Mahadaji Shinde

File:Gwalior-Mahadji.jpg

Madhavrao I 'Mahadji' Scindia

Madhavrao I Scindia (born 1730, died February 12, 1794), popularly known as Madhoji or Mahadji, was a ruler of Gwalior state in central India. Mahadji was instrumental in resurrecting Maratha power after the debacle of the Third Battle of Panipat in 1761, and rose to become a trusted lieutenant of the Peshwa, leader of the Maratha Confederacy, as well as the Mughal emperor Shah Alam. During his reign, Gwalior became the leading state in the Maratha Confederacy and one of the foremost military powers in India.

Shinde Family

Mahadji was the son of Ranoji Shinde, who established Gwalior State in the early 18th century. Mahadji was a very brave boy since his childhood. He was imparted education pertaining to arms and ammunitions and military strategy during his childhood. He first participated in a war at the age of 10. He was a scholar of Persian and Sanskrit as well. He used to read all his audits himself, unlike other rulers of later medieval India who employed scribes.

Ranoji Rao Shinde (Mahadji's father), A brave and gallant figure, he was dedicated to the establishment of a Hindu Kingdom North of the Narmada River. He was the son of Jankojirao Shinde, the Patil of Kanherkhed in Maharashtra. The date of birth of Ranoji Rao has not yet been confirmed.

The final years of Peshwa Balaji Vishwanath Bhatt's career were fraught with important results tending to strengthen the Maratha cause which ultimately laid the foundation of the vigorous policy of warfare which knew no defeat as long as the Maratha Empireexisted. Ranoji seems to be in an obscure position as the Peshwa's policy was directed more towards the attainment of territorial aims by diplomatic skills rather than an open appeal to arms. Little that is trustworthyly known of the earlier years of Ranojirao, whose family was reduced to highly straigned circumstances during the internecine dissensions which raged for a long time between Satara and Kolhapur. Ranoji was put in charge of the Maratha armies in Malwa by the Peshwa. Ranoji conquered much of Malwa from the Mughal Empire, and fixed his headquarters in the ancient city of Ujjain, which ultimately became the capital of the Shinde dominion, which was known after its later capital of Gwalior. Ranoji Rao Shinde died in 1745 at Shujalpur, where his cenotaph(chattri) stands.

Ranoji Shinde left three legitimate sons, Jayapa, Dattaji, and Jotiba, and two illegitimate, Tukaji and Mahadji. Mahadji's mother was a Rajput women at service of his father. Mahadaji married to 11 (Eleven )girls , all from respecatable famalies but had no boy child. Jayappa shinde succeeded to the territories of Ranoji, but was killed at Nagaur in 1759. He was followed by his son Jankoji, who was taken prisoner at the Third Battle of Panipat against the Afghan forces of Ahmad Shah Abdali in 1761 and put to death, and Mahadji succeeded. Mahadji Shinde, too fought at Panipat, and made a hair-breadth escape from the rout of the Maratha army in that battle. He suffered a serious wound in his leg in this battle which left him with a limp for the rest of his life.

His army

Mahadji took full advantage of the system of neutrality pursued by the British to resurrect Maratha power over Northern India. In this he was assisted by the genius of Benoît de Boigne, whose influence in consolidating the power of Mahadji is seldom estimated at its true value. He was a Savoyard, a native of Chambéry, who had served under Lord Clare in the famous Irish Brigade at Fontenoy and elsewhere and who after many vicissitudes, including imprisonment by the Turks, reached India and for a time held a commission in the 6th Madras Infantry. After resigning his commission he had proposed to travel overland to Russia, but was prevented by the loss of his possessions and papers, stolen, it appears, at the instigation of Mahadji, who was suspicious of his intentions. De Boigne finally entered Mahadji's service, and by his genius for organization and command in the field, was instrumental in establishing the Maratha supremacy. Commencing with two battalions of Infantry, he ultimately increased Sindhia's regular forces to three brigades. With these troops Sindhia became a power in northern India.

South India

Nizam of Hyderabad, 1740

In the year 1740, the Marathas were fighting the Nizam of Hyderabad. Srimant Dattajirao Shinde (age 16), Trimbak Kinnad (age 20) and Mahadji (age 10) were sitting at night discussing their strategy against the Nizam. It was a cold night and it had rained tremendously an hour before. The Maratha army's ration was exhausted and most of the ammunition had been destroyed by the rains. Mahadji suggested they leave the place immediately because when the enemy would attack them they would be sitting ducks as they had exhausted their ammunition. Dattaji too was of the same view and asked the Marathas to leave immediately.

On the left of the camp were mountains. They took refuge there as it would provide sufficient cover. The Nizam's army woke up late.

Dattaji divide the army into three flanks,

• first under his command

• second under Trimbakji Kinnad

• third under his younger brother Mahadji

Mahadji divided his army into two groups. One kept an eye on the supplies and the other took active part in the war. All soldiers fought bravely and defeated the Nizam's army. The next morning Dattaji used big rocks as their shield and weapons against the Nizam's canons. The next day was a day of luck for the Marathas and they won the war. The same year Peshwa Baji Rao I died.

