Last week, 3M wrote about the Maratha Conquest of Punjab (1758)
during which the Maratha army drove out the Afghans from India. Sadly, leaders
of the army (Raghunathrao and Malharrao Holkar) were keen to come back to their
respective hometowns instead of stabilising their hold over the newly acquired
territory of Punjab – the land of five rivers. (This trait can be seen in
Maharashtrians even today!). At the request of Shah Waliullah (to defend Islam
against infidels), Ahmad Shah Abadli came back to conquer not just Punjab but
also overran the Gangetic plains. To defend India, the Maratha Empire put
together an army of more than 1 Lakh combatants and started a long journey to
the north. To avoid an all-out war, Ahmad Shah Abali offered the Marathas
Chambal River as the border between the two warring empires. This compromise
was not acceptable to the Marathas who were determined to get rid of "Mlechchas" from the Indian soil!
252 years ago on Makar Sankranti, the Marathas finally
met the Afghans at Panipat. This 3rd Battle of Panipat was one of the
bloodiest wars fought in the 18th Century in the entire world. For those
who want to read a detailed unbiased account of this war, 3M highly recommends ‘Solstice at Panipat - 14thJanuary 1761’ by Dr. Uday Kulkarni.
Sadly this battle is neglected by most Indian
historians and public at large. But what they fail to understand is that the
map of India would have been totally different had it not been for the stiff
resistance by the Marathas. After the war, Afghans abandoned the idea of invading
India again. In fact, no one invaded India from the Northwest from 1761 right
up to 1947! Thanks to Mahadaji Shinde, the defeated Marathas were able to re-establish their writ over most of North
India within a decade. As can be seen in the map above, the limits of the Maratha
Empire are today the Hindu majority area and hence part of Republic of India. Had
Marathas not fought the war and accepted the terms of Ahmad Shah Abdali to “stay
south of the Chambal”, we would have had a very different map of India.
Pakistan-Bangladesh-Gangetic Plains would have been one contiguous Islamic
Nation. The peninsular India would have been ‘Hindustan’ with a big Pakistani
enclave in the centre thanks to the Nizam of Hyderabad!
Wishing all readers a very happy Makar Sankranti!
