This Modi has nothing to do with Gujarat

One of the most important battles in India was the third Battle of Panipat between the Marathas and Ahmed Shah Abdali. This battle signaled the beginning of the end of the Maratha hegemony in India and also paved the way for the growth of the British.

The battle took place on January 14, 1761, at Panipat, in present day Haryana. The battle field can be seen even today and it is about 60 miles or 95.5 km north of  Delhi.

This battle is generally considered by historians to be one of the largest wars fought in the 18^th century and also the battle with the largest number of fatalities recorded in a single day.

By the way, this was also the last major battle in south Asia till the Independence of India and consequent formation of Pakistan in 1947. Tragically, the battle also saw the Mughals who initially sided with the Marathas losing face, power, territory and their prestige and from then on till 1857, they continued only as titular emperors of north India, ruling over Delhi and a few miles in radius.

However, one very little known fact of the war is that today we have exact amounts of money spent on the war, preparation and other connected aspects of the war and this is thanks to the Maratha tendency of keeping precise exact and complete accounts of all monies.

This was could be one of the few major wars where we can easily estimate the amount spent by the Marathas. According to documents available at Pune, which was the headquarters of the Peshwas, the Marathas spent exactly Rs. 92,23,242. 9 on the war that once for all shattered their might.

The records of the expenditure incurred on the war are in Modi script or Marathi shorthand which was used till the 1950s in Maharashtra to write the Marathi language.

The Modi script gained popularity as a cursive variant of the script during the 17th century and it was replaced in the 1950's when Devanagari replaced it as the written medium of the Marathi language.

Modi script was first developed in the 12th century by Hemadripant, a minister in the Yadava Kingdom  under Emperors Mahadev and Ramadev of Devgiri.

He is also the author of  Chaturvarga Chintamani (dealing with spiritual aspects) and Rajprashasti.

It is believed that the medieval period in Maharashtra witnessed a spurt in literature and written documents. There came a need for writing fast and accurately. It was difficult to write quickly in Devnagari because of the space between two words and punctuation marks.

Instead, Modi was widely used as it does not have punctuations and spaces between words. During Chhatrapati Shivaji’s and Peshwa periods, Modi came to be used by both the Government and people.

However, Modi lost its luster when the British took over Maratha held territories. It soon lost out to other languages as typeset and computer fonts could not be developed.

Many Marathi records in Pune are in Modi script and the war account is one such document. What makes this document unique is that it also throws light on how the Peshwas managed to raised such a large amount and what was the exact amount spent on raising the forces, hiring horses, oxen and donkeys.

The Peshwa Dafter or Maharashtra State Archives of Pune houses a large number of documents. The archives are located in a building opposite the Council Hall. Some of the documents date back to the time of Chatrapathi Shivaji.

The building houses over four crore documents, and many of them have not seen the light of the day.  

The Saint who is buried at two places

He was a Sufi saint of the mediaeval ages and he counted the Khilji Emperors of the Delhi Sultanat, Jallaluddin and Ala-ud-Din, as among his followers.

A man of miracles, he drove away all the flies from a city when he saw that the people were being bugged by flies and mosquitoes.  When the people demurred and began grumbling, saying that he had done too good a job, the saint-hurt and angry-brought them back a thousand fold.  

Today, this prominent city is known all over as the world capital of flies and mosquitoes. The people in the city good naturedly grumble that there are at least 10,000 flies for every one of them.

Apart from bringing back the flies to bug his fellow men, the saint is also known for one last astonishing miracle. He is perhaps the only holy man or Sufi saint in India to have been buried at two places.

Today, two cities claim to have the tomb of the saint and they perform the urs and other religious functions at both the structures. This saint is so well-known in both the cities that people from all walks of life, irrespective of their caste, class or religion flock to his tomb.

This Sufi saint is Bu Ali Kalandar (Qualandar) and his two tombs are in the cities of  Panipat and Karnal, both in present day Haryana.

Born in Ganja in Azerbaijan  in 1209, he came down to India and settled first at Panipat. He was a Sufi saint of the Chisti order.

When at Panipat, he had decided to stand in the Jamuna as he did not want to wash his feet and hands every time he wanted to pray. Thus, he stood in the Jamuna, praying and meditating.

Days passed into months and months into years. His legs, which were always under water, became stiff and small fishes gnawed at the flesh of his feet.

After standing in the water for seven to 36 years-depending upon whom you believe- the saint decided to come out of the water and head to Panipat. But, he found that his legs had become stiff and it paned him even if he lifted his leg.

