Battle of Bagru | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||
Belligerents | |||||||
![]() Reinforced By ![]() | ![]() Reinforced By ![]() ![]() | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
![]() ![]() | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Battle of Bagru was a military engagement fought between multiple Indian kingdoms in 1748 near the town of Bagru, Jaipur, India. The battle was fought during a succession crisis following the death of Jai Singh II, which left Jaipur without effective leadership. In the battle, Madho Singh defeated ishwari Singh in a 6-day engagement with help of Marathas and Kingdom of Bundi. [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]
Jai Singh II, Maharajah of Jaipur and head of the powerful Kachhwaha caste, was a major geopolitical force in his lifetime. [13] As a prominent figure within the Mughal Empire, Jai allied himself with several other powerful rajas; he was particularly close to Suraj Mal, Maharajah of Bharatpur, who considered Jai Singh to be like a father. [14] When Jai Singh died on 21 September 1743, his 25-year-old son Ishwari Singh replaced him as Maharajah. However, Madho Singh, another of Jai Singh's sons from a different marriage, disagreed with his brother's accession to the throne and subsequent ruling of Jaipur; in 1747, he rose in revolt against his brother. Madho Singh's revolt was defeated at the Battle of Rajamahal, but the claimant escaped and began to gather forces to assist him in ousting his brother. [14]
Just over a year after his first invasion had failed, Madho Singh again invaded Jaipur. Unlike his previous invasion, Malhar Rao personally led the complete might of his army during his second invasion. He also built up a strong alliance of powers who opposed his brother; Malhar Rao, a rival to the late Jai Singh, joined Madho Singh's efforts to overthrow his brother, feeling he could benefit from Jaipur's weakness. Ummed Singh, the vanquished Raja of Bundi also joined, as he was eager to win back his kingdom. Madho Singh's army also contained a large host of Maratha, Afghan and tribal mercenaries, soldiers from the Maratha Holkar clan, Hada Rajputs from Bundi and several Kachhwaha nobles who defected. This alliance marched against Jaipur in August 1748. Malhar Rao took the lead and captured several strategic Forts and towns of the Jaipur Kingdom. [14]
In Jaipur city, Ishwari Singh amassed his forces for battle; Ishwari Singh, unlike his father and brother, initially had no allies and was badly outnumbered by Madho Singh's coalition. In desperation, Ishwari asked Suraj Mal - a longtime ally of his late father - for aid, and Surajmal readily accepted, personally leading his army of 10,000 men to Jaipur city. [14] Though still heavily outnumbered, the two defenders hoped to attack Madho Singh's army before all of his forces had consolidated. [14]
According to contemporary source Peshwa Daftar,the two armies engaged each-other around the town of Bagru on 20 August 1748. The fighting lasted for 6 days; for much of the battle, a rainstorm blanketed the area. [14] The first day resulted in heavy losses for both armies before the rain halted the fighting. On the second day, Suraj personally led his forces in a fierce counterattack that routed the Maratha contingent of Modho's army; [15] however, the Marathas were able to spike many Jaipur cannons before they were forced back. [14] While the two armies fought at Bagru, 5000 men from Malhar's army captured a Jaipur supply convoy and blocked the road between Bagru and Jaipur city. With their supplies and line of retreat cut off, Ishwari and Suraj retreated into Bagru's fort, ending the maratha cut the noses and hands of 6000 people. [7] [10] [8] [14]
Having lost the battle, Ishwari chose to sue for peace. Rather than negotiate with the enemy army as a whole, he offered terms to each individual commander. He bribed an ally of the Holkars to arrange for the Holkar forces to withdraw, and agreed to give his brother control over five parganas. [14] He bribed the Maratha soldiers (and allowed them to keep the wealth they had looted), and agreed to surrender the town of Bundi to Ummed Singh. [14] In return for his concessions, Ishwari was allowed to return to Jaipur city and continue his rule. [14]
While Suraj Mal's actions during the battle at Bagru won him praise for his martial skill, the defeat humiliated Ishwari. [14] The Jaipur raj descended into a state of paranoia, resulting in him arresting and executing a number of his officials. He attempted to regain his lost prestige by helping the nearby Kingdom of Marwar against the invading Mughal army, he won a minor victory at the Battle of Raona against the Mughal general Salabat Khan, but was soon bogged down in a stalemate and forced to withdraw. He also failed to pay Holkar his dues from his defeat at Bagru. [14] When he failed to repay these debts, Holkar invaded Jaipur with a large army. Ishwari Singh locked himself in his room for many days and refused to come out. The ministers of Jaipur urged Ishwari Singh to give them orders, but faced with his enemies approaching his capital, Ishwari committed suicide on 12 December 1750, resulting in Madho Singh becoming the Maharajah of Jaipur. [14]
Balaji Baji Rao, often referred to as Nana Saheb I, was the 8th Peshwa of the Maratha Confederacy. He was appointed as Peshwa in 1740 upon the death of his father, the Peshwa Bajirao I.
Sawai Jai Singh II, was the 29th Kachwaha Rajput ruler of the Kingdom of Amber, who later founded the fortified city of Jaipur and made it his capital. He became the ruler of Amber at the age of 11, after the death of his father, Mirza Raja Bishan Singh, on 31 December 1699.
