conscious of this fact and so
had written to Govindpant, early in May 1760, to go to Sadashivrao Bhau per-
sonally and satisfy him about the accounts, so as to get into his favour,¹⁸ but
it was too late Govindpant was now acting on the defensive Sadashivrao
Bhau might have tried to assure him that there was no fear of dismissal in
store for him but his words had then exactly the opposite effect on Govind-
pant's mind ¹⁹ Even after this Govindpant did not turn a traitor He tried
his best, but perhaps he could not put as much heart and energy into the af-
fair as he otherwise might have done
To sum up, RAJWADE'S charge against Govindpant is proved as far as
his keeping of accounts goes, but not on any other count That the Peshwa
should have kept a man of Govindpant's type in such an important border
region as the Doab, was wrong and injudicious A far better and younger
sardar was necessary at such a key post A clerk grown into a mamlatdar and
exaggerated into a sardar was not a fit man for the post But it seems that
no better men were available to the Peshwa, which means he had neither
trained nor had engaged better men for the post, showing a defective system
of recruitment for filling in various posts To appoint men simply because they
are near at hand somehow, is not a proper mode for running an empire Those
who think of the rise of obscure and ill educated men into imperial diplomats,
governors and generals as an achievement of the Peshwas should bear this point
in mind The machinery devised by the Peshwa was not fit and sufficient for
carrying on an empire, even the constitution and machinery of a trading com-
pany like that of the English East India Company was found better adapted
to cope with the times and emergencies, but the Maratha system proved in-
17 Raj 11'3
18 RAJWADE 1 182
19 Ibid 1.242

THE JUDGMENT 115
effectual in the end. Individuals, however great and towering, do not make
a nation. It is the level of the whole populace that ultimately tells.
SADASHIVRAO'S PERSONAL FACTORS
In the treatment of the Panipat campaign, Sadashivrao has been
shown as proud, capricious, self-willed, harsh and offensive in his dealings with
others. In this, both Kashiraj and the Marathi chronicles have combined in
the condemnation of Bhau, because both write after the event keeping their
eye on the final disaster. But this seems incorrect. The personal letters of Bhau
in the Purandare Daftar¹ bear testimony to the quite different mould of his
mind. He seems to be a straightforward, shy and guileless man in his cor-
respondence with his equals in the first half of his life before he became the
Diwan of the Peshwa in 1752. He is found referring every matter to Dhondo-
pant Purandare² who seems to be his guru in the beginning. Dhondopant
advised him on the points referred to for some time, but later on became weary
and stopped giving advice. A man who can write in the way he has written
to Dhondopant cannot be taken as proud or self-willed. He fears social ob-
loquy³ and is found currying favour with the Peshwa his cousin and his wife
Gopikabai, as well as Sakharam Bapu, Baburao Phadnis and Mahadoba
Purandare. These secretaries would not initiate Bhau into the state affairs for
fear of being ousted from their positions, as well as from their unwillingness to
interfere in the family squabbles of the Peshwa. Sakharam Bapu, the wisest
among them, clearly writes to Dhondopant that 'Bhau is neither proud nor
easily led by anybody.⁴ Whatever wrong he does, he does through ignorance.'
Of course Bhau naturally felt that he belonged to the Peshwa family and was
thus to some extent a master and not a servant like the other ministers, though
the Peshwa seems to have treated Bhau at first as only one of the secretaries.
Only after Bhau had shown his capacity for administration and had played
a trick with the advice of Ramchandra Bawa, the Peshwa was brought to un-
derstand the real situation and consented to appoint him as the sole Diwan
lest Bhau would go to Kolhapur and become a rival Peshwa there. As a
Diwan, Bhau is found to be an expert in financial matters and strict in admin-
istration. He antagonised most of the sardars and mamlatdars by his strict-
ness, since they were loose and undisciplined in their dealings. Nevertheless
the various Kamavisdars trembled before Bhau and would not get his con-
fidence. This had a disastrous consequence in the Panipat campaign. One and
all had to obey his orders, but none did it willingly. All would have liked to
run away from him at the first opportunity. A general must inspire not only
awe and respect, but should also be loved by his followers a thing which was
not possible, it seems, in the case of Bhau. Bajirao with all his weaknesses was
loved by his followers, Sadashivrao was not. This was the result not of his
1 Purandare 1. 168-169, 180, 181, 182.
2 Ibid. 1. 171-3, 1. 8, 180-1.
3 Ibid. 1. 10, 1. 6-8, 197, 211.
4 Ibid. 1. 182, 184--
Ibid. 3. 196.

