Civilian Maratha pilgrimage in Panipat. Were Marathas taking Abdali non-seriously?

[Samandri]

I have went through some Indian sources and according to it there were more than 3 lakh (300 thousands) pilgrims, mostly women , who accompanied Maratha army to the site of battle which was anticipated to be bloody. There are some points which does not make much sense and raises questions,

1- In a series of battles, Durranis, with the assistance of their Rohilla allies under Najib, routed out Maratha forces from Punjab, Doaba, Delhi. Jat territory under Suraj Mal was also invaded and their forts were captured or besieged. So i believe it should have been very serious situation for the Marathas. Yet i see them sending, according to Indian sources, only 40 thousand Maratha cavalry (with 10 thousand non-Maratha gardis and 15000 pindaris) against the enemy who had learnt art of war from military genius like Nadir Shah Afshar. why sending such small force when they could have mustered a very large force (this force is even smaller than most of the Maratha raids on very small enemies). Were they underestimating Afghans?

2- Another surprising thing is , that 40,000 Maratha cavalry that was sent against Abdali to Panipat, was under numerous Maratha chiefs. So many famous military commanders from Maratha side but with such small forces under them when they had commanded much larger forces individually on other occasions?. Its not that they didnt get the time to gather forces. there is year and haf gap between apperance of Abdali in India and the battle at panipat.

3- Peshwa sent his son and nephew to Panipat with only 40,000 Maratha cavalry. Was he underestimating the enemy or loved the thrill of sending his kin with smaller force when he had given command of much larger armies to the commanders on other occasions with much less threat.

4- Forty thousand Maratha troops were accompanied by their wives to the battle field. Was this merry making expedition or over-confidence?. In addition maratha army was accompanied by Lakhs of pilgrims. The way , Abdali stormed through Northern India, should have elicited a very serious and emergency response from Peshwa.

5- Smaller army of Abdali relied much on Rohillas who provided him 38,000 troops and 70 pieces of cannon. Even the local muslim chiefs of Panipat, who were descendants of Afghans, gave assistance to Abdali. Without this local support and allies, Abdalis would never have succeeded in long-suration war with Marathas. Yet Marathas didn't seek for local allies even though they had only 40,000 horsemen, 10,000 gardis and Pindari irregulars. Doesnt make much sense. Either its stupidity or over-confidence of Baho. Or Maratha sources are simply lying about the actual strength of maratha forces on occasion of panipat battle. Only a two or three lakh strong army would be so much over-confident.

 

[khakhi_chaddi]

Marathas were betrayed by Rajputs & Sikhs. Rajputs did not fight & Sikhs supported Durrani.

 

[Samandri]

Marathas were betrayed by Rajputs & Sikhs. Rajputs did not fight & Sikhs supported Durrani.

Sikhs help to Marathas in Punjab was direct one. Sikhs supported Adina Beg who had joined with Marathas against Afghans. The combined forces of Marathas, Adina Beg and Sikhs proceeded to drive out Afghans from Sirhind, Lahore etc. They were not centralized power at that time but were various armed jathas or bands so i dont understand why many Indian articles on 1761 battle shows disappointment in Punjab-centric Sikhs to be not involved in Panipat battle.

 

[FULL_METAL]

Marathas made the same old mistake of believing that the berbarian horde will only fight sword to sword and spare the civilians using mahabharaesque code of honour against plundering invaders was the main reason for downfall of most hindu kingdoms

 

[SarthakGanguly]

Marathas made the same old mistake of believing that the berbarian horde will only fight sword to sword and spare the civilians using mahabharaesque code of honour against plundering invaders was the main reason for downfall of most hindu kingdoms

Complacent stupid Hindus. I mean it.

Marathas were betrayed by Rajputs & Sikhs. Rajputs did not fight & Sikhs supported Durrani.

No. Sikhs were not with Durrani. Rajputs were divided. As usual.

