134-659: The Pratinidhi (the Viceroy) was an important member of the ministry in the Maratha Empire . The title of Pratinidhi means the representative of the King, and such officials were entitled to sign and seal papers and issue orders in the absence of the Ruler. Shivaji's ministry of the eight - the Ashta Pradhan did not include a Pratinidhi. Later the post of Pant Pratinidhi was created during
268-489: A common enemy. Some of them did not support the idea of a pitched battle and wanted to fight using guerrilla tactics instead of charging the enemy head-on. The Marathas were fighting alone at a place which was 1000 miles away from their capital Pune . Raghunathrao was supposed to go north to reinforce the army. Raghunathrao asked for large amount of wealth and troops, which was denied by Sadashivrao Bhau, his cousin and Diwan of Peshwa, so he declined to go. Sadashivrao Bhau
402-518: A distance... Vast numbers of elephants, flags of all descriptions, the finest horses, magnificently caparisoned ... seemed to be collected from every quarter ... it was an imitation of the more becoming and tasteful array of the Mughuls in the zenith of their glory. The Marathas had gained control of a considerable part of India in the intervening period (1712–1757). In 1758 they nominally occupied Delhi , captured Lahore and drove out Timur Shah Durrani ,
536-516: A few broken troops... So Ahmad Shah Durrani has returned to Kandahar with some 12–14 thousand broken troops.. Thus all have risen against Ahmad who has lost control over the region. We have decided to extend our rule up to Kandahar. This brought the Marathas into direct confrontation with the Durrani empire of Ahmad Shah Abdali (also known as Ahmad Shah Durrani). In 1759, he raised an army the core of which
670-450: A figure of 40,000 prisoners as executed by Afghans. Qutb Shah 's son slaughtered 4,000 fugitives near Sonepat and Abdus Samad Khan's son killed 5,000 near Bahadurgad, to avenge their fathers deaths. Some 22,000 women and children were driven off as slaves. All of the prisoners were transported on bullock carts , camels and elephants in bamboo cages. Siyar-ut-Mutakhirin says: The unhappy prisoners were paraded in long lines, given
804-508: A force of 2500 Pashtuns , attacked and took control of Kunjpura, where there was a Maratha garrison of 700–800 soldiers. At that time Atai Khan Baluch, son of the Shah Wali Khan, the Wazir of Abdali, came from Afghanistan with 10,000 cavalry and cut off the supplies to the Marathas. The Marathas at Panipat were surrounded by Abdali in the south, Pashtun tribes ( Yousufzai , Afridi , Khattak ) in
938-461: A little parched grain and a drink of water, and beheaded... and the women and children who survived were driven off as slaves – twenty-two thousand, many of them of the highest rank in the land. The bodies of Vishwasrao and Bhau were recovered by the Marathas and were cremated according to their custom. Bhau's wife Parvatibai was saved by Holkar, per the directions of Bhau, and eventually returned to Pune . Peshwa Balaji Baji Rao , uninformed about
1072-505: A little to the north of Kala Amb . They had thus blocked the northward path of Abdali's troops and at the same time were blocked from heading south—in the direction of Delhi, where they could get badly needed supplies—by those same troops. Bhau, with the Peshwa's son and the royal guard (Huzurat), was in the centre. The left wing consisted of the Gardis under Ibrahim Khan . Holkar and Sindhia were on
1206-766: A political mediator and sought an alliance with Awadh to keep the Marathas out of Rohilkhand. He bound himself to pay on behalf of the Rohillas. However, after he refused to pay, Oudh attacked the Rohillas. Shah Alam II , the Mughal Emperor spent six years in the Allahabad fort and after the capture of Delhi in 1771 by the Marathas, left for his capital under their protection. He was escorted to Delhi by Mahadaji Shinde and left Allahabad in May 1771. During their short stay, Marathas constructed two temples in Allahabad city, one of them being
1340-579: A separate treaty on 26 July 1802, supported the new regime. He made a treaty with the British. Also, Yashwant Rao successfully resolved the disputes with Scindia and the Peshwa. He tried to unite the Maratha Confederacy but to no avail. In 1802, the British intervened in Baroda to support the heir to the throne against rival claimants and they signed a treaty with the new Maharaja recognising his independence from
1474-546: A small Maratha army led by Dattaji Shinde at Burari Ghat. Dattaji camped at the Buradi Fort, south of Panipat, deciding to only engage with Abdali with the aid of Malharao Holkar. He was beheaded and killed in an attack by Qutb Khan . Before Battle of Panipat a war council was formed by Maratha commander-in-chief Sadashiv Rao Bhau in which Maharaja Suraj Mal was invited to give advice for war strategy against Abdali. Jat chief Surajmal provided following advice : Many of
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#17328586549551608-406: A survivor of these massacres in his History of the Marathas and generally corroborates this number. Shejwalkar, whose monograph Panipat 1761 is often regarded as the single-best secondary source on the battle, says that "not less than 100,000 Marathas (soldiers and non-combatants) perished during and after the battle". The 27-year Mughal-Maratha war (1680–1707) led to rapid territorial loss of
1742-511: A truce but this was rejected by Aurangzeb. Rajaram died in 1700 at Sinhagad . His widow, Tarabai , assumed control in the name of her son, Ramaraja (Shivaji II). After Aurangzeb died in 1707, Shahu , the son of Sambhaji (and grandson of Shivaji), was released by Bahadur Shah I , the new Mughal emperor. However, his mother was kept a hostage of the Mughals to ensure that Shahu adhered to the release conditions. Upon release, Shahu immediately claimed
1876-563: A war cost to the Marathas and an annual tribute of 1.2 million rupees, in addition to returning all the territory captured by Hyder Ali . In 1791–92, large areas of the Maratha Confederacy suffered a massive population loss due to the Doji bara famine . In 1791, irregulars like lamaans and pindaris of the Maratha army raided and looted the temple of Sringeri Shankaracharya , killing and wounding many people, including Brahmins, plundering
2010-508: Is known today as Maharashtra . Shivaji's monarchy was initially referred to as the Maratha Kingdom , which expanded into a large realm in the 18th century under the leadership of Peshwa Bajirao I . The Marathas were a Marathi -speaking peasantry group from the western Deccan Plateau (present-day Maharashtra ) who rose to prominence by establishing Hindavi Swarajya (meaning "self-rule of Hindus"). The Marathas became prominent in
2144-630: The British Raj as princely states that retained internal sovereignty under British paramountcy. Other small princely states of Maratha knights were retained under the British Raj as well. Third Battle of Panipat The Third Battle of Panipat took place on 14 January 1761 between the Maratha Confederacy and the invading army of the Durrani Empire . The battle took place in and around
2278-615: The Chhatrapati and the Peshwa . The bulk of the Maratha army was stationed in the Deccan Plateau with the Peshwa . Militarily, the battle pitted the artillery, musketry, and cavalry of the Marathas against the heavy cavalry, musketry ( jezail ) and mounted artillery ( zamburak ) of the Afghans and the Rohillas led by Abdali and Najib ad-Dawlah . The battle is considered to have been one of
