Sadashivrao Bhau - Death

Death

After not receiving a reply regarding the terms of the treaty, Bhau decided to try to break the siege and allow the civilians under his protection to escape to Delhi.

Sadashivrao Bhau along with Ibrahim Khan Gardi had planned and were executing a battle strategy to pulverise the enemy formations with cannon fire and not to employ his cavalry until the Afghans were thoroughly softened up. With the Afghans now broken, he would move camp in a defensive formation towards Delhi, where they were assured supplies. But some Maratha generals overacted while some left battlefield leaving their defences open resulting in the defeat of the Marathas.

Durrani was taken unaware by the early morning attack, and decided to counter-attack during daylight. Durrani faced heavy initial losses. A stray bullet hit Vishwasrao, Bhau's nephew and heir to Nanasaheb Peshwa and he died on the spot. Bhau departed the battlefield to visit the corpse and plunged into the Afghan army, Vishwas rao's death had a devastating effect on the morale of his troops. Durrani attacked to take advantage of the confusion and weakness of Bhau's forces. Bhau counter-attacked but ultimately the army was defeated and any remaining civilians were massacred. Bhau kept on fighting till his last breath and died fighting on the battlefield. His body without head was found in the heap of dead bodies 3 days after the war. It was identified by the maratha Vakil who were with the camp of left marathas with kashiraj pandit, the wazir of Shuja Udaulla. Bhau's body was cremated with all rituals. The next day, his head was found, which was kept hidden by one Afghan soldier. It was cremated and the ashes taken for visarjan to Kashi. (Vishwas Ptil, Kashiraj Pandit bakhar)

A non fiction account of the entire campaign can be found in a recent book Solstice at Panipat.