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84
wounded, except Holkar, who had left the field
very early, when he found that balance had
changed in favour of the Afghans and that the
Marhatta army was heading towards disaster.
Never a victory could be more complete.
The Third Battle of Panipat was more decisive
than the previous ones. The whole of Hindustan
lay at the feet of the conqueror. The greatest
power that could oppose Ahmad Shah was
smashed to pieces and their towering edifice
crumbled to the ground. The British at this time
had not yet fully consolidated their position even
in Bengal. As such they were no match to the
Afghans, the victors of Panipat. To the Marhattas
the day of the Third Battle of Panipat was one of
mourning and calamity, and with it their hope of
an Empire vanished for ever. Grief spread over
the whole Marhatta people ; every one mourned
the loss of relatives or friends. The Peshwa,
the head of Marhatta Confederacy, could not
survive this shock. He was so overtaken with
grief and sorrow that, retreating towards Poona,
he passed away. The confederacy itself sustained
an irreparable loss. Before it could recover from
this shock and assume offensive once more, it
Roughly two thirds of characters agree with a modern printed edition of the same text. Much of the disagreement is editorial, not misreading. Treat the transcription as a finding aid and read the page image before quoting. How this was measured.