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Murarbaji Deshpande | |
---|---|
General of Maratha Army | |
Monarch | Shivaji I |
Personal details | |
Occupation | Kiladar of Purandar Fort |
Military service | |
Allegiance | Maratha Empire |
Service | Maratha Army |
Battles/wars | Battle of Purandar |
Murarbaji Deshpande (17th century) was a general in the early Maratha Empire during the reign of Chatrapati Shivaji. He is best remembered for his defense of the Purandar Fort against Dilir Khan,a Mughal general who accompanied Jai Singh I in the 17th-century siege on Purandar. [1]
Murarbaji Deshpande was born into a Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu [2] family and his native land was the Javali Satara District. He was the gallant commander who commanded 700 mavle (maratha troop) to attack Diler Khan. [3]
The battle for Purandar fort was a landmark battle of symbolic importance for both the Marathas and Mughals. It was essential for the Marathas to hold off the Mughals for as long as possible, thus demonstrating the difficulty of conquering the mountainous Maratha Empire. It was equally imperative for the Mughals to conquer Purandar as swiftly as possible to demonstrate the futility of resistance of the dominant Mughal empire.
In the end, superior European cannons fielded by the Mughals, under the leadership of the European mercenary Mannucci, blasted away the walls of Purandar. In spite of crumbling defenses, Murarbaji and his troops sustained a dogged defense. When the Mughals breached the outer walls, Murarbaji and his soldiers, though overwhelmingly outnumbered, mounted a fierce counterattack. Maratha folk history mentions that Murarbaji showed incredible skills as a swordsman and was an aggressive and inspiring leader who pushed back and caused a retreat of a larger Mughal force.
Diler Khan, impressed with the bravery of Murarbaji, offered him a truce and employment in the Mughal forces with a handsome salary. Murarbaji turned down the offer due to his loyalty to the ideals of Hindavi Swarajya.
The battle of Purandar, made the Marathas realize the difficulty, facing the overwhelming force led by Mirza Raja Jai Singh, but also revealed to the Mughals the tenacity of the Marathas. Thereafter Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj sued for peace to Mirza Raja rather than risk the decimation of his forces and the ruin of his homeland. Aurangzeb sought to sign the treaty of Purandar and invited Shivaji to Agra rather than face a protracted and expensive campaign to conquer Marathas. As a part of the settlement Chatrapati Shivaji agreed to give up 23 of his forts and 4,00,000 hons to the Mughals.
Tanaji Kaloji Malusare or Subedar Tanaji Malusare was a military commander of the Maratha kingdom and a companion of Shivaji. A local poet Tulsidas, wrote a powada describing Subhedar Tanhaji's heroics and sacrifice of life in the Battle of Sinhagad, which has since made him a popular figure in Indian folklore.
Baji Prabhu Deshpande was a general of the Maratha Army. He is known for his role in the Battle of Pavan Khind at Ghod Khind, where he sacrificed his life defending Shivaji Maharaj from incoming Adil Shahi forces of Siddi Johar. He also was a landlord or Vatandar in the Maval region.
Netoji Palkar (1620–1681), also known as Netaji Palkar, served as a prominent Maratha general and held the esteemed position of the 2nd Senapati of the Maratha Army under the leadership of Chhatrapati Shivaji, the visionary founder of the Maratha empire.
Sinhagad is an ancient hill fortress located at around 49 km southwest of the city of Pune, India.
Maharani Tarabai Bhosale (née Mohite) was the regent of the Maratha Empire from 1700 until 1708. She was the queen of Rajaram I, and daughter-in-law of the kingdom's founder Shivaji I. She is acclaimed for her role in keeping alive the resistance against Mughal rule in Konkan, and acting as the regent of the Maratha Empire during the minority of her son, Shivaji II. She defeated Mughal forces of Aurangzeb in several battles and expanded the Maratha Empire.
Deshpande is a surname native to the Indian states of Karnataka, and Maharashtra. The surname can be also found in some parts of Himachal Pradesh. Deshpande surname is found among the Deshastha Brahmins, Gaud Saraswat Brahmins (GSB) and the Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhus (CKP).
Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu (CKP) or historically and commonly known as Chandraseniya Prabhu or just Prabhu is a caste mainly found in Gujarat and Maharashtra. Historically, they made equally good warriors, statesmen as well as writers. They held the posts such as Deshpande and Gadkari according to the historian, B.R. Sunthankar, produced some of the best warriors in Maharashtrian history.
