Battle of Kandarpi Ghat

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Battle of Kandarpi Ghat
Date4 – 7 October 1753
Location
Kandarpi Ghat, Harna Village, Mithila region, India
Result Khandwala victory [1]
Belligerents
Raj Darbhanga
•Khandwala dynasty 		Flag of the Principality of Bengal (15th-18th century).svg Nawab of Bengal
Commanders and leaders
Narendra Singh [2]
Mitrajit Singh
Umrao
Hala Roy
Keso Shah
Ajit Shah
Ghariram
Sher Khan
Jafar Khan		 Flag of the Principality of Bengal (15th-18th century).svg Bhikhari Mahtha
Flag of the Principality of Bengal (15th-18th century).svg Zainuddin Khan
Flag of the Principality of Bengal (15th-18th century).svg Ram Narayan Singh
Flag of the Principality of Bengal (15th-18th century).svg Salabat Jang (Nephew of Alivardi Khan)
Bhakt Singh
Namdar Khan
Strength
Unknown 5,000+ including Afghan Pathans
Casualties and losses
Low Heavy
Alivardi Khan's Army got defeated by Mithila Naresh.

The Battle of Kandarpi Ghat occurred between the Nawab of Bengal and Raj Darbhanga in October 1753. [3] Raj Darbhanga headed by Maithil Brahmin king Maharaja Narendra Singh clashed against forces of Bengal Subah led by Bhikhari Mahtha, an official of Alivardi Khan and emerged victorious. [4]

Contents

Background

After the decline of Pala Empire in the gangetic plains, much of bihar was ruled by minor chieftains ,otherwise known as "tulakdars" and "zamindars" . These chiefs maintained their standing armies and were continually at arms , fighting for dominance against both the state ,that was overlord to them and other zamindars that bordered them. [5]

Relations with Bengal subah

Though the Nawabs of Bengal were governors of bihar as well, and had rights to collect revenue from it. However this was only on paper and wasn't in practice. Though , bihar had considerable potential to provide the Subah with huge amounts of revenue , In reality the Nawabs weren't able to extract it. [6] Between the years 1742 to 1751 , for about decade Bengal Subah was attacked by Marathas , led by Raghoji I .These invasions were sought to extract tribute and plunder from the Nawab and utterly damaged the prestige and economic prosperity of the Subah.Alivardi Khan who sued for peace to Raghoji I [7] was in a great need of revenue to run the state machinery and hence , led another series of expeditions to reduce Bihar into a tributary, "de facto". In the year 1753 , Alivardi Khan demanded Maharaja Narendra Singh of Darbhanga Raj to pay tribute , when this demand was declined , he sent his general ,"Bhikhari Mahtha" to launch military operations against Darbhanga. [8]

Battle

The battle started on 4 October 1753. Initially Bhikhari Mahtha gained an edge over the Maithili forces but on, 7 October 1753, Maharaja Narendra Singh personally held the frontline while riding his war elephant named "Gajendra". [9] [10] The battle was hard fought, where both of the sides fought bravely and stubbornly, with both traditional weapons and matchlocks. Army of Raj Darbhanga used matchlocks for the first time in warfare[ citation needed ], amidst the fight Maharaja Narendra Singh's elephant was slained under him. One of the Maithili commander, "Umrao singh" was killed in action after slaying his counterpart, "Salawat Roy". The Maithili troops, along with their allies from various zamindaris across Bihar, presented their utmost might upon Nawab's forces, successfully routing them. [11]

Victory Pillar

A Vijaya Stambh i.e., a victory pillar has been erected and constructed to commemorate this event by the efforts of Indian Government at Kandarpi Ghat, Harna. [12]

Kandarpi Ghat Mithila Vijay Stambh Kandarpi Ghat Mithila Vijay Stambh.jpg
Kandarpi Ghat Mithila Vijay Stambh
Mithila Victory Pillar for this event. Mithila Victory Pillar.jpg
Mithila Victory Pillar for this event.

References

  1. ↑ "Ansari, Tahir Hussain (2019-06-20)". "Mughal Administration and the Zamindars of Bihar" . Retrieved 26 March 2025.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  2. ↑ Chaudhary, Radha Krishna (1970). History of Muslim Rule in Tirthut(1206-1765 AD). Chaukhamba Sanskrit Series. p. 185.
  3. ↑ Ansari, Tahir Hussain (20 June 2019). Mughal Administration and the Zamindars. Routledge. ISBN   978-1-000-65152-2.
  4. ↑ Chaudhary, Radha Krishna (1970). History of Muslim Rule in Tirhut (1206-1756 AD). Vol. LXXII (1st ed.). Varanasi: Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series office. pp. 184–186.
  5. ↑ Gyan Prakash (2003). Bonded Histories: Genealogies of Labor Servitude in Colonial India. Cambridge University Press. pp. 88–90. ISBN   978-0-521-52658-6.
  6. ↑ P. J. Marshall (2006). Bengal: The British Bridgehead: Eastern India 1740–1828. Cambridge University Press. pp. 58–60. ISBN   978-0-521-02822-6.
  7. ↑ Nitish K. Sengupta (2011). Land of Two Rivers: A History of Bengal from the Mahabharata to Mujib. Penguin Books India. pp. 158–163. ISBN   9780143416784. Archived from the original on 27 February 2022. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
  8. ↑ "Ansari, Tahir Hussain (2019-06-20)". "Mughal Administration and the Zamindars of Bihar" . Retrieved 26 March 2025.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  9. ↑ Richard M. Eaton. "The rise of Islam and the Bengal frontier, 1204-1760" . Retrieved 25 March 2025.[ page needed ]
  10. ↑ Ali, Karam (1992). "Bihar and Bengal in the 18th Century: A Critical Edition and Translation of Muzaffarnama, a Contemporary History" . Retrieved 25 March 2025.[ page needed ]
  11. ↑ Chaudhary, Radha Krishna (1970). History of Muslim Rule in Tirthut(1206-1765 AD). Chaukhamba Sanskrit Series. p. 185.
  12. ↑ मिथला विजय स्तंभ || कंदर्पी घाट || झंझारपुर , मधुबनी Episode - 1 , retrieved 2 October 2023

See also

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