Ashutosh Gowarikar’s period drama Panipat has offended Jats and Afghans for 'wrong portrayal' of Jat ruler Maharaja Surajmal and Afghan king Ahmad Shah Abdali.
Rajathan's Jat community claims Maharaja Surajmal is shown as being greedy in the film Panipat, when, in fact, he helped the Marathas against the Afghans in the third battle of Panipat.
Panipat, releasing 6 December, the day Babri Masjid was demolished in Ayodhya, is about battle that Amit Shah said ‘paved way for foreigners to enter India’.
BJP’s fate in the second phase of 2024 Lok Sabha election will be decided in Karnataka, Rajasthan, and Maharashtra, where it performed very well in 2019 but faces a stiff competition now.
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Another addition to military cooperation has been the Strategic Space Dialogue, inaugurated in Paris in 2023. Last month, India participated as an observer to France’s AsterX.
III Battle of Panipat was epoch making Battle and has to be seen with a proper perspective of that time. And that perspective can be gained by knowing the actual events that took place. These events were reported by Maratha writers of Datar’s and Akhbarat’s sent to Pune Office. Kashiraj Pandit, in service of Shuja-ud-dola Nawab of Awadh was also present has given a truthful account of this Battle.
This Battle can be seen from Military Historian or period historian or modern day historians point of view. Each is relevant.
The period of Battle was period of anarchy. Each protoganist wanted legitimacy of Mughal Emperor(Emperor in name). Each was pursuing his own interest, each was betraying the other and in this Great Hamam of blood bath come out covered in blood. And each suffered terribly. Najibuddola became the Recent but he too suffered huge losses of men and material. Marathas lost reputation, a generation of their youth and their families and Abdali lost his son and others with a realisation that even in pitched Battle in planes India is no pushover. No one notices that Abdali was the last invader out of India which was raising its own armed battalions with firearms and were tough adversities. Mahadaji Shinde with his French (De Boigne) trained sepoys later mastered this art and Mahadaji became Vazir-e Mutalak.
Now of Ashutosh Gowarikar’ film. All in all it is an honest effort. Abdali letter to Peshwa and effort to reconcile the differences are historical fact. In those troubled times it was a gamble to take anyone’s side as in case of Shuja-ud-dola or Surajmal. No one can blame which side you took so no blame to any one. In making a film certain exaggeration have to be made yet Arjun Kapoor, Sanjay Datt and Kriti Sonon came good. You can not put the clock back. Though Third Battle of Panipat was a disaster for Marathas yet it also had seeds of great rise of India in the form of Mahadaji Sindhia who with his able General De Boigne who in his Camp (Campoo to local) gave rise to nascent of it’s Army and the unity that was so much required. British adopted much of this model and hence Mahadaji Sindhia in many ways is the maker of Modern India.
Pankaj Gupta
III Battle of Panipat was epoch making Battle and has to be seen with a proper perspective of that time. And that perspective can be gained by knowing the actual events that took place. These events were reported by Maratha writers of Datar’s and Akhbarat’s sent to Pune Office. Kashiraj Pandit, in service of Shuja-ud-dola Nawab of Awadh was also present has given a truthful account of this Battle.
This Battle can be seen from Military Historian or period historian or modern day historians point of view. Each is relevant.
The period of Battle was period of anarchy. Each protoganist wanted legitimacy of Mughal Emperor(Emperor in name). Each was pursuing his own interest, each was betraying the other and in this Great Hamam of blood bath come out covered in blood. And each suffered terribly. Najibuddola became the Recent but he too suffered huge losses of men and material. Marathas lost reputation, a generation of their youth and their families and Abdali lost his son and others with a realisation that even in pitched Battle in planes India is no pushover. No one notices that Abdali was the last invader out of India which was raising its own armed battalions with firearms and were tough adversities. Mahadaji Shinde with his French (De Boigne) trained sepoys later mastered this art and Mahadaji became Vazir-e Mutalak.
Now of Ashutosh Gowarikar’ film. All in all it is an honest effort. Abdali letter to Peshwa and effort to reconcile the differences are historical fact. In those troubled times it was a gamble to take anyone’s side as in case of Shuja-ud-dola or Surajmal. No one can blame which side you took so no blame to any one. In making a film certain exaggeration have to be made yet Arjun Kapoor, Sanjay Datt and Kriti Sonon came good. You can not put the clock back. Though Third Battle of Panipat was a disaster for Marathas yet it also had seeds of great rise of India in the form of Mahadaji Sindhia who with his able General De Boigne who in his Camp (Campoo to local) gave rise to nascent of it’s Army and the unity that was so much required. British adopted much of this model and hence Mahadaji Sindhia in many ways is the maker of Modern India.
Pankaj Gupta
The third battle of Panipat was an example of bad planning and execution. This is not reflected in the movie, instead there has been glorification of the protagonists with modern day Indian perspective.
Maratha expedition had a large number of pilgrims who tagged along to visit holy sites such as Mathura and Kashi. Marathas had better artillery but had poor support and logistics in North. One reference indicates that Marathas were perceived as marauding armies and Northern kings were not happy paying taxes. Further, Marathas were traditionally better at guerrilla warfare which was not used in Panipat. This was also due to huge baggage of civilians at the battlefield.