2412-519: The Chhatrapati of the Marathas. Balaji also gained the release of Shahu's mother, Yesubai , from Mughal captivity in 1719. During Shahu's reign, Raghoji Bhonsle expanded the kingdom eastwards. Khanderao Dabhade and later his son, Triambakrao, expanded it Westwards into Gujarat. Peshwa Bajirao and his three chiefs, Pawar ( Dhar ), Holkar ( Indore ), and Scindia ( Gwalior ) expanded it northwards. Shahu appointed Balaji Vishwanath as Peshwa in 1713. Balaji Vishwanath's first major achievement
2546-606: The First Anglo-Maratha War ended in 1782 with a restoration of the pre-war status quo and the East India Company's abandonment of Raghunathrao's cause. In 1799, Yashwantrao Holkar was crowned King of the Holkars and he captured Ujjain. He started campaigning towards the north to expand his dominion in that region. Yashwant Rao rebelled against the policies of Peshwa Baji Rao II . In May 1802, he marched towards Pune
2680-460: The Hooghly River and during their occupation of western Bengal , the Marathas perpetrated atrocities against the local population. The Maratha atrocities were recorded by both Bengali and European sources, which reported that the Marathas demanded payments, and tortured or killed anyone who couldn't pay. Raghuji was able to annex Odisha to his kingdom permanently as he successfully exploited
2814-538: The Maratha Empire to the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb . However, after his death in 1707, this process reversed following the Mughal succession war between the sons of Aurangzeb. By 1712, Marathas quickly started retaking their lost lands. Under Peshwa Baji Rao , Gujarat , Malwa and Rajputana came under Maratha control. Finally, in 1737, Baji Rao defeated the Mughals on the outskirts of Delhi and brought much of
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#17328586549552948-530: The Maratha Empire , was an early modern polity in the Indian subcontinent . It comprised the realms of the Peshwa and four major independent Maratha states often subordinate to the former. It was established in 1674 with the coronation of Shivaji as the Maratha Chhatrapati and recognised by Emperor Bahadur Shah I as a tributary state in 1707 following a prolonged rebellion . Following this,
3082-473: The Portuguese and Chikka Deva Raya of Mysore . To nullify the alliance between his rebel son, Akbar, and the Marathas, Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb headed south in 1681. With his entire imperial court, administration and an army of about 500,000 troops, he proceeded to expand the Mughal empire, gaining territories such as the sultanates of Bijapur and Golconda . During the eight years that followed, Sambhaji led
3216-683: The Raja of Baroda of the House of Gaekwad , the Raja of Indore of the House of Holkar , and the Raja of Nagpur of the House of Bhonsle , (in order of territory and jurisdiction they hold), while the Peshwa's dominions included the territories that later became the Bombay Province and Central Provinces . After he was defeated by the Holkar dynasty in 1802, the Peshwa Baji Rao II sought protection from
3350-599: The Rajaram I reign and a person holding this office exercised powers over all ministers of the Maratha court including the Peshwas . Above the Ashta pradhan Rajaram I appointed Pralhad Niraji to the high post of Prathinidhi. The office of Pratinidhi was created and the office of Peshwa was made next to it in hierarchy. The first occupant of the position under Rajaram was Pralhad Niraji , who
3484-603: The Rohillas and the Nawab of Oudh to assist him in driving out the Marathas from Delhi. Huge armies of Muslim forces and Marathas collided with each other on 14 January 1761 in the Third Battle of Panipat . The Maratha Army lost the battle, which halted their imperial expansion. The Jats and Rajputs did not support the Marathas. Historians have criticised the Maratha treatment of fellow Hindu groups. Kaushik Roy says, "The treatment by
3618-781: The Scindia Dynasty of the Maratha Confederacy, as Mahadaji Shinde was deputed the Vakil-i-Mutlaq (Regent of the empire) of Mughal affairs in 1784. Following the Second Anglo-Maratha War in 1806, Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington drafted a treaty granting independence to the Sikh clans east of the Sutlej River in exchange for their allegiance to the British General Gerard Lake acting on his dispatch. At
3752-712: The Third Anglo-Maratha War (1817–1818) resulted in the loss of Maratha independence. It left the British in control of most of the Indian subcontinent. The Peshwa was exiled to Bithoor (Marat, near Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh ) as a pensioner of the British. The Maratha heartland of Desh, including Pune, came under direct British rule, except the states of Kolhapur and Satara , which retained local Maratha rulers (descendants of Shivaji and Sambhaji II ruled over Kolhapur). The Maratha-ruled states of Gwalior, Indore, and Nagpur all lost territory and came under subordinate alliances with
3886-750: The Treaty of Surji-Anjangaon to the British East India Company leading to the Company rule in India . In 1788, Mahadaji's armies defeated Ismail Beg , a Mughal noble who resisted the Marathas. The Rohilla chief Ghulam Kadir , Ismail Beg's ally, took over Delhi, capital of the Mughal dynasty and deposed and blinded the king Shah Alam II, placing a puppet on the Delhi throne. Mahadaji intervened and killed him, taking possession of Delhi on 2 October restoring Shah Alam II to
4020-551: The Tungabhadra river. The strong fort of Gwalior was then in the hands of Chhatar Singh , the Jat ruler of Gohad . In 1783, Mahadaji besieged the fort of Gwalior and conquered it. He delegated the administration of Gwalior to Khanderao Hari Bhalerao. After celebrating the conquest of Gwalior, Mahadaji Shinde turned his attention to Delhi again. The Maratha-Sikh treaty in 1785 made the small Cis-Sutlej states an autonomous protectorate of
4154-483: The Afghan force's center. Despite Bhau's success and the ferocity of the charge, the attack did not attain complete success as many of the half-starved Maratha mounts were exhausted. Also, there were no heavy armoured cavalry units for the Marathas to maintain these openings. In order to turn about the deserting Afghan troopers, Abdali deployed his Nascibchi musketeers to gun down the deserters who finally stopped and returned to
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4288-458: The Afghan horses being able to outmaneuver the Marathas in battle. Abdali was in no position to maintain his field army in India indefinitely due to external threats. After the defeat the Marathas fled in all directions, and the Afghans, Mughals, Rohillas and Awadh troops fell upon them and were busy in plundering and slaying soldiers and civilians. Afghan officers who had lost their kin in battle were permitted to carry out massacres of Marathas
4422-452: The Afghan soldiers who had been captured by the Marathas earlier during the Siege of Kunjpura revolted. The prisoners unwrapped their green belts and wore them as turbans to impersonate the troops of the Durrani Empire and began attacking from within. This brought confusion and great consternation to the Maratha soldiers, who thought that the enemy had attacked from the rear. Some Maratha troops in