114 PANIPAT 1761
the Poona Court nobody’s reputation was safe, are true not only as far as
Govindpant himself was concerned, but are applicable to one and all The
whole trouble had arisen from the precedent of the Peshwa’s own doings A
state servant (albeit the first minister) who had risen by flouting the orders of
his master could not hope to secure the willing obedience of his servants The
Peshwa had broken the unity of the state by concentrating power in his own
hands by all kinds of machinations and subterfuge, by relegating his co-minis-
ters in the state to a corner Now the same game was tried upon him by his
servants What is clearly seen by studying all the material and taking a com
prehensive view of the whole affair is that, both military as well as civil serv
ants in the Maratha State thought themselves in spirit more as partners in the
state than as servants who could be dismissed at will The trouble had been
growing for a long time, but seemed to be coming to a head just at this awkward
time when the state was engaged in a life and death struggle with a first class
enemy All the sins of commission and omission committed by the Peshwa
knowingly or unknowingly before, now came to visit him like the ghost at the
table of Macbeth Panipat thus proved to be the culmination of all previous
defects in the Maratha system, and was not the result of one man's misbe
haviour or default That Sadashivrao Bhau was already prejudiced against
Govindpant, we have seen The Peshwa was conscious of this fact and so
had written to Govindpant, early in May 1760, to go to Sadashivrao Bhau per-
sonally and satisfy him about the accounts, so as to get into his favour,¹⁸ but
it was too late Govindpant was now acting on the defensive Sadashivrao
Bhau might have tried to assure him that there was no fear of dismissal in
store for him but his words had then exactly the opposite effect on Govind-
pant’s mind ¹⁹ Even after this Govindpant did not turn a traitor He tried
his best, but perhaps he could not put as much heart and energy into the af-
fair as he otherwise might have done
To sum up, RAJWADE’S charge against Govindpant is proved as far as
his keeping of accounts goes, but not on any other count That the Peshwa
should have kept a man of Govindpant’s type in such an important border
region as the Doab, was wrong and injudicious A far better and younger
sardar was necessary at such a key post A clerk grown into a mamlatdar and
exaggerated into a sardar was not a fit man for the post But it seems that
no better men were available to the Peshwa, which means he had neither
trained nor had engaged better men for the post, showing a defective system
of recruitment for filling in various posts To appoint men simply because they
are near at hand somehow, is not a proper mode for running an empire Those
who think of the rise of obscure and ill educated men into imperial diplomats,
governors and generals as an achievement of the Peshwas should bear this point
in mind The machinery devised by the Peshwa was not fit and sufficient for
carrying on an empire, even the constitution and machinery of a trading com-
pany like that of the English East India Company was found better adapted
to cope with the times and emergencies, but the Maratha system proved in-
¹⁷ RAJ 11’3
¹⁸ RAJWADE, 1 182
¹⁹ Ibid 1.242

THE JUDGMENT 115
effectual in the end Individuals, however great and towering, do not make
a nation It is the level of the whole populace that ultimately tells
SADASHIVRAO'S PERSONAL FACTORS
In the treatment of the Panipat campaign, Sadashivrao has been
shown as proud, capricious, self willed, harsh and offensive in his dealings with
others In this, both Kashiraj and the Marathi chronicles have combined in
the condemnation of Bhau, because both write after the event keeping their
eye on the final disaster But this seems incorrect The personal letters of Bhau
in the Purandare Daftar¹ bear testimony to the quite different mould of his
mind He seems to be a straightforward shy and guileless man in his cor
respondence with his equals in the first half of his life before he became the
Diwan of the Peshwa in 1752 He is found referring every matter to Dhondo-
pant Purandare² who seems to be his guru in the beginning Dhondopant
advised him on the points referred to for some time, but later on became weary
and stopped giving advice A man who can write in the way he has written
to Dhondopant cannot be taken as proud or self willed He fears social ob
loquy³ and is found currying favour with the Peshwa his cousin and his wife
Gopikabai as well as Sakharam Bapu, Baburao Phadnis and Mahadoba
Purandare These secretaries would not initiate Bhau into the state affairs for
fear of being ousted from their positions as well as from their unwillingness to
interfere in the family squabbles of the Peshwa Sakharam Bapu, the wisest
among them, clearly writes to Dhondopant that Bhau is neither proud nor
easily led by anybody⁴ Whatever wrong he does he does through ignorance
Of course Bhau naturally felt that he belonged to the Peshwa family and was
thus to some extent a master and not a servant like the other ministers, though
the Peshwa seems to have treated Bhau at first as only one of the secretaries
Only after Bhau had shown his capacity for administration and had played
a trick with the advice of Ramchandra Bawa the Peshwa was brought to un
derstand the real situation and consented to appoint him as the sole Diwan
lest Bhau would go to Kolhapur and become a rival Peshwa there As a
Diwan, Bhau is found to be an expert in financial matters and strict in admin
istration He antagonised most of the sardars and mamlatdars by his strict
ness, since they were loose and undisciplined in their dealings Nevertheless
the various Kamavisdars trembled before Bhau and would not get his con
fidence This had a disastrous consequence in the Panipat campaign One and
all had to obey his orders but none did it willingly All would have liked to
run away from him at the first opportunity A general must inspire not only
awe and respect, but should also be loved by his followers, a thing which was
not possible, it seems, in the case of Bhau Bajirao with all his weaknesses was
loved by his followers, Sadashivrao was not This was the result not of his
¹ Purandare I 168 169 180 181 182
² Ibid I 171-3 I 8 180-1
³ Ibid I 10 1 6-8 197, 211
⁴ Ibid. I 182 184
Ibid 3 196.