Berar and Belur,1742

In the year 1742 the Marathas were attacked by the Nizam of Hyderabad at Berar or Vidarbha and Belur. Peshwa Balaji Baji Rao son of Baji Rao I sent Ramoji rao Brahmin (age 84) , vitthal ji (age 80) , laxman pant punekar-? (age 77) moroji and visaji pant brothers age approx (68) and (64) resp along with Mahadji (age 12) and Jyotiba Shinde (age 15) to deal with the situation. Both the Shinde Brothers, with only 1500 men reached Berar and drove the invaders away. The next morning Sadashivrao Bhau reached. A meeting was held between Mahadji, Jyotiba Shinde and Sadashivrao Bhau. Bhau ordered the Shindes to capture the invaders at Belur.In the shinde sena many great worriors were present and that time there was no age limit for soldiers . one would find a soldier aged 80 and another of age 15

So Mahadji and Jyotiba Shinde reached Belur and completely routed the invaders.

North India

In 1745 Maharaja Ranojirao Shinde died at Shujalpur in Central India. The eldest son of Ranoji, Srimant Jayapparao Shinde was the became the head of the family.

Various events took place between 1745-1761. Mahadji took part in almost all wars of that period. This provided him with invaluable battlefield experience and were the watershed years of his life.

He approximately fought 50 wars (including the wars in Malwa, Rajputana, Bundelkhand, Brij, Doab, Rohilkhand, Delhi, Kunjpur, and the one at Panipat) in a period of only 16 years.

Some of the battles are mentioned below -

Chandravati Ganj, February 1746

Jayappaji Shinde was the General or Senapati of the Maratha army. With all his might he conquered the palace of Chandravati Ganj. Dattajirao Shinde, Jyotibarao Shinde and Alijah Mahadji Shinde were among the other chiefs who took an active part in the war.

Fatehabad, March 1746

in 1746 Jayappa Rao Shinde took his army to Fatehabad and there he surrounded the enemy. The army was divided into four groups.

1.Under Dattaji Shinde, for attacking the enemy's central flank.

2.Under Jyotiba Rao Shinde, for attacking the enemy's rear troops.

3.Under Mahadji Shinde, for ensuring the supply of rations and ammunitions and checking these things for the Fatehabad ruler.

4.Under himself: for keeping vigilance on all the other three groups and giving help to any group in need.

Badi Sadri, January 1747

The Raja of Badi Sadri fought with all his might but ultimately Jayappajirao along with his four brothers Dattajirao, Mahadji, Jyotiba and Tukoji overpowered him. The Marathas started the battle. After two days, he surrendered and thus the Marathas won again.

Hereon Jayappa sent Dattajirao to Udaipur along with Swaroopji Shinde. Later, Dattajirao Shinde won politically and marched to Eklinghji.

There he stayed for three days and won the Bhilwaras near the Kothari river to his side. Jayappaji Rao along with Tukojirao Shinde marched to Marwar. Jyotiba Shinde took his army to Bhilwara and stayed there. At that period Mahadji was fighting near the Khari river.

Marwar, April 1747

War continued for two days but at last Jayappa Shinde along with his younger brother Mahadji entered the fort at noon and conquered the fort. Dattajirao Shinde was a talented general in his elder's brother's army and he was the guiding spirit behind the army.

Himat Nagar, February 1748

Jayappa Rao Shinde sent Mahadji Shinde with his army to conquer Himmatnagar along with Appajirao Shinde. There the Maratha army of Gaekwad also joined them and the victory was very easily achieved.

Bilada, April 1749

Mahadji rushed to aid his brother Jayappajirao in the war with the Jats of Bilada. One night Jayappa asked Mahadji - "You are my younger brother but tell me how can a person achieve real spirituality ."

Mahadji tactfully replied - "Dada saheb there is only one way, patriotism which will lead us to the path of spirituality. The path of righteousness and the path of spiriuality are only possible if we unite India, protect it against invaders and establish complete Hindavi Swarajya, like Chanakya once did ."

Jayappa said - " Our father Maharaja Ranoji Rao Shinde always kept the promise he gave to Peshwa Baji Rao I and like a true Hindu established a Hindu state in Northern India (Hindostan). So we the sons of The Great Ranoji will also have to work in same direction."

"Yes we will do it. We will crystallize Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's dream" replied Mahdji.

The Campaign of the Rajput States(1750-53)

The army of Malharrao Holkar joined the Shinde army to bring all the Rajput states under Maratha control and force them to accept Maratha suzerainty, as directed by the Peshwa.

Under this campaign the following states were added to the Maratha Empire -

· Medtya

· Ratangarh

· Lalgarh

· Bikaner (became a subsidiary state)

· Laswari

· Lachhmangarh

· Kumher

· Deeg

All these states were mainly city states. All the Rajput states were brought under Maratha control (as it was commonly believed that under Mughal rule they had amassed crores) and the states with territory of Jaipur and Jodhpur agreed to become vassals of the Maratha Empire. All the Jat states except Bharatpur and Vijaynagar too were conquered.

Medtya, January 1750

The combined forces easily overan Medtya.

Ratangarh, November 1750

The combined forces of Holkar and Shinde defeated the Sultan of Ratangarh. Mahadji and Jyotiba were seriuosly injured.

Lalgarh, February 1751

The combined armies of Holkar and Shinde then turned their attention towards Lalgarh.

The Holkar army surrounded Lalgarh and the Shinde army attempted to besiege the fort and capture it. Malharrao Holkar went to Indore between the course of battle with a few soldiers but kept a helping force near Lalgarh. Dattajirao Shinde along with 500 horsemen and 15 cannons fought bravely. Mahadji kept strict vigilance over the maintenance of horses, bullocks, their fodder, arms and ammunition, money and the ration for the soldiers.

Jayappa ended the Combined Campaign temporarily after winning Lalgarh. After the Maratha victory, the Maharaja of Bikaner showed a friendly attitude to Jayappa Shinde.

