Marathas Reach Attock: The Pinnacle That Wasn't (1757-1758)

Raghunath Rao's Northern Campaign, Iran's Offer, & The Empire on Borrowed Money

The Afghan Retreat

Why Taimur Shah Fled

The Situation:

• Taimur Shah (Abdali's son) and Jahan Khan (commander-in-chief) in Lahore
• Abdali couldn't send reinforcements
• Too busy with internal Afghan revolts
• Afghanistan itself in turmoil

The Strategy:

• Left Lahore
• Crossed the Ravi River toward Afghanistan
• Got closer to safety

Why This Mattered:

• If Marathas pursued, they'd have to cross the Ravi
• River crossings = time-consuming
• Quick defensive position

Punjab: Land of Five Rivers

Understanding the Geography

What "Punjab" Means:

• "Punj" = Five
• "Ab" = Rivers/Waters
• Punjab = Land of Five Rivers

The Rivers:

• All start in the Himalayas
• Empty into the Sindhu (Indus) River
• Provide fresh sweet water
• Make Punjab extremely fertile

Why This Matters:

• Fertile = high agricultural output
• High output = enormous tax revenue
• Punjab was a prize worth fighting for

April 19, 1758: Lahore Falls

The Maratha Victory

What Happened:

• Manaji Paigude (important Maratha commander) entered Lahore
• 10,000 Maratha forces
• 1,000 Mughal soldiers with them
• 11,000 total

Afghan Response:

• Left all their stuff behind
• Just fled
• Wanted to escape quickly
• Everything fell into Maratha hands

The New Power Structure

Adina Beg:

• Probably the new Subedar of Punjab
• Working with the Sikhs

The Sikhs:

• Rising power in Punjab
• Multiple groups (misls)
• Each misl = 100-200 fighters (like tribes)
• Developing their own power structure
• NOT fully in control yet, but gaining strength

The Sikh Backstory

Why Sikhs Were Rising

History:

• Previous Punjab Subedar (the one who fell off horse and died)
• His father was Kamruddin Khan (Mughal Wazir)
• That Subedar was dead set against Sikhs
• Massacred Sikhs in a big way (~10 years ago)

Now:

• Sikh community gaining serious strength
• Fighting both Mughals AND Abdali's forces
• Still not in full control of Punjab
• But getting stronger

Important: They were gathering steam, not yet dominant.

The Ultimate Achievement: Attock

The Border Town

Attock:

• Town across the Sindhu River
• Border between Mughal Empire and Afghanistan
• During Aurangzeb's time, Mughals controlled beyond it
• Now, because of Abdali, Attock was the boundary

What Marathas Did:

• Reached all the way to Attock
• Pushed Afghan forces beyond Attock into Afghanistan
• Took the fort at Attock

Why This Was HUGE:

• Marathas had never gone that far north
• Mughal forces hadn't been that far north in ages
• Located on banks of Sindhu River
• A hallmark achievement

Today: Attock is in Pakistan (northwest Punjab)

Beyond Attock: Peshawar

Even Further North

Who Went:

• Tukoji Holkar (Holkar clan, maybe younger brother of Malhar Rao)
• Sabaji Shinde (Shinde clan)

Where They Went:

• All the way to Peshawar
• Even further north and west from Attock
• Getting close to Kabul (Abdali's capital)

The Achievement:

• No Maratha force had EVER gone this far
• Great feat of achievement
• Credited to Raghunath Rao's campaign
• Pretty amazing

The Fatal Flaw

What They Didn't Do

The Problem:

• Didn't establish permanent administration
• Didn't set up governance structures
• Didn't leave permanent forces to defend the areas
• Very weak administration

The Result:

• Once Raghunath Rao came back (he wasn't staying)
• Started losing the areas they'd conquered
• Couldn't hold Attock and Peshawar
• All that ground would be lost

Why:

• Abdali wasn't going to sit still
• Currently busy putting down rebellions in Afghanistan
• But as soon as he pacified those tribes, he'd be back

The Celebration in Lahore

Raghunath Rao's Coronation Ceremony

Shalimar Bagh, Lahore:

• Raghunath Rao built a memorial
• To commemorate Marathas reaching Attock/Lahore
• Honored in a grand public function

The Ceremony:

• Elevated throne
• Raghunath Rao welcomed
• People came to pay respects
• Rose water sprinkled through fountains
• Lights burning everywhere in the city

The Meaning:

"This was the pinnacle of Maratha success. This kind of thing had not been achieved in the past."

