Third battle of Panipat
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The Third Battle of Panipat which took place on January 14, 1761 at Panipat (Haryana State, India) about 80 miles (130 km) north of Delhi, was decisive in that it checked the advance of the raiding Marathas and, if for a brief period, restored the glory of the Mughal empire. The main battle was fought between the forces under Ahmad Shah Abdali and the Marathan host. It is believed that nearly 100,000 people either died or were injured on both sides in the one-day battle, though some historians estimate the total to be nearer to 60,000.
The battle pitted the French-supplied and trained artillery of the Marathas against the famous light cavalry of the Afghans. The matchup would have been rather one sided in favour of the Marathas had not their own cavalry decided to charge prematurely leading to their defeat. Both forces were so heavily attritted that the Mughal Empire fell, the expansion of the Maratha's power ended, and Ahmad Shah's Durrani Empire suffered continual attacks by the growing Sikh power and eventually retired to the north of Kandahar. However, the battle was most notably decisive as it effectively smashed the Maratha dream of spreading all over Northern India.
| Third Battle of Panipat | ||
|---|---|---|
| Part of the Imperial Maratha Conquests | ||
| Date: January 14, 1761 | ||
| Place: Panipat, Haryana, India | ||
| Outcome: Decisive victory for Ahmad Shah Abdali | ||
| Combatants | ||
| Maratha Empire, Mughals | Durrani Empire | |
| Commanders | ||
| Sadashivrao Bhau | Ahmad Shah Abdali | |
| Strength | ||
| 45,000 | 60,000 | |
| Casualties | ||
| 35,000 (excluding thousands of pilgrims,women and children) | 40,000 | |
Contents |
[edit] Prelude to Panipat
The Mughal Empire had been in decline for some time after the invasion of India by Nadir Shah in 1739, and continued rebellions by the Marathas in the south, and the de-facto separation of a number of states (including Hyderabad and Bengal). This paved the way for the Jats and the Sikhs to eventually become a force to reckon with, and led to aggressive imperial designs by the Marathas in the south-west. A large Marathan force had been sent to Delhi, and the Marathas could conceivably speak of having the Emperor within their protection. These aggressive designs of the Marathans and the general weakness surrounding the Afghan province of Punjab, prompted Ahmad Shah Abdali, the ruler of Afghanistan, to send yet another force to deal with the threats. After his invasion in 1757, he had left the Mughals in nominal control which however, proved to be a fateful mistake when his son, Timur Shah, proved to be utterly incapable of maintaining control of the Afghan troops. Soon the local Sikh population rose in revolt and asked for the protection of the Marathas, who availed the opportunity to arrive in Lahore. Timur retreated to Afghanistan.
Ahmad Shah could not allow this to go unchecked, and in 1759 raised an army from the Pashtun tribes with help from the Baloch, and invaded India once again. By the end of the year they had reached Lahore, but Marathas continued to pour into the conflict and by 1760 had formed a single army of over 100,000 to block him.
There followed much manoeuvring, with skirmishes fought at Karnal , Kunjapura. After the Marathas failed to prevent Abdali's forces crossing the Yamuna river, they set up defensive works in the excellent ground near Panipat, thereby blocking Ahmad's access back to Afghanistan just as his forces blocked theirs to south. Abdali slowly tightened the noose by cutting off the Maratha Army's supply lines. Sikhs and Jats (with the exception of Ala Singh the first Maharaja of Patiala) did not support Marathas because of their refusal to sack Delhi, which was at that time a Maratha protectorate. Their supplies and stores dwindling, the Marathas then moved in almost 150 pieces of modern long-range rifled French made artillery. With a range of several kilometres, these guns were some of the best of the times.
[edit] Siege
The Afghan forces arrived in late 1760 to find the Marathas in well-prepared works. Realizing a direct attack was hopeless, they set up for a siege. The resulting face-off lasted two months. During this time Ahmad continued to receive supplies from locals, but the Marathas own supply line was cut off, because of the Marathas had broken their policy of not harassing non-muslims. Marathas in the prelude to the 3rd battle of Panipat had harassed the Jats, sikhs and other rulers by looting the Hindu civilians. This prompted the Sikhs and Jats to remain neutral during the war and thus Marathas were left without the supplies in the battle zone.
