A must read short article from Dev Malik & Vikas Sharma on the importance of 14th Jan in Indian History.
(Article was written several years back being shared
again on the anniversary)
History is basically a lesson. History teaches us to move
forward, recognize our mistakes and learn from them, and ultimately create a
better existence for all.
Throughout history, wars have left
an indelible mark on human psyche. Serious debates have been held on the
morality of and the strategic necessity for war.
Today is the anniversary of one of the most decisive
battles ever fought in India- The 3rd Battle of Panipat. This battle was fought
on 14th Jan 1761 which had far
reaching impact & changed the fate of this great country.
Summary of Sequence of events:
·
After
the death of Aurangzeb in 1707, there was a sudden rise of Maratha power under
the leadership of Great Bajirao-1. He fought 40 wars and won all of them and
controlled almost 70% of India but died at a young age of 40 on 28th April 1740
near Narmada. Bajirao transformed Shivaji’s riyasat into an Empire.
·
1740AD,
Bajirao’s son Nana Saheb became Peshwa with the name Balaji Bajirao. Under his
leadership Maratha controlled entire India, including Delhi and reached up to Attock
on the bank of river Indus near Peshawar (current Pakistan).
·
Cuttock to Attock, controlled by
Maratha, Bajirao’s 2nd son Raghunath Rao (Raghoba) was the leader in all these
expeditions. With the help of Sindhia & Holkar, he expelled Abdali’s son
from Punjab and took control of entire north up to Afghanistan border and
camped a Maratha army to control Khyber pass (today at the borderline of
Afghanistan and Pakistan)
·
Maratha
became invincible forces in India, almost all the kings in India paid the taxes
and accepted their dominance. Maratha changed few of the Mughal Badshah in
Delhi and controlled all the activity of the Mughals.
Prelude
·
Mughal’s
Vazir Najib Khan, secretly invited Afghan King Ahmed Shah Abdali to attack
India to get rid of Maratha from North India.
·
By
the end of 1759 Ahmed Shah's army reached Lahore and moved to Delhi after
killing Dattaji Sindhia, Peshwa's subedar of North, at Burari ghat near
Delhi,
·
April
1760, Peshwa sent a big army from Pune under Sadashive Rao Bhau (son of ChimaJi
Appa) to save India from foreigner and to establish permanent control. Bhau
reached Delhi in Aug/Sept and with the help of Jat Raja Surajmal controlled
Delhi and stayed in Lal Quila for a month.
·
Maratha
were in a strong tactical position at this point, Abdali was eastern side of
Yamuna in Aligarh-Bulandshaher area, Maratha were at the western side of
Yamuna. Strategy was to block Abdali’s way back to Afghanistan and crush them
while crossing Yamuna.
·
Rajput
and other Hindu Kings didn't come forward to help Marathas. Jat Raja
Surajmal of Bharatpur came in support along with his army with a condition that
Delhi would be given to Jats when Maratha leaver Delhi, which was turned down
by Bhau so Surajmal withdrew from the coalition.
·
All
Muslim Nawabs in North came forward to support Abdali along with their armies
with the aim to remove Maratha from North and re-establish Mughal’s superiority.
·
After
staying in Delhi for a month, Bhau Saheb moved further north & controlled
Kunjpura fort (North of Panipat) to control Abdali’s garrison, in a decisive
battle they won & looted the garrison and devoted the time to visit pilgrim
places at Kurukshetra and other places.
·
Important
point to be noted here, overconfident Maratha went to North to save Bharat from
foreigner and use this opportunity for pilgrimage as well so took 50000+ ladies
& children along with them for pilgrimage. Which gives extra burden on the
food supplies, slowed down the movement and at the time of battle, became the
most critical safety concerns.
·
Raja
Surajmal advised Bhau to leave all ladies & non-combatant in Bharatpur and
fight with Gorilla tactics but Bhau turned down his suggestion.
