Fall of the Mughal Empire v2.c27.s27.1

v2.c27.s27.1

Since the days of Vishwanāth K. Rājwādé, it has been the fashion with Maratha writers to belittle the result of the battle of Pānipat as no disaster to the Marathas except for the death of so many chiefs and so many thousands of soldiers. Its political consequence is spoken of as nothing, and Abdali's victory as a great illusion. This view is supported by the fact that Ahmad Shah reaped no lasting gain from his victory and sought soon afterwards for a friendly settlement with the Peshwā by sending an envoy and presents to him. Māhādji Sindhiā's occupation of Delhi in 1789 is pointed out as a proof that the Maratha defeat of 28 years earlier had been completely nullified. But a dispassionate survey of Indian history will show how unfounded this chauvinistic claim is. A Maratha army did, no doubt, restore the exiled Mughal Emperor to the capital of his fathers in 1772, but they came then, not as kingmakers, not as the dominators of the Mughal's empire and the real masters of his nominal ministers and generals. That proud position was secured by Māhādji Sindhiā only in 1789 and by the British in 1803.