116 PANIPAT: 1761
behaviour during the ten months of the Panipat campaign, but of the im-
pression he had created during the previous ten years. It was singularly un-
fortunate for the Marathas that such should have been the case at this most
critical juncture. The respect and awe with which Shivaji seems to have been
looked upon by his contemporaries was not felt in the case of Bajirao and Bhau.
Bhau was not strict in his sex-life, as was wrongly assumed by SARDESAI in his
Panipat Campaign.⁵ The Purandare Daftar, Part I, bears ample testimony⁶
to Bhau's extra-marital sex life. Perhaps this fact had affected the contem-
porary opinion about Bhau in an adverse manner to a certain extent. We do
not know whether Kashiraj's statement⁷ that "one of the Bhau's wives escaped"
from Panipat on horseback was made under this misapprehension.
SADASHIVRAO BHAU AS A GENERAL
Sadashivrao Bhau has become the scape-goat of both the sides. He
is criticised not only by the opponents but also by his compatriots. The ma-
jority of the Marathas thought that the strategy he followed at Panipat was
wrong. The Marathas till then had never encamped behind the trenches and
arranged their fight on the basis of infantry tactics. The critics on the opposite
side think that the whole Maratha system was loose, insubordination being in-
grained in the Maratha ranks; there was no proper gradation, no link between
the commander-in-chief and the common soldier. But if we compare Bhau
with another renowned general of his times in Europe, there does not seem to
be any great difference in their ideas about the strategy and tactics of those
days. In the battle of Panipat, Abdali had definitely a superiority in the Ruhela
infantry under such a consummate captain as Najib Khan. His infantry
it was that decided the day by its last tactics. Bhau's infantry under
Ibrahim Khan had been used decisively in the beginning of the battle. But
it was not followed with advantage by the cavalry at the back. Bhau's per-
sonal effort was mainly based on his devoted cavalry, in the use of which he
seems to have followed the innovation attributed to Fredric the Great.
"Fredric had learnt its value, against the musket of those days, by experience;
and he believed that Seydlitz in the open, at the head of 70 squadrons, was
a thing which no infantry could resist."¹ But unfortunately for Bhau he first
came across the Afghan cavalry under Shah Wali Khan and not against the
infantry under Najib Khan, due to his formation of the oblique order in the
march out of Panipat. Had the cavalry divisions kept behind the infantry
of Ibrahim Khan to support it and take advantage of its invincible attack acted
in a valiant and correct manner, there would have been no occasion for Bhau
to deliver his side-attack on the Afghan front. Damaji Gaikwad, Vitthal
Shivdeo and Yashwantrao Pawar had been placed behind Ibrahim Khan to
do their duty. They inadvertantly rushed forward, before the full effect of
Ibrahim Khan's grand effort had reached its culmination and created a wide
5 SARDESAI, Marathi Riyasat, Panipat Prakarana, p. 253
6 Purandare 1.212, 241, 289, 293, 311, 345, 364.
7 KASHIRAJ, p. 50.
1 ACTON p. 293.

THE JUDGMENT 117
gap in the weak infantry under the trans Ganges Ruhelas. Their duty was
silently to wait for some two hours, though keeping themselves ready on horse-
back for any eventuality. Had this order been properly carried out, Bhau and
the magnificent Hujrat cavalry which was behind them would have had no
occasion to offer a front battle to the Durrani Wazir. They would themselves
have followed the rushing cavalry of these three sardars into the gap created
by the Gardi fire. Bhau's generalship failed not because his strategy was in-
correct, but the tactics were not properly understood by his captains and they
seem to have acted as if it was only a cavalry battle. Bhau had till then fol-
lowed "the school which taught that actual fighting must not be resorted to
until the use of brains has been exhausted, that the battle comes in when the
manœuvre has failed, the seizure of the strategic position is the first defence
of the armies, so that a force which is tactically inferior may be strategically
superior."² Now when all these alternatives had been tried and failed, Bhau
was following Fredric in his new doctrine "to act on the principle that noth-
ing can destroy the enemy except a pitched battle, and the destruction of the
enemy, not the weakning of the enemy, is the right object of war,' knowing
that 'even a successful defence weakens the victor." Unfortunately for Bhau
he was possibly the only person in the Maratha camp who had understood
this principle and the overwhelming majority of his lieutenants were trained
in different tactics. They thought Bhau almost a madman to follow this
method, their heart was not in it and they deviated from the order of the bat-
tle at the first shock and followed their own mind in the later half of the day.