4556-710: The Afghan tribes, had reached Lahore as well as Delhi and defeated the smaller enemy garrisons, and was joined by the Muslims of Northern India, the Rohillas , and Shuja-ud-Daula . Ahmed Shah, at this point, withdrew his army to Anupshahr , on the frontier of the Rohilla country, where he successfully convinced the Nawab of Oudh Shuja-ud-Daula to join his alliance against the Marathas. The Marathas had earlier helped Safdarjung (father of Shuja) in defeating Rohillas in Farrukhabad . The Marathas under Sadashivrao Bhau responded to
4690-443: The Afghans broken, he would move camp in a defensive formation towards Delhi, where they were assured supplies. With the Maratha chiefs pressurizing Sadashivrao Bhau, to go to battle rather than perish by starvation, on 13 January, the Marathas left their camp before dawn and marched south towards the Afghan camp in a desperate attempt to break the siege. The two armies came face-to-face around 8:00 a.m. The Maratha lines began
4824-430: The Afghans. Seeing that the battle was on, Ahmad Shah positioned his 60 smooth-bore cannon and opened fire. The initial attack was led by the Maratha left flank under Ibrahim Khan, who advanced his infantry in formation against the Rohillas and Shah Pasand Khan. The first salvos from the Maratha artillery went over the Afghans' heads and did very little damage. Nevertheless, the first Afghan attack by Najib Khan's Rohillas
4958-563: The Bhau or Bhao in sources) responded to the news of the Afghans' return to North India by sending a large army north. Bhau's force was bolstered by some Maratha forces under Holkar , Scindia , Gaekwad and Govind Pant Bundele with Suraj Mal . The combined army of over 50,000 regular troops re-captured the former Mughal capital, Delhi, from an Afghan garrison in August 1760. Delhi had been reduced to ashes many times due to previous invasions, and there
5092-579: The British East India Company , whose intervention destroyed the confederacy by 1818 after the Second and Third Anglo-Maratha Wars . The stable borders of the confederacy after 1737 extended from modern-day Maharashtra in the south to Gwalior in the north after the Battle of Bhopal (1737), to Orissa in the east or about a third of the subcontinent. The Maratha Confederacy is also referred to as
5226-657: The British conquer Mysore in the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War in 1799. After the British conquest, however, the Marathas launched frequent raids in Mysore to plunder the region, which they justified as compensation for past losses to Tipu Sultan. In 1775, the British East India Company , from its base in Bombay, intervened in a succession struggle in Pune, on behalf of Raghunathrao (also called Raghobadada), who wanted to become Peshwa of
5360-694: The English and the Marathas did not fare well at the Battle of Ramghat. The Maratha and British armies fought in Ram Ghat, but the sudden demise of the Peshwa and the civil war in Pune to choose the next Peshwa forced the Marathas to retreat. Madhavrao Peshwa 's victory over the Nizam of Hyderabad and Hyder Ali of Mysore in southern India established Maratha dominance in the Deccan. On
5494-502: The Gardis and outflank the Maratha centre while Shah Wali pressed on attacking the front. Thus the Gardis were left defenseless and started falling one by one. Vishwasrao had already been killed by a shot to the head. Bhau and the Huzurati royal forces fought till the end, the Maratha leader having three horses shot out from under him. At this stage, the Holkar and Scindia contingents, realising
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5628-412: The Gardis. However, after seeing the Gardis having no clearing for directing their cannon fire at the enemy troops, they lost their patience and decided to fight the Rohillas themselves. Thus, they broke their position and went all out on the Rohillas. The Rohilla riflemen started accurately firing at the Maratha cavalry, which was equipped only with swords. This gave the Rohillas the opportunity to encircle
5762-527: The Kunjpura garrison, within sight of the Durrani camp, exasperated Abdali to such an extent that he ordered crossing of the river at all costs. Ahmed Shah and his allies on 17 October 1760, broke up from Shahdara , marching south. Taking a calculated risk, Abdali plunged into the river, followed by his bodyguards and troops. Between 23 and 25 October they were able to cross at Baghpat (a small town about 24 miles up
5896-547: The Maratha Confederacy in return for his acknowledgement of British paramountcy. Before the Second Anglo-Maratha War (1803–1805), the Peshwa Baji Rao II signed a similar treaty. The defeat in the Battle of Delhi, 1803 during the Second Anglo-Maratha War resulted in the loss of influence over Delhi for the Marathas. The Second Anglo-Maratha War represents the military high-water mark of the Marathas who posed
6030-516: The Maratha Empire. Historian Barbara Ramusack notes, "neither term is fully accurate since one implies a substantial degree of centralisation and the other signifies some surrender of power to a central government and a longstanding core of political administrators". Although at present, the word Maratha refers to a traditionally Marathi peasantry group, in the past the word has been used to describe all Marathi people . Shivaji (1630–1680)
6164-408: The Maratha alliance at Agra before the start of the great battle and withdrew their troops as Maratha general Sadashivrao Bhau did not heed the advice to leave soldiers' families (women and children) and pilgrims at Agra and not take them to the battlefield with the soldiers, rejected their co-operation. Their supply chains (earlier assured by Raja Suraj Mal ) did not exist. Peshwa Madhavrao I
6298-414: The Maratha camp. Bhau ordered the sacking of the already depopulated city. He is said to have planned to place his nephew and the Peshwa's son, Vishwasrao, on the Delhi throne. The Jats withdrew their support from the Marathas. Their withdrawal from the ensuing battle was to play a crucial role in its result. The first blood was drawn when the leader of the Rohillas, an Indian Muslim named Qutb Khan, attacked
6432-408: The Maratha camp. Initially the Marathas had moved in almost 150 pieces of modern long-range, French-made artillery. With a range of several kilometres, these guns were some of the best of the time. The Marathas' plan was to lure the Afghan army to confront them while they had close artillery support. During the next two months of the siege , constant skirmishes and duels took place between units from
6566-400: The Maratha cavalry. The Maratha cavalry was unable to withstand the muskets and camel-mounted swivel cannons of the Afghans. They could be fired without the rider having to dismount and were especially effective against fast-moving cavalry. Abdali therefore, sent 500 of his own bodyguards with orders to raise all able-bodied men out of camp and send them to the front. He sent 1,500 more to punish
6700-433: The Maratha generals found it good strategy as they themselves prefer guerrilla warfare but Sadashiv Rao Bhau found it dishonourable for a king and took this as result of Maratha general's old age and Suraj Mal's foolishness. With both sides poised for battle, maneuvering followed, with skirmishes between the two armies fought around Karnal and Kunjpura . Abdus Samad Khan, the faujdar of Sirhind , had come to Kunjpura, on
