01-07-2004, 06:07 AM
Not sure if it is OK to refer to the forum in the never never land, so I shall refrain for now.
I came across this post toda about "Third Battle of Panipat" from Wikipedia encyclopedia. In one section it said
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Rout
The Afgans pursued the fleeing Maratha army and the civilians, while the Maratha front lines ramined largely intact, with some of their artillery units fighting until sundown. Choosing not to launch a night attack, made good their escape that night. Parvati bai escaped the armageddon with her bodyguards, and eventually returned to Pune.
The Afgan cavalry and pikemen ran wild through the streets of Panipat, killing any Maratha soldiers or civilians who offered and resistance. About 6,000 women and children sought shelter with Shuja (allies of Abdali) whose Hindu officers persuaded him to protect them.
Afgan officers who had lost their kin in battle were permitted to carry out masscres the next day, also in Panipat and the surrounding area. They arranged victory mounds of severed heads outside their camps. About 10,000 Maratha civilians and soldiers alike were slain this way on 15th January 1761. Many of the fleeing Maratha women jumped into the Panipat well rather than risk rape and dishonour. Many others did their best to hide in the streets of Panipat when the North Indian Hindus of the town refused to give them refuge.
Abdali's soldiers arrested about 10,000 women and another 10,000 young children and men brought them to their camps. The women were raped, many committed suicide because of constant rapes perpetrated on them. All of the prisoners were exchanged or sold as sex slaves to Afganistan or North India, transported on carts, camels and elephants in bamboo cages.
A conservative estimate places Maratha losses at 35,000 on the Panipat battlefield itself, and another 10,000 or more in surrounding areas. The Afgans are thought to have lost some 30,000.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Pay attention to the second, third and fourth paragraphs. These guys were so upset that a "muslim" army was protrayed as raping 10k hindu women, they edited the Wikipedia and stripped out the said paragraphs.
It now reads like this:
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Rout
The Afgans pursued the fleeing Maratha army and the civilians, while the Maratha front lines ramined largely intact, with some of their artillery units fighting until sundown. Choosing not to launch a night attack, made good their escape that night. Parvati bai escaped the armageddon with her bodyguards, and eventually returned to Pune.
A conservative estimate places Maratha losses at 35,000 on the Panipat battlefield itself, and another 10,000 or more in surrounding areas. The Afgans are thought to have lost some 30,000. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Battle_of_Panipat
I am certain these guys havent bothered to check the source of that claim.
I looked at "The wonder that was India, Part II" by Rizvi. It makes a passing reference.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->In the Panjab, Ahmad Shah Durrani's invasions destroyed the Mughal administration, leaving the field open for the Sikhs, who have been flattened during Farrukhsiyar's regime. <b>On 15 NOvember, 1756 Ahmad Shah left Peshawar to sack Delhi. There was no one to resist hi. In January 1757 he was acknowledged Emperor in Delhi, but he was interested only in fleecing India of its wealth. Delhi was divided into sectors under Afghan leaders so that they might plunder it systematically. From there Durrani marched upon Mathura and savagely looted the Hindu temples adn rich merchants. The advent of summer made further Afghan advances impossible, and Ahmad Shah returned to country laden with treasure from his Indian invasion.</b>
Ahmad Shah Durrani subsequently resotred Alamgir II to the throne. On 23 June 1757 the commander of the army of the East India Company, Clive, defeated Siraju'd Dawla, Ali Wardi's successor. To justify his aggression, he wrote a long letter to the Emperor, who was no more than a cipher. Alamgir's prime minister, Imadu'l Mulk, first forced the Prince Ali Gawhar to leave and then killed his father, Alamgir II.
The fugitive Prince fled to Bihar and dorwned himself king, assume the title Shah Alam II. Although Imadu'l Mulk raised the pupper ruler to the throne, to all intents and purposes Delhi was controlled by the Marathas. Then Ahmad Shah Durrani marched from Qandahar for the fifth time to eliminate the Marathas, who were now virtual rulers as far as Attock.
On 14 January 1761 the Marathas sustained a crushing defeat on the battlefield of Panipat. Ahmad Shah Durrani returned to Qandahar in March of that year. He had by now lost control of the Panjab. He invaded it three more times to elimnate the Sikhs by died in October 1773 without having made much progress in consolidating the administration of Panjab. <b>The orthodox Sunni hopes of a revival of their power through Durrani were shattered for ever</b>. Sikh domination of the Panjab was also shortlived. In 1803, the English conquered Delhi, although the Mughal emperors continued to rule withing the four walls of the Delhi fort until 1857. But the stead advance of the British is another story<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I will try to look into John Keay's depiction tomorrow.
Anyone has more sources please post.
Also, how about forming a group to counter paki hijacking of history as well as depicting the historical truths on the nest. I knwo, we all have limited time, but we can do it. How about a dedicated forum --probably closed visitors-- to discuss the on going modalities?