Those who were loyal and devoted died with the Commander in Chief, while
the rest fled back from the field as soon as it was possible for them to quit the
field unnoticed by Bhau.
NOT INDIVIDUALS BUT THE SYSTEM RESPONSIBLE FOR THE
PANIPAT DISASTER
Pānipat was a national disaster. A national disaster exhibits all the
weak points together with some of the good points of a nation. A national
war fought for the prestige of a nation is like an examination for a student.
Though the examination lasts for less than a week it is supposed to show the
preparation of a year. The physical, the intellectual and the moral capacities
all have their play in an examination. Weakness on any of these sides is
likely to prove fatal. There are good students who fail in the nick of time or
are too weak to complete a paper. There are clever students whose intellect
often fails them at the proper time. There are nervous students who have shown
their capacity throughout the year but still are found leaving the examination
hall all of a sudden. War is a similar test for a state. All the weak points ex-
hibited in the Panipat campaign had not cropped up all of a sudden, but were
inherent in the Maratha system under the best of the Peshwas. These inherent
defects have been very convincingly pointed out by a deep student of Maratha
history, Vasudev Vamanshastri KHARE in his invaluable introduction to the
2 Ibid, p. 293.

118 PANIPAT 1761
book Marathe va Ingraj by N C KELKAR, in 1918 The Marathas in the
18th century had nothing original to contribute for the benefit of the Indian
people They were imitators and not inventors They tried to imitate the
foreign model in war, but never made it their own in all its details The
Maratha Constitution was very loose Their military system was no better
The policy of nurturing strength by consolidation had given place to wayward
wandering on the basis of the line of least resistance The result was as KHARE
has tellingly put it "In peace times the Maratha empire was everywhere, but
during times of turmoil it was nowhere" (Page 15) Sadashivrao Bhau and
the Peshwa were depending upon the sympathy and help of the various states
which had paid them tributes, but not one amongst them actually helped the
Marathas during the critical Panipat campaign, exemplifying the truth of
KHARE'S indictment The Marathas tried to imitate the European war-
machine by engaging Bussy's pupils Ibrahim Khan and Muzaffar Khan, but
the danger to the Maratha State of this procedure has been clearly exhibited
in history Muzaffar Khan was all along a self-willed, arrogant and treacherous
person Once he left the Peshwa's service and joined the Nawab of Savnur
and was, after his defeat there, on the point of joining the Portuguese at Goa
or any one else who would engage him In 1759 he tried to assassinate Sa
dashivrao Bhau for personal or political reasons and was beheaded for the at-
tempt Ibrahim Khan was personally loyal, faithful and expert, but all along
he remained unassimilated in the Maratha mode of warfare The various
Maratha officers never felt any comradeship with him and treated him as a
foreigner Instead of co operating with him and supporting him in his dif-
ficulties, they would sit on the fence and see his effort wasted, all this because
he was paid punctually in cash after the European manner, because Bhau
treated him with special favour and tried to depend upon him to the heart-
burning of others! Because he was treated only as an adjunct to the Maratha
cavalry, his system was never understood, much less made their own, by the
Maratha Shiledars The result was seen in the battle of Panipat where his
superb effort was wasted because the other Maratha sardars never tried to de-
fend the square formation nor would they reap the harvest by taking the
proper advantage of his initial effort The Marathas did not try to assimilate
the foreign system then, nor have they done it subsequently Their political
effort and initiative were then, just as they are even now, individual and not
collective. The end to be secured was personal rise, prosperity and aggrandise
ment The leader is the sole loser in the effort, his followers having no con
cern with it except temporary loss of employment The Europeans have
perfected their system in such a manner that their united effort does not depend
on individual caprice Even amongst them incompetent and selfish individuals
occasionally come to the top, but they have little power to play mischief in
the perfected system With us the reverse is the case Occasionally good peo-
ple come to the top amongst us, but still they have no power to change the
system or rather the absence of system existing amongst us Amongst us the
individual effort of the best of men is only temporarily and partially effectual
for some time and ultimately wasted, the nation never deriving permanent bene-
fits therefrom Viewed in this philosophical light, it seems idle either to boom

THE JUDGMENT 119
up or condemn downright an individual, however great personally The final
result must be attributed to the static system and cannot be attributed to any
one actor in history.
