Ibrahim Khan Gardi

“Two pearls have been dissolved, 27 gold coins have been lost and of the silver and copper the total cannot be cast up”.

This was the rather cryptic message Nana Saheb Peshwa received after the shattering loss at Panipat. The two pearls were his son Vishwas Rao and cousin Sadashiv Rao Bhauwho led the campaign. The 27 gold coins were the Maratha sardars, and the rest the soldiers of the army, who were massacred en masse. It was one of the worst blows ever to the Maratha empire, the Peshwa, could not recover from the debacle and died broken hearted in the very city of Pune, that he so lovingly built. Panipat though a disaster, threw up some great heroes whose stories continue to be told to date. And one of them was Ibrahim Khan Gardi.

The Gardis are basically a group of tribes such as Bhils, Vanzaras, Pardhis, Mahadeo Koli, Masan Jogi residing mostly in Marathwada region. They were especially renowned for ther skill in artillery and handling cannons, and they served the Peshwas as their personal guards, and were known for their loyalty to their masters.

Ibrahim Khan Gardi was initially serving with the Nizam, and had fought against the Marathas during the famous Battle of Palkhed, renowned for his artillery skills on the battlefield. He was trained by the French General De Bussy, who was in alliance with the Nizam then, making him accquainted with the latest artillery techniques. It was this factor that made the Peshwa Balaji Baji Rao, invite him to join the Maratha army impressed by his skills, through his cousin Sadashiv Rao Bhau. Ibrahim agreed to join on the condition that the Marathas would not attack Hyderabad, and Bhau agreed to it.

He became the deputy commander in chief, heading a huge battalion of 10,000 men consisting of cavalry, artillery, infantry, archers as well as musketeers. His valour and integrity, made him close to both the Peshwa and Bhau.

When the Panipat battle began, Gardi had suggested using cannons extensively to break down the Afghan frontline, and only then deploy the cavalry. However some of the Maratha generals envious of Gardi’s growing influence with Bhau and the Peshwa, refused to heed the instructions, while some others fled from the battlefield, leaving the Maratha defences wide open.

Gardi was heading the left most flank of the Maratha army, and Abdali ordered his forces to surround and destroy that part. Bhau ordered two cavalry units under Vitthal Vinchurkar and Damaji Gaikwad to protect the Gardi division. However their inexperience and overenthusiasm, saw them charging at the Rohillas all by themselves. It was a disastrous tactic, as the cavalry were armed only with swords, making them a fair target for the Rohilla artillery, who easily picked them off. The Rohillas soon encircled the Gardis, and outflanked the Marathas, while Shah Wali pressed on from the front, as the Gardis fell one by one.

Ibrahim Khan Gardi however kept defending resolutely as the combined Afghan-Rohilla attacks failed to dislodge him from his position. It was one of the bloodiest phases of the battle as around 12000 Afghan cavalry and infantry men fell from the cannon fire unleashed by the Gardis. Even when the news of the Peshwa’s son Vishwas Rao, falling on the battle field, reached Ibrahim Khan, he still kept defending against a much larger Afghan army, till one by one all his soldiers fell, and he was left standing alone. Some of the Maratha sardars and generals had already fled from Panipat, sensing impending doom, but Ibrahim Khan Gardi, fought resolutely till the end out of sheer loyalty to his master.

After he was captured Ibrahim Khan was kept in captivity at the tent of the Nawab of Awadh, Shuja-ud-Daulah. Knowing this Abdali demaned Shuja to present Ibrahim to him. Though Shuja was reluctant considering Gardi was wounded badly, he had to agree under pressure. The Afghans by now were doing a barbaric war dance over the dead bodies of both Bhau and Vishwas Rao.

Soon Gardi was bought before Abdali, who asked him

“Are you the commander of 10 platoons of the Maratha Army?”

“Yes”

“And you served the French before”

“Yes that is why I got the title of Gardi”

“And then you served the Nizam” “Yes”

“You left the Nizam and joined the Marathas. You served the Kafirs spoke in their language, you should be ashamed of yourself and repent for what you have done”.

Ibrahim Khan shot back- “Shame and repentance what for? Does one feel shame for loving one’s own land? Why should I repent for shedding my blood to defend my land Abdali?”

An infuriated Abdali asked him-“Do you know whom you are speaking to?”

Ibrahim replied calmly-“Yes I know, what can you do apart from taking my life? And whoever you are, for sure you are not the angel of God”.

“It is strange being a Muslim you ruin your life for the Kafirs”

“Then you do not know who is a true Muslim Abdali. The one who destroys his land, the one who joins hands with the foreigners seeking to invade the land is not a true Muslim ever”.

“You have sinned Ibrahim siding with the Kafirs against your fellow Muslims, repent else you shall be cut into pieces”.

Ibrahim Khan did not flinch even though wounded all over and shot back-“You can only cut my body into pieces, what else can do you do Abdali?”

“I am giving you one last chance, seek repentance and you shall be freed, we will give you a good position in our army”

Ibrahim laughed and replied-“If you let me free , I shall return to Pune, and this time come back once again to Panipat to destroy the rest of your army, along with you”.

“I am giving you one last chance Ibrahim, repent for your sins”

“A martyr never repents Abdali. You should be the one repenting for killing the defenseless, wounded and prisoners”.

And then Ibrahmin Khan Gardi was brutally tortured to death, cutting off his arms and limbs one by one, as he beld to death, but refused to surrender or ask for mercy. Until he finally left the world, calling out Allah on his lips.

Even after his death, the Gardis kept serving the Peshwas, till the end of their rule in 1818, after which they joined th East India Company, serving as sepoys, musketeers in the Poona Horse, Bombay Sappers and Maratha Light Infantry.