 

[ravi kiran]

I think we Marathas were little over confident. we thought we can defeat abdali easily. that was biggest mistake. This over confidence came through various decisive victories all over India before Panipat. Main victories were when Maratha conquered Multan, Dera Ghazi Khan, Kashmir, Attock, Peshawar and Lahore in 1758(This incident has a special importance in Indian history, particularly Hindu history since, after nearly seven and a half centuries when the last Hindu King of the region Trilochan Pal Shahi had been defeated by Mahmud of Ghazni in 1020 C.E., Indus river came under Hindu rule due to the Maratha conquest of Punjab in 1758. This campaign of the Marathas led by Raghunath Rao is hailed as Raghu's Bharari - i.e. whirlwind campaign in Maharashtra even today) and victory over Nizam of Hyderabad.(a year before battle of Panipat)

In this over confidence Maratha took nearly 1-2 lakh pilgrimage with them and it became worst burden in battle. Traditionally Maratha armies always had offensive battle strategies. but in panipat Marathas were forced to do defensive war to protect these pilgrimage. This defensive war strategy was never used by Marathas before. Till afternoon Marathas were winning the war. their offensive on abdalis middle was so strong that they broke abdalis middle rank but they were unable to storm through afgan middle ranks cause they had pilgrimage to protect at their back.

Another reason was their was distrust between main Maratha chiefs Shinde and Holkar. forces under Holkar were intact in panipat war. Holkar was in right flank of Maratha army. when Holkar saw Maratha left and middle defeated he withdrew from battle ground without fighting.

Another blunder made by Marathas was before Panipat they made nearly all north Indian rulers their enemies due to their wrong policies. because of that in Panipat Marathas were forced to face abdali alone.

It was series of mistakes and unfortunate events that led to defeat of Marathas at Panipat.

 

[Manindra]

With all these Maratha would able to win, if Maratha Commander in Chief would not gone into enemy battle line with his horse in fighting. (Its bravery & stupidity both)
Maratha army thought their commander killed & they run away.

 

[FULL_METAL]

Complacent stupid Hindus. I mean it.

If you don't learn from your mistakes you are not fit enough to survive, it is simple as that, Jews learned it the hard way, hidus, well are still confused over the first chapter and has zero idea about what to prepare for the final exams world is very cruel for forever confused beings

 

[SarthakGanguly]

If you don't learn from your mistakes you are not fit enough to survive, it is simple as that, Jews learned it the hard way, hidus, well are still confused over the first chapter and has zero idea about what to prepare for the final exams world is very cruel for forever confused beings

True. Trust me - I find it difficult to elicit sympathy for Hindus many times. There is nothing worse than a willing slave.

 

[GR!FF!N]

Third Battle of Panipat was not result of "Successful Battle",rather it is a "Political Blunder" by Marathas that resulted in defeat.Their appointment of Sadashivrao Bhau as supreme commander and political decision maker when he had little experience in politics of North India.He simply failed to form an alliances,that is the main reason of defeat.

another reason is the massive number of Non Combatants,which not only finished their food real soon,but during retreat,this Non Combatants were the reason for slaughter that followed.

 

[AUSTERLITZ]

Marathas were betrayed by Rajputs & Sikhs. Rajputs did not fight & Sikhs supported Durrani.

Marathas looted both punjab and rajasthan and used extortion due to greed of maratha sardars,balaji bajirao was not bajirao I who could keep his sardars under control because he was sitting in satara thousands of miles away-not the battlefield commander like bajirao.
These actions alienated rajputs and sikhs.

The reasons marathas lost at panipat -

1.Division of forces -At panipat only half of maratha army was present.ther half had left north india under raghunathrao.So marathas themselves were responsible for their numerical inferiority.

2.Political failure - Marathas due to failed policies and greed of sardars alienated rfriendly factions -sikhs,jats,rajputs.These could have provided very large numbers of good troops.The Marathas had interfered in the internal affairs of the Rajput states (present-day Rajasthan) and levied heavy taxes and huge fines on them. They had also made large territorial and monetary claims upon Awadh. Their raids in the Jat territory had resulted in the loss of trust of Jat chiefs like Suraj Mal. They had, therefore, to fight their enemies alone. Marathas treated Sikhs, who assisted them in their north-west conquest as a non-entity in Punjab affairs.

3.Decline of army discipline and big Baggage train - The Maratha army was also burdened with over 300,000 pilgrims.Plus too many non-combatants.They lost their mobility and had huge supply problems.The battle was fought by starving maratha army.This situation would have been unthinkable under the mobile armies of bajirao or shivaji.