I came across this post toda about "Third Battle of Panipat" from Wikipedia encyclopedia. In one section it said
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Rout
The Afgans pursued the fleeing Maratha army and the civilians, while the Maratha front lines ramined largely intact, with some of their artillery units fighting until sundown. Choosing not to launch a night attack, made good their escape that night. Parvati bai escaped the armageddon with her bodyguards, and eventually returned to Pune.
The Afgan cavalry and pikemen ran wild through the streets of Panipat, killing any Maratha soldiers or civilians who offered and resistance. About 6,000 women and children sought shelter with Shuja (allies of Abdali) whose Hindu officers persuaded him to protect them.
Afgan officers who had lost their kin in battle were permitted to carry out masscres the next day, also in Panipat and the surrounding area. They arranged victory mounds of severed heads outside their camps. About 10,000 Maratha civilians and soldiers alike were slain this way on 15th January 1761. Many of the fleeing Maratha women jumped into the Panipat well rather than risk rape and dishonour. Many others did their best to hide in the streets of Panipat when the North Indian Hindus of the town refused to give them refuge.
Abdali's soldiers arrested about 10,000 women and another 10,000 young children and men brought them to their camps. The women were raped, many committed suicide because of constant rapes perpetrated on them. All of the prisoners were exchanged or sold as sex slaves to Afganistan or North India, transported on carts, camels and elephants in bamboo cages.
A conservative estimate places Maratha losses at 35,000 on the Panipat battlefield itself, and another 10,000 or more in surrounding areas. The Afgans are thought to have lost some 30,000.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Pay attention to the second, third and fourth paragraphs. These guys were so upset that a "muslim" army was protrayed as raping 10k hindu women, they edited the Wikipedia and stripped out the said paragraphs.
It now reads like this:
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Rout
The Afgans pursued the fleeing Maratha army and the civilians, while the Maratha front lines ramined largely intact, with some of their artillery units fighting until sundown. Choosing not to launch a night attack, made good their escape that night. Parvati bai escaped the armageddon with her bodyguards, and eventually returned to Pune.
A conservative estimate places Maratha losses at 35,000 on the Panipat battlefield itself, and another 10,000 or more in surrounding areas. The Afgans are thought to have lost some 30,000. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Battle_of_Panipat
I am certain these guys havent bothered to check the source of that claim.
I looked at "The wonder that was India, Part II" by Rizvi. It makes a passing reference.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->In the Panjab, Ahmad Shah Durrani's invasions destroyed the Mughal administration, leaving the field open for the Sikhs, who have been flattened during Farrukhsiyar's regime. <b>On 15 NOvember, 1756 Ahmad Shah left Peshawar to sack Delhi. There was no one to resist hi. In January 1757 he was acknowledged Emperor in Delhi, but he was interested only in fleecing India of its wealth. Delhi was divided into sectors under Afghan leaders so that they might plunder it systematically. From there Durrani marched upon Mathura and savagely looted the Hindu temples adn rich merchants. The advent of summer made further Afghan advances impossible, and Ahmad Shah returned to country laden with treasure from his Indian invasion.</b>
Ahmad Shah Durrani subsequently resotred Alamgir II to the throne. On 23 June 1757 the commander of the army of the East India Company, Clive, defeated Siraju'd Dawla, Ali Wardi's successor. To justify his aggression, he wrote a long letter to the Emperor, who was no more than a cipher. Alamgir's prime minister, Imadu'l Mulk, first forced the Prince Ali Gawhar to leave and then killed his father, Alamgir II.
The fugitive Prince fled to Bihar and dorwned himself king, assume the title Shah Alam II. Although Imadu'l Mulk raised the pupper ruler to the throne, to all intents and purposes Delhi was controlled by the Marathas. Then Ahmad Shah Durrani marched from Qandahar for the fifth time to eliminate the Marathas, who were now virtual rulers as far as Attock.
On 14 January 1761 the Marathas sustained a crushing defeat on the battlefield of Panipat. Ahmad Shah Durrani returned to Qandahar in March of that year. He had by now lost control of the Panjab. He invaded it three more times to elimnate the Sikhs by died in October 1773 without having made much progress in consolidating the administration of Panjab. <b>The orthodox Sunni hopes of a revival of their power through Durrani were shattered for ever</b>. Sikh domination of the Panjab was also shortlived. In 1803, the English conquered Delhi, although the Mughal emperors continued to rule withing the four walls of the Delhi fort until 1857. But the stead advance of the British is another story<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I will try to look into John Keay's depiction tomorrow.
Anyone has more sources please post.
Also, how about forming a group to counter paki hijacking of history as well as depicting the historical truths on the nest. I knwo, we all have limited time, but we can do it. How about a dedicated forum --probably closed visitors-- to discuss the on going modalities?