Realizing the situation was not in their favour, the Marathas under Sadashiv Bhau decided to break the siege. His plan was to pulverise the enemy formations with cannon fire and not to employ his cavalry until the Afghans were thoroughly softened up. With the Afghans now broken, he would move camp in a defensive formation towards Delhi, where they were assured supplies.
The line would be formed up some 12km across, with the artillery in front, protected by infantry, pikemen, musketeers and bowmen. The cavalry was instructed to wait behind the artillery and bayonet wielding musketeers, ready to be thrown in when control of battlefield had been fully established.
Behind this line was another ring of 30,000 young Maratha soldiers who were not battle tested, and then the roughly 30,000 civilians entrained. Many were middle class men, women and children on their pilgrimage to the Hindu holy places and shrines, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see Aryavarta (Aryan Land). The civilians were irrationally confident of the Maratha army, regarding it as one of the best in the world, and definitely one of the most powerful in Asia. Behind the civilians was yet another protective infantry line, of young inexperienced soldiers.
[edit] Battle opens
Before dawn on January 14, 1761 the Maratha forces emerged from the trenches, pushing the artillery into position on their pre-arranged lines, some 2km from the Afghans. Seeing that the battle was on, Ahmad positioned his 60 smoothbore cannon and opened fire. However, because of the short range of the weapons, the Maratha lines remained untouched. Ahmad then launched a cavalry attack to break their lines.
The first defensive salvo of the Marathas went over the Afghans' heads and inflicted very little damage, but the Afghan attack was nevertheless broken by Maratha bowmen and pikemen, along with some famed Maratha Gardi musketeers stationed close to the artillery positions. The second and subsequent salvos were fired at point blank range, and the resulting carnage sent the Afghans reeling back to their lines. The European-style plan had worked just as envisioned.
The Marathas then started moving their infantry formation forward, led by the artillery. The Afghans responded with repeated cavalry attacks, all of which failed. About 12,000 Afghan cavalry and infantrymen lost their lives in this opening stage of the battle.
[edit] The Marathas cavalry charge
At this stage it looked as though Bhausaheb would clinch victory for the Marathas once again. However, some of the Maratha lieutenants, particularly Vitthal Vinchurkar and Damaji Gaikwad, jealous of the exploits of their artillery chief (Commandant de la gard - Ibrahim Khan Gardi who had designed the powerful Gardi muskets), decided to exploit the gaps in the enemy lines & dash; despite strict instructions not to charge or engage Afghan cavalry in hand to hand fight. The mass of Maratha horsemen raced through their own artillery lines and charged towards the demoralised Afghans, intending to cut the faltering army in two.
The over-enthusiasm of the charge saw many of the half starved Maratha horses exhausted long before they had travelled the two kilometres to the Afghan lines; some simply collapsed. Making matters worse was the suffocating odour of the rotting corpses of men and animals left on the field from the fighting of the previous months. Still, a major mass of Maratha cavalry collided with the Afgan cavalry, initially taking down a few thousand of Afghani troops.
In response, the Afghan officers stiffened their troops resistance. Abdali sent his body guards to call up his reserves of 10,000 from his camp and arranged it as column right in front his and cavalry of musketeers, and swivel mounted cannons (shaturnals) on the back of camels. because of their positioning on camels they could fire an extensive salvo over the heads of their own infantry and at the Maratha cavalry, who were unable to withstand the rifled muskets and camel-mounted swivel cannons of the Afghans. Abdali had 2000 such shaturnals. They could be fired without the rider having to dismount and were especially effective against fast moving cavalry.
With their own men in the firing line, the Maratha artillery could not respond, and about 7,000 Maratha cavalry and infantry perished before the hand to hand fighting began at around 2PM. By 4PM the tired Maratha infantry began to succumb to the onslaught of attacks from fresh Afghan reserves, protected by armoured leather jackets.
[edit] Attack from within
The Maratha army had captured some afghan slaves earlier during the siege of Kunjpura. They had not been trusted to be in the front line because their loyalty was suspect whether they would be loyal to their kind or their feeders. As they were captured slaves, saw an opportunity to avenge the humiliation. They started fighting the Maratha army from the inside. This brought confusion and great consternation to loyal Maratha soldiers, who thought that the enemy had attacked from behind.
