The Family Burden: Wives, Mothers, and Dependents at Panipat (1760)

Marathi History Book Reading Session Summary

The Maratha Camp: A Small City Moving

The Non-Combat Population

The Scale:

• ~100,000 support/dependent personnel
• Comparable to combat forces
• Create logistical city
• Not warriors but necessary
• Essential infrastructure

The Functions:

• Food procurement
• Cooking and meal preparation
• Tent pitching and camp setup
• Animal care (horses, camels, elephants)
• Maintenance of equipment
• Sentry and guard duty
• General sundry work

The Workers:

• Boongi = maintenance workers
• Shopkeepers and merchants
• Kitchen staff and cooks
• Animal handlers
• Barbers and medical staff
• Equipment repairers
• Water carriers
• Laundry workers

The Mughal Parallel

The Historical Tradition:

• Mughal emperors brought families
• Mughal princes brought families
• Elite warriors brought families
• Standard military practice
• Accepted for centuries

The Logistics System:

• Women installed on elephants
• Positioned in back of army
• Reserve troops provided guard
• Formal protective system
• Established military structure

The Commander's Families at Panipat

Bhau's Wife: Parvati Bhai

Her Status:

• Wife of Sadashiv Rao Bhau
• Commander-in-chief's wife
• Traveled with campaign
• In Maratha camp at Panipat
• High-status dependent

Her Role:

• Symbolic presence
• Family representation
• Emotional support (possibly)
• Morale element for troops
• Status marker for commander

Appa Mehendare's Wife: Lakshmi Bhai

His Position:

• Important military commander
• 7,000 soldiers reporting to him
• Significant force under his command
• Major player in battle
• Elite ranking

His Family:

• Brought wife Lakshmi Bhai
• Travel with campaign
• Protected in camp
• Added to entourage burden
• High-status family

Nana Fadnavis and His Mother

The Notable Case:

• Important courtier in Peshwa court
• Brought his mother
• Also brought wife
• Religious tourism interest
• Pilgrimage objective combined with war

The Motivation:

• Mother wanted to visit holy places
• Kashi (Varanasi) pilgrimage
• Mathura visits
• Combined religious and military mission
• Extended family participation

The Mastani Legacy: Why Wives Now Accompany

The Historical Context

Bajirao I's Campaign:

• Went to Bundelkhand
• Married Mastani there
• Brought her back to Pune
• Major cultural crisis
• Religious and social chaos

Who Was Mastani?

Her Background:

• Hindu father, Muslim mother
• Born of interfaith union
• At time when Hinduism dominant
• Not accepted as Hindu
• Refused forced conversion

Her Choice:

• "If I must be Muslim"
• Stayed in Muslim identity
• Accepted her faith choice
• Refused cultural compromise
• Maintained her identity

The Resistance:

• Hindu society wouldn't accept her
• She was "not Hindu"
• Second wife (bigger issue)
• Massive resistance in Pune
• Cultural/religious backlash

The Consequence: Prevention Strategy

The Fear Among Elites:

• Men going north for campaigns
• Coming back with second wives
• Coming back with third wives
• Pattern threatening traditional families
• Women losing control

The Decision:

• "We have to go with them"
• Wives would accompany husbands
• Prevent remarriage in north
• Control what happens
• Keep families intact

The Precedent:

• Became new tradition
• Elite women started traveling
• Royal families participating
• Military campaigns = family events
• Wives as guardians/companions

The Panipat Confidence: Why Families Were Brought

The Psychological State

The Certainty:

• "This is going to be victory"
• "Nothing else, you know"
• "We are going to win"
• "That's the only outcome"
• Absolute conviction

The Overconfidence:

• Didn't think of battle uncertainty
• Didn't consider losses
• Didn't imagine defeat
• Didn't plan for crisis
• Completely optimistic

The Rationalization:

• "Why not bring wives?"
• "Why not bring families?"
• "We're going to win anyway"
• "Make it pilgrimage trip"
• "Visit holy sites during victory march"

The Shivaji Comparison

His Military System:

• Never took families
• Even on final southern campaign
• Minimal support entourages
• Lean fighting force
• Focused on mobility and victory

The Difference:

• Shivaji: guerrilla warfare
• Needed speed and flexibility
• Families would slow operations
• Couldn't afford support burden
• Military doctrine demanded it

The Evolution:

• Bajirao I: similar approach initially
• Over time: expanding entourages
• More settled empire style
• More Mughal-like practices
• Less mobility focused

The Real Cost of Dependents

The "Lag Load" Concept

The Metaphor:

• When you don't want animal to run
• Tie wooden log around neck
• Can't run at full speed
• Dragging weight slows progress
• Makes it harder to escape

The Application:

• 100,000+ support staff = lag load
• Necessary for army survival
• But slows down operations
• Reduces strategic flexibility
• Prevents rapid movement

The Crisis Situation:

