Jump to content

Did Marathas Really Conquered Attock And Peshawer Before Sikhs?


Azad67
 Share

Recommended Posts

Indian sources are claiming that Marathas conquered attock and peshawer and even installed governors there. While our sources say that it were sikhs, who were the first non-muslim force from east since mahmud ghaznavi times, who conquered attock fort in 1813 and annexed peshawer to sikh kingdom in 1834. What does sikh sources say about this claim of marathas. I have to ask this question because it is present in every article on internet from indian sources, which are relevant to panipat battle.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

http://www.sikhsangat.com/index.php?/topic/73799-sikh-history/?p=603195

The magnitude of fear those foreigners had for the Khalsa was much more than what they had for other Hindu martial races. You will never hear of Afghans putting a price on the head of a Maratha or Rajput. The tales of valor which the Singhs are known for is something those others could not even dream of.

Its not always victory that counts, but how quickly were we able to get back on our feet even after being hit by the worst types of onslaughts. Its not always victory that counts, but how justly/fairly/honestly the Singhs fought their battles.

Lets also not forget the root cause of conflict. For Marathas and Rajputs it was almost always about land and kingdom. For the Sikhs, ever since the times of Guru Sahibaan, it was fighting injustice and tyranny.

We had/have Guru Sahib to lead us, first in His human form and then in His Shabad Guru roop. Who do they have? I am not denying that there have been brave Hindu warriors who fought Mughals/Afghans fiercely and achieved victories. But we have to remember that the Singhs were able to achieve much more than them in much worse circumstances. The Singhs were able to get back on the battlefield much quicker after getting hit. Marathas had their back broken after 3rd battle of Panipat, but the Khalsa was/is resilient and refused to give up. Rajputs even ended up having matrimonial alliances with Mughals to end conflict, Khalsa on the other hand refused any kind of Nawabi offered to them and choose to win it in the battlefield.

Fighting battles is one thing. Winning them is something else. But its our Khalsa standards of integrity and Gurmat ideals of our character that made us outshine everyone else.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Marathas never invaded alone. It was a tripartite alliance between the Mughals, Marathas and Sikhs that initially drove out the Afghans from Punjab then under the son of Ahmad Shah Abdali. Once the Afghans were driven out, the Marathas gave all power to the Mughals who then marginalized the Sikhs even though Sikhs were equal partners in this alliance. The Mughals began to persecute the Sikhs. Seeing this Marathas never even objected or asked the Mughals to not persecute Sikhs. This is why the Sikhs stayed neutral when Abdali came to fight the Marathas in Panipat. The Marathas never went beyond Indus river. Marathas were a powerful force. At the time they had a vast army led by experienced generals. But they did not follow the ideals of Shivaji. Instead they indulged in loot and rapine which alienated not only the Sikhs but also the Jats and Rajputs

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Marathas never invaded alone. It was a tripartite alliance between the Mughals, Marathas and Sikhs that initially drove out the Afghans from Punjab then under the son of Ahmad Shah Abdali. Once the Afghans were driven out, the Marathas gave all power to the Mughals who then marginalized the Sikhs even though Sikhs were equal partners in this alliance. The Mughals began to persecute the Sikhs. Seeing this Marathas never even objected or asked the Mughals to not persecute Sikhs. This is why the Sikhs stayed neutral when Abdali came to fight the Marathas in Panipat. The Marathas never went beyond Indus river. Marathas were a powerful force. At the time they had a vast army led by experienced generals. But they did not follow the ideals of Shivaji. Instead they indulged in loot and rapine which alienated not only the Sikhs but also the Jats and Rajputs

As far as I know Marathas got to the fringe of Peshawer before Abdali drove them out. They could easily have effaced him at Panipat but their emphasis on fighting pitched battles against numerical foes saw them being slaughtered.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As far as I know Marathas got to the fringe of Peshawer before Abdali drove them out. They could easily have effaced him at Panipat but their emphasis on fighting pitched battles against numerical foes saw them being slaughtered.

It's one thing beating the Afghans on Indian soil where Afghans were foreigners and away from their homeland, fighting beyond river Indus on home turf of the Afghans was a whole different ball game. How successful they would have been taking on wild tribal Pashtuns on their mountainous land is not easy to say. Perhaps Azaad can write his views on this.

The biggest mistake the Marathas made was to give Punjab to the Mughals instead of the Sikhs. They ignored the rising power of the Sikhs and thought Sikhs were just minor rebels. Had they given Punjab or large portions of Punjab in charge of Sikh Sardars, the entire Sikh nation would have helped them in Panipat. At Panipat the Marathas and Afghans were evenly matched. The Marathas very nearly won but in the end they lost when reserve force of afghans overwhelmed them and subsequently slaughtering every man their sword came across. It was a huge tragedy for the Maratha nation. A great many Maratha women had been captured by the Afghan soldiers who were going to take them to Afghanistan. Ironically it was the Sikhs who liberated those Maratha women, the same Sikhs the Marathas ignored as a minor power when they came to Punjab.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's one thing beating the Afghans on Indian soil where Afghans were foreigners and away from their homeland, fighting beyond river Indus on home turf of the Afghans was a whole different ball game. How successful they would have been taking on wild tribal Pashtuns on their mountainous land is not easy to say. Perhaps Azaad can write his views on this.