6834-414: The Maratha throne and challenged his aunt Tarabai and her son. The spluttering Mughal-Maratha war became a three-cornered affair. This resulted in two rival seats of government being set up in 1707 at Satara and Kolhapur by Shahu and Tarabai respectively. Shahu appointed Balaji Vishwanath as his Peshwa. The Peshwa was instrumental in securing Mughal recognition of Shahu as the rightful heir of Shivaji and
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#17328586549556968-491: The Marathas continued to recognise the Mughal emperor as their nominal suzerain , similar to other contemporary Indian entities, though in practice, imperial politics at Delhi were largely influenced by the Marathas between 1737 and 1803. Although Shivaji came from the Maratha community , the Maratha government also included warriors, administrators, and other nobles from the Maratha and several other Marathi groups from what
7102-524: The Marathas of their co-religionist fellows – Jats and Rajputs was definitely unfair and ultimately had to pay its price in Panipat where Muslim forces had united in the name of religion." The Marathas had antagonised the Jats and Rajputs by taxing them heavily, punishing them after defeating the Mughals and interfering in their internal affairs. The Marathas were abandoned by Raja Suraj Mal of Bharatpur , who quit
7236-481: The Marathas successfully against the Mughals. In early 1689, Sambhaji called his commanders for a strategic meeting at Sangameshwar to consider an onslaught on the Mughal forces. In a meticulously planned operation, Ganoji and Aurangzeb's commander, Mukarrab Khan, attacked Sangameshwar when Sambhaji was accompanied by just a few men. Sambhaji was ambushed and captured by the Mughal troops on 1 February 1689. He and his advisor, Kavi Kalash , were taken to Bahadurgad by
7370-550: The Marathas were now major players. After the 1758 Battle of Attock , the Marathas captured Peshawar defeating the Afghan troops in the Battle of Peshawar on 8 May 1758. Just prior to the battle of Panipat in 1761, the Marathas looted "Diwan-i-Khas" or Hall of Private Audiences in the Red Fort of Delhi, which was the place where the Mughal emperors used to receive courtiers and state guests, in one of their expeditions to Delhi. The Marathas who were hard pressed for money stripped
7504-489: The Mughals from the invasion of the Marathas, but was defeated decisively in the Battle of Bhopal . The Marathas extracted a large tribute from the Mughals and signed a treaty which ceded Malwa to the Marathas. The Battle of Vasai was fought between the Marathas and the Portuguese rulers of Vasai , a village lying on the northern shore of Vasai creek, 50 km north of Mumbai . The Marathas were led by Chimaji Appa , brother of Baji Rao. The Maratha victory in this war
7638-420: The Mughals to defend his kingdom. He was crowned as Chhatrapati (sovereign) of the new Maratha Kingdom in 1674. The Maratha dominion under him comprised about 4.1% of the subcontinent, but it was spread over large tracts. At the time of his death, it was reinforced with about 300 forts, and defended by about 40,000 cavalries, and 50,000 soldiers, as well as naval establishments along the west coast. Over time,
7772-757: The Portuguese Viceroy was killed in action by the Maratha Army in Goa. After the successful campaign of Karnataka and the Trichinopolly , Raghuji returned from Karnataka. He undertook six expeditions into Bengal from 1741 to 1748. The resurgent Maratha Confederacy launched brutal raids against the prosperous Bengali state in the 18th century , which further added to the decline of the Nawabs of Bengal. During their invasions and occupation of Bihar and western Bengal up to
7906-399: The Raja of Jaipur but withdrew after the inconclusive Battle of Lalsot in 1787. The Battle of Gajendragad was fought between the Marathas under the command of Tukojirao Holkar (the adopted son of Malharrao Holkar) and Tipu Sultan from March 1786 to March 1787 in which Tipu Sultan was defeated by the Marathas. By the victory in this battle, the border of the Maratha territory was extended to
8040-400: The Rohillas knew North India very well. He was also diplomatic, striking agreements with Hindu leaders, especially the Jats and Rajputs , and former rivals like the Nawab of Awadh, appealing to him in the name of religion. Moreover, the senior Maratha chiefs constantly bickered with one another. Each had ambitions of carving out their independent states and had no interest in fighting against
8174-456: The Sringeri temple continued for many years, and he was still writing to the Swami in the 1790s. The Maratha Confederacy soon allied with the British East India Company (based in the Bengal Presidency ) against Mysore in the Anglo-Mysore Wars . After the British had suffered a defeat against Mysore in the first two Anglo-Mysore Wars, the Maratha cavalry assisted the British in the last two Anglo-Mysore Wars from 1790 onwards, eventually helping
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#17328586549558308-408: The Terai whence the remaining Sardar Hafiz Rahmat Khan Barech sought assistance in an agreement formed with the Nawab of Oudh , Shuja-ud-Daula, by which the Rohillas agreed to pay four million rupees in return for military help against the Marathas. Hafiz Rehmat, abhorring unnecessary violence, unlike the outlook of his fellow Rohillas such as Ali Muhammad and Najib Khan, prided himself on his role as
8442-412: The Vizier in close order and at full gallop. Whenever they charged the enemy in front, the chief of the staff and Najib were directed to fall upon either flank. With their own men in the firing line, the Maratha artillery could not respond to the shathurnals and the cavalry charge. Some 7,000 Maratha cavalry and infantry were killed before the hand-to-hand fighting began at around 14:00 hrs. By 16:00 hrs,
8576-440: The aristocracy. After the death of Peshwa Madhavrao I , various chiefs and jagirdars became de facto rulers and regents for the infant Peshwa Madhavrao II . Under the leadership of Mahadaji Shinde, the ruler of the state of Gwalior in central India, the Marathas defeated the Jats, the Rohilla Afghans and took Delhi which remained under Maratha control for the next three decades. His forces conquered modern day Haryana. Shinde
8710-450: The banks of the Yamuna river 60 miles to the north of Delhi with a force of more than ten thousand and supplies for the Afghan force. Kunjpura was stormed by the Marathas who was running short of supplies. Aided by the musketeers under Ibrahim Gardi, the Marathas achieved a rather easy victory at Kunjpura against an army of around 15,000 Afghans posted there. Some of Abdali's best generals like Najabat Khan were killed. Abdus Samad Khan
8844-472: The battle was lost, merged their forces with one contingent breaking from the Maratha right flank and escaped from the opening in the Durrani lines southwards as Jankoji Rao Scindia lead the other contingent to reinforce the thinning lines of Marathas. The Maratha front lines remained largely intact, with some of their artillery units fighting until sunset. Choosing not to launch a night attack, many Maratha troops escaped that night. Bhau's wife Parvatibai , who
8978-443: The battle. In this order the army of Ahmed Shah moved forward, leaving him at his preferred post in the centre, which was now in the rear of the line, from where he could watch and direct the battle. Before dawn on 14 January 1761, the Maratha troops broke their fast with sugared water in the camp and prepared for combat. They emerged from the trenches, pushing the artillery into position on their prearranged lines, some 2 km from
