I am back after a long hiatus.
The year 2011 is the 250th year of Panipat. The war that changed the course of History.
It is also the war, which up until this day, we remember with scorn. Even today, the Marathas look back in shame and are weighed down by the defeat in Panipat. "जीवाचे पानीपत झाले" ( My life is lost like Panipat), is a common phrase.
Yes we lost that war, but is it fair to condemn the thousands of warriors , who lay down their lives. Fighting for freedom?
India for Indians being their belief and their sole objective. Living each day through all adversities? Miles away from their homeland, braving the rains and the cold, in unknown terrains, without food and shelter for months on end?
They were brave and fearless, these Marathas and it is our duty to give them their due respect and honour each and every one of them.
It was the day of Makar Sakrant when the great Sadashiv Rao Bhau Peshwa and the 19 year old Vishwas Rao lost their lives amongst many others.
What more befitting a way, than to pay tribute to them 250 years later, than with a book describing those times.
Named aptly "SOLSTICE AT PANIPAT". It is written by Dr Uday Kulkarni. An army Doctor by profession and an intense researcher of history.
When I hear people talk about Panipat, I hear anger, bitterness and scorn. I could cite ignorance as one of the major reasons and hearsay as the other for this attitude.
Panipat was not caused in a day. It was a conglomeration of events which occurred over a period of time. Right from the time Baji Rao Ist. became the Peshwa, till January 1761. The seeds of Panipat were sown in 1720 and the seed became a huge unavoidable battle in 1761.
As the great historian Mr. Ninad Bedekar writes in the Forward to the book:
"There are Three main Questions that are asked about Panipat"
1) Why was the battle fought by the Marathas and the Afghans?
2) How was it fought in Panipat?
3) What happened after the battle at Panipat in 1761?
Dr. Kulkarni has answered these questions with great elan. His research has been thorough. He has taken the time and immense effort to visit the places around and in which the campaign took place. Relating the event with the help of maps and drawings, he has made the book true to life.
His exact depiction of the year and a half which led to the war, and the circumstances in which the campaign met its end are written with a precision of a history researcher.
I would suggest that every person who is an avid reader of Maratha history or interested in the bygone era must read this book.
I end with an excerpt from "Evan Bells"
The battle of Panipat was a triumph and a glory for the Marathas. They fought in the cause of "India for the Indians, while the great Muhammadan princes of Delhi, Oudh, and the Deccan stood aside intriguing and trimming. And though the Marathas were defeated, victorious Afghans retired and never interfered in the affairs of India".
