on a tangent - the anniversary for the battle of panipat happened recently, and since the marathas owing their allegiance to pune were involved, there were a lot of analytical articles floating around of the battle of panipat in the publications around pune. one interesting perspective that seemed to be popular was the fact that in their defeat, the maratha army gave such a tough battle to abdali that he began to question the cost of further penetrating india. this could be an adjunct (or perhaps, even principle) reason along with the sikh forces lying between afghanistan and india and the insurrections back home.

Ahmad Shah Abdali was a powerful warrior- but also a great robber. However, he is not in the same league of robbers as Nadir Shah since there was'nt much left to rob from India. Thank you for posting this picture of his tomb.

Ahmad Shah Abdali was one of the greatest military minds. He attacked and defeated the Uzbegs of Central Asia, the Shah on the Persian throne, and the Mughal army of Delhi at Panipat, thereafter giving himself the title "Durrani" - "pearl of pearls". But ruling over 2 million square miles of land with a cavalry of horses in Qandahar was something else. He never had the stream of annual tribute from all three geographical regions flowing through his coffers to create a PAX Durrani. History will tell if the PAX Americana will succeed in pacifying these three regions into one.

The camel caravan is more impressive...

The Marhattas are said to have lost a hundred thousand soldiers in the battle of Panipat of which there are dramatic accounts available. The number of loss of a hundred thousand soldiers appears to be a misinterpretation of a comment contained in one of the accounts. The comment said that in Panipat "Ek Lakh Bangdi Phutli" (A hundred thousand bangles were broken). This was taken to imply that a hundred thousand Marathi women were widowed. It is a tradition in Maharshtra that a woman breaks off the bangles in her hand upon the death of her husband. However I think the word Bangdi is misinterpreted. A cannon is also known as a bangdi. The word "phutli" should have been interpreted to mean "exploded" like a cracker explodes. The expression " Ek Lakh bangdi phutli" was merely a figurative description of the big guns roaring in the battle of Panipat.

Yes, 100,000 may have been an exaggeration in common folklore. The Raja Scindia of Gwalior was badly wounded in the battle and was lying unconscious in a ditch a few miles away where a Muslim water carrier (Raja Khan ?) found him, carried him to his village, and took care of him. Scindia recovered and the Scindia dynasty continues to this day!

@shekhar: well, it could mean not a hundred thousand women were widowed, but fifty thousand or twenty-five thousand, since one has to count on bangles on both hands being broken. now, presuming that each woman wore at least 1-2 on each hand, that makes the figure 50 k or 25k. just kidding, on the bangle-sleuthing :) the cannon explanation is quite sensible, imo. but the figure of one lakh cannon explosions happening is also quite unbelievable. would need to do some calculations to see if that's a believable figure.

I suppose one can count the dead but not the cannon booms. So, it must be figurative...like saying millions died or a zillion bombs exploded!

I recall reading a book at the University of Toronto that Ahmed Shah Abdali brought so much terror and misery on his Indian interior invasion. There were accounts that wherever his army camped you could hear the screaming and crying of women throughout the night. On the other hand, I read how the battle of Panipat did in fact make him question whether he should keep up with his great rape of Indian wealth since there was still immense wealth in Rajasthan, Gujurat, Maharastra and elsewhere. On his way back there are accounts of how his army was harassed by Sikhs and Jats who would relieve Abdali's army of some of his booty along with freeing some of his female prisoners/booty. He was brilliant because he knew when to quit while he was still ahead, and pull out and make a run for it before he makes any grave mistakes.

Invasions of then or of now bring misery to the victors as to the vanquished.

So true Shekhar. Invasions are simply that...invasions.

such is the fruit of actions (karma)...

One factual comment. Fort Bala-Hissar is not in Kandhar, it is in Peshawar. Or are there two 'Bala-Hissar' forts? I've been to the Peshawar fort which houses the HQ of Pakistan's Frontier Constabulary. The fort was said to be built during Kushan period, and was thoroughly renovated by Ranjit Singh. It is a very impressive baked brick fort. The only noteworthy place near the fort is the Peshawar Kali bari.I noticed nothing about Abdali in any of my multiple visits to the city. Would any body clarify?