9112-429: The battlefield, the Maratha defeat would have been delayed but not averted. Ahmad Shah's superiority in pitched battle could've been averted by guerrilla warfare, as advised by Malharrao Holkar and Suraj Mal . However it is described as impossible to implement due to the camp followers of Bhau's army, and the general quality of his men. It is also believed that the Afghans would not be susceptible to such tactics, due to
9246-413: The battles of Sira and Madgiri. He also rescued the last queen of the Keladi Nayaka Kingdom , who had been kept in confinement by Hyder Ali in the fort of Madgiri. In early 1771, ten years after the collapse of Maratha authority over North India following the Third Battle of Panipat, Mahadaji Shinde recaptured Delhi and installed Shah Alam II as a puppet ruler on the Mughal throne receiving in return
9380-409: The ceiling of Diwan-i-Khas of its silver and looted the shrines dedicated to Muslim maulanas. During the Maratha invasion of Rohilkhand in the 1750s The Marathas defeated the Rohillas, forced them to seek shelter in hills and ransacked their country in such a manner that the Rohillas dreaded the Marathas and hated them ever afterwards. In 1760, the Marathas under Sadashivrao Bhau (referred to as
9514-464: The chaotic conditions prevailing in Bengal after the death of its governor Murshid Quli Khan in 1727. Constantly harassed by the Bhonsles, Odisha, Bengal and parts of Bihar were economically ruined. Alivardi Khan, the Nawab of Bengal made peace with Raghuji in 1751 ceding Cuttack (Odisha) up to the river Subarnarekha, and agreeing to pay Rs. 1.2 million annually as the Chauth for Bengal and Bihar. Balaji Bajirao encouraged agriculture, protected
9648-573: The city of Panipat , approximately 97 kilometres (60 mi) north of Delhi . The Afghans were supported by three key allies in India : Najib ad-Dawlah who persuaded the support of the Rohilla chiefs, elements of the declining Mughal Empire , and most prized the Oudh State under Shuja-ud-Daula . The Maratha army was led by Sadashivrao Bhau , who was third-highest authority of the Maratha Confederacy after
9782-422: The civilians. Many were ordinary men, women and children on their pilgrimage to Hindu holy places and shrines. Behind the civilians was yet another protective infantry line, of young, inexperienced soldiers. On the other side the Afghans formed a somewhat similar line, a few metres to the south of today's Sanauli Road. Their left was being formed by Najib and their right by two brigades of troops. Their left centre
9916-613: The conclusion of the war, the frontier of British India was extended to the Yamuna. Mahadaji Shinde had conquered Rania , Fatehabad and Sirsa from the governor of Hissar. Haryana then came under the Marathas. He divided Haryana into four territories: Delhi (Mughal emperor Shah Alam II , his family and areas surrounding Delhi), Panipat (Karnal, Sonepat, Kurukshetra and Ambala), Hisar (Hisar, Sirsa, Fatehabad, parts of Rohtak), Ahirwal (Gurugram, Rewari, Narnaul, Mahendragarh) and Mewat. Daulat Rao Scindia ceded Haryana on 30 December 1803 under
10050-438: The confederacy. The British also wanted to end any potential anti-British, French-Maratha alliance at its crib. Maratha forces under Tukojirao Holkar and Mahadaji Shinde defeated a British expeditionary force at the Battle of Wadgaon , but the heavy surrender terms, which included the return of annexed territory and a share of revenues, were disavowed by the British authorities at Bengal and fighting continued. What became known as
10184-480: The death of Saadat Khan by the Marathas and was forced to flee to the camp of Shuja-ud-Daula and his country was ravaged by Marathas. Mahadaji Shinde captured the family of Zabita Khan, desecrated the grave of Najib ad-Dawlah and looted his fort. With the fleeing of the Rohillas, the rest of the country was burnt, with the exception of the city of Amroha, which was defended by some thousands of Amrohi Sayyid tribes. The Rohillas who could offer no resistance fled to
10318-401: The east, Shuja, Atai Khan and others in the north and other Pashtun tribes ( Gandapur , Marwat , Durranis and Kakars ) in the west. Unable to continue without supplies or wait for reinforcements from Pune any longer, Bhau decided to break the siege. His plan was to pulverise the enemy formations with cannon fire and not to employ his cavalry until the Afghans were thoroughly softened up. With
10452-435: The extreme right. The Maratha line was formed up some 12 km across, with the artillery in front, protected by infantry, pikemen, musketeers and bowmen. The cavalry was instructed to wait behind the artillery and bayonet-wielding musketeers, ready to be thrown in when control of the battlefield had been fully established. Behind this line was another ring of 30,000 young Maratha soldiers who were not battle-tested, and then
10586-573: The famous Alopi Devi Mandir . After reaching Delhi in January 1772 and realising the Maratha intent of territorial encroachment, however, Shah Alam ordered his general Najaf Khan to drive them out. In retaliation, Tukoji Rao Holkar and Visaji Krushna Biniwale attacked Delhi and defeated Mughal forces in 1772. The Marathas were granted an imperial sanad for Kora and Allahabad. They turned their attention to Oudh to gain these two territories. Shuja was, however, unwilling to give them up and made appeals to
10720-465: The faujdar of Sirhind was also killed during the battle. Qutab shah who was responsible for beheading Dattaji Shinde at the battle of Barari ghat was executed by the Marathas after their capture of Kunjpura. Ahmad Shah was encamped on the left bank of the Yamuna River, which was swollen by rains, and was powerless to aid the garrison. The whole Afghan garrison was killed or enslaved. The massacre of
10854-413: The field. The Marathas, under Scindia, attacked Najib. Najib successfully fought a defensive action, however, keeping Scindia's forces at bay. By noon it looked as though Bhau would clinch victory for the Marathas once again. The Afghan left flank still held its own, but the centre was cut in two and the right was almost destroyed. Ahmad Shah had watched the fortunes of the battle from his tent, guarded by
10988-595: The former Mughal territories in the south of Agra under Maratha control. Baji Rao's son Balaji Baji Rao further increased the territory under Maratha control by invading Punjab in 1758. Raghunathrao's letter to the Peshwa, 4 May 1758. Lahore, Multan and other subahs on eastern side of Attock are under our rule for the most part, and places which have not come under our rule we shall soon bring under us. Ahmad Shah Durrani's son Timur Shah Durrani and Jahan Khan have been pursued by our troops, and their troops completely looted. Both of them have now reached Peshawar with
11122-440: The front-line troops who attempted to flee the battle and kill without mercy any soldier who would not return to the fight. These extra troops, along with 4,000 of his reserve troops, went to support the broken ranks of the Rohillas on the right. The remainder of the reserve, 10,000 strong, were sent to the aid of Shah Wali, still labouring unequally against the Bhau in the centre of the field. These mailed warriors were to charge with
