Battle of Palkhed 1728 AD - Mughal - Maratha Wars

 

It’s late 16th century.

 The Mughal Empire is the most prominent force in mainland India.

 The Mughals were an Islamic Dynasty that succeeded the Delhi Sultanate, established some 350 years earlier, when Muhammad of Ghor defeated the northern Indian kingdoms, cementing the Islamic presence in the Indian subcontinent.

 While the Mughals were masters of most of northern India, remnant Sultanates still ruled over most central areas of the subcontinent, most notably the Deccan region.

 Despite being Islamic, these dynasties were mutually antagonistic towards each other.

 As the Mughals consolidated their power in the north and slowly advanced into the Deccan region, local Hindus from the western hilly plateau tried to use the internal divisions between Islamic elements in order to assert themselves.

 They were the Marathas...

 Up until the mid-17th century, the Marathas lacked a centralized form of government and thus served under various powers that rose in the region, usually as feudatories.

 But this changed when a charismatic leader named Shivaji, was able for the first time to establish the Maratha kingdom.

 By the time of his death in 1680, the Marathas were a significant force in central India, and were frequently able to assume the role of mediator between the disputing Sultanates of the area.

 In order to deal with this problem, the Mughals launched a series of devastating and costly campaigns against the elusive and fast moving Maratha armies.

 But even after almost 30 years of war that claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of men, and caused severe attrition to the Mughal Empire, the Marathas could not be subjugated.

 However, the Marathas were not completely united, with various factions competing internally.

 And the Mughals exploited this disunity.

 While they were retreating back to the north after decades of unsuccessful campaigning in the Maratha heartland, Mughal courtiers released a Maratha prince named Shahu, who had been their prisoner since he was a child, in the hope that this would spark a civil war amongst the competing Maratha factions.

 The plan worked, and the Marathas were soon plunged into a civil war, from which Shahu emerged victorious in 1708, consolidating his power base around Satara.

 But… the defeated faction headed by Sambhaji II was not destroyed.

 They retreated back to Kolhapur which became their stronghold.

 While this conflict was raging amongst the Marathas, the Mughals had their own problems to deal with.

 The state of affairs within the Mughal Empire after the death of their last emperor in 1707 was chaotic.

 The prolonged and unfruitful campaigns against the Marathas created a volatile political situation within the Empire which was now in a downward spiral.

 Numerous subjugated peoples rebelled against the central authority, while the exhausted army and depleted treasury were further strained due to internal Mughal factionalism, fratricidal bouts and a continuous cycle of succession wars and conflicts.

 During these internal conflicts between powerful Mughal nobles, the Marathas occasionally intervened in favor of one faction against another, even providing occasional military assistance.

 It was due to their role as mediators that the Marathas were eventually granted the right to collect taxes in the entire Deccan region.

 From this chaotic civil strife rose a man that went by the name of Nizam ul Mulk, who would become the most powerful Mughal of the Deccan region.

 Nizam hailed from the top echelons of Mughal aristocracy, and his family played a prominent role in imperial politics for generations.

 During the period of civil wars between numerous pretenders for the Mughal throne after 1707, he had enough foresight enough to remain neutral, biding his time while conserving his forces, waiting for the proper moment to make his move.

 His moment came when he was called upon to intervene during one of the many feuds within the Mughal court.

 Nizam was made Grand vizier of the Mughal Empire in 1721 but, alarmed with his growing power, emperor Muhammad Shah transferred him from the court at Delhi to Awadh in 1723.

 Nizam rebelled against the order, resigned his position as Grand vizier, and marched towards the Deccan.

 However, while en route, he was stripped of his governorship of the Deccan and declared a rebel.

 The emperor sent an army against him under the command of Mubariz Khan.

 Nizam was now in dire straits.

 With the Marathas at his back and the Mughal emperor turned hostile, he had little choice.

 In an unexpected move, he requested the aid of the Marathas on the assurance that their demands for collecting taxes over the entire Deccan region would be granted.