Laswari, December 1751

Mahadji Shinde showed his capability and conquered the fort at Laswari single-handedly along with his troops of course!

Lachhmangarh, February 1752

Dattaji Shinde conquered the Lachhmangarh fort after a good fight given by the Lachhmangarh ruler.

The Shinde army (Mahadji met up with Dattajirao here) after this victory turned their attention on the impregnable fort of Kumbher in December 1752.

Kumher, December 1752-January 1753

Jayappa Shinde was waiting for his brothers to come so that he may attack and conquer the Jat principality of Kumher. Kumher was one of the best forts the Jats built (along with Deeg and Bharatpur). As soon as they came, siege operations began. Srimant Jayappajirao Meherban sardar fought bravely and the Kumher fort was besieged.

Deeg, march-April 1753

This was a powerful fort and siege operations would be fruitless on it. Jayappa divided the army to Dattajirao, Mahadji and Tukoji Shinde. It was very difficult to manage the Shinde force for the defenders.

Late in the battle, Mahadji found a section of the fort wall unattended. He took full advantage of a small mistake of a Deeg soldier. He scaled the walls of the fort and entered the impressive citadel with 400 soldiers only and started a great war inside the fort.

A few soldiers signalled Tukoji to enter the citadel with his troops. Tukoji went ahead but unfortunately a strong gunpowder explosion took place in front of Tukoji. He was badly injured and taken to the camp. Dattaji went to take care of Tukoji.

Mahadji was fighting inside the fort, but slowly the Marathas had gone on the backfoot. Sensing this Mahadji ordered his soldiers to retreat through the same route that they came. Mahadji was surrounded by the enemy and he was having only 30 Maratha accompanying him. Another 150 soldiers were engaged in warfare far from Mahadji. Another 150 soldiers were escaping by scaling the wall. 70 Maratha soldiers were killed.

It was very difficult for Jayappaji rao to save his brother as he was outside the fort and almost 100 yards away. With his force engaged in replying to the canon-fire of Deeg Mahadji Shinde once again showed his brilliance and instead of scaling the wall he charged in the opposite direction. The 30 odd Maratha bodyguard soldiers also followed him.

Mahadji Shindefought with intelligence and reached the main gate of the Deeg fort. Here the Deeg standing army was present. All the arms and ammunition were kept here. Mahadji destroyed all the ammunition and gunpowder. He opened the gate and only four people including Mahadji were lucky to come out alive. Whereas all the others were killed.

Due to Deeg`sheavy losses, Jayappa got an opportunity for victory which he exploited very well and atlast the Marathas conquered Deeg.

Mathura, January 1755

Mahadji Shinde loved Mathura as he was a devotee of Lord Krishna. Mathura was under Mughal rule. Mahadji Shinde went alone with his army and conquered Mathura. There he reconstructed various old temples and there he established a center for Sanskrit learning, made various taals which were broken during the war.

Gwalior, January 1758

Mahadji Shinde marched towards Gwalior and established it as his headquarters. The earlier base was Ujjain.

Mahadji saw the jungle around the fort and would practice meditation in the hills around the citadel. The Saint Dattanath Maharao (of Ujjain) was his spiritual guru.

Vijaynagar, 1759

Jayappa Shinde would donate food and money to ascetics after bathing. During the summer near the cavalry, Jayappa Shinde took a bath and surprisingly two urchin-like people who were gathering fodder of horses attacked Jayappa and killed him by penetrating ashort sized sword and a long knife into his heart and stomach.

Dattaji saw this and cried but Jayappa said:

"Why are you crying like ladies? You should think where are you? The enemy Vijay Singh Jat is in front of you. He had sent these two people to kill me;

Dattaji fought for whole 8 months with Vijay Singh and wrested control of Ajmer to Agra.

Campaign Against the Afghans, 1759-1761

The first attempt at eliminating the Marathas and establishing an Islamic Empire headed by the Rohillas under Najib Khan ended in disaster with the Afghans having had to cede the whole of Punjab and Najib Khan taken captive. Najib Khan's confidence increased when he was able to kill Dattajirao Shinde. He invited Abdali (who had sent his son, Timur in the meantime). They stormed through Punjab. An encounter between the Shindes and the Afdghans at the last bastion opf Maratha power in the Punjab, Buradi Ghat is given.

Buradi Ghat Shukratal, January 1760

This is the place where Najib Khan and his Rohillas with Timur Shah killed Dattaji Shinde along with his favourate horse Lalmani. At this period of time Ahmed Shah Abdali had come to India to eliminate the Marathas (he had failed the first time) as requested by Najib Khan.

The Marathas were guarding the banks of the Yamuna River under the command of Sipahsalar Janav Rao Vable. Suddenly, hordes of Rohillas and Afghans under the command of Qutub Shah and Najib Khan emerged on the other side and attacked Maratha warriors.

The skirmish was characterised with extremely heavy cannon-fire from the invaders. Dattaji arrived to relieve the party of Maratha troops. They were pushed back to the other side of the river. Dattaji however succumbed to his injuries.

Anupshahr October 1760 and Delhi November 1760

Mahadji seized Anupshahr from the Afghans in November 1760. In 1760 the Marathas interfered in the Mughal war of succession and aided the Saiyyid Brothers contender. Mahadji had his first brush with North Indian politics for which he is so greatly remembered.

Delhi (outer areas), November 1760

Jankoji Shinde seized the suburb of Kunjapura from the Afghans. He on top of elephant, is said to have crushed several Afghans in battle.

