Battle of Bhopal
| Battle of Bhopal | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Imperial Maratha Conquests | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Maratha Empire | |||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
|
Baji Rao |
Asaf Jah I Saadat Ali Khan | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| 80,000 light cavalry[1] | 70,000 with 120 cannons drawn by war-elephant corps, 3,000 Camel-drawn Zamburak gunnery[2][3] | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| Unknown | Unknown | ||||||||
The Battle of Bhopal was fought on 24 December 1737 in Bhopal between the Maratha Empire and the combined army of the Nizam and several Mughal generals.
Background
As the Mughal Empire continued to weaken after Aurangzeb's death, the Maratha Peshwa Bajirao I invaded Mughal territories such as Malwa and Gujarat. The Mughal Emperor Muhammad Shah was alarmed by the Marathas' conquest. In 1737, the Marathas invaded the northern frontiers of the Mughal Empire, reaching as far as the outskirts of Delhi, Bajirao was defeated by a Mughal army there and was marching back to Pune.[4]
Battle
The battle was fought between the Maratha Empire and Mughal forces led by the Nizam of Hyderabad near Bhopal in India in December 1737. The Marathas poisoned the water and the replenishment supplies of the besieged Mughal forces. Chimaji was sent with an army of 10,000 men to stop any reinforcements while Bajirao blockaded the city instead of directly attacking the Nizam. The Nizam sued for peace after he was denied reinforcements from Delhi.[5]
Aftermath
On 7 January 1738, a peace treaty was signed in Doraha near Bhopal.[6] The Marathas were given the territory of Malwa.[7]
References
- ^ Advance Study in the History of Modern India (Volume-1: 1707-1803) Pg.26 — "The Peshwa accepted the challenge happily, collected eighty thousand Maratha soldiers and leaving Chimnaji with ten thousand"
- ^ Dighe, V.G., Peshwa Bajirao & the Maratha Expansion, p.145
- ^ Advance Study in the History of Modern India (Volume-1: 1707-1803) Pg.26 — "the Nizam was joined by several other Mughal chiefs and at the head of seventy thousand soldiers"
- ^ Malik, Zahiruddin (1977). The Reign of Muhammad Shah, 1719-1748. Asia Publishing House. p. 133. ISBN 978-0-210-40598-7.
- ^ Advance Study in the History of Modern India (Volume-1: 1707-1803) Pg. 26
- ^ S.R. Bakshi and O.P. Ralhan (2007). Madhya Pradesh Through the Ages. Sarup & Sons. p. 384. ISBN 978-81-7625-806-7.
- ^ An Advanced History of Modern India
23°15′N 77°25′E / 23.250°N 77.417°E
