Panipat, a small town on the way to Delhi, provokes memories of the most turbulent times in the history of India. The first two battles fought at Panipat led to the establishment of significant ruling dynasties in India. However, the third Battle of Panipat has been a critical watershed in the modern history of India in more ways than one. Fought on 14 January 1761 between the invading, doughty Afghan army of Ahmad Shah Abdali and the determined, zealous Marathas led by Sadashivrao Bhau, this battle holds a dubious record of the massacre of nearly a lakh people, half of whom were unarmed, in a period of only eight hours. This was one battle that made the vanquished more famous than the victors.
The Afghans won the third battle of Panipat but just by the skin of their teeth. If the Marathas had carried the day, Delhi would have been the seat of a Hindu Samrajya. India would have been ruled by Indians. The British Empire could never have taken power and enslaved the country for the next two centuries.
Why did such a disaster occur?
The political scenario of the 17th century was extremely complex. Multiple forces with vested interests tried to seize short-term assets out of the turmoil resulting in the debacle. The rout at Panipat was not just a setback for the Marathas but a tragic loss for an entire country.
Here is a bird’s eye view of the main players of the chaotic ferment.
The Marathas
Chattrapati Shivaji Maharaj, the founder of the powerful Maratha Empire appointed high caste brahmins as Chief minister or Peshwa of the Empire. Bajirao Peshwa was the most illustrious among them. He endeavoured to stretch the borders of the Empire and fulfill Shivaji’s dream of a Maratha Samrajya; a Hindu kingdom that would fill the power void created by the dying Mughal Empire.
After the death of Bajirao, his sons Balaji Bajirao and Raghunathrao along with their cousin, Sadashivrao continued with the imperialistic strategy until the Maratha Empire stretched beyond the Tungabhadra in the south, Jaisalmer, and Kutch in the west to the eastern coastline and went beyond Delhi to Attock in the North. Even the Mughals desired their protection. What marred the acquisition of these vast territories were the Maratha tactics of subjugation and extortion of tributes. Consequently, the Marathas were viewed as an avaricious oppressor, and the Rajputs, Jats, Sikhs and the Rohillas manipulated them for their own petty battles and wove political vendettas against them under the radar. When the Marathas fought the invader, Abdali at Panipat, they stood alone, deserted by all allies.
The Mughals
After Aurangzeb, the powerful Mughal Empire crumbled. Its nobles carved out their own fiefdoms. Power was with the Wazir and Mir Baksh or treasurer who served their own needs. However, the wealth of the Mughals tempted invaders such as Nadir Shah from Persia and Ahmad Shah Abdali from Afghanistan to squeeze the Empire bare. The Marathas sought to fulfill the power vacuum, but corrupt officials and their own superfluous understanding of Northern politics stood in their way.
The Afghans
Ahmad Shah Abdali was the self-proclaimed Durrani Shah of Afghanistan. He had first visited the ‘golden bird of the East’ with Nadir Shah and knew of its riches. He invaded India several times but reached Delhi only in 1756. He plundered the city and left it in charge of the Rohilla chief, Najeeb-u-dullah. However, the Marathas conquered back the city and sent Najeeb packing. In 1959, Abdali received missives from the Rohilla chief to save his people from the Marathas as well as invitations from the Rajputs. It was too tempting a situation. The Durrani Shah invaded Hindustan for the fifth time. He joined Najeeb Khan’s army, lured allies from the divisive country, and camped beside the Yamuna. Too cunning to take on the large and motivated Maratha army campaigning against him, he indulged in divertive tactics by first starving and then, compelling them to fight him. He nearly lost the battle to this bellicose enemy. It was only because the treacherous Maratha sardars left the field that he defeated the aggressive remnants of Sadashivrao Bhau’s army. However, he was astute enough to realise that he had been manipulated into fighting somebody else’s war. Since there was nothing left to plunder amidst the anarchy, Abdali never returned to Delhi.
The Rohillas
In the early 1700s several wars in the mountains of Hindukush compelled Pashtun tribes such as, Ghilzai, the Yousafzai, the Durrani, and many more to flee to Hindustan. Emperor Aurangzeb granted them the Katehar region to settle in. Here the tribes established the state of Rohillakand calling themselves the Rohillas.
Among the Rohilla chiefs, Najeeb-ud-dullah Khan, a first-generation Yusufzai Afghan, grew in significance. He aspired to a power position in the Mughal Empire but was thwarted by the Marathas every time. He became their inveterate enemy and plotted the conflict between Ahmad Shah Abdali and the Marathas. He was a master manipulator, and every notable personage of the times was exploited by him at some point. He was the real catalyst that brokered the mighty collision at Panipat whose shock waves resounded across the country for years to come.
These were stellar characters of the drama culminating in the Third Battle of Panipat.
However, this Panipat campaign is unique for other historic milestones.
- Going on for two and a half months, it is the longest campaign waged in this country.
- Sadashivrao Bhau’s conviction of an ‘India governed by Indians’ was the first time that this nationalistic concept was proclaimed boldly.
- Sadashivrao Bhau was the first person before modern times to understand the close link between the cultural and political identities of the Indian people. He sought to unite Indians for the common purpose of defending the country and ousting Abdali.
If they had heeded his call, an army of India’s diverse people would have unitedly won the war against Abdali. Consequently, it would have been difficult for another invasive force, the British, to acquire a launchpad in India. And we would have written a different history of India.
Despite harrowing odds, Indian soldiers fought at the Battle of Panipat to avert a catastrophe and lost their lives doing so. Let’s pause, today, to mark our reverence to these brave souls.
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