Kunjpura, October 1760

Jankojirao Shinde , son of Jayappaji Shinde fought commendably and seized the fort of Kunjpura. The fort was full of supplies. The Marathas were refreshed with money and food. Oat was fed to the horses.

Jankoji Shinde found his lost elephantZAVERGANJ(A royal elephant of black colour)Zaverganj participated in more than 30 crucial battles, proving extremely lucky.

Delhi, December 1760

Peshwa Vishwas rao and Jankojirao Shinde were true friends and equally brave. These two Marathas retook Delhi in December.

War had become a habit during this troublesome campaign. Tukojirao Shinde and Mahadji killed as many as 200 Rohillas in that month.

Third Battle of Panipat, 14th January 1761

Main article: [[:Third Battle of Panipat]]

At the battle Jankojirao Shinde had been taken captive by Najib Khan and later killed. Mahadji was chased on his horse for fifty miles by an Afghan greedy for money and loot. Mahadji just managed to escape and had a limp to remind of that diasatrous day for his whole life.

In pune darbar

Peshwa Balaji Baji Rao of Pune died on 23rd June 1761. The Peshwai passed onto Madhav Rao (Balaji's second son). Being a minor, his uncle, Raghoba acted as regent.

After the death of Jankoji Rao Shinde at Panipat the heir remained undecided till 1762. Raghoba announced Kedar Rao as the heir. Later he named Manaji Rao as heir. Meanwhile Mahadji consolidated his power at Gwalior, Pune and in Northern India. Mahadji, however had few resources to expand Maratha rule north of the Narmada.

The Period between 1760-1768

India and the Maratha Empire in particular experienced a period of uncertainty between AD 1760-1768. This was a sad period for India when great warriors died for sake of our great country.

Few of them are

Dattaji Rao Shinde 1760

Jankoji Rao Shinde 1761

Peshwa Sadashiv Rao "Bhau" 1761

Peshwa Vishwas Rao 1761

Ibrahim Khan "Gardi" 1761

Govind Pant "Bundela" Nigudkar 1761

It was but natural that the defeat at Panipat had its effect not only upon the politics of the south but also upon the politics of north.

That destruction and defeat created a feeling that Marathas had become weak. Naturally the traditional enemies of the Marathas-

1.The Nizam of Hyderabad

2.Haider Ali Mysore

3.The Bundelas

4.The Rajputs

5.The Brij Rulers

6.The Awadh Rulers

7.The Malwa Rulers

8.The Pathans and Rohillas of Rohhilkhand.

tried to assert their independence but were subjugated.

Role of Mahadji Shinde in the politics of the north

The sole objective of Peshwa Madhav Rao was to re-establish Maratha suzerainty over Hindustan. The Peshwa got ample proof of the loyalty and ability of Mahadji during the various wars. When the Maratha army crossed the Narmada in Febraury 1770, the Jat king Nawal Singh of Bharatpur opposed them. However in the battle on 6th April 1770 Mahadji defeated him and Maratha supremacy over the North was re-established.

Year 1770

Mahadji was sitting in his fort of Gwalior along with his known sardars <mantri> Mahadji said “we are on the route of the reestablishment of hindupad patshahi in that land which was under various mougal emperors.” “there are various holy places here in the awadh and duab areas which I will take back from the mugal rulers in favour of the Maratha kingdom”

In April maratha army captured the agra and mathura crossing the yamuana The army entered territory of ahmed khan bangash Zabeta khan son of najib khan attacked Marathas in doab at that time Mahadji was engaged in war against rohillas and pathans . Srinath bahadur Mahadji defeated them and took his sword in the direction of zabeta khan but in between he got news that the full army of ahmedkhan bangash had surrounded them ,Mahadji didn’t shocked but made a plan to tackle the force in east direction and escape from west safely . Next day the war started the sardars <mantries> and sipahsalars of maratha army worked as directed by Mahadji Shinde and successfully escaped from west. Next morning Shrinath bahadur Mahadji planned how to defeat the bangash army and divided his army in five main parts He remained in front of bangash army along with the only 1/5 th part of his army One part of his army was kept in reserve One part of his army was keeping eye on the west side of the main chhawni. In the leadership of Ranekhan bhai One part was on the right side of enemy, in the leader ship of commander lakhbadada Another part was on left side of the bangash , under the commander Ambaji Ingle The last part was send to the back side of bangash from the left side .this troop was under the controol of Sri Jiwba dada Baxi <commander in the shinde sena.>

War started commander in the army of bangash saw Srinath Mahadji with his telescopic instrument and attacked on maratha in only main direction not knowing that Mahadji had already set a trap.

Result came only after four hours and maratha won the war. The troops of Lakhbadada and Amboji Ingle attacked from sides and The Jiwbadada Baxi took control over the enemies who were running back from the war place . Evening was the celebration time for maratha army It was impossible to ahmed khan to face Mahadji and he begged his life and returned all the land which was of Marathas before panipat war Thus the maratha s could re establish their power and prestige in the doab

