Historical Battles in Ancient & Medieval Bharat

tsarkar · Post by **tsarkar** » 18 Oct 2010 20:30

Most Indians in Persian/Greek service got assimilated locally.

Indian Kshatriyas without inheritance – like Ballal Sen of Dakshina Kannada – offered services far and wide. The Sens established empires in Bengal and Himachal far from their traditional homeland and got assimilated locally.

In Canada, I met a whole community descended from Indian veterans sent to fight in France in the Great War and who settled in Canada instead.

Even Jack Sepoy in John Company’s service played major roles in expanding the empire in China, ME and Africa.

Those Chinese with long memories did harbor animosities against Jack Sepoy’s participation in Opium War. Paradoxically, in 1962, an incorrect superiority complex persisted in the minds of some Indian officers and politicians, forgetting the PLA was a different army with three decades of combat experience equipped with latest Soviet weapons than Chinese armies faced earlier in colonial wars.

ParGha · Post by **ParGha** » 18 Oct 2010 20:41

tsarkar,

The standard Persian policy was to not let foreign mercenaries mix with local subjects, unless it was specifically desired by the King for some political purpose (even then it would be only amongst the high ranking officers). Xenophon's Anabasis mentions this particular practice (though the rebel army he was hired under did not have Indians, it had Greeks, Scythians and Africans; the Imperial army which hunted them down did have Indians).

Surya · Post by **Surya** » 18 Oct 2010 21:06

Thanks tsarkar and Pargha

that would be an interesting book to write - the travails of one of those mercenary indians

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 18 Oct 2010 21:51

Surya, Gore Vidal wrote a novel called Creation that explores a Persian character and his travels in India, China etc.

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 18 Oct 2010 21:51

ParGha, you forgot the light cavalry. Indian light cavalry (probably from sindh, kamboja area) was one of the prized mercenaries in the persian army. when the persians captured greece they chose the Indian light cavalry, among other reliable contingents as garrison troops in greece. Indian light cavalry also formed a part of darius' troops at gauegemela where they formed a part of the persian centre (the usual location of decisive units), alongside other elite troops like the immortals and persian cavalry. wiki also says that they got into a tussle with alexander's companion cavalry and killed 60 of them (not sure about the source but if it has stayed there unchallenged for so long, it probably is correct).

I haven't come across the dog handlers though, do you have a source ?

in addition, Indian infantry armed with large broadswords were employed by the persians. I believe there are depictions of them on the tomb of some persian king or the other.

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 18 Oct 2010 21:55

Surya wrote:Elephants in armies of Persia, Ghazni were from India and manned by Indians per Persian writings.

Question I have is - who were these Indians?? mercenaries?? captured troopers who were turned??? Did they then stay on in those regions ??

might have mentioned this before, except SE asia, wherever war elephants were used (including the african forest elephant by the carthiginians) they were always manned by Indian mahouts. so much so that the word for mahout in greek and roman writings was 'Indian'.
it's quite possible that the use of war elephants in SE asia spread from India.

ParGha · Post by **ParGha** » 18 Oct 2010 22:52

Rahul M wrote:I haven't come across the dog handlers though, do you have a source ?

This link talks only about the Indian war-dogs, but they were also accompanied by their own handlers: http://www.cais-soas.com/CAIS/Animals/dog.htm Search for Indian, Sindhi, Alangu, Kumaoni Mastiff or Bully Kutta for more information.

chackojoseph · Post by **chackojoseph** » 19 Oct 2010 15:19

St Joseph’s, “Khalanga, Khukri aur Firangi”, Lahures and Mughlane

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 20 Oct 2010 01:35

absorbing read, thanks chacko.

