104- Lieut. -Colonel Briggs' Memoir of the early Life of Nana Farnevis. 



" from one of my own lihidmiitgars (domestics), who said he saw her cut 

 " down while sitting on her horse, and believed that she died instantly. 

 <' This is the only account I ever obtained of her fate. Having now sup- 

 " plied ourselves with horses and a palhi, I went by the route of Dhowl- 

 " pore to Gwahor. Here the bulk of the army that survived the action 

 " had arrived before me. Among others were Parwati Bhye,* Nana 

 •' PuRANDERi, MuLHAEji HoLKAR, and scvcral others. My own wish at this 

 " time was to retire and to reside permanently at Benares, having had 

 " ample experience of the delights of a public life; but it is vain to oppose 

 " the decrees of fate, and I was prevailed on in the first place to revisit 

 " home.t to perform the obsequies for my mother among our relations, and 

 " then to act according to circumstances. I began tp reflect what might 

 " happen to me if I went to Benares and left all those I was acquainted 

 ." with ; so I quitted Gwalior and marched south with the army. 



" I heard that when his Highness Nana Sahib % received the news of 

 " the battle of Paniput, he asked Guruji particularly about me, and said, 

 " ' he is a poor sickly creature, hpw will he ever survive, even if he is not 

 " • killed by the enemy ?' But, by the care of Providence, I was preserved 

 " through all these dangers and difliculties. At Berhampur I had the 

 " happiness to see Nana Sahib ; but I found him sadly afflicted, and his 

 " frame much reduced. Indeed his intellect seemed aflPected sometimes ; 

 " and contrary to custom, he was in the habit of abusing grossly the 

 " military chiefs. To me, however, even at these moments, he was 

 " extremely kind, and seemed anxious to know from my mouth every 

 " particular relating to the battle. Narayan Rao§ having caught the 

 " small-pox in Malwa, he was left with Gopika Bhye || on the Nerbudda, 

 " to follow after Nana Sahib to the Deccan on his return. Moreover, 

 " some disagreement had lately taken place between them.^ Thus it is, 

 " that, when people act contrary to the manner of the times, untoward 

 " circumstances will necessarily arise out of them. Seeing that affairs did 

 " not wear a pleasing aspect at court, I asked permission to go at once to 

 " my temple at Toka, where I again took up my former residence. His 



* Bhao Sahib's wife. f Desh. J The Pesliwa. 



§ The Peshwa's second son, a boy of six or seven years of age. 

 II The Peshwa's first wife. 



^ In this year Nana Sahilj had married another wife, a Deshisht, at Pyetun, which gave 

 Gopika Bhye great oifence. 