·
Maratha
army stayed in Kurukshetra for several days for pilgrimage while Abdali crossed
Yamuna secretly near Baghpat (North of Delhi), in Nov 1760. Both the Armies set
to face each other in early Dec 1760 near Panipat. So, Maratha were near
Panipat and Abdali forces supported by all Muslim kings were south of them
getting support from Delhi.
The Battle:
·
Both
the armies faced each other for few months without a major battle and played
tactical warfare.
·
Abdali
& other nawabs stopped all supplies of foods from nearby areas. Jats were
able to provide continued supplies but several smaller skirmishes changed the
situation and Abdali tightened the grip.
·
Maratha
support from Bundelkhand were stooped, no other Hindu kings supported. Bhau
wrote to all the Jat Khaps who provided food supplies which was not sufficient
since Abdali and his other Muslim nawabs blocked all the routes towards Maratha
camp. Many camel, horses, started dying and situation became chaotic in the
camp.
·
Maratha
force decided to fight rather than dying empty stomach and finally battle
started in wee hours on Jan 14,1761 at Panipat. Exact place is the area between
Panipat and Yamuna near Sonoli Road.
·
Till
2 pm Marathas were winning, but events changed when a stray bullet killed
Viswasrao. Bhau also got into the Battle, which created the confusions. Ibrahim
Gardi, Maratha commandant, tried to salvage the situation but was arrested.
·
After
the victory, Pathan started the massacre in Maratha camp & in Panipat and
killed lacs of Marathas, ladies & children in few hours. Abdali ordered 1
rupee for every skull which prompted the ruthless massacre.
·
Malharrao
Holkar was given the charge to save ladies & children, he was able to take
around 25000 of them through Rohtak and came to Jat Raja Surajmal who ordered
his army to save the children & ladies from Pathans.
·
Moulahari
Jat (Ch Ghasiram) from Muzaffarnagar helped Maratha from across the river and
post the war, he looted Najib Khan’s camp and recovered huge amount which was
looted from Maratha’s camp.
·
Few
Lacs were massacred. 23000+ ladies & children were taken as slaves to Afghanistan
and still in Baluchistan, the Bugati caste are the descendants of Marathas, who
were taken as slaves by Abdali.
·
Jats
saved several thousands of soldiers & ladies. Mahadji Scindia and Shamsher
Bahadur (Bajirao's son from Mastani) were also saved. however Shamsher was
seriously injured and died in Bharatpur.
·
Raja
Surajmal made a big Mosque in his memory in Bharatpur as a respect to Bajirao
& his son.
·
Post
the war, Najib Khan controlled Delhi and was beaten by Jats. Mughal emperor
fled to Awadh. Peshwa who was coming to Delhi to support Bhau, got the news of
Panipat debacle near Chambal on 25th Jan & died within 6 months due to the
shock of the Panipat. Code worded message received was: “Two pearls have been dissolved, 27 gold coins have
been lost and of the silver and copper the total cannot be cast up”
·
Almost
every family in Maharashtra lost one or more members in this battle. Maratha
lost almost all of their major Leaders in the battle.
·
Maratha
regained their power again under Madhav Rao & Mahadji Scindia until East India
company finally took over.
·
British
were the main beneficiary of Panipat debacle which cleared the way for British
to establish their power in India.
·
Few
commissions were set up by British Govt to learn the lessons from Panipat &
those learnings were used to control India.
·
Many
scholars got their Doctorate degrees based on the research they did on Panipat Battle.
·
Only
2 battles from India are being used as case studies in USA army trainings. One
Battle of Palkhed when Bajirao defeated Nizam in 1728 and the second one is
Panipat 3rd battle 1761.
“Dev Malik & Vikas Sharma (current CEO-BALCO,
former MD at Hindustan Zinc, President Jindal Steel, MD at Jindal Praxair) write
article on several key topics related to Current political scenario, and topics
of techno commercial importance”.