ParGha, thanks.

tsarkar · Post by **tsarkar** » 22 Oct 2010 13:58

ParGha, correct, that was indeed the state policy, but ground reality was different. Europeans in India were forbidden both by the church (theological reasons) and their respective companies (commercial reasons) to cohabit with heathens/natives, but biological necessities ensured significant intermixing. Their descendents included notable officers like Skinner who raised the famous cavalry regiment. Another two officers descended from an English civil servant and his Afghan wife. These two rose quite high in Colonial and English administration, settling down in England. I forget their names. Today, the Anglo Indian community has been seamlessly assimilated in Indian Society. One cannot mark them out among a crowd of other Indians. Second generation Mizo and Bene Israelis in Israel are indistinguishable, until they tell me they have an Indian origin. Anyways, JMT...

Chacko, good read.

Before I die, I hope we name a class of ships after our lesser known; but highly illustrious warriors like Bal Bhadra, Hari Singh Nalwa, Zorawar Singh, Chimaji Apte and Indra Lal Roy to enshrine their memories.

Lalmohan · Post by **Lalmohan** » 22 Oct 2010 14:02

portuguese encouraged taking local wives
anglicans did not

sol · Post by **sol** » 07 Nov 2010 16:15

Lalmohan wrote:portuguese encouraged taking local wives
anglicans did not

On that note, are there any accounts of the Goa Inquisition, apart from Wikipedia entries? If this topic shouldn't be discussed in this thread, please redirect me.

svinayak · Post by **svinayak** » 08 Nov 2010 03:29

ancient medieval Indian armor and weapons part 1

Ancient Indian Weapon

Lalmohan · Post by **Lalmohan** » 08 Nov 2010 19:14

sol wrote:
Lalmohan wrote:portuguese encouraged taking local wives
anglicans did not
On that note, are there any accounts of the Goa Inquisition, apart from Wikipedia entries? If this topic shouldn't be discussed in this thread, please redirect me.

"holy warriors", edna fernandes
uk based goan writer - amongst other things, discusses modern goa's attitude towards the inquisition

SwamyG · Post by **SwamyG** » 07 Dec 2010 01:06

Warrior Durga Rani Laxmi Bhai of Jhansi

Originally named Manikarnika at birth (nicknamed Manu), she was born on 19 November 1835 at Kashi (Varanasi) to a Maharashtrian brahmin family Moropant Tambe and Bhagirathibai Tambe. She lost her mother at the age of four. She was educated at home. Her father Moropant Tambe worked at the court of Peshwa at Bithur and then travelled to the court of Raja Bal Gangadhar Rao Newalkar, the Maharaja of Jhansi, when Manu was thirteen years old. She was married to Gangadhar Rao, the Raja of Jhansi, at the age of fourteen and was given the new name 'Lakshmi Bai'. Because of her father's influence at court, Rani Lakshmi Bai had more independence than most women, who were normally restricted to the zenana. She studied self-defense, horsemanship, archery, and even formed her own private army out of her female friends at court.

Rani Lakshmi Bai gave birth to a son in 1851. However this infant died when he was about four months old. After the death of their son, the Raja and Rani of Jhansi adopted Damodar Rao. However, it is said that her husband the Raja never recovered from his son's death, and the Raja of Jhansi died on 21 November 1853 of a broken heart. Since Anand Rao was an adopted son and not biologically related to the Raja, the East India Company, under Governor-General Lord Dalhousie, was able to impose the Doctrine of Lapse, rejecting Damodar Rao’s claim to the throne. Lord Dalhousie then annexed Jhansi, saying that the throne had become "lapsed" and thus put Jhansi under his “protection”. In March 1854, the Rani was given a pension of 60,000 rupees and ordered to leave the palace at the Jhansi fort.

When the First War of Indian Independence broke out in 1857, Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi seized the opportunity to rise in rebellion against British colonial and imperial rule. When the British troops arrived under Sir Hugh Rose and laid siege to Jhansi on 23 March 1858, Rani Laxmibai with her faithful warriors decided not to surrender. The fighting continued for about two weeks. Shelling on Jhansi was very fierce. In the Jhansi army women were also carrying ammunition and were supplying food to the soldiers. The Rani rallied her troops around her and fought fiercely against the British. Meanwhile an army of 20,000, headed by the nationalist leader Tatya Tope, came to relieve Jhansi and to take Lakshmi Bai to freedom. However, the British, though numbering only 1,540 in the field were better trained and disciplined than the “raw recruits,” of Tatya Tope and these inexperienced soldiers turned back and fled shortly after the British began to attack on the 31st March 1858. Rani Lakshmi Bai’s forces could not hold out and three days later the British were able to breach the city walls and capture the city. Yet Lakshmi Bai escaped over the wall at night and fled from her city, surrounded by her guards, many of whom were from her female military corps.