• When plans go wrong
• When retreat needed
• When mobility critical
• Support staff become dead weight
• Can't protect themselves while protecting army

The Protection Burden

The Reality:

• Can't let them fend for themselves
• Must protect dependents
• Takes troops from combat
• Reduces fighting force
• Strategic disadvantage

The Psychological Impact:

• Commanders distracted
• Worry about families
• Emotional attachment
• Divided focus
• Can't be fully aggressive

The Battlefield Effect:

• Some troops guarding non-combatants
• Those troops can't fight
• Effective force reduced
• Flexibility reduced
• Options constrained

The Servant Class: The Real Support System

The Boongi: Maintenance Workers

Who They Are:

• Maintenance staff
• Kitchen workers
• Equipment repairers
• Tent pitchers
• Camp administrators

Their Work:

• Cooking meals for 150,000+
• Pitching/taking down tents
• Caring for horses/camels/elephants
• Repairing weapons and equipment
• Collecting water
• Washing clothes
• General camp maintenance

The Scale:

• Massive operation
• Like small city logistics
• Can't function without them
• Army starves without them
• Army freezes without them

The Merchants and Shopkeepers: The Boongi

Their Role:

• Buy and sell goods
• Procure supplies
• Trade between armies
• Manage local commerce
• Handle financial transactions

Their Function:

• Provide goods to army
• Liquor/tobacco/extras
• Buying local supplies
• Selling loot acquired
• Financial intermediaries

The Necessity:

• Army needs access to goods
• Can't have pure military state
• Soldiers have non-essential needs
• Morale depends on variety
• Commerce essential to function

The Numbers and Scale

The Composition

Fighting Forces:

• 45,000-70,000 (estimates vary)
• Core disciplined units
• Pandhari mercenaries
• Officers and commanders

Support/Dependent Population:

• ~100,000 (conservative estimate)
• Families of commanders
• Servants and workers
• Merchants and shopkeepers
• Non-combatant staff

The Ratio:

• Nearly 1:1 ratio of fighters to support
• Similar to Mughal armies
• Necessary for operation
• But creates vulnerability
• Limits mobility and flexibility

The Strategic Implications

The Lost Mobility

What It Means:

• Can't move quickly
• Can't retreat easily
• Can't maneuver strategically
• Can't execute surprise tactics
• Must fight where positioned

The Advantage Lost:

• Traditional Maratha strategy = mobility
• Under Shivaji: quick strikes, withdrawal
• Under Bajirao: surprising enemy
• Now: locked in place
• Can't use speed advantage

The Morale Factor

The Psychological Edge:

• Families present = confidence boost
• Families present = forced commitment
• Can't retreat (families behind you)
• Can't lose (families depend on victory)
• Emotional stakes raised

But Also:

• Families present = distraction
• Families present = worry about protection
• Families present = decisions second-guessed
• Families present = emotional weight
• Can't think clearly under pressure

The Sheer Logistical Challenge

Feeding 150,000 People and Animals

The Daily Need:

• Food for 50,000-70,000 fighters
• Food for 100,000 support staff
• Food for 30,000+ horses/camels
• Food for 5,000+ elephants
• Massive quantity required daily

The Supply Chain:

• Vanzaris working at night
• Moving through hostile territory
• Gathering from surrounding areas
• Delivering to massive camp
• Constant resupply needed

The Vulnerability:

• Dependent on fragile supply lines
• Each day without supplies = crisis
• Each disruption = pain
• Each loss of supply route = starvation
• Entire operation dependent on logistics

The Irony and Tragedy

The Confidence vs. Reality

What They Thought:

• "We'll win"
• "We're better"
• "Abdali will retreat"
• "Victory is certain"
• "Why not bring families?"

What Actually Happened:

• Battle uncertain
• Abdali committed
• No easy victory
• Families became liability
• Overconfidence led to defeat

The Lesson:

• War always uncertain
• Confidence ≠ preparation
• Certainty blinds strategy
• Assumptions lead to mistakes
• Bringing dependents = vulnerability

Where This Leads: The Marathas brought wives and mothers and merchants to Panipat because they were absolutely certain they would win. They had 100,000 support staff creating a small city in motion—necessary for function but limiting mobility. They had families of commanders needing protection, taking troops from combat lines. They had the weight of 150,000 total personnel in a warfare context designed for speed and mobility. And they had all this because they never imagined they could lose. The overconfidence that seemed justified by earlier victories became the very thing that prevented them from winning this crucial battle.

One hundred thousand families following the army north. Wives thinking of pilgrimage. Mothers thinking of holy Kashi. Children traveling for the adventure. And the soldiers trying to win a war while protecting a city. When things went wrong—and things did go very wrong—all those wives and mothers and children became exactly what slowed them down when they needed speed most. Exactly what they couldn't protect when battle came. Exactly what made every defeat more bitter and every retreat more impossible. The Mughal tradition of taking families to war worked when you were certain of victory. It became a catastrophe when you were wrong.