 Here enters the story, another prominent character who would come to play a key role during the upcoming tumultuous events.

 His name was Bajirao, and he was the son and “peshwa” of the Maratha king Shahu.

 Bajirao assisted Nizam against the incursions of the Mughal emperor, thereby enabling Nizam to defeat Mubariz Khan at the Battle of Sakhar-kheda in 1724.

 After this defeat, the emperor was out of options, and he was forced to accept Nizam’s dominance over the Deccan region.

 Nizam always nurtured ambitions of carving out an independent sphere of influence for himself in the Deccan, having correctly anticipated the coming decline of the Mughal Empire.

 And after this victory, these ambitions seemed to materialize…

 As soon as he got rid of the Mughal menace, he began his effort to free himself from the shackles of Maratha demands, since he no longer had any interest in following through with his obligations to Shahu.

 Nizam was, however, confident that he could utilize the internal divisions among the Marathas and bring them under control.

 He insisted that he couldn't decide whether to send the revenue to Shahu at Satara or Sambhaji at Kolhapur, who was the leader of the rival faction that was defeated by Shahu in 1708.

 He then proposed to act as the mediator between the two - a position which would, in effect, make him the Kingmaker and the supreme power in the Deccan.

 This was not at all acceptable to Bajirao, and the subsequent negotiations gradually broke down.

 Nizam then halted the existing payment of taxes in the neighbouring regions and openly gave his support for Sambhaji, who joined him with his forces.

 Shahu’s court was divided into two parties - the conservative faction wanted to consolidate their hold on the Deccan and rebuild the Maratha country.

 The more aggressive faction led by Bajirao saw the Mughals as rich, decadent, and weak, and the time was ripe for the expansion of Maratha power into Northern India.

 In a heated court debate, Bajirao sealed the argument with a vigorous speech that won Shahu over -

 ''Let us transcend the barren Deccan and conquer central India.

 The Mughals have become weak indolent womanizers and opium-addicts.

 Strike, strike at the trunk and the branches will fall off themselves.

 Listen but to my counsel, and I shall plant the saffron flag on the walls of Attock”.

 The stage was set for the campaign that would lead to Palkhed.

 The initial moves began when one of Nizam’s generals attempted to invade the northern parts of Maratha territories.

 He was eventually repulsed by the fast moving and almost exclusively mounted Maratha army, and was forced to return back to his base at Aurangabad, while fighting many skirmishes during his retreat.

 Meanwhile, Bajirao was hurrying from the south, with many Maratha contingents joining him along the way.

 In mid-October 1727, he moved as if to threaten Ahmednagar but actually bypassed it to the west and crossed the Godavari.

 This placed him within the heartland of Nizam’s territories.

 Then he turned east towards to the city of Jalna.

 Nizam tried to keep up with this disorientating and rapid pace, but by the time he had reached Jalna, Bajirao’s cavalry had already sacked the place, and moved east into his most prosperous districts.

 While Nizam was trying to match his pace, Bajirao sacked city after city in front of him, taking advantage of his significantly superior mobility.

 Having laid waste to many rich areas, Bajirao suddenly turned west towards Barhanpur, which was one of the most prosperous trading centers in the Deccan.

 Nizam detected this move and tried to check his advance, intending to fight a pitched battle.

 However, Bajirao’s move toward Burhanpur was a diversion.

 His army moved past and ravaged through Khandesh towards Bharuch, and eventually reached Gujarat.

 His intention seemed to be threefold fight the war on enemy territory, exhaust the enemy army with his superior mobility and scorched earth tactics and lure Nizam into a place where he could be separated from his heavy guns which were the trump card of his army.

 A river crossing seemed to be the ideal place to achieve this, and thus Bajirao crossed many rivers, hoping to draw Nizam into an ideal location.

 Nizam initially followed, but his slow moving army with its heavy guns was unable to keep up, being steadily exhausted by the constant chasing of the Marathas over devastated territories already stripped bare of all supplies.

 Seeing that he was incapable of dealing with this lighting warfare, Nizam changed his strategy.