Along with the young Damodar Rao, the Rani decamped to Kalpi, near Gwalior, along with her forces where she joined the other nationalist forces, including those of Tatya Tope. The combined nationalist forces of Rani and Tatya Tope occupied the strategic fort at Gwalior. The Rani donned warrior's clothes and rode into battle to save Gwalior Fort However on the second day of fighting in Kotah-Ki-Serai near Phool Bagh area of Gwalior against the English colonial forces (8th Hussars) led by Sir Hugh Rose on 17 June 1858, the Rani of Jhansi succumbed to her wounds. The British captured Gwalior three days later.

The Rani of Jhansi had taken care to see that her trusted bodyguards took planned advance action to cremate her dead body even before the English colonial troops had reached the scene of her death. Thus she prevented the English colonial troops from getting possession of her body and thus saw to it that Sir Hugh Rose, the English General and his colonial forces, were denied the political opportunity of defiling, desecrating and later hanging her body in public with the sole intention of humiliating her family and her beloved subjects.

Her father, Moropant Tambey, was captured and hanged a few days after the fall of Jhansi. Her adopted son, Damodar Rao, was given a pension of Rs 200 a month by the British Raj and cared for, although he never received his royal inheritance. This little boy who had been adopted as the future Ruler of Jhansi and who had escaped from the city with Rani Lakshmibai on horseback, lived on until 1936. He died without his title and with few possessions.

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 07 Jan 2011 18:34

a very interesting snippet from history.

this is the organistation of the mauryan army. each of the addhakshya's headed a board comprising of 5 more subordinate officers. it's incredible how similar this 2300 year old structure is to the general staff of modern armies.

admittedly there are many more specialised staff positions nowadays but the equivalence of a DG mech forces to the Rathadhakshya or Pattadhakshya to the DG of Infantry is near obvious.

Code: Select all

                                                          Senapati
                                                           |     |
                                                           |     |
      _______________________________________________________________________________________
     ||               ||                ||                ||     |      ||                  ||                
Navadhakshya     Rathadhakshya     Hastadhakshya     Asvadhakshya| Pattadhakshya     Ayudhgaradhakshya      
 Chief of          Chief of          Chief of          Chief of  |   Chief of           Director of            
Admiralty        Chariot Corps     Elephant Corps      Cavalry   |   Infantry        Weapons & Equipment   
                                                                 |
                                                                 | 
                                                                 |
                                                           Commanders of 
                                                       Field Army formations

Sanku · Post by **Sanku** » 07 Jan 2011 22:03

Clearly they also believed in Combined Arms tactics.

Manu · Post by **Manu** » 09 Jan 2011 11:57

manum wrote: The second surge of the Muslim aggression began in 980 C.E. and lasted till 1020 C.E. This was the time when the Shahi Kings of Punjab grappled with the invaders.

The Hindu Shahis did not rule just the Punjab but most of what is now Afghanistan as well. Kandahar is also part of our lost legacy.

ParGha · Post by **ParGha** » 13 Jan 2011 07:45

Self Deleted

Atri · Post by **Atri** » 13 Jan 2011 16:46

250th anniversary of Panipat battle.

Commander of Indic forces - Sadashivrao Chimnaji Bhat aka "Bhau"

Extent of Maratha empire on the eve of Panipat campaign

The "gol Vyuha" of Marathas

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... y_1761.jpg

The charge of "Bhau"

memorial of Bhau

I have covered details of this battle previously.. The tactical details of battle can also be found on Airavat ji's blog.

Here are few comments which are relevant in modern context.

1. The biggest mistake of marathas was to enter Punjab (indus valley) without securing Gangetic plains. The supply chain got stretched way too thin..