The Battle of Sinhagad, also known as Battle of Kondhana, involved an attack by Marathas during the night of 4 February 1670 on the Mughal fort of Sinhagad, near the city of Pune, Maharashtra. The Marathas captured the fort.
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.
Rajgad is a Hill region fort situated in the Pune district of Maharashtra, India. Formerly known as Murumbdev, the fort was the first capital of the Maratha Empire under the rule of Chhatrapati Shivaji for almost 26 years, after which the capital was moved to the Raigad Fort. Treasures discovered from an adjacent fort called Torna were used to completely build and fortify the Rajgad Fort.
Ramchandra Neelkanth Bawadekar (1650–1716), also known as Ramchandra Pant Amatya, served on the Council of 8 as the Finance Minister (Amatya) to Emperor (Chhatrapati) Shivaji, dating from 1674 to 1680. He then served as the Imperial Regent to four later emperors, namely Sambhaji, Rajaram, Shivaji II and Sambhaji II. He authored the Adnyapatra, a famous code of civil and military administration, and is renowned as one of the greatest civil administrators, political thinkers, diplomats and military strategists of the Maratha Empire.
Khanderao Ballal, popularly known as ‘Khando Ballal Chitnis or Khandoji’, was a diplomat in Maharashtra during the late 17th century and the early 18th century. He was also the personal Assistant of Rajaram and Shahu. He is remembered for his support of Chatrapati Rajaram Maharaj as well as his support for Chatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj. There is a story that Chatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj had gone to war in Goa, but his horse started suddenly drowning in a river, but Khanadoballal chitnis bravely got off his horse and saved the Chhatrapati.
Purandar Fort is a mountain fort in Pune district in Western Indian state of Maharashtra, India. The fort stands at 1,374 metres (4,508 ft) above the sea level in the Western Ghats, 50 kilometres (31 mi) to the southeast of Pune.
Bapuji Mudgal Prabhu Deshpande was a general who served Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.
The Battle of Purandar was fought between the Mughal Empire and the Marathas in 1665.
Diler Khan Daudzai was a Mughal general who served under Aurangzeb and was the governor of Awadh. He is known to battle and kill Murarbaji, the military general of Shivaji and the in-charge of Purandar Forts. His brother's name was Nawab Bahadur Khan. Nawab Diler Khan and his brother Nawab Bahadur Khan together established the famous district Shahjahanpur located in Uttar Pradesh.
The 'Prabhu caste' or Prabhu communities are a group of related Hindu castes belonging to the former ruling caste of statesmen, bureaucrats and aristocrats of Northern districts of Konkan region in Maharashtra, India. There are four such castes, all having different ritual and social status within the caste system of Maharashtra, but all of them having traditions traced back to the 12th century which label them as endogamous subdivisions of Kshatriyas of Solar and Lunar descent. They are Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu, Pathare Prabhu, Kanchole Prabhus and the Davane Prabhu.
Swarajyarakshak Sambhaji is an Indian historical drama based on the life of warrior king Sambhaji. The series is directed by Vivek Deshpande and Kartik Rajaram Kendhe and is written by Pratap Gangavane. It is produced and starred by Amol Kolhe in lead role of Sambhaji, Vilas Sawant and Sonali Ghanashyam Rao under the banner of Jagadamb Creations. It premiered from 24 September 2017 by replacing Kahe Diya Pardes and aired on Zee Marathi.
Raja Shivchatrapati is a Marathi historical drama television series based on Shivaji, founder of the Maratha Kingdom. The serial was re-broadcast in April 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Pawankhind ; is a 2022 Indian Marathi-language historical action drama film directed by Digpal Lanjekar and produced under the banner of Almonds Creations in association with AA Films. The film based on the life of Maratha warrior, Baji Prabhu Deshpande, stars Chinmay Mandlekar, Mrinal Kulkarni, Ajay Purkar, Sameer Dharmadhikari, along with Ankit Mohan, Prajakta Mali and Kshitee Jog in supporting roles.
Among Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's [chandraseniya] kayastha prabhu officers, the names of Baji Prabhu Deshpande, Murarbaji Deshpande, Babaji Prabhu and Yeshwantrao Buvaji Prabhu have become famous in Maratha history. Baji Prabhu fell fighting against the forces of the Bijapur government near Vishalgad in 1660. Murarbaji died a hero's death while defending the fort of Purandar against the Mughal forces of Jaisingh in 1665
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