Iran's Shocking Proposal

The Shah's Offer

What Iran Proposed:

• Iran's king showed willingness to help Marathas
• Goal: Crush Abdali in combined fashion
• Proposed boundary: Attock should be the border between Iran and India

The Strategy:

"Both of us can squeeze Abdali out of existence"

• Get rid of Afghanistan as a country
• Shah didn't believe in Afghanistan as separate country anyway
• Just split the difference and divide it up

Why Afghanistan Didn't Exist Before

The Tribal Reality

History:

• No such country as Afghanistan before Abdali
• Mughals were strong on one side
• Iranian king was strong on the other
• Afghan tribes in between never held territory
• Tribes fought each other constantly

The Nature of Afghans:

• No interest in permanent government
• If no outside pressure, they fight each other
• Never got along
• Very freedom-loving people (even today)
• Protect their freedom, way of life, belief systems

Why No One Conquers Afghanistan:

• Nothing there worth fighting over
• Huge mountains
• No sweet water
• No oil, no minerals
• No food, no grains
• No animals
• Just barren, mountainous terrain

Raghunath Rao's Refusal

The Arrogant Response

What Raghunath Rao Did:

• Didn't show interest in eliminating Afghanistan
• Didn't want to divide it with Iran

What He Wrote to Nana Saheb:

• Communicated via letters to Pune
• "Kabul and Kandahar are part of India"
• No reason to negotiate with Shah of Iran
• "It's not Iran's either. It's all ours."

The Message: No negotiation needed. It's ours to take.

Nana Saheb: The Uncrowned Emperor

India's Real Power (1757-1758)

The Achievement:

• In his 18 years of rule, taken most of India under his rule
• Well, "rule" is a loose term

What "Rule" Actually Meant:

• Marathas never really ruled areas beyond the Khan
• No permanent forces, garrisons, or stations
• Didn't have that kind of structure or force
• Would require huge force they didn't have

But:

• No other force could give them a run for the money
• Undisputed champs by default
• By default lords of India

The Southern Front: Battle of Sindkhed

Nizam Still a Problem (1757)

What Happened:

• End of 1757
• Peshwa defeated Nizam at Battle of Sindkhed
• Sindkhed is in the Deccan area (south)
• Nizam based in Hyderabad
• Big success for Nana Saheb

Why This Matters:

"While Marathas were doing all these politics and battles in the north, they still had a permanent enemy in terms of Nizam."

The Reality:

• Always had to keep a force ready around Pune
• Nizam was right next door
• Never knew when situation might develop
• Could get ugly at any moment

Pune: The Unannounced Capital

The New Power Center

1757-1758 Reality:

• Pune had become the unannounced capital of India
• Peshwa so famous his name was known all over India

What Everyone Believed:

• Marathas were able to keep control of Punjab
• So far away from their native land (at least 1,000 miles)
• No small feat to maintain control
• That's what everybody believed

The Problem:

"They were not really there yet because they didn't have that kind of human resource, but everybody else believed that they were capable of doing that."

Translation: Everyone THOUGHT Marathas could hold Punjab. Abdali would prove them wrong.

Abdali: Squeezed and Scrambling

Why He Was Vulnerable

The Pressure:

1. Iran bothering him on western flank
2. Internal revolts - tribes attacking, revolting
3. Different Afghan tribes in different areas
4. No central rule in Afghan history
5. Abdali trying to create central authority

The Task:

• Deal with internal disturbances constantly
• Afghanistan = big empire (Iran) on one side
• Mughal Empire on the other side
• Squeezed between two powers
• No resources - that's why he raided India all the time

The Risk:

"It was difficult to know whether he would come out of this in an unscathed manner. He could have been overwhelmed and failed."

The Missed Opportunity

Why Raghunath Rao Should've Accepted

If He'd Accepted Iran's Offer:

• Could have squeezed Abdali between Iran and Marathas
• Potentially eliminated him
• Ended the Afghan threat

Why He Didn't:

• Marathas believed Kandahar and Kabul were part of India
• Historically true:
  • Iran had claimed Kandahar
  • Mughals controlled Kabul
  • Only when Abdali became powerful did he take both

Raghunath Rao's Thinking:

"He didn't even think Abdali would come back to Punjab because he thought Abdali would be mired in internal strife and Iranian threat."

The Miscalculation:

• Abdali had tried to control Punjab three times before
• It went back and forth (installing Subedars, getting driven out)
• Raghunath Rao thought: "He's too busy, won't come back"

This was the wrong guess.