2. It is difficult to replicate guerilla warfare tactics of Maharashtra on plains of Punjab. Especially without sympathy of local populace.

3. Whether to secure gangetic plains and Bengal first OR whether to secure Punjab first - this was the main topic of discussion in Pune Darbar since 1755. It is tendency of Dillipati (be it anyone) to leave Punjab to dogs and fight the enemy near Delhi when delhi is weak. When delhi is strong, they do not allow central asians to cross Indus and enter Punjab in first place. Delhi was weak after 1707. So she was sacked by Nadir Shah in 1740 and by Abdali in 1750's. To stop this, Mughals decided to give away Punjab to marathas for protection. marathas were contemplating on renewing their eastern campaign and punish alivardi khan, this meant securing Rohilkhand, Oudh and Bihar first. Najib was close to Malharrao Holkar who lobbied in pune court to take up Punjab option and postponing Ganga's liberation to further date. Pune accepted this argument.

4. They sent army under Raghunathrao. Raghoba himself wasn't much keen to fight with afghans, and was interested in punishing Najib of Rohilkhand first (Rohilkhand is western UP). Holkar did not allow this young prince to do that. Later Marathas conquered Punjab and chased Afghans up to Khyber. Sabaji Shinde (Scindhia) was present in Peshawar and was looting adjoining Pathan areas for 19 months while attock was made the frontier of empire.

5. The main army of raghunathrao returned to Pune (in spite of repeated requests of Sikhs and Jats to station a large army permanently in North). After 19 months of fighting, Abdali took Attock and Punjab back from Marathas in 1759 December.

6. To rectify this mistake, it was decided to station a large army permanently in North to accompany the already stationed army of Dattaji Shinde. 100,000 to 150,000 troops was assigned under Bhau and Vishwasrao. IMO, this was an example of large-scale migration and not a campaign. Hence these people were accompanied with their families, traders and other house-holders. They were supposed to stay there and colonize Delhi and rest of North. Few papers suggest that it was planned that Vishwasrao be made emperor of Delhi after bandobast of abdali is complete. Bhau organized a huge ceremony in Delhi court under chairmanship of Vishwasrao and not Mughal emperor.

7. however behaviour of earlier maratha campaign had left sour taste in mouths of Jats and Sikhs. Furthermore, Jats wanted to keep delhi to themselves. This is one generosity which Marathas should have shown. The importance of Delhi was unnecessarily kept high. Delhi was never seat of any Hindu king. Delhi signifies as seat of tyrant in many of the Indian province.

8. Why did Marathas honour the promise given to an a$$hole like Aurangzeb? Shivaji would have broken than promise in no time. The classical characteristic of Hindu kings of honouring the promises while mlechhas stab in back, continued to live on.

Anyways, on the eve of 250th anniversary of that fateful day, I remember our ancestors who fought and died to protection of Rashtra and Dharma and gave such a blow to the enemy that there hasn't been a single invasion from northwest again in last 250 years.

Exactly 250 years ago, those brave men must have gathered in tent of Bhau at this time (16:00 IST). They must have started their discussions on how to break the siege and move towards Yamuna. They knew Peshwa had left Pune with 50,000 army. It was only matter of time when Abdali would find himself between rock and a hard place. The only luxury they did not have, was time. There was no food. Almost everyone was hungry in the army for atleast 2-3 days, including horses. They had to reach Yamuna at all costs.

The north India was shivering with cold wave. Marathas come from region which is not so cold, they did not have enough clothes to protect them from cold and their armour was light. their strength was speed, but with empty stomachs, how far will they run and how fast?

Malharrao must have insisted on using traditional fast manoeuvring tactics of Marathas. Bhau, however, had sensed that there cannot be victory unless troops get food to eat and water to drink. He wanted to reach Yamuna and cross the river at all costs, under cover of artillery. Bhau must have taken Holkar aside, alone and insisted to save himself and all women, should anything unfortunate happens.