He then prayed to the Jamuna to move back seven paces. The River Goddess, in a hurry to oblige the saint, moved back seven kms away from Panipat (Even today, locals will show you the place where the river Jamuna flowed close to the city).

The saint then walked back slowly to the city of Panipat. People flocked to him and sought his blessings.

When Bu Qualander noticed that flies were a nuisance for the people, he drove them away with his magical powers. Overnight, Panipat was rid of flies. But this did not please all the people and many of them began grumbling. Incensed about their ingratitude, the saint ordered the flies back into Panipat thousand fold.

Today, India’s textile powerhouse of Panipat is facing  a major challenge in tackling flies and mosquitoes. Wherever you go, whichever locality you visit, you cannot help but fell the bite of a mosquito.

The flies are in millions and people will tell you that Panipat is the world capital of flies. Oh, the curse of the saint.

Coming back to the story of the saint, he travelled to Delhi where he was put in charge of  teaching Islamic law and he was also given the post of a Mufti. He stayed in Delhi for 20 years and preached near Qutb Minar.

When these two jobs left him with no time for his Sufism, he relinquished the post and came back to present day Haryana. 

After he died in 1324, he was buried at Karnal but the people of Panipat claimed his body. They then decided to construct another tomb for him at Panipat.

They took some bricks from the grave at Karnal for building the foundation of his grave at Panipat. When they symbolically buried a coffin in Panipat, they were astonished to find the body of the saint.

So today the saint has two graves or mausoleum-one at Panipat and another at Karnal.

The saint is also known for his beautiful verse he composed on Hazrat Ali (Hazrat Ali was the cousin and son-in-law of Prophet Mohammad. He was the first male convert to Islam). They go as follows,

“Haiderium Qalandaram Mastam

Banda-e-Murtuza Ali Hastam

Peshwa-e-Tamaam Rindaanam

Ke Sag-e-koo-e-Sher-e-Yazdaanam.”

His darga or mausoleum at Qalandar Chowk in Panipat was constructed by Mahabat Khan, a General of Mughal emperor Jahangir.  Mahabat Khan’s own tomb in red sandstone is adjacent to the saint's mausoleum.

The tombs of Hakim Mukharam Khan and the famous Urdu poet Altaf Hussain Hali (1837-1914) are also located within the enclosure. His famous long poem, Musaddas-e -Hali is still very popular. It looks into the state of social and moral degradation prevalent in the then contemporary Muslim society. His prose treatise, Muqaddama-e-Shair-o-Shairi, is a pioneering work of literary criticism. It dwells on the limitations of the traditional ghazal.

There is another tomb of the saint at just outside Karnal. This structure is made of marble and it was built by Ghias-ud-din Tughlaq, the Emperor of Delhi and founder of the Tughlaq dynasty.  The Mughal emperor, Aurangzeb, built a reservoir with fountains inside the structure.

The graveyard of Indian Kings

It was the scene of one epic battle and three other battles that changed the course of Indian history. Win this place and you will win Delhi, was the refrain of Kings and Emperors.

Today, the scars of the battles have vanished and the town is known more for its industry than for its heritage. It is better known for its pickles, textiles, carpets and quality blankets.

It is also the city which has one of the busiest handloom weaving industries in the world. This is also the world capital of  “Shoddy Yarn”.  The blankets prepared here  through Handloom and powerloom are extensively used by the Defence forces.

It is also one of the five cities founded by the Pandavas. It was then called Pandavaprastha. But today there is no trace of this. It is now known as Panipat and it is in Haryana.

It is around Panipat that the Kurukshetra war was fought. That epic battle is only a memory now.

It was also in Panipat that the Mughal dynasty began its rule overt India. It is here that Akbar took his first step towards greatness when he overcame Hemu, the Hindu Emperor, and marched towards Delhi.

The third and last battle of Panipat saw an Afghan routing the Marathas and this blow dealt such a blow to the Marathas that it changed the course of Indian history forever.

All the battle are now only a thing of the past as rapid urbanisation and industrialization have overtaken Panipat and surrounding towns and villages.

Today, Panipat is a busy railway junction and the thousands of passengers who alight and board the trains that that steam in endlessly seemed to be in a hurry to move on. Ask them about what they saw in Panipat and more often than not you will be met with a blank stare.

You get more details in textbooks and history books about Panipat and its battles than in the city.

The once historic highway that saw Babur march towards Delhi and other kings and emperors now sees scores of shops selling pachranga pickles. This is a local specialty and it is a mix of lemon, mango, ginger, mango, chilli and lotus stem. All these ingredients are soaked in oil specially made in Panipat.