11256-584: The imperial army, where they were executed by the Mughals on 21 March 1689. Aurangzeb had charged Sambhaji with attacks by Maratha forces on Burhanpur . Upon Sambhaji's death, his half-brother Rajaram ascended the throne. The Mughal siege of Raigad continued, and he had to flee to Vishalgad and then to Gingee for safety. From there, the Marathas raided Mughal territory, and many forts were recaptured by Maratha commanders such as Santaji Ghorpade , Dhanaji Jadhav , Parshuram Pant Pratinidhi , Shankaraji Narayan Sacheev and Melgiri Pandit. In 1697, Rajaram offered
11390-455: The kingdom would increase in size and heterogeneity; by the time of his grandson's rule, and later under the Peshwas in the early 18th century, it became a vast realm. Shivaji had two sons: Sambhaji and Rajaram , who had different mothers and were half-brothers. In 1681, Sambhaji succeeded to the crown after his father's death and resumed his expansionist policies. Sambhaji had earlier defeated
11524-455: The largest and most eventful fought in the 18th century, and it had perhaps the largest number of fatalities in a single day reported in a classic formation battle between two armies. The battle lasted for several days and involved over 125,000 troops; protracted skirmishes occurred, with losses and gains on both sides. The Afghan army ultimately emerged victorious from the battle after successfully destroying several Maratha flanks. The extent of
11658-470: The last serious opposition to the formation of the British Raj . The real contest for India was never a single decisive battle for the subcontinent, rather, it turned on a complex social and political struggle for the control of the South Asian military economy. The victory in 1803 hinged as much on finance, diplomacy, politics and intelligence as it did on battlefield manoeuvring and war itself. Ultimately,
11792-466: The losses on both sides is heavily disputed by historians, but it is believed that between 60,000 and 70,000 troops were killed in the fighting, while the numbers of injured and prisoners taken vary considerably. According to the single-best eyewitness chronicle—the bakhar by Shuja-ud-Daula's Diwan Kashi Raja —about 40,000 Maratha prisoners were collectively slaughtered on the day after the battle. British historian Grant Duff includes an interview of
11926-606: The major Maratha powers jointly fighting Nizam's forces. The Marathas came into conflict with Tipu Sultan and his Kingdom of Mysore , leading to the Maratha–Mysore War in 1785. The war ended in 1787 with Tipu Sultan being defeated by the Marathas. The Maratha-Mysore war ended in April 1787 following the finalizing of the treaty of Gajendragad , as per which the Tipu Sultan of Mysore was obligated to pay 4.8 million rupees as
12060-652: The monastery of all its valuable possessions, and desecrating the temple by displacing the image of goddess Sāradā . The incumbent Shankaracharya petitioned Tipu Sultan for help. A bunch of about 30 letters written in Kannada , which were exchanged between Tipu Sultan's court and the Sringeri Shankaracharya were discovered in 1916 by the Director of Archaeology in Mysore . Tipu Sultan expressed his indignation and grief at
12194-608: The news of the Afghans' return to North India by raising an army, and they marched North. Bhau's force was bolstered by some Maratha forces under Holkar , Scindia , Gaikwad and Govind Pant Bundele . Suraj Mal (the Jat ruler of Bharatpur ) also had joined Bhausaheb initially. This combined army captured the Mughal capital, Delhi, from an Afghan garrison in December 1759. Delhi had been reduced to ashes many times due to previous invasions, and in addition there being acute shortage of supplies in
12328-577: The news of the raid: People who have sinned against such a holy place are sure to suffer the consequences of their misdeeds at no distant date in this Kali age in accordance with the verse: "Hasadbhih kriyate karma rudadbhir-anubhuyate" (People do [evil] deeds smilingly but suffer the consequences crying). Tipu Sultan immediately ordered the Asaf of Bednur to supply the Swami with 200 rahati s ( fanam s) in cash and other gifts and articles. Tipu Sultan's interest in
12462-529: The next day also, in Panipat and the surrounding area. They arranged victory mounds of severed heads outside their camps. According to the single best eyewitness chronicle – the bakhar by Shuja-ud-Daula 's Diwan Casi Raja(Kashi Raja) – about 40,000 Maratha prisoners were slaughtered in cold blood the day after the battle. According to Hamilton, a reporter of the Bombay Gazette , about half a million Marathi people were present there in Panipat town and he gives
12596-619: The north of the Indian subcontinent. After Aurangzeb's death in 1707, Shivaji's grandson Shahu under the leadership of Peshwa Bajirao revived Maratha power and confided a great deal of authority to the Bhat family, who became hereditary peshwas ( prime ministers ). After he died in 1749, they became the effective rulers. The leading Maratha families – Scindia, Holkar, Bhonsle, and Gaekwad – extended their conquests in northern and central India and became more independent and difficult to control. The Marathas' rapid expansion
12730-473: The other hand, Mahadaji's victory over Jats of Mathura, Rajputs of Rajasthan and Pashtun-Rohillas of Rohilkhand ( Bareilly division and Moradabad division of present-day Uttar Pradesh ) re-established the Marathas in northern India. With the Capture of Delhi in 1771 and the capture of Najibabad in 1772 and treaties with Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II as a restricted monarch to the throne under Maratha suzerainty,
12864-585: The politics of the Indian subcontinent during the seventeenth century under the leadership of Shivaji , who revolted against the Adil Shahi dynasty and the Mughals to carve out a kingdom with Raigad as his capital. The religious attitude of Emperor Aurangzeb estranged non-Muslims , and the Maratha insurgency came at a great cost for his men and treasury and eventually ensured Maratha ascendency and their control over sizeable portions of former Mughal dominions in
12998-447: The resurrection of Maratha power in the North was complete. Madhav Rao died in 1772, at the age of 27. His death is considered to be a fatal blow to the Maratha Confederacy and from that time Maratha power started to move on a downward trajectory, less an empire than a confederacy. In a bid to effectively manage the large empire, Madhavrao Peshwa gave semi-autonomy to the strongest of
13132-408: The river), unopposed by the Marathas who were still preoccupied with the sacking of Kunjpura and visit to nearby Kurukshetra ; an important Hindu pilgrimage destination. After the Marathas failed to prevent Abdali's forces from crossing the Yamuna River, they set up defensive works in the ground near Panipat , thereby blocking his access back to Afghanistan, just as Abdali's forces blocked theirs to
13266-461: The royal family as captives. The Marathas invaded Rohilkhand to avenge the Rohillas' atrocities in the Panipat war. The Marathas under the leadership of Mahadaji Shinde entered the land of Sardar Najib-ud-Daula which was held by his son Zabita Khan after his death. Zabita Khan initially resisted the attack with Sayyid Khan and Saadat Khan behaving with gallantry, but was eventually defeated with
13400-525: The ruler of Afghanistan , to halt the threat. The Marathas attempted to turn over the support of the Gujarati Muslim Babis, the Indian Rohillas, Nizam brothers of the Deccan, and Shuja-ud-Dawlah. Ahmad Shah Durrani ( Ahmad Shah Abdali ), angered by the news from his son and his allies, was unwilling to allow the Marathas' spread go unchecked. By the end of 1759 Abdali with his Qizilbash and
