पानीपत १७६१ (मराठा साम्राज्य एवं पानीपत महायुद्ध इतिहास)

CRITICAL BIBLIOGRAPHY 139
it was who gave a crooked turn to the whole trend of Indian politics in the
middle of the 18th century He fooled all who came into contact with him,
both friend and foe He rose as a servant of Ghazi ud-dın, the Wazir, and
ultimately ruined him, by his treachery He made use of Malharrao Holkar
as a god father and did mortal harm to the Maratha politics in the north He
brought Shuja over to the side of Abdali and sent him empty handed back to
Oudh for fear of being looted by his allies Shuja did not think even of
taking leave of Ahmad Shah Abdali before decamping! Najib had not done
any good to Ahmad Shah either, through whose help he became what he was
He made use of the Shah by the argument of race and religion, and that way
completely ruined the Marathas But what permanent benefit accrued to
Islam from his acts? He had misinformed Ahmad Shah about the relative
strength of the political parties in India as a result of which Ahmad Shah could
not reap any permanent advantage His troops could not get even their salary
from him and the forty lakhs of rupees a year which Najib promised to him
from the Indian lands he had conquered were never paid Not only that
politically at the end of the great battle Ahmad Shah had to bestow the Wazir
ship of the Indian Empire on the hated regicide Ghazi ud din, a creature of
the Marathas, and not on Shuja, his ally in the late war All this is well ex
emplified by this life, written by an admirer though it is
32 Bihari Lal Munshi's Short Life of Najib-ud daulah, translated
by Sir Jadunath SARKAR, in the Islamic Culture, 1936 Though sketchy, it
still adds a few more facts to his life It supplies details in his dealings with
Dattaji Shinde, especially Najib's ruse of instructing the Afghans of Kunjpura
to put on scarlet caps and move like the Persian Qzzlbashas in order to start
the rumour of the coming of Abdali to India This rumour makes it clear
why Sabaji Shinde, the Governor of the Panjab, returned long before the ac
tual coming of Abdali and why Govindpant Bundele is found writing, very
early, letters about the Shah's coming It had the effect of demoralizing the
Maratha side It does not add anything to our knowledge of Panipat, however
33 Samin Shaikh Ghulam Hasan's (pen name Samin) narrative,
translated by W IRVINE in Indian Antiquary, 1907
This narrative gives a vivid picture of Ahmad Shah's camp, army and
political behaviour, in his Indian campaign of 1756 57 The writer is poeti-
cally minded He possesses the journalist's facile pen supplying vivid descrip-
tion He is gossipy too, introducing anecdotes and stories amidst his narrative
In fact, he tries to reproduce from memory things reported to him by others,
such as Imad ul mulk's story He wrote his piece in 1782 at the behest of
Captain Jonathan Scott To judge from the production, this man's memory
seems to be unusually strong, but it is idle to call it a diary as is done by Sir
Jadunath SARKAR (p 293, Fall, Vol 2) The picture of Ahmad Shah's army
on the march, his camp discipline, etc seem exaggerated and are more in the
form of psychic vision than of sober description His introduction of poetry at
intervals exemplifies his mind Sir Jadunath has used Samin's description of
Ahmad Shah's army

140 PANIPAT 1761
army We have no quarrel with the comparison, we only wish that Sir Jadu
nath had also taken into account the methodology of Abdali's iron discipline
and his barbarous methods in his dealings with both friends and foes, Hindus
no less than Muslims, for comparison with the methods followed by "the lesser
breeds beyond the law," (p 291, Fall, Vol, 2) by which epithet he introduces
the Marathas into the comparison Where the Marathas found it impossible
to recover even eighty lakhs proffered for their services in going through a politi
cal revolution for deposing one Emperor and his Wazir and seating others in
their places, after a sojourn of eight months in the Delhi region, Ahmad Shah
gained crores from the city of Delhi alone in less than a month by threatening,
bastonading of a Wazir and torture to his mother, and digging of (floors)
houses, two years later The Marathas suffered historically because they stood
on a different moral plane from their competitors
34 Ichalkaranji State History with its original papers edited by V V
KHARE, 1913 A few letters giving news of the Panipat campaign and after
are found in this collection, which are useful for deciding the point of the
Peshwa's responsibility Abdali was intercepting the letters from Panipat to
the Deccan and making use of the information for his own purpose As the
Peshwa had not received any news from the north for more than a month, his
plans naturally went astray Malharrao Holkar's line of conduct is illustrated
in Govind Hari Patwardhan's letter (No 66)
35 The Earliest Persian Account of Panipat, translated by Sir Jadu
nath SARKAR in the Sardesai Commemoration Volume, 1938
The account is for the most part accurate, and not inaccurate as read
by the learned translator It correctly reports as far as it does and, what is
more, supplies a few facts not noted in other documents, viz Abdali's crossing
between Bagpat and Kheora (wrongly deciphered as Khekra by Sir Jadunath,
which puts him on the wrong track), Bhau's posting of troops on the farther
side of the Jamuna to stop Abdali's supplies (at Bhau Fort near Isapur?),
Chimaji Pandit's raid across the Jamuna, winter rains, famine, Shah's pre
carious position at noon, the panic caused by Bhau's getting down from
elephant, slaughter and running away of the Marathas, women captives *
36 Vad and others—Selections from the Peshwa Diaries—useful for
administrative details with correct dates and the itinerary
37 Itihasa Sangraha A defunct Marathi magazine, Vols I VIII,
edited by Parasnis (1909-1917), contain a few stray but primarily important
letters about the Panipat campaign, events leading to it and the aftermath
They are interspersed under various headings and parts, viz Aitihasika Tipane-
Charcha-Sphuta Lekha Goshti, etc Sir Jadunath has overlooked these letters
for the most part and hence his treatment has turned defective in certain par-
ticular

CRITICAL BIBLIOGRAPHY 141
38. Parasnis—Marathyanche ' Parakrama—Bundelkhand Prakarana
(1895) contains casual information about Govindpant Bundele and his sons,
also a worthless Panipat chronicle.
39. Bharata Itihasa Samshodhaka Mandal Quarterly Vols. I-XXIV,
as well as its Annals and Conference Reports. These also contain valuable in-
formation and discussions on the various topics connected with Panipat, its per-
sonalities and politics.
40. Hingne Daftar Vol. I (1945), is useful for judging the Delhi
politics during the pre-Panipat as well as post-Panipat period. Unfortunately
here, too, no direct evidence bearing on the campaign is forthcoming.

BHAVAN'S LIBRARY
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13 APR 1961
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