Next day morning at dawn, everybody ate the last piece of bread, applied turmeric to their faces determined to kill or die. The opening salvo of Maratha artillery went over the heads of Abdali's troops. Gardi recalibrated the range and his batteries started raining fire, hell and death on right flank of Abdali. The charges of abdali on left flank of Marathas was foiled again and again. Under that cover, the entire base of Marathas, their women, children, traders, old pilgrims started moving towards Yamuna. So fierce was this artillery attack that entire battlefield was in hands of Marathas for entire morning. About 12000 Pathans were killed by left flank of Marathas in matter of an hour. One can imagine the horror in the eyes of Abdali.

The enemy started attacking centre. Bhau advanced the centre under his personal command. The charge of maratha centre under bhau is one of the most romantic moments to imagine. It is depicted in the picture above with Bhau on elephant and Vishwasrao, Vitthal Shivdeo and elite heavy cavalry of 15000 Huzurat devastating the centre of Abdali. The road to Yamuna was now open. The lines of Abdali were pushed 3 to 5 kilometers behind in matter of minutes, sheerly due to inertia of the charging cavalry far away from range of Abdali's infantry. The victory was in sight, the road to safety, food and delhi was opened. Now all that was required was hold ground and position. Bhau's men were tired, but they cut entire army of Abdali in two halves and the right half of Afghan army was totally destroyed by Ibrahimkhan's artillery. It was only matter of time now.

Shinde started his attacks on Najib preventing him from coming for the aid of Abdali.

This is when accidently, Vishwasrao fell to a stray bullets while facing the charge of Afghan reserve and camel mounted artillery known as "Shaturnal". The Afghan heavy cavalry began their charge and with Bhau in firing range, Ibrahimkhan could not fire on advancing Afghan heavy cavalry. Bhau assigned 1500 troops for protection of artillery and led the charge himself. He knew that it was all over and now all he could do is inflict as much damage upon Afghans as possible before he died.

Cannon to left of him, cannon to the right of him, into the valley of death, Rode Bhau and marathas.

Almost entire generation was killed in one single day. There was no home left in Maharashtra and MP which had not lost someone on Panipat. Quoting Jim Morrison,

"This is the end
Beautiful friend
This is the end
My only friend, the end
Of our elaborate plans, the end
Of everything that stands, the end
No safety or surprise, the end
I'll never look into your eyes...again
Can you picture what will be
So limitless and free
Desperately in need...of some...stranger's hand
In a...desperate land"

Generation lost, but Rashtra saved... lakhs killed, but Dharma saved... all that in one day - 14th January 1761...

My heart cries for our ancestors.. May that sacrifice not go in vain.

jambudvipa · Post by **jambudvipa** » 13 Jan 2011 17:09

Atriji,excellent and moving post.We owe a great debt to the men of steel who fought and fell to protect dharma on the plains of panipat.

kittoo · Post by **kittoo** » 13 Jan 2011 17:29

Thanks for this post Atri Ji. Words can't express what I feel after reading this. The tragedy of Bharat is that now the invasion is from within, with no clear enemy.

Murugan · Post by **Murugan** » 13 Jan 2011 19:56

From that battle onward no invasion from western borders happened!

One may call it a failure or anything. The self-esteem of invaders was shattered by mighty Marathas!

Yagnasri · Post by **Yagnasri** » 13 Jan 2011 20:15

Can not be said as full loss also. Hindu pad pad shahi gives agreat discribtion also.

Tamang · Post by **Tamang** » 13 Jan 2011 21:19

Atri wrote:250th anniversary of Panipat battle.

250 years on, Battle of Panipat revisited

Colonel (Dr) Anil Athale (retd) recalls how the Battle of Panipat, 250 years ago, changed the history of the Indian subcontinent for the next century and half.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 13 Jan 2011 22:37

Great job Atriji.

Can some one post a link to your blog in Rediff? And also invite Col Athale to your blog and to this thread?

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 13 Jan 2011 23:02

sivabala's post and a reply have been moved to http://forums.bharat-rakshak.com/viewto ... 7#p1010237

partha · Post by **partha** » 14 Jan 2011 00:39

superb post Atriji!