Sadashivrao Bhau, seeing his forward lines dwindling and civilians behind, could not move forward his young soldiers as reserves from behind and felt he had no choice but to come down from his elephant and lead the battle at the head of household troops. He left instructions with his bodyguards that, if the battle were lost, they must kill his wife Parvati bai for he could not tolerate her being dishonoured by the Afghans.
Some maratha soldiers, seeing that their general had disappeared from his elephant, panicked and began to flee. Vishwasrao, the son of Peshwa Nanasaheb, had already fallen to a shot in the head. Sadashivrao Bhau and his loyal bodyguards fought to the end, the maratha leader having three horses shot down from under him.
[edit] Rout
The Afghans pursued the fleeing Maratha army, while the Maratha front lines remained largely intact, with some of their artillery units fighting until sundown. Choosing not to launch a night attack, made good their escape that night. Parvatibai escaped the armageddon with her bodyguards, and eventually returned to Pune.
[edit] The Massacre
Mass of surrendered Maratha soldiers were handcuffed and then murdered, their heads chopped off by Afghans to earn blessings for killing Kafirs on account of their families back in Afghanistan.
(“the unhappy prisoners were paraded in long lines, given a little parched grain and a drink of water, and beheaded… and the women and children who survived were driven off as slaves - twenty-two thousand, many of them of the highest aristocratic rank in the land, says the Siyar-ut-Mutakhirin.”22)
The Afghan cavalry and pikemen ran wild through the streets of Panipat, killing any Maratha soldiers or civilians who offered resistance. About 6,000 women and children sought shelter with the north Indian local ruler, the Shuja-ud-Daula (alley of Abdali), who was actually undecided before the war about if he should join the Marathas or Abdali. His Hindu officers persuaded him to protect the Maratha women and children. Another 22,000 women and children seeking refuge in streets of panipat were hounded back in afgan camps as slaves. Children over 14 were beheaded before their own mothers and sisters. Women were made to carry the severed heads of Marathas to the afgan army accountant so the afgan soldiers earned 1 silver coin per head brought in.
Afghan officers who had lost their kin in battle were permitted to carry out massacres the next day, also in Panipat and the surrounding area. They arranged victory mounds of severed heads outside their camps. About 10,000 Maratha civilians and soldiers alike were slain this way on 15th January 1761. Many of the fleeing Maratha women jumped into the Panipat wells rather than risk rape and dishonour. Many others did their best to hide in the streets of Panipat when even the North Indian Hindus / Muslims of the town refused to give them refuge.
Abdali's soldiers took about 22,000 women and young children and brought them to their camps. The women were raped in the camp, many committed suicide because of constant rapes perpetrated on them. All of the prisoners were exchanged or sold as sex slaves to Afghanistan or North India, transported on bullock carts, camels and elephants in bamboo cages.
The main reason for the failure of Marathas was that they went to war without good allies. Though their infantry was based on European style contingent and had some of the best French made guns of the times,they failed to woo allies in North India. Their earlier hegemonistic behavior and their political ambitions which led them to loot and plunder, had antagonized all the powers. They had interfered in the internal affairs of the Rajputana states (present day Rajasthan) and levied heavy taxes and huge fines on them. They had also made huge territorial and monetary claims upon Awadh. Their raids in the Sikh territory had angered the Sikh chiefs. Similarly the Jat chiefs, on whom also they had imposed heavy fines, did not trust them. They had, therefore, to fight their enemies alone, except for the weak support of Imad -ul-Mulk. Moreover, the senior Maratha chiefs constantly bickered with one another. Each one of them had ambitions of carving out their independent states and had no interest in fighting against a common enemy.
A conservative estimate places Maratha losses at 45,000 on the Panipat battlefield itself, and another 20,000 or more in surrounding areas besides at least 22,000 women and children as prisoners and slaves. According to Mr. Hamilton of Bombay Gazette about half a million people were present there on Panipat town from Maharashtra and on any rate he gives figure of 40, 000 prisoners as executed.
[edit] Afghans losses
The Afghans losses were around 40,000. As far as battle casualties are concerned, the Afghans too suffered heavy losses. The enormous casualties on the Afghan side forced the invaders to abandon any plan of setting up an empire in India and retreat back to Afghanistan.