13534-431: The seat of the Peshwa. This gave rise to the Battle of Poona in which the Peshwa was defeated. After the Battle of Poona, the flight of the Peshwa left the government of the Maratha state in the hands of Yashwantrao Holkar.( Kincaid & Pārasanīsa 1925 , p. 194) He appointed Amrutrao as the Peshwa and went to Indore on 13 March 1803. All except Gaekwad, chief of Baroda , who had already accepted British protection by
13668-551: The second phase, Bhau himself led the charge against the left-of-center Afghan forces, under the Afghan Vizier Shah Wali Khan. The sheer force of the attack nearly broke the Afghan lines, and the Afghan soldiers started to desert their positions in the confusion. Desperately trying to rally his forces, Shah Wali appealed to Shuja ud Daulah for assistance. However, the Nawab did not break from his position, effectively splitting
13802-415: The situation. Raghunathrao asked for large number of an army soldiers, which was denied by Sadashivrao Bhau , his cousin and Diwan of Peshwa. Therefore, he declined to go. Sadashivrao Bhau was instead made commander in chief of the Maratha Army, under whom the Battle of Panipat was fought. The Marathas, under the command of Sadashivrao Bhau, responded by gathering an army of between 45,000 and 60,000, which
13936-476: The six Mogul provinces of Deccan, and full possession of the territories controlled by Shivaji in 1680. After Balaji Vishwanath's death in April 1720, his son, Baji Rao I , was appointed Peshwa by Shahu. Bajirao is credited with expanding the Maratha Kingdom tenfold from 3% to 30% of the modern Indian landscape during 1720–1740. The Battle of Palkhed was a land battle that took place on 28 February 1728 at
14070-634: The son and viceroy of the Afghan ruler, Ahmad Shah Abdali . This was the high-water mark of Maratha expansion, where the boundaries of their empire extended north of the Sindhu river all the way down south to northern Kerala . This territory was ruled through the Peshwa , who talked of placing his son Vishwasrao on the Mughal throne. However, Delhi still remained under the control of Mughals , key Muslim intellectuals including Shah Waliullah and other Muslim clergies in India were frightened at these developments. In desperation they appealed to Ahmad Shah Abdali ,
14204-433: The south. From Damalcherry, the Marathas proceeded to Arcot, which surrendered to them without much resistance. Then, Raghuji invaded Trichinopoly in December 1740. Unable to resist, Chanda Sahib surrendered the fort to Raghuji on 14 March 1741. Chanda Saheb and his son were arrested and sent to Nagpur. Rajputana also came under Maratha attacks during this time. In June 1756 Luís Mascarenhas, Count of Alva (Conde de Alva),
14338-527: The south. However, on the afternoon of 26 October, Ahmad Shah's advance guard reached Samalkha , about halfway between Sonepat and Panipat, where they encountered the vanguard of the Marathas. A fierce skirmish ensued, in which the Afghans lost 1000 men but drove the Marathas back to their main body, which kept retreating slowly for several days. This led to the partial encirclement of the Maratha army. In skirmishes that followed, Govind Pant Bundele , with 10,000 light cavalry who weren't formally trained soldiers,
14472-469: The state of his army, was crossing the Narmada with a relief force and supplies when he heard of the defeat. He returned to Pune and never recovered from the shock of the debacle at Panipat. According to Kashi Raja Pundit, "It was Balaji Bajirao's love of pleasure which was responsible for Panipat. He delayed at Paithan celebrating his second marriage until December 27, when it was too late." Jankoji Scindia
14606-411: The still unbroken forces on his left. He sent his bodyguards to call up his 15,000 reserve troops from his camp and arranged them as a column in front of his cavalry of musketeers ( Qizilbash ) and 2,000 swivel-mounted shutarnaals or Ushtranaal—cannons—on the backs of camels. The shutarnaals, because of their positioning on camels, could fire an extensive salvo over the heads of their own infantry, at
14740-432: The throne and acting as his protector. Jaipur and Jodhpur , the two most powerful Rajput states, were still out of direct Maratha domination, so Mahadaji sent his general Benoît de Boigne to crush the forces of Jaipur and Jodhpur at the Battle of Patan . Another achievement of the Marathas was their victories over the Nizam of Hyderabad's armies. The last of these took place at the Battle of Kharda in 1795 with all
14874-417: The tired Maratha infantry began to succumb to the onslaught of attacks from fresh Afghan reserves, protected by armoured leather jackets. Sadashiv Rao Bhau who had not kept any reserves, seeing his forward lines dwindling, civilians behind and upon seeing Vishwasrao disappear in the midst of the fighting, felt he had no choice but to come down from his elephant and lead the battle. Taking advantage of this,
15008-492: The title of deputy Vakil-ul-Mutlak or vice-regent of the Empire and that of Vakil-ul-Mutlak being at his request conferred on the Peshwa. The Mughals also gave him the title of Amir-ul-Amara (head of the amirs). After taking control of Delhi, the Marathas sent a large army in 1772 to punish Afghan Rohillas for their involvement in Panipat. Their army devastated Rohilkhand by looting and plundering as well as taking members of
15142-464: The two sides. In one of these Najib lost 3,000 of his Rohillas and was nearly killed himself. Facing a potential stalemate, Abdali decided to seek terms, which Bhau was willing to consider. However, Najib Khan delayed any chance of an agreement with an appeal on religious grounds and sowed doubt about whether the Marathas would honour any agreement. After the Marathas moved from Kunjpura to Panipat, Diler Khan Marwat, with his father Alam Khan Marwat and
15276-410: The vanguard, seeing that their general had disappeared from his elephant and the chaos ensuing in the rear, panicked and scattered in disarray towards the rear. Abdali had given a part of his army the task of surrounding and killing the Gardis, who were at the leftmost part of the Maratha army. Bhausaheb had ordered Vitthal Vinchurkar (with 1500 cavalry) and Damaji Gaikwad (with 2500 cavalry) to protect
15410-461: The village of Palkhed, near the city of Nashik, Maharashtra, India between Baji Rao I and Qamar-ud-din Khan, Asaf Jah I of Hyderabad. The Marathas defeated the Nizam . The battle is considered an example of the brilliant execution of military strategy. In 1737, Marathas under Bajirao I raided the suburbs of Delhi in a blitzkrieg in the Battle of Delhi (1737). The Nizam set out from the Deccan to rescue
15544-452: The villagers and brought about a marked improvement in the state of the territory. Raghunath Rao , brother of Nanasaheb, pushed into the wake of the Afghan withdrawal after Ahmed Shah Abdali 's plunder of Delhi in 1756. Delhi was captured by the Maratha army under Raghunath Rao in August 1757, defeating the Afghan garrison in the Battle of Delhi . This laid the foundation for the Maratha conquest of North-west India . In Lahore , as in Delhi,
15678-516: Was a Maratha aristocrat of the Bhonsle clan and was the founder of the Maratha state. Shivaji led a resistance against the Sultanate of Bijapur in 1645 by winning the fort Torna, followed by many more forts, placing the area under his control and establishing Hindavi Swarajya (self-rule of Hindu people ). He created an independent Maratha state with Raigad as its capital and successfully fought against