The Nephew's Defection

A Potential Asset

Who:

• Abdur Rahman
• Abdali's nephew (brother's son)

What He Did:

• Came to Pune
• Came to the Peshwa
• Wanted Peshwa's help

Why:

• To support his own claim?
• Turning against Abdali?
• [Details unclear, will be explained more later]

What Peshwa Did:

• Sent him to Raghunath Rao

The Implications:

• Having Abdali's nephew as an ally
• Undermines Abdali if Peshwa backs the nephew
• Could be useful leverage

Key Players

Timeline

Geographic Context

The Rivers of Punjab:

• Five rivers from Himalayas → Sindhu
• Make Punjab extremely fertile
• Sweet water abundance

Key Locations (North to South):

1. Kabul - Abdali's capital (Afghanistan)
2. Peshawar - Furthest Marathas reached
3. Attock - Border town on Sindhu River
4. Lahore - Capital of Punjab
5. Ravi River - Afghans crossed for safety
6. Punjab - The prize province
7. Delhi - Mughal capital
8. Pune - Real power center

Key Themes

1. The Glory Without Foundation

• Marathas achieved something never done before
• But didn't build infrastructure to hold it
• Symbolic victory, not sustainable victory

2. The Missed Alliance

• Iran + Marathas could have eliminated Abdali
• Raghunath Rao's arrogance prevented it
• "It's all ours" attitude

3. Financial vs Military Success

• Military achievement was spectacular
• But as we'll see, financial situation was disaster
• Nana Saheb cared about the bottom line

4. Perception vs Reality

• Everyone THOUGHT Marathas could hold Punjab
• Reality: they didn't have the resources
• Abdali would prove them wrong

5. The Sikh Variable

• Rising power in Punjab
• Not yet dominant, but getting stronger
• Would become major factor in the region

6. Abdali's Vulnerability

• Squeezed between Iran and Mughals/Marathas
• Internal revolts consuming his attention
• But temporary vulnerability

7. No Real Governance

• Marathas never truly "ruled" their conquests
• Just collected tribute
• No permanent presence = no permanent control

Critical Insights

The Afghanistan Question

Why It Never Existed:

• Tribes too busy fighting each other
• No resources worth controlling
• No one could unite them before Abdali

Abdali's Achievement:

• Actually creating central authority
• Uniting the tribes (slowly)
• Making Afghanistan a real power

The Mistake:

• Thinking he'd stay busy with internal problems
• Underestimating his ability to bounce back
• Not taking the opportunity to eliminate him

The Punjab Problem

Why It Was So Hard to Hold:

1. Distance - 1,000+ miles from Maratha heartland
2. Climate - Different weather patterns (will be important)
3. Rivers - Five major rivers to cross
4. Sikhs - Rising power, could fight Marathas
5. Afghans - Would keep trying to retake it
6. Cost - Maintaining large army = financially impossible

The Real Achievement

What Raghunath Rao Actually Did:

• Took advantage of Abdali being distracted
• Pushed further north than any Maratha before
• Created perception of invincibility
• Built Maratha prestige

What He Didn't Do:

• Create lasting governance
• Build permanent defenses
• Make sustainable arrangements
• Bring back enough money (more on this next)

Foreshadowing

What This Sets Up

The Inevitable:

1. Abdali will pacify Afghan revolts
2. He will return to Punjab
3. Maratha control will collapse
4. Because they didn't build proper infrastructure
5. Financial problems are coming (as we'll see)
6. The nephew's defection will complicate things

The Question:

• Was this great campaign worth it?
• Or just an expensive ego trip?
• Nana Saheb will have thoughts about this...

The Ominous:

"Abdali would prove everyone wrong."

April 1758: Raghunath Rao reaches the highest point any Maratha ever reached - Attock, and even Peshawar beyond it. Rose water fountains and city lights celebrate him in Lahore. The Shah of Iran offers to squeeze Afghanistan out of existence together. Raghunath Rao refuses arrogantly: "Kabul and Kandahar are ours, not yours." Pune is now the unannounced capital of India. Everyone believes the Marathas can hold Punjab permanently, 1,000 miles from home. They're wrong. No permanent administration, no permanent forces, no sustainable structure. Just a spectacular raid that touched the northwestern corner and pulled back. Abdali is temporarily busy with revolts and Iran. But it's temporary. He'll deal with his problems. Then he'll be back. And that weak infrastructure? That arrogant refusal of Iranian help? That overconfidence? It's all going to matter. The pinnacle of success was actually the beginning of the fall.