However, what makes Panipat one of the most historic places in India is that this is the very place that three decisive battles took place and they are called as the first, second and third battle of Panipat.

The first battle of Panipat changed the course of Indian history. An Afghan, Zahiruddin Babur, was at the head of a small army and he met Ibrahim Lodi of Delhi here on April 26, 1526.    

Babur had just 12,000 men as against more than a lakh of Ibrahim Lodi. However, it is in this battle that artillery was used for the first time in India. The vast army of Lodi was no match to the small but highly efficient artillery of  Babur.

Lodhi lost the battle and his life too. More importantly, he lost Delhi to and paved the way for the Mughals to rule India over the next two and half centuries.

This battle has left only a few mementoes. The first is the Baburi mosque in Kabuli Bagh and the second is Ibrahim Lodhi's tomb in Tehsil Camp, very close to the bus terminus in Panipat.

Babur built the Baburi mosque at the very site where he sank onto his knees in thanksgiving after the battle. Babur completed the structure during 1528-29 and even prayed in it. This makes the structure the first Mughal monument built in India.

This monument seems to have been forgotten by the locals. Ask for the Baburi mosque and you are sure to be sent to a 13^th century shirne of Pir Qualandar, a Sufi saint.

The Baburi mosque is near Kutani road. It is located within a beautiful garden. The entrance to the mosque faces north. It is built of Lakhauri bricks. It has ten domes but has no minarats.

Babur's son and the second Mughal Emperor, Humayun,  constructed a brick platform in front of the main prayer hall after his victory over Islam Shah, a successor of Sher Shah Sur. This platform is almost ruined.  

The next important monument nearby is the plain and simple tomb of  Ibrahim Lodhi. It has no dome or any sepulchral structure. The tomb stands on a small platform of  Lakhauri bricks.

In the second battle of Panipat fought on November 5, 1556, Akbar defeated Hemu or Hem Chandra Vikramaditya and reclaimed the Delhi throne.

Hemu was beheaded at Akbar’s camp at Saundhapur on Jind Road in Panipat. After Hemu’s beheading, his head was sent to Kabul to be hanged outside the Delhi Darwaza and his body hanged on a gibbet outside Purana Quila in Delhi.
After a few years,  Hemu's supporters, constructed a Samadhi over the place where he was beheaded. The place and its surroundings are encroached now. This is the only remnant the second battle.

The third battle too sent shock waves in India when the Afghan invader, Ahmed Shah Abdali, routed the powerful Marathas on January 14, 1761. The battle put paid to the hopes of the Marathas to set up a Hindu Rashtra in India and paved the way for the emergence of the British as a powerful force.  

The place where this battle was fought is designated by an obelisk called Kala Amb. Locals say that a mango tree here bears  dark mangoes, a reminder of the thousands of Marathas and Afghan soldiers who died. The Maratha commander, Sadashiv Rau Bhau,  is believed to have fallen at this very spot.

This place is close to the road leading to Sanauli in Uttar Pradesh. It is now a large, tree-lined park. The park hides the dark secret of  the important war that brought the Marathas to their knees.  

The Marathas were winning the war when a stray bullet killed  Vishwas Rao, the son of Peshwa Baji Rao, and he fell
dead from his horse. A roar of anguish arose from the Maratha camp. When the body of  the 17-year-old Vishwas Rao was brought before Sadashiv Bhau, the Maratha commander, his rage knew no bounds. Disregarding all warnings,  he mounted on his horse and rushed into battle, only to be surrounded and killed by the Afghans. This completely shattered the morale of  the Marathas who fled from the battle.
A little away, the Peshwa, Balaji Rao, was crossing the Narmada with reinforcements when a soldier arrived with the coded  message ,“Two pearls have been dissolved, 27 gold coins have been lost and of the silver and copper the total cannot be cast up”.
The Peshwa realised the enormity of the defeat and the death of his son and others. He fell sick and  never recovered from the shock of the  debacle. He returned heartbroken to Pune and died.

An ornamental gate called Bab-i-Faiz (comfort of the world) built by Nawab Sadiq in 1733 AD stands as the  main entrance of the town. Though this did not play any part in any of the wears, it was a mute witness to the third battle of Panpiat.

By the way, Panipat has always gone with the invader. It first favoured Babur against Ibrahim. It also helped Akbar strengthen his position at the cost of the local Hindu kingdom. In the final battle, it proved lucky for the Afghan King and it gave the thumbs down for the powerful Marathas.  

Panipat is just 90 kms from Delhi and 169 kms from Chandigarh, It is very well connected by road and rail networks.