4.Zamburak artillery - The marathas had no answer to the thousands of camel mounted swivel guns fielded by afghans -the best mobile light artillery in asia at that time.These caused maximum martha losses,they couldn't answer the fire of these guns.

5.Numerical Inferiority - Abdali's combined forces were much larger.

6.Inferior horses - The afghan central asian horsebreeds were much better battlehorses than maratha horses which were also half starved,many horses collapsed during the charge.Quality of horses is important in determining the cavalry battle.

7.Lack of unity of command - The martha sardars continously bickered with each other and didn't co-operate on the battlefield.Gardi's infantry breakthrough was not supported by cavalry.The afghan attack on the right wing was not halted by any sardar sending reinforcements even though they were close by.Holkar,gaekwad and scindia withdrew one after another rather than attempt to counterattack.

8.Abandoning guerialla warfare - Marathas had always gained successes by hit and run tactics.Their horses were not big breeds and their cavalry lacked armour,thus pitched battle was not always their forte unless they could wear down the enemy.Ambush,continous skirmishing and raiding or cutting off enemy supplies - This is how shivaji and bajirao won most of their campaigns. If the marathas had used their traditional ganimi kava or hit and run warfare as holkar wanted, in Punjab and in north India. Abdali was in no position to maintain his field army in India indefinitely.

Maratha defeat at panipat didn't end maratha power by any means -within a decade of panipat Mahodji scindia was in delhi installing his puppet mughal emperor .It simply decentralized it and reduced its reach.Bulk of india remained under different maratha sardars,but panipat destroyed their unity.Peshwa died soon,and thereafter the authority of the peshwa as the centralized power of maratha forces broke down.Without united maratha power they couldn't hope to fight the british.

 

[Jaypal shahi]

I have went through some Indian sources and according to it there were more than 3 lakh (300 thousands) pilgrims, mostly women , who accompanied Maratha army to the site of battle which was anticipated to be bloody. There are some points which does not make much sense and raises questions,

1- In a series of battles, Durranis, with the assistance of their Rohilla allies under Najib, routed out Maratha forces from Punjab, Doaba, Delhi. Jat territory under Suraj Mal was also invaded and their forts were captured or besieged. So i believe it should have been very serious situation for the Marathas. Yet i see them sending, according to Indian sources, only 40 thousand Maratha cavalry (with 10 thousand non-Maratha gardis and 15000 pindaris) against the enemy who had learnt art of war from military genius like Nadir Shah Afshar. why sending such small force when they could have mustered a very large force (this force is even smaller than most of the Maratha raids on very small enemies). Were they underestimating Afghans?

2- Another surprising thing is , that 40,000 Maratha cavalry that was sent against Abdali to Panipat, was under numerous Maratha chiefs. So many famous military commanders from Maratha side but with such small forces under them when they had commanded much larger forces individually on other occasions?. Its not that they didnt get the time to gather forces. there is year and haf gap between apperance of Abdali in India and the battle at panipat.

3- Peshwa sent his son and nephew to Panipat with only 40,000 Maratha cavalry. Was he underestimating the enemy or loved the thrill of sending his kin with smaller force when he had given command of much larger armies to the commanders on other occasions with much less threat.

4- Forty thousand Maratha troops were accompanied by their wives to the battle field. Was this merry making expedition or over-confidence?. In addition maratha army was accompanied by Lakhs of pilgrims. The way , Abdali stormed through Northern India, should have elicited a very serious and emergency response from Peshwa.

5- Smaller army of Abdali relied much on Rohillas who provided him 38,000 troops and 70 pieces of cannon. Even the local muslim chiefs of Panipat, who were descendants of Afghans, gave assistance to Abdali. Without this local support and allies, Abdalis would never have succeeded in long-suration war with Marathas. Yet Marathas didn't seek for local allies even though they had only 40,000 horsemen, 10,000 gardis and Pindari irregulars. Doesnt make much sense. Either its stupidity or over-confidence of Baho. Or Maratha sources are simply lying about the actual strength of maratha forces on occasion of panipat battle. Only a two or three lakh strong army would be so much over-confident.

Maratha army was initially bigger than afghans. Abdali waited until shuja ud daulah joined. This doubled his army and completed encirclement. Essentially UP backstabbed Maharashtra