Book Review [123] : Solstice At Panipat - 14 January 1761

'Panipat' enjoys a kind of cult place in Indian History; this is the place where invaders had won 'decisive' battles all the time - from the time of Babur to Ahmad Shah Durrani. The battle that was fought on 14th January 1761 was the most ferocious battle fought by Indians against the barbaric hoards supported by Indian traitors, the causalities were heavy on both sides but Afghans carried out the worst possible massacre of non-combatants - close to 100,000 non-combatant men were killed and tombs were erected of their heads while women were captured as war booty.

'Solstice At Panipat' by Uday S. Kulkarni is a retelling of the great battle of Panipat in excruciatingly fine detail. Contrary to the public perception this battle was not a decisive battle in any sense. Though the Marathas were decimated in this battle but they were not exterminated and within a decade they were able to reassert themselves on Indian scene and till 1803 they remained master of Northern and western India and the Afghans who were victorious in the battle never returned to Delhi and ceased to play any role in Indian affairs, and their Bangash and Rohilla allies were vaporized by Marathas within a decade. 

It was a great battle between two great armies led by two great Generals. Afghans were well supported and supplied by their Indian traitors like Rohilla chief Najib Khan and Nawab of Awadh Shuja-ud-daula while Marathas were isolated and not even single Indian power supported them in this great battle. The land of Rajputana that produced heroes like Amar Singh Rathore, Maldeo, Rana Pratap and others invited Ahmad Shah Durrani to invade India and destroy Maratha power. The rulers of Marwar and Jaipur were leaders in this villainous plot masterminded by Rohilla chief Najib Khan. 

On 14th January the Afghans were having a slight numerical upper hand. The Maratha Army was about 45,000 to 55,000 strong and had about 100,000 to 200,000 non-combatants while Afghan Army was about 60,000 to 70,000 strong with close to 50,000 non-combatants. The battle started around 9 in morning on 14th January and Marathas were leading the battle until 1:00 in afternoon. The 10,000 strong artillery division led by Ibrahim Khan Gardi almost destroyed the middle and left of the Afghan juggernaut. The Afghans started retreating by 1 in afternoon but destiny had something else in store - the leader of Marathas - Vishwas Rao (about 18 year old) was killed by a stray bullet and the Maratha army panicked. Maratha General Sadashiv Rao Bhau tried hard to inspire the retreating Marathas by his most audacious attack on Afghans but the Maratha Right wing led by Malhar Rao Holkar retreated from the battle with his 10,000 soldiers, sensing a rare opportunity to turn the table Ahmad Shah Durrani forced his 10,000 strong reserves into Maratha center and within next 3 hours i.e. by 4:00 PM in evening the fate of battle was sealed. Sadashiv Rao Bhau died a heroic death fighting against all odds, the Gardis led by Ibrahim Khan Gardi continued fighting to the end, Shamser Bahadur (son of Baji Rao and Mastani) was mortally wounded along with Jankoji and Tukoji Scindhia. We would have won the battle had Malhar Rao Holkar not retreated with his 10,000 troops. In the end about 40,000 Maratha soldiers died and Afghans also suffered about 30,000 to 40,000 casualties.

After the battle about 100,000 non-combatants were killed by Afghans in the most gruesome manner though many survived and the Jat ruler Surajmal supplied provisions to the people who survived that gory massacre. Though at the insistence of Shuja-ud-Daula Afghan king allowed the remains of Sadashiv Rao Bhau, Vishwas Rao and others cremations according to Hindu religion. 

In almost all great battles we tasted defeats from the jaws of victories be it the battle of Tarain (1192), battle of Khanua (1527), Second Battle of Panipat (1556) or the final battle of Panipat (1761). We lost these battles mainly because lack of unified command and inflated egos of our generals. 

Highly Recommended (10/10)