What appears is somehow Marathas under appreciated the political landscape and faced the enemy in a war neither planned nor executed on their terms. However, it has been acknowledged that Maratha forces fought the fiercest through the first phase of the was before starvation and fatigue kicked in.
I think you got the reason for Abdali’s invasion wrong. The mughals officially never invited Abdali. The Mughal emperor was a puppet emperor of the Marathas after the Marathas sacked Delhi and were not interested in ruling it and hence, put Shah Alam 2 on the throne. Shah Alam was weak and there was political intrigue among the Mughal noblemen.
One of Abdali’s sons was actually killed by one of these noblemen in present day Pakistan, I think, Lahore, thus, angering Abdali and then he was invited by one of the Mughal rebels to invade.
Abdali invaded for the purpose of avenging his son’s death and that is the exact reason that the Rohillas & Awadh, who are of Afghan origin supported him as in the Afghan tribal set up, avenging a family member’s death is required to maintain status and honour.
There is also another story that the Mughal nobleman, who killed Abdali’s son or nephew, ran away and sought refuge with the Marathas and Abdali demanded that Marathas hand him over but they refused citing Guest hospitalilty ethics and hence, this resulted in a war.
Abdali himself was an honourable man, fought personally in his battles and was also well educated. Protraying all Muslim rulers as brutes like Khilji just shows how narrow minded people have become and how film makers try to squeeze out money from spectators using sentimentality rather than make a good original & factual film.
There can be many interpretations of an historical event. My own interpretation of the third battle of Panipat is that it was a ‘lose-lose’ battle for all the participants as well those who stood neutral and were mute spectators, barring two unintended beneficiaries- the Sikhs and the British. The Marathas were obviously the worse affected. They suffered due to over-ambitious expansion of their empire, which was beyond their financial and military capabilities and disinclination to make friends and allies. The Panipat was a lonely battle for them. It was already a lost cause the moment they decided root themselves for an indefinite period in Panipat, which resulted in immobility and indecision. Many opportunities were lost. They could have come back without wasting precious time after winning the battle of Kunjpura. Instead they preferred to have a holy bath in Kurukshetra. In the meanwhile, Abdali crossed Yamuna and blocked they return to Delhi. Marathas could never recover from this debacle. Another missed opportunity was that they could have attacked Abdali straight away without wasting time. Abdali was yet to settle on the western bank of Yamuna and Maratha Army’s morale was high. Sadashiv didn’t have guts to take the risk and preferred to remain immobile. Thereafter, Abdali shifted his camp close to Yamuna, thus clearing way for Marathas to flee to Delhi. Sadashiv didn’t opt for the offered escape route. Alternatively, he could have gone back to Kundapura and crossed Yamuna and entered the Duab. Again, he remained immobile till the army was starved due to lack of food and he had no other option but to fight a lost battle.
III Battle of Panipat was epoch making Battle and has to be seen with a proper perspective of that time. And that perspective can be gained by knowing the actual events that took place. These events were reported by Maratha writers of Datar’s and Akhbarat’s sent to Pune Office. Kashiraj Pandit, in service of Shuja-ud-dola Nawab of Awadh was also present has given a truthful account of this Battle.
This Battle can be seen from Military Historian or period historian or modern day historians point of view. Each is relevant.
The period of Battle was period of anarchy. Each protoganist wanted legitimacy of Mughal Emperor(Emperor in name). Each was pursuing his own interest, each was betraying the other and in this Great Hamam of blood bath come out covered in blood. And each suffered terribly. Najibuddola became the Recent but he too suffered huge losses of men and material. Marathas lost reputation, a generation of their youth and their families and Abdali lost his son and others with a realisation that even in pitched Battle in planes India is no pushover. No one notices that Abdali was the last invader out of India which was raising its own armed battalions with firearms and were tough adversities. Mahadaji Shinde with his French (De Boigne) trained sepoys later mastered this art and Mahadaji became Vazir-e Mutalak.
Now of Ashutosh Gowarikar’ film. All in all it is an honest effort. Abdali letter to Peshwa and effort to reconcile the differences are historical fact. In those troubled times it was a gamble to take anyone’s side as in case of Shuja-ud-dola or Surajmal. No one can blame which side you took so no blame to any one. In making a film certain exaggeration have to be made yet Arjun Kapoor, Sanjay Datt and Kriti Sonon came good. You can not put the clock back. Though Third Battle of Panipat was a disaster for Marathas yet it also had seeds of great rise of India in the form of Mahadaji Sindhia who with his able General De Boigne who in his Camp (Campoo to local) gave rise to nascent of it’s Army and the unity that was so much required. British adopted much of this model and hence Mahadaji Sindhia in many ways is the maker of Modern India.
Pankaj Gupta
III Battle of Panipat was epoch making Battle and has to be seen with a proper perspective of that time. And that perspective can be gained by knowing the actual events that took place. These events were reported by Maratha writers of Datar’s and Akhbarat’s sent to Pune Office. Kashiraj Pandit, in service of Shuja-ud-dola Nawab of Awadh was also present has given a truthful account of this Battle.