DEATH OF NANASAHEB PESHWA
The Peshwa's death six months after the battle of Panipat, on 23rd
June, 1761, is treated as the last event of the Panipat campaign It is almost
thought as a consequence of it That the unexpected disaster unhinged his
mind by that tremendous shock, by the loss of all that was dear and valuable,
was natural enough, but it is utterly wrong to say that his death was due to
it As a matter of fact there seems to have been some hereditary defect in the
Peshwa family which made its members prone to sudden collapse of health
and wasting diseases The uneven life of camp and war had something to do
with it Nor were they free from vices Peshwa Nanasaheb particularly seems
to have been inordinately fond of the company of women He loved ease and
pleasure Beautiful young girls¹ from northern India were always requisitioned
by him This trait of his life had become known throughout India and even
the distant Kashiraj, living far away in the north at the Lucknow Court, knew
of it and thought it necessary to mention it at the beginning of his account of
the battle of Panipat The Peshwa had started from Poona in November and
had made known his plan of proceeding to the north to set the matters right
at the Delhi court in the company of Nizam Ali, the younger brother of the
Nizam Salabat Jang But his march was delayed on account of the "wait and
see" tactics of the Nizam brothers Though it was a condition of the peace
treaty after the battle of Udgir in the previous year, that the Nizam should
join the Peshwa whenever there was any urgent need² and now definitely such
a need arose due to the beleagurement of Bhau at Panipat, the Nizam brothers
would not move from their cantonments even after the cessation of rains The
need for taking Nizam Ali with him to the north arose in a double sense
Firstly, his Gardi troops with their fine park of artillery would have been in-
valuable in a fight against Abdali and the Ruhelas, next it was dangerous to
keep such a mischievous man behind, with power to do what he liked when
the Peshwa had moved north with all his troops But this was a political ex-
cuse The Peshwa was entangled in other domestic matters also For some
time, it seems, he was not keeping on good terms with his wife and had taken
it into his head to marry a second time, though three sons from the first mar-
riage were available as heirs Match makers had been dispatched far and
wide from the one end of Maharashtra to the other He was prepared to marry
a girl from any of the three³ sub-castes of Maharashtra Brahmins, Karhada,
Deshasthas or Chitpavans, to which last caste he himself belonged The
Peshwa's diary shows expenditure incurred in this search for suitable girls
where half a dozen girls have been noted The Peshwa had become so weak,
irritable and listless that his memory was failing and he could not devote him-
¹ RAJ 1.214, 3 158
² SPD 40 128.
³ SPD 2 133

120 PANIPAT: 1761
self to any business with full attention. This was natural when we take into
account the decline in his health which is noted in many places. In 1755, he
was suffering from toothache⁴ which is a sure sign of declining health. In 1758
Sadashivrao Bhau⁵ notes that the Peshwa's health is not what it should be.
When at the end of 1759, Bhau started for the Udgir campaign, the Peshwa's
health had already become a state problem. He was not in a position to fol-
low the campaign himself⁶ with its daily marches. Bhau's one anxiety through-
out the Panipat campaign was for the Peshwa's health. He writes⁷ from
Delhi on 16th September, 1760, that all problems would be best solved when
the Peshwa's health improved. We are at a loss to know why, when things
had come to such a pass, the Peshwa was thinking of marriage. It could not
have been for mere sex satisfaction, because he had any number of concubines
and dancing girls at his service. Three things are suggested as probable causes
for marriage. (1) The advice of the Hindu Vaidyas who prescribed young
girls as a cure for venereal diseases. A Sanskrit verse states that a tender girl
below sixteen adds to the strength of the husband; a youthful one makes her
husband youthful like herself,—an elderly woman drains away the strength of
her partner; and an old woman leads her partner on his way to death. (Bala
tu balada prokta taruni tarunajate, praudha s'aktihara prokta vrddha mrtyuva-
sam nayet.) It is not unlikely that some such advice might have been of-
fered to the Peshwa, though we do not know whether it falls under the category
of medicine or sexual science (Kamasastra). But we have already suggested
that this remedy could have been followed even by having extra-marital rela-
tions with girls, and so we reject this cause. (2) The second cause which is
more probable comes from astrological advice. It is thought that the stars of
certain girls so ordain that a person marrying them cannot possibly die, as it is
written that these girls have no widowhood ordained for them in their horo-
scopes. Of course there is the possibility of the girl herself dying before her
husband so as to justify the stars. We presume that the inquiry for girls was
possibly based on this point. Though this cause seems more probable, even
this is not completely satisfactory, because had the inquiry been only based on
horoscopes, it would not have been found necessary to bring all these young
girls from distant places, and there was no particular necessity for seeing them
unless men who judge horoscopes from bodily features wished to view and ex-
amine them. We would have believed such to have been the case, but the
Peshwa is found in a somewhat playful mood in marrying, as he not only
marries, but makes two of his bosom associates, Aba Purandare and Vireshwar
Dikshit Manohar,⁸ marry, side by side. (3) The third cause is equally likely,
namely, his quarrel with his first wife, Gopikabai. For one reason or another,
they had not been on good terms for some time. The difference of opinion
had arisen on account of domestic causes as well as state policy. The episode at
Patdur, described in the Bhau Bakhar and Kaifiyat before Sadashivrao's ap-
pointment for the Panipat campaign, illustrates one phase of this difference.