year 1771

On the two sides of Delhi the Marathas had two enemies, the Jats and the Rohillas , Srinath Mahadji Mansoor i-Zaman, Sarkar with his forces advansed forr the capture of delhi in early 1771 . He wished to snatch it from Zabeta Khan . SrinathBahadur Reached Delhi and surrounded it . Now the Rane Khan started the canons on enemy army . One night Mahadji told Jiwbadada Baxi to Get in to the fort along with his soldiers and to open the doors from inside. Jiwbadada along with Shivajirao Ghatge, Ramji Shende , Vitthalji Ranade, Madhoji pawar' and other 200 soldiers entered the fort at night .In front of the fort's gate Lakhbadada waited with 1000 soldiers . Rane khan was behind the Jiwbadada taking 2000 soldiers and the Mahadji Shinde was in his Chhawni along with commander Amboji Ingle with almost 10000 soldiers. Jiwbadad successfully opened the doors of fort and Rane khan also came inside behind the Jiwbadada's force. Ranekhan directly attacked the army of zabeta khan inside the fort. As the door was open the 1000 soldiers of lakhbadada entered in the fort from the main gate. Informers told the news of success to Amboji Ingle and he along with his troop of 5000 rushed to the delhi fort. Mahadji seized Delhi on February 10, 1771 and made Jawan Bakht, the son of shah alam badshah, occupy the throne . The badshah shah alam left allahabad for delhi on April 1771, reached anupshahar on nov 16, 1771 there he had meeting with Mahadji Shinde and both of them left anupshahar and reached delhi on jan 06, 1772. Of the enemies of Maratha the only one who could venture to rise head against them was Zabeta khan, son of Najibkhan.

In feb 1772,Mahadji Shinde entered in doab to wage war against Zabeta khan in Rohilakhand On March 04 1772 Mahadji caaptured the Shukrataal Zabeta khan reached Patthar garh and Mahadji chased him. Maratha army of Visaji Krishna and Mahadji defeated Rohillas and Pathans once again.

Sadashivrao bhau's Pretender

The man who posed as Sadashivrao bhau was in custody in the fort of Ratnagiri . The jailor Ramchandra Naik Paranjpe had released the pretender in February of 1776 and assured Peshwa of his fidelity. So, Nana Phadnavis <balaji Janardan> entrusted Mahadji with this job of warding off the dangers arising from the activities of the pretender. Mahadji Shinde and Bhimrao Pendse set out to arrest the pretender. The pretender was supported by British army. thus, the pretender reached Bombay and from the orders of Mahadji, he was arrested by Raghuji Angre In November 1776Mahadji took him and his supporters<British and other maratha sardars> after defeating them in a battlenear Colaba, to Pune.

Karvir Campaign A.D.1777-1778

Tarabai and Sambhaji were opposed to Shahu even after Kolhapur had a certain degree of stability, and took their arms against Peshwas and Shahu . In spite of English-Maratha war, those from Kolhapur started attacks upon the territories of the peshwas in 1776, at the instigation from Raghoba and militry support from Haider ali..

To fight this danger, Mahadji's Military assistance was essential.,and on the request of pune court, Mahadji besieged Karvir and made Canon attacks upon it.

Amboji Ingle, Sardar Jadhav, Shitole, Jiwbadada Bakshi, Lakhbaji dada, Rane Khan, Awadji, and many other great maratha worriors were in the army of Mahadji.,so there was no match of this Shinde army.,and ?Kolhapur army realized this and went for a treaty. Mahadji imposed 15 lakhs rupees as penalty.

and that they should returns the land captured earlier,

and should stop dabbling in Peshwa state.

so, Mahadji's success avoided the possible conspirancy between Haider Ali and Kolhapur court.

The plot of Moroba:

Moroba hatched a plot to eliminate Nana Phadnavis from the court and bring Raghoba to pune as Peshwa . British army was helping Moroba along with some maratha sardars also including, Tukaji Holker, Manaji Phadke, Sadashiv Ramchandra Chinto Vitthal etc…

Mahadji Shinde was alone who on the honesty, was taking his army to fight against the British army and moroba.

Mahadji Shinde caught Moroba, Naro Ganesh, and some others who were involved in this plan including Babaji Purandare.

They were kept in jail of Ahmednagar. The danger of British seizing power at pune by making Raghoba as their agent was averted owing to the honesty and vigilance by Mahadji Shinde

Wadgaon-January 17,1779

Mahadji Shinde realized that he will have to meet English army in battle as the English in Bombay were supporting Raghoba

Warren Hastings allowed full freedom to Mr. Hornby. Hastings ordered officers at Madras to join at Pune for war. The English officers made utmost efforts to win over or break away Mahadji but Mahadji's Loyality to Peshwa and Maratha Empire was unshakeable.

In November 1778 British troops under command of Col. Egerton marched towards Pune.

British army reached Wadgaon by crossing Khandala Ghat on 08 -01-1779 and after the army reached to Talegaonon next day.

To their dismay Mahadji was firing from above the hill and from rear Jiwbadada Bakshi and Lakhbaji burnt out the food and fodder .

Ambaji Ingle had taken his troops to the Nearest water source and kept heavy Canons there along with good horsemen.

The Marathas won the battle and officer Holmes came to Alijah with white flag, Mahadji shinde informed them in very categorial terms that no talks were possible unless Raghunathrao was handed over to the Marathas .

Return of Sashti, Thane, and all the Gujrat

Holmes came again for truce talks on jan 15, there were talks on 17th jan . as per the treaty it was agreed that Raghoba should be handed to Marathas .

English should leave all the area fo Gujrat captured by them.

English should free Thane and other nearby regions.

and importently, the army coming from Calcutta should withdraw as soon as possible.

and two officers will be kept by Mahadji until the conditions of truce are fulfilled.

British should donate the town of Bharuch to Maratha empire .

For the army of Mahadji British Should pay Rs-41,000/- as a penulty.