[edit] Following the battle
To save their kingdom, and in the name of Islam, the Mughals once again changed sides and welcomed the Afghans to Delhi, forgetting that Marathas had just lost 100,000 men and women for their cause. However, the news soon arrived that Marathas had organised another 100,000 men in the south to avenge their loss and to rescue the captured prisoners. He left Delhi two months after the battle, heading for Afghanistan with his loot of 500 elephants, 1500 camels, 50,000 horses and at least about 22,000 women and children.
The Mughals remained in nominal control over small areas of India, but were never a force again. The empire officially ended in 1857 when its last emperor was accused of being involved in the Sepoy Mutiny and exiled.
The Marathas expansion was stopped in the battle, and soon broke into infighting within their empire. They never regained any unity, and were soon under increasing pressure from the British. Their claims to empire were officially ended in 1818.
It is worth noticing the fact the Maratha empire provided the biggest challange to the moguls in the erstwhile India keeping in check the influence of foreign invaders, forced conversions and oppression of the local people.
Meanwhile the Sikhs, who were left largely untouched by the battle, soon retook Lahore. When Ahmad returned in March 1764 he was forced to break off his siege after only two weeks due to rebellion in Afghanistan. He returned again in 1767, but was unable to win any decisive battle. With his own troops arguing over a lack of pay, he eventually abandoned the district to the Sihks, who remained in control until 1849.
This 3rd battle of Panipat saw an enormous number of casualties and deaths in a single day of battle, perhaps unmatched even today in the later wars. It was the scene of uncommon valour, unwanted strategic blunders,internal bickerings, murders of prisoners of war, and large scale rapes perpetrated on women.
[edit] Descendants of Maratha Prisoners of War
Though it is a historical fact that a large number of prisoners, mostly hapless women around the scene of the battle were taken as slaves to Afghanistan, it is only fair to presume that many could have died from the extreme climatic conditions of Afghanistan to which they were unaccustomed. Despite this,even today a large section of people in Maharashtra( a State in India where Maharashtrians live in large numbers) feel that some of them could have survived and lived a miserable life that Afghanistan is so famous for. They believe even now (2005),after 244 years,that some members of the of descendants of prisoners of wars still under slavery can be found at least Balochistan in Bugti and Marri tribal areas. According to them,the Maratha Bugtis and Marri in Balochistan are an interesting case of what may be a caste forming even under Islamic rule. Theirs is a clan claiming descent from Marathas captives of war brought back by members of the Bugti tribe, who served the armies of Ahmad Shah Durrani (Abdali) after the fateful battle of Panipat.In time they underwent forceful 'Bugti-ization' and became Muslims although they were once considered as bonded labour. They could not own or buy land. Till a generation ago they could be 'bought' for Ttwenty or thirty rupees. Their womenfolk remain a fair game for Bugtis and Marris. This according to Marathis of India, means, officially the Panipat war on Marathas have not ended even today.
The Maratha and Marri Bugtis took jobs as unskilled labourers, which their tribal overlords disdained. Over the years some of them have come to occupy higher positions. However they are still targeted and remain to be rescued. It is interesting to note that this caste-like phenomenon has endured for more than two centuries, even in a region largely devoid of Hindus.
After the defeat lot of marathas took refuge with local Sikh & Jat Chieftainns especially women & children, who later on are said to converted to sikhism. It has been noted that several women in family trees of several sikh families, have marathi names like Gajanabai, Tukabai or Indumati. This implies that these women had maratha roots. After partition with no access in punjab province of Pakistan it is very difficult determine lineage of such type. Also many Jat familes acknowledge about mixing of maratha lineage especially those settled around Panipat, Kunjpura & Karnal.
The fate of descendants maratha prisoners taken in Afghanistan remains a mystery to be traced. However Maharashtra as a nation and Maratha leadership even today has failed to recognise existence of such descendants and rescue these people (on the lines of Jewish agency in Israel) if they are willing even today. These are war crimes perpetrated even today we need to verify and Maharashtra state government needs to verify their existence and raise fund for rescue or humanitarian aid
We need to investigate how many prisoners were taken originally by statistical method and investigate other areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan if there exists such tribe who trace their ancestry to marathas as prisoners from panipat war.
[edit] See also
- Ahmed Shah Abdali
- Marathas
- Ranjit Singh
- Mahadji Shinde
- Balaji Baji Rao
- Sadashiv Rao
