Battle of Sinhagad
| Battle of Sinhagad (Kondhana) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Imperial Maratha Conquests | |||||||||
 The Fort of Sinhagad | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Maratha Empire |
 Mughal Empire | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
|
Tanaji Malusare † Suryaji Malusare Shelar Mama |
Udaybhan Rathore † | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| 300-500 Cavalry |
1,200-5,000 1,500 troops (suggested in film Subhedar) | ||||||||
The Battle of Sinhagad, also known as Battle of Kondhana, involved an attack by the forces of the Maratha Empire during the night of 4 February 1670 on the fort of Sinhagad (then Kondhana), near the city of Pune, Maharashtra, in the Mughal Empire (present-day India). The Marathas captured the fort.
Background
In the 1650s, Aurangzeb sent Shaista Khan to subdue Shivaji. Khan captured Poona (now Pune) and took residence in Lal Mahal. Shivaji and his soldiers made a surprise attack on Khan, wherein they wounded him and killed one of his sons. However, Khan eventually escaped. Khan looted Pune for 2 years and devastated Deccan. So, Shivaji went on to loot and plunder the wealthy port city of Surat to restore the wealth as Surat at the time was a centre of great riches and wealthy merchants. This greatly increased Aurangzeb's anger against the Marathas. He sent his General Mirza Raja Jai Singh with a large army to subdue Shivaji. Jai Singh besieged Purandar fort. Meanwhile, Diler Khan defeated the armies at Vajragad, near Purandar. The Mughals plundered villages in the Maratha kingdom. For the welfare of his subjects, Shivaji decided to sign a treaty with Jai Singh. They met and signed the Treaty of Purandar. According to the treaty, Shivaji was to give 23 forts to the Mughals and agree to fight for them when needed. He would be allowed to retain control of 12 forts. Later, he agreed to meet Aurangzeb at Agra.[citation needed]
Upon reaching Agra, Aurangzeb put him under house arrest, but Shivaji managed to escape. Shivaji then kept a low profile for some years until Aurangzeb increased activities in the north. Later, Jai Singh died at Burhanpur, and a weaker prince, Muazzam, became governor of the Deccan. Shivaji then felt that this was a good opportunity to reclaim what had belonged to the Swarajya. He broke the treaty and started recapturing the forts that he had previously given the Mughals under the treaty. Also, Udaybhan Rathore was going to blow cannons towards fort Rajgad. Shivaji was on Rajgad and wanted to stop that. [citation needed]
Battle
Sinhagad was one of the first forts which Shivaji recaptured from the Mughals. 300 troops (under Tanaji) climbed the wall by scaling them at night with rope ladders. As the plan went, they would fight the Mughal soldiers and reach and open the Kalyan Gate of the fort for Suryaji Malusare and the troops with him to enter the fight in the fort. Luckily, as planned, Udaybhan was distracted while the Marathas were fighting. The battle was going good for the Marathas until Udaybhan came in and wiped down a lot of Maratha soldiers. With great difficulty, the Marathas managed to open the gate and let Suryaji and his soldiers attack. And then, Udaybhan Rathore came face to face with Tanaji Malusare. They had a great duel, but Udaybhan had more strength and better equipment (swords, spears, etc.). Udaybhan's sword and his strength was so powerful that while fighting, Tanaji's shield broke. But Tanaji didn't mind that, because Udaybhan had lighted the cannon and it was going to blast! So, Tanhaji, with a horse ,and Udaybhan jumped over the cannon. Tanaji extended his army and successfully cut the vent field of the cannon, but Udaybhan gave a heavy blow to the extended arm of Tanhaji and it was cut. Injured, Tanaji had a fight and Udaybhan killed him. The Marathas were frightened and climbed down the fort with a rope, but Suryaji cut it and said "My brother, your general has died and you cowards are running away! Fulfil his wish. He died for the victory. It is your choice is you jump out and die or defeat the enemy!" and all the Maratha soldiers started fighting again. Shelar Mama, uncle of Tanaji, then killed Udaybhan and the fort was captured by the Marathas. The battle and Tanaji's exploits are the basis of a popular Marathi ballad.[1]
Aftermath
When Shivaji was informed about the victory and the loss of Tanaji's life during the battle, he exclaimed "Gad aala pan sinh gela" (Devnagari: गड आला पण सिंह गेला) (transl. "The fort has been captured but we lost the lion (Lion meaning Tanaji)"). A bust of Tanaji Malusare was installed at the fort in memory of his contribution and sacrifice.[2] The fort was also renamed Sinhagad to honour his memory.[citation needed]
In popular culture
- Tanhaji - a Hindi movie of 2020, starring Ajay Devgan, depicted the battle of Kondhana.
- Raja Shivchatrapati - a Marathi TV serial of Star Pravah had episodes about this battle.
- Subhedar - a Marathi movie of 2023, starring Chinmay Mandlekar, depicted the battle of Kondhana
References
- ^ Gordon, Stewart (1993). The Marathas 1600-1818. Vol. 2. Cambridge University Press. p. 79. ISBN 9780521033169.
- ^ Verma, Amrit (2003). Forts of India. New Delhi: The Director, Publication Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India. pp. 83–86. ISBN 81-230-1002-8.