Capturing of Gardis and Raghoba

on 18 jan 1779 Mahadji Captured Raghoba, Chinto vitthal, sadashiv ram, their cavalry and 1,200 gardis. On the base of solid proof Alijah Mahadji defeated and arrested sakharam bapu and imprisoned him in the jail of Sighgarh. on 27 feb 1779

Delhi Politics

(A.D.1782-1786)

A reviewo f the role played by Mahadji Shinde From A.D. 1769-1782 , the year of the treaty of Salbai , makes clear that after the defeat of Marathas in 1961 jan at Paniput, Mahadjirao Shinde helped regain the lost glory and the lost territories of the Marathas.

During this period, Mahadji Shine successfully steered clear the maratha interest of the internal and the external dangers with his strength, intelect and competent leadership. Particularly his role in Maratha English warfare is of great significance

It was on the strength of Mahadji's militry might that Shah Alam (ii) had come to Delhi in 1772.After the English and Maratha war Mahadji Shinde's financial condition became very deplorable but he was having a strong desire that Marathas should control over Delhi, thus he requested pune darbar to give him a loan of 25,00,000 for the militry help, but Nana Fadnis rejected the request on behalf of young Peshwa, and asked for the previous details of accounts.

Therefore , Mahadji gave up asking loan.

Wining Malwa and Bundelkhand

After the growth in power of Malwa sardars and landlords of Bundelkhand, Mahadji decided to teach alesson .

for this Mahadji sent his Army to following states 1.Bhopal 2.Datiya 3.Chanderi 4.Narwar 5.Salbai 6.Gohad

and the whole Malwa was conquered by him, there was only one state of Indore that Mahadji never tried to get because it was a Maratha state.

Victory over Chanderi

Mahadji attacked Chanderi in April 1782 . He stationed his forces between Gwalior and Gohad. He sent Gosavi troops to Attack Chanderi under Command of Sri Balwant rao Dhaonddev Naigaonkar

The result was already known Mahadba won the war and then he turned his attention to Gohad.

The Conquest of Gwalior and Gohad

At this stage, the invincible fort of Gwalior was in the hands of Chhatar Singh, the Jat rana ruler of Gohad. Mahadji Stationed his Forces in Bawan burji and conquered the nearby ares In feb.1783 Mahadji besieged the fort of Gwalior from the hands of Gohad the siege was continued for at least six months Mahadji ensuered the administration of Gwalior to Khanderao hari Bhalerao. The English officers pleaded with Mahadba on behalf of Chatrajit but were unsuccessful . After the celebration of conquest of Gwalior Mahadji Shinde took a meeting of all his loyal officers in the Fort. At that time SriAmbuji Ingle, Sri Falke, Sri Arjun Shitole, Sri Ladoji Deshmukh, dada Lakhbdjirao,Sri Devji Gawli,BhaiRaneKhan, Sri Patil Rayaji Shinde, Sri JiwbadadaBaxi, Sri Khanderao Harirang Bhalerao ji, Sri Jadhav, and few more were present.. After getting hold over Gwalior Mahadji turned his attention to Delhi.

Darbar of Shahalam DELHI

There was a mourning of 3 days after the death of Mirza Nazafkhan .After that Shah Alam called all the generals and decided to elect a new leader. Mirza Shafi became uneasy when learnt about the appoinment of Afrasiyab khan as Mir Baxi, because he was also a claiment to the same post. So there was a conflicy between Afrasiyabkhan and Shafi

On Shafi 's side there were few big names like

Muhammad Beg Humadini, Khadim Beghum, Kamaraddin etc.

while, Abdul Ahad, Najafkuli Khan, Latafat Ali , and JalalKhan Afghan were with Afrasiyab.

Later on Mirza Shafi Became Mir Baxi.

Meeting with Mirza Shafi 27th June 1783

Mirza Shafi was trying to establish friendly relations with Alijah Mahadji Shinde

On Shafi's request Mahadji With Minimal Troops Crossed The Great Charnavati River <Chambal> Tere Mahadji told Every body that this river Chambal is very prestigious for us, it is holy river just like Kshipra and Ganga.

Mahadji used to worship the water of Kshipra, Chambal and Yamuna along with Ganga and Narmada when ever he passed through them respectively.

Meeting of Mirza Shafi with Mahadji was disliked by Humadini.

The Meeting of Alijah Srinath and Emperor shahalam (II)

Nov. 14, - 1784 Emperor Shah Alam Became totally nervous after the death of AfrasiyabKhan .Shah Alam was at Agra .Mahadji sent KHANDERAO HARI Bhalerao to invite Sha Alam for a Meeting.

On nov. 10 ,

Shah Alam left Agra for Fatehpursikri to meet Mahadji. The Emperor sent his son Akbarshah in Advance to meet Mahadji. Here the Emperor awarded the Khillat to Alijah Srinath Mahadji Shinde.

Shah Alam said that "Mahadji Shinde is a real patriot saving the moughal kingdom alone, He is the Mansoor -i-Zaman, later on Shah Alam also called him a dependable nobleman.

Medtya Battle

The Mughal Empire had shrunk to a thin sliver of land along the Yamuna River covering the cities of Delhi , Aligarh and Agra by the middle of the 18th Century—hence historians prefer to use the term “Delhi Empire” to describe the possessions of the descendant of Akbar and Aurangzeb. However as described in RMA-II, after the Third Battle of Panipat in 1761, even this small area was divided between the Jats and Ruhelas while the Mughal heir Shah Alam had escaped to the shelter of Awadh. He and the Awadh Nawab then fought the disastrous Battle of Buxar described above and came under the power of the British while the Maratha chief Mahadji Scindia built up his estate in the region of Malwa and Gwalior with sustained but expensive efforts.