Samay · Post by **Samay** » 14 Jan 2011 01:13

Fantastic post Atriji, but please elaborate this

.....This is when accidently, Vishwasrao fell to a stray bullets while facing the charge of Afghan reserve and camel mounted artillery known as "Shaturnal"....

How did this affect the whole battle ?

Atri · Post by **Atri** » 14 Jan 2011 09:20

kittoo wrote:Thanks for this post Atri Ji. Words can't express what I feel after reading this. The tragedy of Bharat is that now the invasion is from within, with no clear enemy.

The real invasion even then was from within, Kitto ji.. it was the traitors of Rohilkhand (najib) who was the clear enemy.. the house of Peshwa and Shinde were in no doubt agreement with this fact. Abdali used to appear in India when Maratha army was not near delhi, busy fighting elsewhere.

Who gave this information to Abdali?
Who mobilized muslim king of Awadh (Shuja) in the name of Islam? Shuja's mother was in favour of helping Marathas..
Who gave this in campaign, a name of "jihad"?
Who Backstabbed Shindes and marathas time and again?
Who gave Abdali food when he was starving?

The answer is Mullah Shah wali and Najibuddaula of Rohilkhand. Rohilkhand is the Islamic power centre in western UP adjoining Delhi-Agra belt since Ghurid days. Check this article on blog. It is Islamic power-centres of this region which invited Abdali.

Abdali himself was keen on making peace with Marathas and return, and so were Marathas. Who did not allow this to happen? - Najib.

It was some Holkar's attachment (Moha) for Najib that prevented both Peshwa and Shindes to eliminate Najib. Malharrao was a respected figure and most senior of all, the only disciple of great Bajirao Peshwa who was still living. He however grew wary that if najib and shuja are eliminated, peshwa will grow too powerful and so will Shinde. Hence it was in his interest to let najib linger for sometime until he is sure about intention of Shindes and Peshwa. Shindes routed Rohillas only after Malharrao's death.

As it is said in Ishavasya upanishad - The mouth of "truth" is covered with golden lid.

Narayana rao wrote:Can not be said as full loss also. Hindu pad pad shahi gives agreat discribtion also.

True. They recaptured Delhi and rest of their territory in matter of decade. Punjab was never theirs, so they did not cross Sutlaj. They however gave breathing time to Sikhs. The liberation of Punjab was the biggest catalyst which facilitated the organization of sikhs into fighting misls.. The legacy of Shivaji continued to live on in Ranjit Singh with Kesariya unfurled on gates of Kabul. The battle lost, but long term victory for rashtra-dharma. The offensive spirit and tendency to experiment of Marathas was lost on this battle, as observed by Col. Athale ji.

Samay wrote:How did this affect the whole battle ?

After The Abdali's centre was devastated, his wazir's son killed and his wazir shattered, the army of abdali started running helter-skelter. Panipat-Delhi-Yamuna formed a Right angle triangle with Yamuna as hypotenuse. Marathas facing south-east and Pathans facing north-west. When the base of marathas started moving towards Yamuna, Abdali unleashed his last resort, his reserve cavalry of 12000 horsemen and camel mounted guns.out of 12000, he sent 2000 to help Shahwali who was crumbling under attack of maratha centre-right flank.

The Crude depiction of the battle. Certain details are omitted, while others might have missed unknowingly..

Figure -1 - Geography of Delhi-Panipat-Yamuna triangle

Figure 2: The blockade of Panipati. Abdali blocking route of marathas southwards and Marathas blocking Abdali's way back to Afghanistan. Abdali reinforced from supplies across Yamuna from territories of Najib, while Jats and Sikhs of Punjab refuse to help Marathas with food and ammunition.

Figure 3: Opening moves of combating parties. Opening salvo of gardi goes over the heads. recalibrated salvo and entrenched musketeers and pikemen defeat and route attacking right flank of Abdali. Bhau charges his lines and attackes centre, thereby dividing enemy army in two parts.