15812-494: Was a major achievement of Baji Rao's time in office. Baji Rao's son, Balaji Bajirao (Nanasaheb), was appointed as the next Peshwa by Shahu despite the opposition of other chiefs. In 1740, the Maratha forces, under Raghoji Bhonsle, came down upon Arcot and defeated the Nawab of Arcot , Dost Ali, in the pass of Damalcherry. In the war that followed, Dost Ali, one of his sons Hasan Ali, and several other prominent people died. This initial success at once enhanced Maratha prestige in
15946-474: Was accompanied by roughly 200,000 non-combatants, a number of whom were pilgrims desirous of making pilgrimages to Hindu holy sites in northern India. The Marathas started their northward journey from Patdur on 14 March 1760. Both sides tried to get the Nawab of Awadh , Shuja-ud-Daulah , into their camp. By late July Shuja-ud-Daulah made the decision to join the Afghan-Rohilla coalition, preferring to join what
16080-521: Was an acute shortage of supplies in the Maratha camp. Bhau ordered the sacking of the already depopulated city. He is said to have planned to place his nephew and the Peshwa's son, Vishwasrao , on the Mughal throne. By 1760, with the defeat of the Nizam in the Deccan , Maratha power had reached its zenith with a territory of over 2,500,000 square kilometres (970,000 sq mi). Ahmad Shah Durrani called on
16214-554: Was appointed in 1689. The offices of the Pratinidhi, the Sacheev and the Mantri, became hereditary after passing through three different families. In 1698, Parshuram Pant Pratinidhi was appointed as Pratinidhi by Rajaram I , but by the end of 1713 the family had become hereditary holders of the title Pant Pratinidhi Maratha Empire The Maratha Confederacy , also referred to as
16348-412: Was assisting in the administration of the Maratha camp, escaped to Pune with her bodyguard, Janu Bhintada along with Nana Fadnavis under the protection of Malhar Rao Holkar's contingent. Some 15,000 soldiers managed to reach Gwalior . Durrani had both numeric as well as qualitative superiority over Marathas. The combined Afghan army was much larger than that of Marathas. Though the infantry of Marathas
16482-440: Was broken by Maratha bowmen and pikemen, along with a unit of the famed Gardi musketeers stationed close to the artillery positions. The second and subsequent salvos were fired at point-blank range into the Afghan ranks. The resulting carnage sent the Rohillas reeling back to their lines, leaving the battlefield in the hands of Ibrahim for the next three hours, during which the 8,000 Gardi musketeers killed about 12,000 Rohillas. In
16616-619: Was from the Qizilbash , and recruited other troops such as the Pashtun tribes, Kurds, and Uzbeks. and made several gains against the smaller Maratha garrisons in Punjab. He then joined his Indian allies—the Rohillas of the Gangetic Doab, the Muslims of Northern India, and Shuja-ud-Daula —forming a broad coalition against the Marathas. To counter this, Raghunathrao was supposed to go north to handle
16750-465: Was halted with the great defeat of Panipat in 1761, at the hands of the Afghan Empire , following which the effective power of Peshwas over other chiefs came to an end. The structure of the Maratha state was that of a confederacy of four Rajas under the leadership of the Peshwa at Poona (now Pune) in western India from 1721 till 1818. These were the Raja of Gwalior of the House of Scindia ,
16884-623: Was instrumental in resurrecting Maratha power after the débâcle of the Third Battle of Panipat, and in this, he was assisted by Benoît de Boigne . After the growth in power of feudal lords like the Malwa sardars, the landlords of Bundelkhand and the Rajput kingdoms of Rajasthan who refused to pay tribute to him, he sent his army to conquer states such as Bhopal , Datiya, Chanderi, Narwar, Salbai and Gohad. However, he launched an unsuccessful expedition against
17018-510: Was led by two Viziers, Shuja-ud-daulah with 3,000 soldiers and 50–60 cannons and Ahmad Shah's Vizier Shah Wali with a choice body of 19,000 mailed Afghan horsemen. The right centre consisted of 15,000 Rohillas under Hafiz Rahmat and other chiefs of the Rohilla Pathans. Pasand Khan covered the left wing with 5,000 cavalry, Barkurdar Khan and Amir Beg covered the right with 3,000 Rohilla cavalry. Long-range musketeers were also present during
17152-439: Was on a foraging mission with about 500 men. They were surprised by an Afghan force near Meerut , and in the ensuing fight, Bundele was killed. This was followed by the loss of a contingent of 2,000 Maratha soldiers who had left Delhi to deliver money and rations to Panipat . This completed the encirclement, as Ahmad Shah had cut off the Maratha army's supply lines. With supplies and stores dwindling, tensions started rising in
17286-409: Was organized along European lines and their army had some of the best French-made guns of the time, their artillery was static and lacked mobility against the fast-moving Afghan forces. The heavy mounted artillery of Afghans proved much better in the battlefield than the light artillery of Marathas. None of the other Hindu kings joined forces to fight Abdali. Allies of Abdali, namely, Najib, Shuja and
17420-543: Was perceived as the "army of Islam ". This was strategically a major loss for the Marathas, since Shuja provided much-needed finances for the long Afghan stay in North India . It is doubtful whether the Afghan-Rohilla coalition would have the means to continue their conflict with the Marathas without Shuja's support. Grant Duff, describing the Maratha army: The lofty and spacious tents, lined with silks and broadcloths, were surmounted by large gilded ornaments, conspicuous at
17554-495: Was taken prisoner and executed at the instigation of Najib. Ibrahim Khan Gardi was tortured and executed by enraged Afghan soldiers. The Marathas never fully recovered from the loss at Panipat, but they remained the largest empire in the Indian subcontinent and managed to retake Delhi ten years later. However, their claim over all of India ended with the three Anglo-Maratha Wars , in the early 19th century. The Jats under Suraj Mal benefited significantly from not participating in
17688-626: Was the conclusion of the Treaty of Lonavala in 1714 with Kanhoji Angre , the most powerful naval chief on the Western Coast who later accepted Shahu as Chhatrapati. In 1719, Marathas under Balaji marched to Delhi with Sayyid Hussain Ali , the Mughal governor of Deccan, and deposed the Mughal emperor, Farrukhsiyar . The new teenage emperor, Rafi ud-Darajat and a puppet of the Sayyid brothers, granted Shahu rights to collecting Chauth and Sardeshmukhi from
17822-508: Was the fourth Peshwa of the Maratha Confederacy. He worked as a unifying force in the Confederacy and moved to the south to subdue Mysore and the Nizam of Hyderabad to assert Maratha power. He sent generals such as Bhonsle, Scindia and Holkar to the north, where they re-established Maratha authority by the early 1770s. Madhav Rao I crossed the Krishna River in 1767 and defeated Hyder Ali in
17956-527: Was there upon made commander in chief of the Maratha Army, under whom the Battle of Panipat was fought. Some historians have opined, that Peshwa's decision to appoint Sadashivrao Bhau as the Supreme Commander instead of Malharrao Holkar or Raghunathrao proved to be an unfortunate one, as Sadashivrao was totally ignorant of the political and military situation in North India. If Holkar had remained in
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