Alijah Srinath Mahadji Shinde had thus added a bankrupt Delhi Empire to his already bloated military expenses. He now looked around for money to satisfy this vast military force under him—and found it in the neighboring Kingdom of Jaipur xi. Alijah Shinde poured his army into the Jaipur lands in the summer of 1787 but the Rajputs xii entrenched with their old-style cavalry and artillery. Within a few weeks the Maratha’s money supply ran out, the Mughal cavalry deserted to the Rajputs, followed soon by the Purbia and Telegu battalions—only the few battalions of the French remained loyal. When Mahadjirao Shinde was driven across the Chambal River only De Boigne remained by his side.

This Frenchman raised two new Purbia battalions for Alijah Mahadjirao Shinde Srinath Bahadur while his master collected money from his estate in Madhya Pradesh. The Delhi-Agra region passed into the unworthy hands of the Mughal cavalry under Ismail Baig Hamadani xiii joined by the deserted Purbia and Telegu battalions. Another player now came on the scene. Ghulam Qadir Ruhela found the field clear to take revenge on the Delhi Emperor, who had destroyed the power of his family. This Ruhela had also hired several Purbia battalions under the commandant Maniyar Singh.

Ismail Baig’s money supply soon ran out and the Telegu battalions under Ramru deserted him. Both Ismail and Ghulam Qadir were chased to Delhi where after committing atrocious abuse xiv on the Mughal royal family, the Ruhela was caught and put to death by Amir ul amarah Shinde Maharaj

While withdrawing from Jaipur, Mahadji Scindia had taken a public pledge that,

“If I ever return, I shall reduce Jainagar and Jodhpur to ashes.” 

After hunting out Ghulam Qadir, Alijah Mahadji turned to settle accounts with these Rajput states. Jaipur was knocked out at the Battle of Patan and within two months Alijah Mahadji Shinde’s army entered Jodhpur and faced off with the Rathor cavalry gathered at Merta.

Alijah Mahadji Shinde was staying at Shant van Kund 6 miles away from Deeg.{August 27, 1790 },He crossed Govardhan and stayed 16 miles from Mathura {dt:23 oct 1790}

De Boigne’s force consisted now of fifty pieces of artillery and twelve battalions of Purbias—6500 bayonets. The Maratha cavalry numbered 30000. Jodhpur had raised a national levy of 26000 horsemen—although only half this number was present at Merta—supported by twenty-five antique guns and 10,000 Naga Sannyasis as infantrymen. From the safety of their desert home the Jodhpur Rajputs had been seeing the deadly effects of the new system of war for several years—now they wisely hired Ismail Baig to collect some wandering Purbia and Ruhela infantry and get something matching De Boigne’s force.

Before this new force could join the advance guard at Merta, De Boigne and the Marathas stormed out of Ajmer and by a relentless night march reached Merta on the 9th of September. The next morning they attacked the surprised Rajputs.

De Boigne’s invincible battalions led the attack—the Maratha cavalry was almost a mile behind them. They attacked at a tangent, targeting the just awakened Naga infantry on the far left with showers of grapeshot and flintlock fire. All the Rajput guns had been placed in the Naga lines and these were now captured by the exultant Purbias, while the naked ash-covered monks broke and ran pell-mell towards the town of Merta . Captain Rohan at the head of three battalions rushed forward to loot the Naga camp. The Rajputs, after a night of opium drinking, awoke along with the Naga sadhus and watched open-mouthed as the Purbia infantry bore down on their left wing. The supreme commander of the Rajput force was Bakshi Bhimraj Sanghvi—a Jodhpur minister—who considered the battle lost and rode away with 4000 horsemen.

But a race of brave men cannot perish in utter inaction even through the folly of its leaders[xv]. Individual Thakurs and Rawats collected their family contingents and prepared to defend their motherland. One such group saw Captain Rohan’s battalions breaking away from the main Purbia force—profiting from this tactical mistake this Rajput contingent quickly bore down on the doomed battalions and rode them down, cutting up half their number.

The other cavalry contingents pointed their swords at De Boigne’s main force. That Frenchman was aghast at the destruction of Rohan’s battalions and saw a huge, towering wave of horsemen preparing to race towards him. He quickly abandoned his guns and formed his Purbias into a massive square—on each face were a line of Purbias on their knees with bayonets extended; behind them were standing more lines of Purbias firing repeated, murderously accurate rounds from their flintlocks; and De Boigne himself in the center riding from point to point and encouraging his men.

The Rajputs stormed through the line of the guns and sabered the gunners. Several of their comrades began falling from the musketry of the Purbias but quite undaunted these cavaliers enveloped the infantrymen from all sides, looking for an opening to get through and cut them up. But on all sides a wall of iron, with razor-sharp bayonets angling out, held them off while the withering fire of the flintlocks dropped down dozens of their saddles. Then through the noise and the dust these Rajputs turned their horses towards the Maratha cavaliers in the rear.

Mahadji's horsemen had expected De Boigne’s brigade to defeat and scatter the Rajput army while all they had to do was pick off the rag-tag survivors and loot their enemy’s rich camp. Now when they saw the same enemy, unbroken and in compact formation, thundering towards them; these Marathas turned rein and fled to the rear. Another mile in the rear were the few thousand horsemen of Holkar who gathered the scattered Scindia cavalry and faced off with the incoming Rajputs.

By this time the momentum of the Rajputs was gone; their horses had been exhausted and their men were spent from their relentless exertion in the heat and dust. Hence they turned away from a conflict with the Marathas and cantered back to their own lines—on the way back several of their saddles were brought down by De Boigne who had now recovered his guns.

