Originally posted by: RadhikaS0
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Wonderful post Abhay! Quite interesting for me because of the link to Hyderabad. :)
Thanks Radika.
BTW Nizam was not the winning party in this war. :-P
History is said to be a subjective field, open to interpretation and as in the present case, often, historians look for evidence that supports their pre-conceived notions of the past and overlook the inconvenient details. Recently there is talk of rewriting history books to "prove" that MP won the battle of Haldighati.
I started my post with these lines only about various interpretations / school of thoughts. But in the present case there is no doubt about Bajirao winning the war. There is clear evidence that Nasir Jung surrendered the 2 districts and even invited Chimaji Appa to his palace and hosted a grand reception for Chimaji !! Also, as you have seen, there was no "evidence" in reality, which the author quoted.
Pity that multiple versions of history are allowed to be propagated freely esp on the internet but even at the level of academic books. Our kids grow up believing distorted facts to be true.
But I think it is this aspect what makes history lively. This makes the debate interesting. But then, all versions ought to have sensible arguments too.
Let the books come out about MP winning the war. This has been in news since last 2 years i think. There was a news that Akbar will be "removed" from the books (something like that). Till now nothing has happened. Let us see what actually happens. What the media reports and what (often) happens in reality hardly has any coherence. Also, there are so many other problems in our textbooks but no hell breaks loose on those topics. Cherry picking is an art of our media where it has attained great proficiency.
BTW, let me remind you that i had posted Sanskrit to English translation of a inscription from a temple in Udaipur. Anyone, who understands Sanskrit can read that inscription and do his / her own translation. This was discovered last to last year. You have read it too. Just sharing the link again, here if anyone else wants to read.
https://mariam-uz-zamani.blogspot.in/2015/06/battle-of-haldighati-inscription.html
That inscription gives an insight into the "celebration of Maharana Pratap after the conclusion of battle of Haldighati". This is not my inscription. This has been there since last few hundred years. Lol.
For Mughal sources, Battle of haldighati was a 4 hour affair which was won by Akbar. For Rajput sources, Battle of haldighati was not a one day (4 hours) affair but an entire campaign which ended into "victory" of Maharana, as you know, ultimately he had taken Gogunda back. This inscription of Maharana in the Udaipur temple also says the same. Now, which side of history you are going to give prominence to is your choice and accordingly you will say whether he won or lost. History is not THAT simple.
Problem is - Media starts writing anything without even knowing what the "ACTUAL" topic is! There are so many online media portals, and you just need a keyboard and write anything which suits you & publish an article. Even i can do that. Lol.
So, i am just waiting what is actually going to happen.
BTW, there was a battle fought between the Sikh & British forces at Chillianwala on 13th January 1849. This happened during the Second Anglo Sikh War. Surprisingly, both the sides "claimed" victory after this war. Do read about this war if you get time.
Coming back to the post, Baji Rao defeated Nasir Jung decisively and even reached the doorstep of the Mughal empire. It's a pity that while he could scare the living daylights out of the Mughals with his sudden appearance amidst them, he could not or did not build on this success and confront them for control of north India. Perhaps if he had lived a few years more, he might have been able to further his cause in this direction. History is full of such if's and but's.
He did not just reach the door step of the Mughal Empire. He scared the hell out of the Mughal Emperor. We shall see this in our subsequent discussions here. There was total panic in Delhi.
Mughal Empire was not destroyed by him for the right reason. You can not replace a power structure which was in place for the last 150-200 years all of sudden. There are administrative problems too. Marathas ruled in name of Emperor but did not destroy that structure.
What the British did ? Same. From Plassey (1757) to 1857 war they ruled under the name of the Mughal Emperor but they were really the masters of their territories.
You mentioned in your comment, you have not read my thread 1. Please read that thread.
We are carrying our discussion on that thread too, simultaneously. I have posted a letter of Sambhaji. Just read what he says. He said he will place Akbar on throne of Delhi and capture Aurangzeb, and using Akbar as a pawn he will resurrect the traditions and rebuild the temples etc.
Also, Bajirao had no dearth of enemies. Mughal Emperor at Delhi was not the only issue. Nizam in South too was a serious problem. Then Portuguese. Siddis. Rival Maratha camp. And more. This man was going N-S-E-W throughout 20 years fighting on all fronts riding on a horse. He possessed the energy of a super human.
There are lot of IFs and BUTs in Indian history.
What if PRC had not committed blunder in the Battle of Tarain (1191-92). What if Hemu had not received that arrow in his eye in the Second Battle of Panipat (1555-56). What if Khusrau had become the Emperor after death of Akbar in 1605 (thereby nullifying the rise of orthodoxy).
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For those wondering, what orthodoxy i am talking about, please read this thread. Recently i made 3 detailed blog posts about death of Akbar. This is Link of Part 3, links of part 1 and part 2 are given in this :
Rise of Orthodoxy, Jesuit obituary to Akbar, People reaction on Akbar's death Part-3
}
What if Aurangzeb had not been the Emperor and Dara Shukoh had been there. (1659) What if Shivaji had not died in 1680 at the age of just ~50-51. What if Aurangzeb had not lived for so long (89 years). Lol.
And yes, what if Bajirao and Chimaji had not died so young aged 39 and 33 respectively in 1740. What if Bajirao had clashed with Nadir Shah of Iran who plundered North India (1740) ? Had these brothers not died so young then the result of Battle of Panipat 1761 could have been different. Who knows there would not have been any Panipat 1761 if they were alive. What if instead of Sadashiv Bhau, Malhar Rao Holkar or Raghunath Rao Ballal was sent to fight the Afghans at Panipat 1761 ? What if the Marathas had another great statesman after death of Nana Phadnis ? What if Mir Jafar had not betrayed Sirajuddaula in battle of Plassey (1757).
