The Military System of the Marathas, with a Brief Account of Their Maritime Activities c13.29

c13.29

Instead of that he entrenched himself strongly at Panipat. In his fortified camp defended by a deep ditch and a strong mud wall with mounted cannons he could easily beat off any attack of Abdali. And it was his plan to compel his enemies to fight the Maratha army on its own ground. Govind Pant Bundele was expected to devastate the territories of the allied princes with a flying corps of Maratha cavalry, cut off their supplies and drive Abdali to meet his destruction at Panipat. The plan looked well on paper, but its success depended mainly on the operations entrusted to Govind Pant Bundele. This officer, however, had neither the ability nor the means, as G. S. Sardesai points out, to carry out the instructions of his commander. He was by profession and training a civilian. His following consisted of the militia needed for revenue collection, and the cavalry under his command was hardly adequate for the enterprise upon which the fate of Sadashiv Rao’s grand army depended so much. But Sadashiv Rao and his companions were confident of success. Their jubilant confidence found expression in a letter written by Krishna Joshi¹ on 5 November 1760. The Muhammadan army, he informed his correspondent, was suffering from scarcity of provisions, while there was abundance of it in the Maratha camp. He expected the Afghans to fall upon their entrenched camp in a few days and meet certain destruction from their artillery. He ascribed the inactivity of the Afghan general to his fear of Maratha prowess. He jubilantly concludes his letter with the remark that ‘Abdali cannot retreat to his own country as the road is blocked, he dares not fight the Marathas as defeat is certain, he cannot sit idle as he is short of provisions’. The unfortunate writer died two days afterwards, and he hardly realised when he penned these lines how accurately he was describing the difficulties that awaited his own commander. Sadashiv Rao had attempted the combination of two fundamentally opposite methods, and the result was disastrous.