⁴ Purandare 3.206
⁵ Ibid. 3 193.
⁶ SPD 1 10.
⁷ Purandare, 1 389.
⁸ SPD 2.149, pp 162, 171

THE JUDGMENT 121
Nana Phadnis, than whom no veracious and correct writer can be found, writes
definitely about this difference in his autobiography.⁹ The irritability of temper
and in general the loss of balance of mind, which is ascribed to the Peshwa
during his last illness, was not a sudden growth after Panipat, but was a
gradual development. Govindpant Bundele¹⁰ notes this change in the Peshwa's
temper even from the north. It will be seen from this detailed discussion that
the death of the Peshwa had little to do with the shock of Panipat. He would
not have survived it long, even if it had ended in a victory. We have thought
it necessary to enter into this detailed treatment of the problem as all historians
have fallen into the trap by treating it as a result of Panipat
We agree with Sir Jadunath¹¹ in thinking that the Peshwa's marriage at
Hiradpuri had nothing to do with the issue in the north, because we do not
think that the Peshwa was at this time in a fit physical or mental condition to
help Bhau by proceeding post haste to the north. It was a national misfortune
of the Marathas that the supreme head of the state should, in these critical years
not be in a fit condition to direct the affairs of the state with a single minded
devotion to the cause of the nation. A Shivaji or Santaji Ghorpade or Baji
rao would have possibly relieved Bhau by marching to Delhi in the rear of
Abdali in about a month with all the spare troops. Such an exploit was be-
yond the capacity of Balaji Bajirao (alias Nanasaheb), to judge from his
whole life.
HISTORICAL OPINIONS ABOUT THE BATTLE OF PANIPAT
That the disaster of Panipat ultimately led to the destruction of the
Maratha power, was understood by Rajwade more than forty five years ago.¹
Even before him, other historians had also said the same thing. But while the
foreigners were conscious of this result the Marathas were not, which only
means that they had no proper understanding of the situation and were thus
living in a fool's paradise. On the other hand, the English writers after Plassey
seemed to be perfectly conscious of the things shaping in those times. Their
knowledge and their self-consciousness ultimately made them the masters
of India.
A national disaster of the type of Panipat has naturally resulted in cast-
'ing a shadow of gloom over the Maratha nation. But the defeat has been
treated differently by various students of history, who have given quite a dif-
ferent turn to the whole discussion. Evans BELL wrote long ago that 'even the
battle of Panipat was a triumph and a glory for the Marathas. They fought
in the cause of 'India for the Indians,' while the great Muhammedan princes
of Delhi, of Oude and the Deccan, stood as de, intriguing and trimming. And
though the Marathas were defeated, the victorious Afghans retired and never
again interfered in the affairs of India." Prof. RAWLINSON writes,² 'A defeat is
9 Ait Patre Yadi 192, RAJ 6 415
10 RAJ 1.143
11 Fall, 2.364
1 RAJWADE I Introduction, p. 46.
2 KASHIRAJ Introduction, p. xiii.

THE JUDGMENT 125
none can say that they were inferior to any in India of those days With all
their internal quarrels, no other state in India could muster so many troops for
war under a unitary command. No other nation was less bigoted or more
tolerant in religious and social matters, as is proved by their behaviour towards
their Muslim neighbours or their rule over Muslim subjects. There is no in-
stance of their having fabricated a document like Clive, none where they tried
to gain a point by assassination or intimidation. They did not hire mercenaries
for slaughtering their opponent in an unguarded moment. They would not
murder persons by calling them for an interview. They would not kill foreign
emissaries at their Court. No other war-like nation is known to be milder in
their peace-time actions. There are no instances where the Marathas entered
into the slaughter of civilians after a victory, or during conquest to have
created terror. It is nowhere noted that they slaughtered disarmed prisoners,
like the Durranis after Panipat, or uselessly cut off the head of a fallen soldier
as in the case of Dattaji Shinde at Buradi. They did not apply torture to ex-
tract hidden wealth like the Afghans at Delhi in 1757. In fact, one feels many
a time that their comparative mildness their humane behaviour, their civil man-
ners, their unwillingness to gain their ends by back-door machinations or solve
their problems, internal or external, by swift unscrupulous actions such as mur-
dering an opponent, or doing away with their unwanted brethren like the
Mughals, has had the effect of their not succeeding in history. Be that
as it may, none can charge them as being morally condemnable in comparison
with many other military nations in the world. When a responsible historian of
India like Sir Jadunath SARKAR charges the Marathas with being "lesser breeds
beyond the law,"³ one does not know how to characterize such a statement and
what standard of conduct and morality he wants to apply. He seems to belong
to that category of historians-cum moralists "who justify Providence by the
event and hold nothing so deserving as success. To them there can be no vic-
tory in a bad cause, prescription and duration legitimate, and whatever exists
is right and reasonable, and God manifests His will by that which He tolerates.