The biggest mistake the Marathas made was to give Punjab to the Mughals instead of the Sikhs. They ignored the rising power of the Sikhs and thought Sikhs were just minor rebels. Had they given Punjab or large portions of Punjab in charge of Sikh Sardars, the entire Sikh nation would have helped them in Panipat. At Panipat the Marathas and Afghans were evenly matched. The Marathas very nearly won but in the end they lost when reserve force of afghans overwhelmed them and subsequently slaughtering every man their sword came across. It was a huge tragedy for the Maratha nation. A great many Maratha women had been captured by the Afghan soldiers who were going to take them to Afghanistan. Ironically it was the Sikhs who liberated those Maratha women, the same Sikhs the Marathas ignored as a minor power when they came to Punjab.

The Jats pressured the Marathas to adopt the guerrilla of the tactics but unfortunately the main Maratha honchos refused to listen. Thus, at Panipat Abdali's more superior cavalry, artillery and infantry crushed them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Jats pressured the Marathas to adopt the guerrilla of the tactics but unfortunately the main Maratha honchos refused to listen. Thus, at Panipat Abdali's more superior cavalry, artillery and infantry crushed them.

The Jats were good fighters too but they knew their limit. Fighting the Afghans under a leader like Abdali in a direct engagement was no easy task. They tried to explain this to the Marathas, but the Maratha military leaders closed their ears to all sane advise. They were like the Japanese militarists who insisted on attacking pearl harbor and taking on a greater power like the Americans.

But even then the Marathas were initially winning the battle. The Maratha artillery was being led by Gardi Khan whose accurate shots were taking the toll on the Afghans. But the Afghans wore armour which the Marathas didn't and in a hand to hand fight this means a lot. Marathas and Afghans were equally good horsemen. Some say the Afghans had the advantage, some say the Marathas. But truth be told It was an even match.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Jats were good fighters too but they knew their limit. Fighting the Afghans under a leader like Abdali in a direct engagement was no easy task. They tried to explain this to the Marathas, but the Maratha military leaders closed their ears to all sane advise. They were like the Japanese militarists who insisted on attacking pearl harbor and taking on a greater power like the Americans.

But even then the Marathas were initially winning the battle. The Maratha artillery was being led by Gardi Khan whose accurate shots were taking the toll on the Afghans. But the Afghans wore armour which the Marathas didn't and in a hand to hand fight this means a lot. Marathas and Afghans were equally good horsemen. Some say the Afghans had the advantage, some say the Marathas. But truth be told It was an even match.

It is said two Maratha components joined Abdali although this is much debated.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It is said two Maratha components joined Abdali although this is much debated.

Don't know about this, but there was an incident of Afghan prisoners of war who were located behind the Marathas. These Afghan POWs managed to break free and capture some weapons and began killing the Marathas from behind. This caused panic among the Maratha soldiers who thought they were fighting a two front battle.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
 Share

  • advertisement_alt
  • advertisement_alt
  • advertisement_alt


  • Topics

  • Posts

    • yeh it's true, we shouldn't be lazy and need to learn jhatka shikaar. It doesn't help some of grew up in surrounding areas like Slough and Southall where everyone thought it was super bad for amrit dharis to eat meat, and they were following Sant babas and jathas, and instead the Singhs should have been normalising jhatka just like the recent world war soldiers did. We are trying to rectifiy this and khalsa should learn jhatka.  But I am just writing about bhog for those that are still learning rehit. As I explained, there are all these negative influences in the panth that talk against rehit, but this shouldn't deter us from taking khanda pahul, no matter what level of rehit we are!
    • How is it going to help? The link is of a Sikh hunter. Fine, but what good does that do the lazy Sikh who ate khulla maas in a restaurant? By the way, for the OP, yes, it's against rehit to eat khulla maas.
    • Yeah, Sikhs should do bhog of food they eat. But the point of bhog is to only do bhog of food which is fit to be presented to Maharaj. It's not maryada to do bhog of khulla maas and pretend it's OK to eat. It's not. Come on, bro, you should know better than to bring this Sakhi into it. Is this Sikh in the restaurant accompanied by Guru Gobind Singh ji? Is he fighting a dharam yudh? Or is he merely filling his belly with the nearest restaurant?  Please don't make a mockery of our puratan Singhs' sacrifices by comparing them to lazy Sikhs who eat khulla maas.
    • Seriously?? The Dhadi is trying to be cute. For those who didn't get it, he said: "Some say Maharaj killed bakras (goats). Some say he cut the heads of the Panj Piyaras. The truth is that they weren't goats. It was she-goats (ਬਕਰੀਆਂ). He jhatka'd she-goats. Not he-goats." Wow. This is possibly the stupidest thing I've ever heard in relation to Sikhi.
    • Instead of a 9 inch or larger kirpan, take a smaller kirpan and put it (without gatra) inside your smaller turban and tie the turban tightly. This keeps a kirpan on your person without interfering with the massage or alarming the masseuse. I'm not talking about a trinket but rather an actual small kirpan that fits in a sheath (you'll have to search to find one). As for ahem, "problems", you could get a male masseuse. I don't know where you are, but in most places there are professional masseuses who actually know what they are doing and can really relieve your muscle pains.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Terms of Use