 Instead of following Barijao’s movements, he made a u-turn and marched on the Maratha heartland.

 On his way south, Nizam was able to capture numerous cities, but Shahu and the Maratha treasury was safe behind the walls of the Purandar fort.

 Nizam made no effort to besiege Maratha forts, instead he crowned Sambhaji as the Maratha king and then started pillaging the areas in the immediate vicinity, intending to lure Bajirao into a pitched battle where he could put to good use his devastating heavy artillery.

 Bajirao didn't take the bait.

 Instead of heading towards Nizam’s location, he headed towards Aurangabad, which was the greatest city of the Mughal Deccan, thus turning the tables and using Nizam’s own strategy against him.

 The Mughal general now had to force march his army northwards in order to save Aurangabad from imminent destruction, leaving many of his heaviest guns behind in his haste to reach his objective.

 But in order to do this, he would have to cross the Godavari River at a specific point near the town of Palkhed.

 This, was the opportunity Bajirao was waiting for.

 Nizam’s army began to cross the river Godavari, but due to the limitations of contemporary engineering and an extensive baggage train, this process was a long-drawn affair that took multiple days.

 An advance force was sent forward to scout the area and select a camp site.

 The nearby town of Palkhed was ideal, because the army could be supplied easily.

 Slowly but steadily the main body of the Mughal army began crossing the river, while the heavy guns were at the rear guard.

 Nizam’s vanguard moved in order to set up a camp around Palkhed, unaware that Bajirao’s forces were already positioned nearby.

 In fact, Bajirao’s fast moving army was already positioned around the area of Palkhed, correctly anticipating that Nizam would cross with his army there.

 Thus, the entire Maratha army had surrounded the city in a horse-shoe formation, while the Mughals, oblivious to the perilous situation that they were putting themselves in, continued to cross the river…

 Suddenly, Maratha skirmishers advanced and began harassing Nizam’s vanguard.

 The Mughals attempted to counter-attack but after a brief engagement the skirmishers broke off and retreated back to their main formation.

 This was the wakeup call that Nizam needed.

 He realised that he had marched his army straight into a Maratha trap.

 Whatsmore, his heavy guns which were the most cumbersome and difficult part of his army to bring across the river, still stood on the opposite bank together with the rear guard.

 Once again, Nizam’s vanguard charged against the light Maratha cavalry in a desperate attempt to secure a nearby stream that was the only source of drinking water in their immediate area.

 But this move towards the open plain rendered the heavy and slow moving Mughals vulnerable to attacks from all sides by the swift Maratha cavalry.

 After another brief skirmish, the vanguard was forced to retreat back to the main body of the army.

 At that point of the engagement, while Nizam’s army was still getting to grips with their dire situation, a strong contingent of Marathas moved from the east and completely cut off Nizam’s main army from his rear-guard and heavy guns.

 With a simple manoeuvre, Bajirao had successfully separated Nizam from his greatest battlefield asset, and trapped him in a place with rapidly dwindling supplies and drinking water.

 Surrounded on all sides and without any chance of escaping, Nizam recognized the futility of his position and was forced to open negotiations with the Maratha commander.

 Losses for both sides were few, but in a masterpiece of strategic mobility, Bajirao was able to nullify the army of the most powerful Mughal warlord of the Deccan while avoiding massive casualties.

 In the aftermath of the battle of Palkhed, Nizam ul Mulk was forced to agree to every single term set by the Marathas.

 He had to abandon the cause of Sambhaji and, above all, accept the Maratha right to collect taxes in all of his territories in the Deccan region.

 Even though Nizam tried again to subdue the unruly Marathas, he again failed miserably at the Battle of Bhopal in 1737, where Bajirao once again defeated Nizam in pretty much the same way.

 The victory at Palkhed not only demonstrated Bajirao’s strategic genius, but also ensured the role of the Marathas as a prominent power within the Indian subcontinent in the decades that followed, demarcating the irreversible decline of the Mughal Empire.