Men must confirm to the divine decree by living to shape the future after the
ratified image of the past."⁴ These writers should learn to know that there
are many Marathas—perhaps the majority—who think it better to have lost
the Empire than to have followed a line of conduct after the manner of a
Clive or Najib or Abdali.
GENERAL THOUGHTS ON WAR
Mankind since it began to think and take a retrospective view of human
affairs, has been sharply divided on the moral basis of war, and it will prob-
ably remain so divided for all time. Indian civilisation, at least after the
Aryan imposition, has not only sanctioned war but has consecrated a particular
class for that work and given it the second rank in society. This is in sharp
contrast with the neighbouring Chinese civilisation which had relegated the
soldier to the last place in society and only tolerated him as an unavoidable
³ Fall II.291
⁴ Lord Acton, Lectures on Modern History (1907) (Inaugural Lecture) p 25 ,

122 PANIPAT 1761
under some circumstances as honourable as a victory, and never, in all their
annals, did the Maratha armies cover themselves with greater glory than when
the flower of the chivalry of the Deccan perished on the stricken field of Pani-
pat, fighting against the enemies of their creed and country But, after all,
the general who wins a campaign is the one who makes the fewest mistakes
The Bhausaheb did not commit a tithe of the blunders of both Wellington and
Napoleon in the Waterloo campaign He lost not because he was a bad gen-
eral, but because his opponent was a better one
We have shown above that these opinions are correct as far as they
go But that is beside the point The wisdom for the Marathas lay in not
coming to grips with such an awkward enemy as Ahmad Shah Abdali Had
Panipat resulted in a defeat of the Afghans it would not have meant the same
thing to them or to others Nobody was going to invade barren Afghanistan
and try to rule over it Instead of consolidating and making sure of what
they had got, the Marathas had no business to march forward, lengthen their
lines of communication and multiply their responsibilities This wrong policy
had begun already with Bajirao s invasion of Delhi in 1736 Geographic fac-
tors were completely ignored, because they were completely misunderstood by
the Marathas The Marathas boasted all along that the Deccan was as good
as theirs," but had never once understood the implications underlying that state
ment Even in their hey day before Panipat, others had coolly stolen a march
on them The implication of the destruction of the Angre s naval power seems
to have been understood by Alivardi Khan³ in Bengal just before his death,
but not by the Peshwa The short sighted policy pursued by the Peshwa even
after his experience in the Vijayadurg affair resulted in his directly playing into
the hands of his enemy and assured Clive's success in Bengal A similar thing
occurred at Mysore and made the line clear for Haidar Ali It should never
be forgotten that Surat and Janjira never came into the hands of the Peshwa,
much less could he have hoped to touch the European citadels on his coast,
Bombay and Goa While the Marathas were exhilarated by their march be-
yond the Indus, the English were silently entering Surat by the back door of
the sea A big army of the Marathas was encamping outside Surat and their
navy had also entered the Tapti estuary Diplomats were coming and going
and taking sides in the civil struggle at Surat, but still the English could carry
on independent correspondence with the Wazir Ghazi ud-din (a so-called crea-
ture of the Marathas) and get a Firman from the Mughal Emperor (who
thought himself a protege of the Peshwa) appointing them the keepers of the
Surat fort and admirals of the Mughal fleet This neglected Surat episode
throws a flood of light on Marathi politics during its most triumphant days.
