THE STORY OF ICHALKARANJI
Mahratta Kingdom into the victorious Mahratta Confederacy of the eighteenth century. Santaji's masterful movements (as described by such authorities as Grant Duff, Kincaid, and Sardesai), his wonderful strategies, his strictness of discipline and his wtswerving loyalty to the cause of his country are now generally admitted to have been largely responsible for the success which accompanied the army under the Mahratta banner, and in all his activities Santaji was loyally supported by Naro Pant who displayed both wisdom in planning operations and courage in their execution. That is to say, Naro Pant, who but a bare twenty years before had been a fatherless urchin trudging over the bleak Ghauts with a sorrowing penniless mother. was now one of the leading men of the Mahratta Empire, and his success is all the more praiseworthy because it was achieved without influence and without favouritism, being due solely to the inspiration of the mother's love and the enthusiasm of the youth’s ambition. Not only was he the faithful lieutenant of the famous general Santaji Rao, but his activities in the world of politics proceed a relationship between Naro Pant and Ramchandra Pant which ripened into a great friendship and withstood the crucial tests of the days of greatest misfortunes.
Naro Pant"s most striking qualities were his dt:votioo and his honesty. These characteristics were mainly responsible for
