Editing Third Battle of Panipat (section)

== Prelude ==
[[Ahmad Shah Durrani]] (''Ahmad Shah Abdali''), angered by the news from his son and his allies, was unwilling to allow the Marathas' spread go unchecked. By the end of 1759 Abdali with his [[Qizilbash]] and the Afghan tribes,<ref name="Jadunath Sarkar 67"/> had reached [[Lahore]] as well as Delhi and defeated the smaller enemy garrisons, and was joined by the Muslims of Northern India, the [[Rohillas]], and [[Shuja-ud-Daula]].<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofsikhs1401khus/page/150/mode/2up?q=Rohillas |title=A History Of The Sikhs, Vol. 1, 1469-1839 |author=Khushwant Singh |page=150 }}</ref> Ahmed Shah, at this point, withdrew his army to [[Anupshahr]], on the frontier of the Rohilla country, where he successfully convinced the [[Nawab of Oudh]] [[Shuja-ud-Daula]] to join his alliance against the Marathas. The Marathas had earlier helped [[Safdar Jang|Safdarjung]] (father of Shuja) in defeating Rohillas in [[Farrukhabad]].<ref name="tss"/>

The Marathas under [[Sadashivrao Bhau]] responded to the news of the Afghans' return to North India by raising an army, and they marched North. Bhau's force was bolstered by some Maratha forces under [[House of Holkar|Holkar]], [[Scindia]], [[Gaikwad]] and [[Govind Pant Bundele]]. [[Suraj Mal]] (the [[Jat]] ruler of [[Bharatpur State|Bharatpur]]) also had joined Bhausaheb initially. This combined army captured the Mughal capital, Delhi, from an Afghan garrison in December 1759.<ref>{{Cite book|author1=Robinson, Howard |author2=James Thomson Shotwell  |title=Mogul Empire. The Development of the British Empire|publisher=Houghton Mifflin|year=1922|page=91}}</ref> Delhi had been reduced to ashes many times due to previous invasions, and in addition there being acute shortage of supplies in the Maratha camp. Bhau ordered the sacking of the already depopulated city.<ref>Agrawal, Ashvini (1983). "Events leading to the Battle of Panipat". Studies in Mughal History. Motilal Banarsidass. p. 26. {{ISBN|8120823265}}.</ref> He is said to have planned to place his nephew and the Peshwa's son, Vishwasrao, on the Delhi throne. The Jats withdrew their support from the Marathas. Their withdrawal from the ensuing battle was to play a crucial role in its result. The first blood was drawn when the leader of the Rohillas, an Indian Muslim named Qutb Khan, attacked a small Maratha army led by Dattaji Shinde at Burari Ghat. Dattaji camped at the Buradi Fort, south of Panipat, deciding to only engage with Abdali with the aid of Malharao Holkar.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-2TH8UYeAaoC&dq=qutb+khan+gupta&pg=PA119 |title=The Rise of the Indo-Afghan Empire, C.1710-1780 |page=119 |publisher=Brill |date=1995 |author=Jos J. L. Gommans |isbn=9004101098 |access-date=24 March 2023 |archive-date=5 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230405042141/https://books.google.com/books?id=-2TH8UYeAaoC&dq=qutb+khan+gupta&pg=PA119 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=4_SB95ZA-_cC&dq=dattaji+buradi&pg=PA85 |title= Decisive Battles India Lost (326 B. C. to 1803 A. D.) |page= 85 |author= Jaywant Joglekar |date= 2006 |publisher= Lulu.com |isbn= 9781847283023 |access-date= 19 March 2023 |archive-date= 4 April 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230404115900/https://books.google.com/books?id=4_SB95ZA-_cC&dq=dattaji+buradi&pg=PA85 |url-status= live }}</ref> He was beheaded and killed in an attack by [[Mian Qutb Shah|Qutb Khan]].<ref name="tss"/><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Mo-GvHjoH-cC&q=His+head+was+cut+off+by+Mian+Qutb+Shah+,+who+took+it+as+a+trophy+to+the+Afghan+king |title=A History of the Freedom Movement: 1707-1831 |page=282 |publisher=Pakistan Historical Society |date=1957 |access-date=19 March 2023 |archive-date=5 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230405042143/https://books.google.com/books?id=Mo-GvHjoH-cC&q=His+head+was+cut+off+by+Mian+Qutb+Shah+,+who+took+it+as+a+trophy+to+the+Afghan+king |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Suraj Mal's advice to Sadashiv Rao Bhau===
Before Battle of Panipat a war council was formed by Maratha commander-in-chief Sadashiv Rao Bhau in which Maharaja Suraj Mal was invited to give advice for war strategy against Abdali.

Jat chief Surajmal provided following advice :

*  Women, children, old people, families of soldier and non combatants should either be left on the other side of Chambal in Maratha's stronghold of Jhansi and Gwalior or in protection of Suraj Mal’s one of 4 forts in Jat strongholds.<ref name="books.google.co.in">{{Cite book |last=Roy |first=Kaushik |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jpXijlqeRpIC&q=Suraj+Mal+&pg=PA82 |title=India's Historic Battles: From Alexander the Great to Kargil |date=2004 |publisher=Orient Blackswan |isbn=978-81-7824-109-8 |pages=82 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="archive.org">{{cite web | url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.505305/page/n132/mode/1up?view=theater | title=History of Jats | date=1925 }}</ref>
*  Large baggage and heavy artillery should not be taken as they will slow down Maratha movement in the battlefield against Durrani’s forces.<ref name="books.google.co.in"/><ref name="archive.org"/>
* If Marathas find themselves on losing ground then a quick moving force will be able to move backwards in friendly country easily and Abdali will not be keen on crossing Chambal.<ref name="books.google.co.in"/><ref name="archive.org"/>
*  Road for supply lines should be kept open so that Maratha army will not face problems in getting supplies during war <ref name="books.google.co.in"/><ref name="archive.org"/>
* One division of the Maratha army should be sent to Lahore and other to the east to destroy the supply lines so that Abdali will not be able to secure supplies from his allies for his army.<ref name="books.google.co.in"/><ref name="archive.org"/>
* A light cavalry guerrilla warfare will be suggested instead of conventional face-to-face warfare as Durrani will not be able to sustain a long warfare and when Monsoon will come both sides will find forces moving much slower, Durrani will be in much more disadvantage without supplies compared to Marathas and this will force Abdali to move back to his country.<ref name="books.google.co.in"/><ref name="archive.org"/>

Many of the Maratha generals found it good strategy as they themselves prefer guerrilla warfare but Sadashiv Rao Bhau found it dishonourable for a king and took this as result of Maratha general's old age and Suraj Mal's foolishness.

[[File:Portrait of Ahmad-Shah Durrani. Mughal miniature. ca. 1757, Bibliothèque nationale de France.jpg|160px|thumb|Portrait of [[Ahmad Shah Durrani]]]]