Sadashivrao's defects have been well pointed out by the English envoy John

122 PANIPAT 1761
under some circumstances as honourable as a victory, and never, in all their
annals, did the Maratha armies cover themselves with greater glory than when
the flower of the chivalry of the Deccan perished on the stricken field of Pani-
pat, fighting against the enemies of their creed and country But, after all,
the general who wins a campaign is the one who makes the fewest mistakes
The Bhausaheb did not commit a tithe of the blunders of both Wellington and
Napoleon in the Waterloo campaign He lost not because he was a bad gen-
eral, but because his opponent was a better one '
We have shown above that these opinions are correct as far as they
go But that is beside the point The wisdom for the Marathas lay in not
coming to grips with such an awkward enemy as Ahmad Shah Abdali Had
Panipat resulted in a defeat of the Afghans, it would not have meant the same
thing to them or to others Nobody was going to invade barren Afghanistan
and try to rule over it Instead of consolidating and making sure of what
they had got the Marathas had no business to march forward, lengthen their
lines of communication and multiply their responsibilities This wrong policy
had begun already with Bajirao's invasion of Delhi in 1736 Geographic fac-
tors were completely ignored, because they were completely misunderstood by
the Marathas The Marathas boasted all along that "the Deccan was as good
as theirs," but had never once understood the implications underlying that state-
ment Even in their hey day before Panipat, others had coolly stolen a march
on them The implication of the destruction of the Angre's naval power seems
to have been understood by Alivardi Khan³ in Bengal just before his death,
but not by the Peshwa The short sighted policy pursued by the Peshwa even
after his experience in the Vijayadurg affair resulted in his directly playing into
the hands of his enemy and assured Clive's success in Bengal A similar thing
occurred at Mysore and made the line clear for Haidar Ali It should never
be forgotten that Surat and Janjira never came into the hands of the Peshwa,
much less could he have hoped to touch the European citadels on his coast,
Bombay and Goa While the Marathas were exhilarated by their march be-
yond the Indus, the English were silently entering Surat by the back door of
the sea A big army of the Marathas was encamping outside Surat and their
navy had also entered the Tapti estuary Diplomats were coming and going
and taking sides in the civil struggle at Surat, but still the English could carry
on independent correspondence with the Wazir Ghazi ud din (a so called crea-
ture of the Marathas) and get a Firman from the Mughal Emperor (wh
thought himself a protege of the Peshwa) appointing them the keepers of th
Surat fort and admirals of the Mughal fleet This neglected Surat episode
throws a flood of light on Maratha politics during its most triumphant days
Sadashivrao's defects have been well pointed out by the English envoy John
Spencer⁴ four years before Panipat He knew him to be a man with great
capacity for business, but as hasty and avaricious, too The impatience men-
tioned by the English Vakil was born of ignorance The ignorance was due
to the defective educational system or rather absence of a progressive system
marching with the times and adequate for making its votaries able to cope with
³ S C HILL, Bengal in 1756-57 (1905), Vol II, pp 16, 65, &
⁴ C H F

THE JUDGMENT 123
any situation arising around them. Balaji Bajirao's studies in Sanskrit were
advanced to the extent of writing verses in that language, but there is no evi-
dence to prove that the Peshwa had enough geographical information to cope
with that of the contemporary Europeans. RAJWADE'S statement⁵ that the
Peshwas possessed maps of the various provinces in India is not borne out by
any positive proof till after the First Maratha War. What knowledge they pos-
sessed was gained from gossipy news or orally from visitors to their Court, but
it was not sufficient to make these aspiring conquerors of India visualise either
the shape of their country or correctly point to the directions of the various
parts of the continent, nor an understanding of its correct extent. This had
a disastrous effect on the policy of the Marathas. Their avarice made them
grab everything which their hands could reach, but the political repercussions
of that grabbing and the pressure it would exert on their military machine they
were unable to comprehend. The non comprehension of political and military
facts surrounding them is the chief defect which made the Peshwas act as way-
wardly as they did. No other reason can explain their actions otherwise. The
contrast can be best understood by studying the English documents and publi-
cations of those times. All their military campaigns, naval fights, political ag-
grandisements, are found fully reported, discussed threadbare and lines of
policy deduced therefrom for future guidance. Not an iota of knowledge once
gained, not a point of vantage once secured, not an inch of ground once oc-
cupied was wasted or lost by them. The Marathas in their career had to go
through many a campaign, to enter into diplomatic talks, to carry on political
controversies and to devise various ways and means for securing their end, but
scarcely any of these things are found published for public edification, for the
use of the younger students in various walks of life. A nation which carried on
wars in all directions over a wide continent for more than a century, has not
produced a single treatise on warfare. That is the basic defect in the nation.
Its want could not be supplied by any other means. When one finds such a
book published in English in the very year of the Panipat disaster with de-
tailed maps, plans of battles, illustrations of the positions of forts giving a
visual demonstration of their military situation, naval manœuvres with drawings
of the anchored ships, together with their full political and diplomatic back-
ground, one is forced to exclaim that want of such training led to the Panipat
disaster (Vide R. O. Cambridge's War in India, etc., 1761).
THE CONSTITUTIONAL BASIS OF THE PANIPAT CAMPAIGN
The Panipat campaign takes away the charge against the Marathas that
they were not the rulers of India, but only robbers in the dominions of other
rulers. This one campaign bears evidence not only to the military organiza-
tion developed under the Peshwas, but also to the fact that they were waging
war not for aggrandisement but for the defence of a principle, India for the
Indians, governed by Indians. The Peshwa had accepted the responsibility of
defending the Mughal Empire from its internal and external foes through his
⁵ RAJWADE, op. cit., p. 99