This Battle can be seen from Military Historian or period historian or modern day historians point of view. Each is relevant.
The period of Battle was period of anarchy. Each protoganist wanted legitimacy of Mughal Emperor(Emperor in name). Each was pursuing his own interest, each was betraying the other and in this Great Hamam of blood bath come out covered in blood. And each suffered terribly. Najibuddola became the Recent but he too suffered huge losses of men and material. Marathas lost reputation, a generation of their youth and their families and Abdali lost his son and others with a realisation that even in pitched Battle in planes India is no pushover. No one notices that Abdali was the last invader out of India which was raising its own armed battalions with firearms and were tough adversities. Mahadaji Shinde with his French (De Boigne) trained sepoys later mastered this art and Mahadaji became Vazir-e Mutalak.
Now of Ashutosh Gowarikar’ film. All in all it is an honest effort. Abdali letter to Peshwa and effort to reconcile the differences are historical fact. In those troubled times it was a gamble to take anyone’s side as in case of Shuja-ud-dola or Surajmal. No one can blame which side you took so no blame to any one. In making a film certain exaggeration have to be made yet Arjun Kapoor, Sanjay Datt and Kriti Sonon came good. You can not put the clock back. Though Third Battle of Panipat was a disaster for Marathas yet it also had seeds of great rise of India in the form of Mahadaji Sindhia who with his able General De Boigne who in his Camp (Campoo to local) gave rise to nascent of it’s Army and the unity that was so much required. British adopted much of this model and hence Mahadaji Sindhia in many ways is the maker of Modern India.
Pankaj Gupta
The third battle of Panipat was an example of bad planning and execution. This is not reflected in the movie, instead there has been glorification of the protagonists with modern day Indian perspective.
Maratha expedition had a large number of pilgrims who tagged along to visit holy sites such as Mathura and Kashi. Marathas had better artillery but had poor support and logistics in North. One reference indicates that Marathas were perceived as marauding armies and Northern kings were not happy paying taxes. Further, Marathas were traditionally better at guerrilla warfare which was not used in Panipat. This was also due to huge baggage of civilians at the battlefield.
What appears is somehow Marathas under appreciated the political landscape and faced the enemy in a war neither planned nor executed on their terms. However, it has been acknowledged that Maratha forces fought the fiercest through the first phase of the was before starvation and fatigue kicked in.
I think you got the reason for Abdali’s invasion wrong. The mughals officially never invited Abdali. The Mughal emperor was a puppet emperor of the Marathas after the Marathas sacked Delhi and were not interested in ruling it and hence, put Shah Alam 2 on the throne. Shah Alam was weak and there was political intrigue among the Mughal noblemen.
One of Abdali’s sons was actually killed by one of these noblemen in present day Pakistan, I think, Lahore, thus, angering Abdali and then he was invited by one of the Mughal rebels to invade.
Abdali invaded for the purpose of avenging his son’s death and that is the exact reason that the Rohillas & Awadh, who are of Afghan origin supported him as in the Afghan tribal set up, avenging a family member’s death is required to maintain status and honour.
There is also another story that the Mughal nobleman, who killed Abdali’s son or nephew, ran away and sought refuge with the Marathas and Abdali demanded that Marathas hand him over but they refused citing Guest hospitalilty ethics and hence, this resulted in a war.
Abdali himself was an honourable man, fought personally in his battles and was also well educated. Protraying all Muslim rulers as brutes like Khilji just shows how narrow minded people have become and how film makers try to squeeze out money from spectators using sentimentality rather than make a good original & factual film.
There can be many interpretations of an historical event. My own interpretation of the third battle of Panipat is that it was a ‘lose-lose’ battle for all the participants as well those who stood neutral and were mute spectators, barring two unintended beneficiaries- the Sikhs and the British. The Marathas were obviously the worse affected. They suffered due to over-ambitious expansion of their empire, which was beyond their financial and military capabilities and disinclination to make friends and allies. The Panipat was a lonely battle for them. It was already a lost cause the moment they decided root themselves for an indefinite period in Panipat, which resulted in immobility and indecision. Many opportunities were lost. They could have come back without wasting precious time after winning the battle of Kunjpura. Instead they preferred to have a holy bath in Kurukshetra. In the meanwhile, Abdali crossed Yamuna and blocked they return to Delhi. Marathas could never recover from this debacle. Another missed opportunity was that they could have attacked Abdali straight away without wasting time. Abdali was yet to settle on the western bank of Yamuna and Maratha Army’s morale was high. Sadashiv didn’t have guts to take the risk and preferred to remain immobile. Thereafter, Abdali shifted his camp close to Yamuna, thus clearing way for Marathas to flee to Delhi. Sadashiv didn’t opt for the offered escape route. Alternatively, he could have gone back to Kundapura and crossed Yamuna and entered the Duab. Again, he remained immobile till the army was starved due to lack of food and he had no other option but to fight a lost battle.