So the Rajput army was defeated—but the Rajput spirit was still unbeaten. A picked body of 3000 horsemen decided to make one last do or die attack on the battalions—these men now put on their saffron robes xvi. De Boigne lined up his fifty guns and dressed his Purbias in two long rows behind them—in the distance a sea of reddish-orange gathered pace and came rolling towards them. While the ground shook beneath them, De Boigne ordered his gunners to fire—gaping holes appeared in the enemy force but trampling over their comrades, the Rajputs surged across the guns and attacked the infantrymen.

The Purbias opened a withering fire and more of the enemy dropped down without touching their opponents. Even then smaller bodies of horsemen continued their attacks—one group even attacking De Boigne on foot before they were cut up by the Purbia bayonets. And at last the attacks died out of their own steam. The furious Purbias who had been forced to fight, what they had thought to be a won battle, for two hours, now advanced and bayoneted the numerous wounded Rajputs writhing on the ground xvii.

This slaughter was stopped by De Boigne who also accepted the surrender of 2000 other Rajputs who had taken shelter in the town of Merta.

Battle of Medtya - 10 sep. 1790-morning

Maratha and rajput soldiers had their camp two miles away. In order to make the Naga sadhus to run towards the lake, Captain-Rohan of De-Boigne's Battalion move towards lake Dangwas. As the sun rose battle assumed a grim and serious nature. The maratha army 's Battalion of De -Boigne was routed, rajputs made a fierce attack. But Jiwbadada Baxi, Gopal rao Bhau and Lakhbaji Dada Saheb came along with their full strength and defeated Rajputs. Earlier Maratha lost 900 Soldiers and 500 horses.

Maharajadhiraj Mahadji reached Sambhar on 19 December 1790,there he appointed Sri Aba ji Chitnis as his representative to hold talks with Jodhpur king.

Later on Vijay Singh agreed to vacate the Ajmer fort. and 29 towns of Sambhar, Bheema, Masuda, and Khamba regions, were also handed over to Mahadji.

General De Boigne’s Corps

After the victory at Merta, De Boigne was allowed to add another brigade to his force, thus receiving promotion in rank to General from Shinde. A third brigade was added in 1793 and two more by his successor, General Perron, in 1801 and 1802.

A brigade had ten battalions of just over 700 bayonets each—divided further into companies. The company commander had the rank of Lieutenant, the battalions were led by Majors, and the brigades were commanded by Colonels. Each brigade had fifty guns attached to it, in addition to a separate park of artillery controlled directly by De Boigne!

Irregular forces were attached to every brigade—200 horsemen and a 1000 Ruhelas armed with inferior matchlocks—for skirmishing, storming hill-features, attacking from the rear etc. An excellent supply system provided water, food, and powder to all the brigades. In addition a separate regiment of cavalry, with over 400 mounts, acted as the General’s personal bodyguard—no European was employed in any of the cavalry units.

Unlike the East India Company forces, there was no organization into regiments, and there were no European regiments to bolster the Purbias. However De Boigne’s corps attracted the second largest number of Purbia recruits, after the Bengal army—sometimes men of the same village and even family were present in both formations.

A short note on the defeat of the Sikh cavalry needs to be added here. The numerous Sikh misls, after expelling the Afghan invaders, had been launching raids on the rich towns and villages around Delhi and Saharanpur xviii. Some of their leaders had developed into Rajas ruling over small kingdoms (esp. south of the Sutlej River), while others were still members of wandering armies.

Neither the Ruhela foot-musketeers of Najib Khan, nor the semi-trained Purbias xix of Mirza Najaf had been able to thwart their annual raids. But now Louis Bourquien at the head of one of De Boigne’s brigades repeatedly defeated numerous Sikh bands and collected tribute from Patiala, Jind, and Kaithal (in 1801).

Even a solitary adventurer like George Thomas xx, at the head of two Purbia battalions (Buniad Singh and Bakhtawar Singh commandants) defeated Gurdat Singh of Ladwa, raided Patiala, and scared away Sikh raiders from across the Sutlej. So just like the Rajputs at Merta, the Sikh cavalry had met an enemy formation, which it could not defeat.

Death and Legacy

By 1790 he had re-established Maratha power over North India. He was at the height of his power when he died on February 12, 1794.

Mahadji left no heir, and was succeeded by Daulatrao Sindhia, a grandson of his brother Tukaram Shinde, who was scarcely 15 years of age at the time.

References

• Hunter, William Wilson, Sir, et al (1908). Imperial Gazetteer of India, Volume 12. 1908-1931; Clarendon Press, Oxford.
• Keene, H. G. The Fall of the Moghul Empire of Hindustan e-text
• Markovits, Claude (ed.) (2004). A History of Modern India: 1480-1950. Anthem Press, London.
• THE GREAT MARATHA - MAHADJI SCINDIA by Sri Rathoreji of Sadar Bazaar, Nagpur
• Sanjay Khan's TV Serial-'The Great Maratha'
• Information edited, rearranged, rewritten and added by Tej AdarkarHoly Warrior Tej 06:57, 27 December 2006 (UTC)
• Neelesh Karkare's website
• Information given by Srimant Ranojirao Shinde of Gwalior
• Information given by Sri Kauser Ali Shah of Gwalior
• Information given by Sri Vijay Singh Ingle -Maratha of Gwalior

External links

• Alija Srinath (www.bluwiki.org)
• Brief biography and detailed genealogy
• www.marathapower.com