Suraj Mal popularly known as Maharaja Suraj Mal Jat, was a Jat ruler of Bharatpur in present-day state of Rajasthan. He is Known for his military prowess and administrative acumen, he established a prosperous kingdom in the region now encompassing parts of Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and Haryana. Under him, the Jat rule covered the present-day districts of Agra, Alwar, Aligarh, Bharatpur, Dholpur, Etawa, Hathras, Mainpuri, Meerut, Ghaziabad, Mathura, and Rohtak, Sonipat, Jhajjar, Nuh, Palwal, Faridabad, Kasganj, Mainpuri, Firozabad, Bulandshahr.
Ahmad Shah Bahadur, also known as Mirza Ahmad Shah or Mujahid-ud-Din Ahmad Shah Ghazi, was the fourteenth Mughal emperor, born to Emperor Muhammad Shah. He succeeded his father to the throne in 1748, at the age of 22. When Ahmed Shah Bahadur came to power, the Mughal Empire started to decline. Furthermore, his administrative weakness eventually led to the rise of the usurping Imad-ul-Mulk.
The Kachhwaha, or Kachhawa is a Rajput clan found primarily in India.
Malhar Rao Holkar was a noble subedar of the Maratha Empire, in present-day India. He was one of the early officers along with Ranoji Scindia to help spread the Maratha rule to northern states and was given the estate of Indore to rule by the Peshwas, during the reign of the Maratha emperor Shahu I. He was founder of the Holkar dynasty that ruled Malwa.
Sawai Madho Singh I was the Kachwaha Rajput ruler of the Kingdom of Jaipur. He was the younger son of Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II and younger half brother of Sawai Ishwari Singh. He became ruler of Jaipur after his brother Sawai Ishwari Singh died in 1750.
Maharaja Jawahar Singh was a Jat ruler of the Bharatpur State. He succeeded to the throne when his father Suraj Mal died in 1763.
The Kingdom of Amber, later known as the Jaipur State and also the Kingdom of Jaipur, was located in the north-eastern historic Dhundhar region of Rajputana and was ruled by the Kachwaha Rajput clan. It was established by Dulha Rai, possibly the last ruler of the Kachchhapaghata dynasty of Gwalior who migrated to Dausa and started his kingdom there with the support of Chahamanas of Shakambhari in the 12th century. Mostly through 12th to 15th century, the kingdom faced stagnation, sources were scarce. Under its ruler, Raja Chandrasen of Amber became a Sisodia vassal and fought in the Battle of Khanwa under Raja Prithviraj Kachhwaha.
Mirza Raja Jai Singh I was the senior most general and a high ranking mansabdar at the imperial court of Mughal Empire as well as the Kachwaha ruler of the Kingdom of Amber. His predecessor was his grand uncle, Mirza Raja Bhau Singh, the younger son of Mirza Raja Man Singh I.
The Battle of Maonda and Mandholi was fought between the Rajput rulers of Jaipur and the Jat rulers of Bharatpur in 1767 in Rajasthan. Jawahar Singh of Bharatpur was leading an army back from Pushkar when the forces of Madho Singh of Jaipur met them by Maonda and Mandholi villages, near present-day Neem ka Thana. The battle resulted in the rout of the Bharatpur army by the Jaipur forces.
The Battle of Mandsaur took place in Mandsaur, India between the Maratha and Jai Singh II of Amber.
Sawai Ishwari Singh was the Kachwaha Rajput ruler of Jaipur Kingdom reigning for the seven turbulent and highly unstable political years from 1743 to 1750. He was the second son of Sawai Jai Singh II and elder half brother of his immediate successor Sawai Madho Singh I.
The Battle of Gangwana was a military engagement fought between the Kingdom of Marwar and a combined army of the Jaipur Kingdom and the Mughal Empire in 1741. The battle resulted in a peace treaty favorable to Marwar and ended a period of Jaipur domination in what is now present day Rajasthan.
Bakht Singh or Bakhat Singh was an 18th-century Indian Raja of the Rathore Clan. Born in 1706, he ruled over various domains in the Jodhpur and Marwar states and was a major political force during his life.
Khanderao Holkar was the only son of Malhar Rao Holkar, the founder of the Holkar dynasty of Indore, and Gautama Bai. He was the husband of Ahilyabai Holkar. He served as a Maratha Sardar and fought several campaigns on behest of the Maratha empire.
The Battle of Rajamahal was a military engagement fought in 1747 in Jaipur, India. The battle was fought between the forces of Sawai Maharaja Ishwari Singh and Maharana Jagat Singh, who wanted to make his nephew Madho Singh the Maharaja of Jaipur or secure a Jagir for him, he built an alliance with the Maratha's under Khanderao Holkar and the Hada clan of Bundi and Kota. The battle resulted in a decisive victory for Ishwari Singh's forces.
The battle of Kumher was fought among Jats, Marathas and Mughals.
Marathas under Raghunath Rao and Malhar Rao Holkar laid siege to the fort of Barwara. The fort was successfully defended by the garrison. After which the Marathas agreed to a smaller sum than what was initially demanded.
Battle of Raona.