01Chimaji’s son
Sadashivrao was born in 1730, the son of Chimaji Appa, Bajirao’s brother and the victor of Vasai. His mother died when he was an infant and his father in 1740, and he was raised by his grandmother Radhabai in the Peshwa household at Pune. He grew up as a manager more than a raider, keen on accounts and order, and became the Peshwa’s diwan. In February 1760 he led the army against the Nizam’s brother Salabat Jang and beat him at Udgir; the peace that followed gave the Marathas lands worth some sixty lakh rupees a year.
02The march north
Abdali had come down into the Punjab and killed Dattaji Shinde at Buradi Ghat in January 1760. The Peshwa sent Bhau north in March with the pick of the Maratha army, the trained infantry and guns of Ibrahim Khan Gardi, and his own son Vishwasrao as nominal head. Bhau took Delhi in early August 1760. Short of money, he had the silver ceiling of the Diwan-i-Khas stripped and coined to pay the troops. On 17 October he stormed Kunjpura on the Yamuna and killed its Afghan garrison. Abdali then crossed the river behind him and cut him off from the south.
03Panipat
For two months the armies faced each other at Panipat. The Maratha camp, crowded with pilgrims and families, starved. On 14 January 1761, Sankranti, Bhau led the army out. Ibrahim Khan Gardi’s guns broke the Rohilla wing in the morning, and the centre nearly broke Abdali’s. In the afternoon Abdali threw in his fresh reserve; Vishwasrao was shot, and Bhau went into the fight on foot and was not seen again. His headless body was identified later on the field. Tens of thousands of Marathas died that day.