Figure 4: Scene of battle ground by Noon

Figure 5: Abdali's mobilization of reserves

Figure 6: Fall of Vishwasrao while defending the opened line. takes fire straight into his face, killing him instantly. Age 19 years..

Figure 7: Final charge of Bhau. Upon hearing death of his beloved nephew, Bhau loses his cool. He sends Vitthal Shivdeo Vinchurkar with 1500 horses to defend Ibrahimkhan's lines and dismounts from elephant and takes up horse. Charges with rest of cavalry. Marathas cannot see their commander on elephant and think that Bhau has fallen, the panic starts appearing in lines of Shinde. Holkar Leaves battle ground. Jankoji Shinde captured alive and executed later. The army of peshwa charges and fights till they die. The corpse of Bhau is recovered under the bodies of 23 Pathan soldiers indicating that he was fighting like a possessed man. General Panic strikes maratha army. The left flank of Gardi still holds the line in discipline. cavalry of Shivdeo guarding artillery while they keep on firing and keeping pathans at bay, inflicting heavy casualties. Upon hearing death of Bhau, Shivdeo loses his cool and attacks the charging afghan heavy cavalry head on, thus breaking the defensive formation guarding artillery. The artillery left unguarded, the tired shivdeo and his men die fighting fresh reserves of afghan heavy cavalry. The artillery outflanked and killed. Ibrahimkhan gardi executed personally by Abdali and his head tossed on spearhead.. The pursuing cavalry catches up with fleeing non-combatants and largescale massacre takes place..

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 14 Jan 2011 20:39

Thanks for clarifying the battle.

Also an aside. Looks like the policy of giving away Punjab to the "other" by Delhi shahi or Ganga-Jamuna plains is still there. After all what is TSP but West Punjab?

In ancient times it was the Afghanistan area that was given away.

skganji · Post by **skganji** » 15 Jan 2011 00:00

"Anyways, on the eve of 250th anniversary of that fateful day, I remember our ancestors who fought and died to protection of Rashtra and Dharma and gave such a blow to the enemy that there hasn't been a single invasion from northwest again in last 250 years. "

This is the greatest thing in the history fo India. Our ancestors sacrificed fought with bravery and did not run away from the battle. They made mistakes which resulted in the loss in the battle. However, the spirit with which they fought is most important. I wish marathas had succeeded in third battle of Panipat. We just need to carry the spirit and India can be the dream which these ancestors . However, the enemy of India is now within the country. The psuedo-secular politicians are inviting the enemies to come and settle in India for their vote bank politics. Radical Islamization of the country will be a serious threat to India. India needs to fight against these psuedo-secular politicians of parties like Khangress, Laluu, Karuna, Mulayam, Mamata etc.

Samay · Post by **Samay** » 15 Jan 2011 15:48

Thanks Atri ji for such a close commentry of the battle.
The Marathas were simply unlucky ,
few things that always resurface in the losses of Indian kings in historical battles are weak cavalry,weak discipline, less cohesiveness and swiftness, lack of national unity .

Lalmohan · Post by **Lalmohan** » 15 Jan 2011 20:22

the other thing of note is that panipat3 was a far more complex battle fought over a much wider area over a lomger period with a series of skirmishes leading up to the main event

Atri · Post by **Atri** » 15 Jan 2011 23:10

in panipat battle, the maratha artillery was so huge that the men who operated the battery of canons had to dig about 6 feet deep holes, fill it up with water, and jump in the water to save themselves from the devastating sound of the huge canons.. everytime heavy artillery moves its position, the associated crew had to move the canon, dig new holes, fill them up with water and do it so as fast as possible.. considering that the army was hungry prior to the battle proper, I can imagine the difficulty the artillery had to face while doing all this in chilling winter of north India..

the charge of maratha centre.. there was a 2 kilometer gallop from maratha lines to abdali's centre, by which the huzuraat's horses were tired.. the breed of horses determines the weight it can carry and speed with which it can move around.. the central asian horses are superior to deccani breed which was typically employed by marathas..