So, many IFs and BUTs.Abhay, let me confess, I am not a die-hard fan of Baji Rao (as yet). To me with my limited knowledge, he seems like a regular person with his strengths and weaknesses, his quirks and his charisma. Neither to be put on a pedestal for his war skills nor to be denounced for his personal life.
Do not worry. I am here to make you a fan of Peshwa Bajirao. Lol. Just keep a tab on thread 1 too so you do not miss out the discussions we are having there.
He has strengths. But i could not find his weaknesses till now. I will surely put him on a pedestal too for his warfare skills. :P
It is not just me, but expert military historians who have praised his strategies to skies. It is not that i am praising him because those historians are praising him. I have my own reasons. And it is not an overstatement. It is something he deserves. You have yourself read his letter and seen how his brain worked, just for example.
We cannot separate the personal life of a warrior from his battles because invariably they have an influence on his mindset and reactions. Mastani was one such volatile factor in the Peshwa's life who had a catalystic effect on his temperament. This would be different from the effect, say Kashibai or Radha bai would have on him because they were steady factors and would have been a solid source of quiet strength for him.
I wonder how Baji Rao was able to maintain his relations with Chimaji with such equanimity during the last battle when the latter was involved in the house arrest (?) of Mastani for various reasons. The knowledge that Mastani was in a difficult position in a hostile family / society might have weighed heavily on his mind and added to his frustration at not being able to set things right. While it is melodramatic to imagine he pined away for her, emotional stress can negatively impact a person's chances of recovery from serious illness.
Right. Chimaji thought sending Mastani back to Bajirao will cure him of his problems (when his situation deteriorated badly). Hence, you are not wrong. And i believe the same.
I just wonder if his family ever felt any guilt that they might have contributed to his distress during his last days.
Let us discuss this in future. I can write about this. But it will be too early now. After we discuss a bit more about him / his family / those circumstances, then it will be better to delve into his personal life. All i can say is that it was not a "torturous confinement" of Mastani. It was a dignified arrest.
And, till the end, the Peshwa cared for his brother Chimaji like a small baby. I have already shared his last letter with you where in this letter before his death, he asks Chimaji to take care of his health and related stuff which any caring elder brother writes to his young brother, quite affectionately.
This family was very closely knit together till the end. I admire this. It is a rarity in families which are in power. As Maddy wrote, in such families, killing blood relatives is considered a "norm" & these two were simply an example for all.
Apart from being an invincible warrior, Baji Rao was quite mature enough to be able to balance his relations with his family (as seen in his correspondence with his brother) and his second wife.
True. This is what i said above.
Another thing that I am curious about - Baji Rao chose his battles - where and when to fight. If the conditions were not amenable, he slipped away from confrontation, as we saw in this post during his retreat from Delhi. What would the result have been if he had been attacked by surprise when he was unprepared for it? Did this ever happen? Or did he take steps to ensure that he was never caught by surprise?
Yes, he choose his time and place to fight. But it is not right to say that he slipped away from confrontation. This gives an impression that he ran away. It was not like this.
He had a fine blend of brain and blade. Very rare. As a historian said, Bajirao had both - Head to plan and the Hand to execute.
I do not know how to answer your question. Lol. Because till now i have not read of a single instance when he was out-powered in the mind game by any of his enemies. He always had all the possibilities in his mind and made preparations for the same.
Let us take the example of the present letter. Did you notice, in the end of his letter, he asks his brother to be ready in case the Nizam moves North to attack him (Bajirao) then Chimaji should stop him from crossing the Reva river and handle him. This was his advance planning in case of any strike from South. On the West, he had arrangement with the ruler of Jaipur. In the North, he had already humbled the Mughal Emperor. His only cause of concern was the combination of the great armies of Bangash, Khan Dauran and Saadat Khan which was at Agra, in the East. Just imagine his brain. This is one letter and you can simply draw lot of details about his thought process from it.
Also, his enemies could hardly attack him by surprise because his speed was such that it was a remote possibility to catch him and attack him! You have seen he was in Delhi and the Mughal Emperor had no news of this till the next day! Also, his spy system was so efficient. He knew about the most minute actions of his enemies. You have seen in the letter that he wrote so "minute" details of his enemies to his brother that it appears he was actually present in the camp of his enemies!!
Another interesting thing i observed in Baji Rao's story is that the Peshwa-ship became a dynastic fiefdom and overtook the rulers in valour and strategy.
A mixed game here. The first few (hereditary) Peshwas were great. Balaji Vishwanath. Then, Bajirao. Then, Nana Saheb. Things worsened a bit in the end post Panipat 1761 & we have that famous assassination of the young Peshwa. But for the first 100 years this system worked well. See, all things work in tandem. Chatrapati Shahu had a great sense of gauging the potential of candidates. He chose Balaji first, then Bajirao after Balaji, and Nana Saheb after Bajirao because of their talent. Not because of any hereditary system. So, it is not just the Peshwa but the sense of choosing the right man by the Chatrapati too.
BTW, this reminds of the Chundawat chiefs of Mewar who assisted the Rana of Mewar just like the Peshwa was PM of the Chatrapati.
Do you think the Marathas were influenced by the guerrilla tactics of MP during his later years?
I have read MP influenced them. Guerilla tactics were used where the terrain proved helpful. It was used by MP and then by Shivaji too, as both of them had that hilly terrain.Many questions, LOL - hopefully they will be answered in discussions on your threads.
Will start reading the old PB thread soon. :) Keep posting 👍🏼
Do check. :D
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