the superiority of central asian horses is demonstrated by mongols, mughals, huns, scythians, kushans, turks... babar used to send his injured horses back to afghanistan because air of hindusthan (according to him) was poisonous.. perhaps he refers to hot and humid climate..

the clothes and armour of maratha cavalry was light.. furthermore, like all other hindu empires, marathas lacked horse archers and horse musketeers.. horse-archers have been defeating indian empires since days of Kanishka.. yet not a single indian emperor or empire thought of deploying few divisions of horse-archers.. the gupta empire had Ratha cavalry (chariot archers) which is particularly suited for northern plains.. This Rath was similar to today's tanks (heavy cavalry).. marathas never even deployed heavy cavalry with armoured horses, forget chariots..

the most important - disciplined infantry.. infantry is queen of all armed forces... while other branches of army (cavalry, navy, air force, chariots) tilt the battle in one's favour, it is infantry which actually wins and maintains territories.. against barrage of muskets, only tight infantry formation can stand..

lastly with reference to discussion on battle of rana sanga at khanua, the firing rate of artillery.. after one salvo of fires by canon, it used to take about 25-30 minutes to make it ready to fire next salvo... the canons used in those times were not like modern bofors which can fire 6 rounds per minute.. the firing rate was not more than 1 round every 20-25 minutes.. so after one round of fire, there was a window of 25 minutes in which enemy cavalry could charge in.. what were the measures to avoid that charge? what was the firing rate of muskets?

skganji · Post by **skganji** » 16 Jan 2011 00:40

One of the silly mistakes the Marathas did in the third battle of Panipat is to let the piligrims and their familes accompany them to the battle field. The marathas didn't have any plan for the battle field. With such a huge army they should have made a concrete strategy and contingency plans in case of failure. Not having a single ally is a major setback in their approach on the battlefield.

Santosh · Post by **Santosh** » 16 Jan 2011 09:29

Looks like everything was going on smoothly until Bhau decided to give charge. He should have simple consolidated his gains and fallen back behind the artillery.

Added later: Atriji, from your depiction of the battle, looks like Holkar was never in the action in the entire battle and just decamped.

Airavat · Post by **Airavat** » 16 Jan 2011 09:55

In studying or reading military history, one must cover the entire campaign leading up to the battle. And the campaign was lost one month earlier. In a bloody skirmish on December 7th, the right hand man of the Bhau, Balwant Rao, was killed by the Ruhelas. On December 17th a Maratha force sent into Awadh as a diversionary tactic was surprised and defeated by a detachment of Abdali troopers. The commander, Govind Pant Bundele, was beheaded and his head was sent to Bhau by Abdali as proof of the failure of the latter's plans.

After that the Marathas at Panipat were trapped for weeks, with no hope of a relieving force or a diversion. They ran out of supplies and offered to surrender, making the Nawab of Awadh a mediator. When that offer was turned down by the Mullahs in the Abdali camp, the Marathas in desperation sacked the town of Panipat on January 6th, but got nothing from the small and already battered town. Finally on January 13th the Bhau gave in to the clamour of his soldiers and decided to fight a do or die battle the next day.

Pranav · Post by **Pranav** » 16 Jan 2011 10:03

Atri wrote:so after one round of fire, there was a window of 25 minutes in which enemy cavalry could charge in.. what were the measures to avoid that charge? what was the firing rate of muskets?

In the pre-musket era, enemy cavalry could have been stopped by sufficient numbers of longbow men on foot. See the battle of Crecy between the French and English. Pikes could also be useful.

I think archery was neglected in India since about 700 AD. Also, it seems unlikely that a mounted bowman could achieve the range or accuracy possible for a dismounted one. I believe the Indian longbow was so big that the lower end was placed on the ground.

The English had longbow men who were mounted for moving from place to place, but they used to dismount to use their bows.

Airavat · Post by **Airavat** » 16 Jan 2011 10:09

Some news items on the 250th anniversary of the Third Battle of Panipat.

Panipat misses out historic anniversary

250 years after defeat at Panipat, Marathas remember martyrs