Battle of Umberkhind
| Battle of Umberkhind | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Mughal-Maratha Wars | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Maratha Empire |
 Mughal Empire | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
|
Chhatrapati Shivaji |
Kartalab Khan  Rai Bagan | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| 500-600 | 30000-35000 regular infantry[4] | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| Unknown | Heavy[5] | ||||||||
The Battle of Umberkhind was fought on 3 February 1661 between the Mughal and Maratha Empire.[1] The invading Mughal army was decisively defeated by Maratha forces as the Mughal army surrendered to Chhatrapati Shivaji.[2]
Background
After the Battle of Chakan, which can be considered as a pyrrhic victory for Mughal general Shaista Khan and the Mughal Empire, many men had been lost capturing Chakan. Shaista Khan turned his attention to gain more Maratha territory, but he was unable to continue the war with the Marathas because he did not have enough men to advance into Maratha lands. Seeing this, he asked for more reinforcement and further supply from Aurangzeb to continue his campaign against Shivaji who was now increasing his own power in northern Konkan. After getting enough men and ammunition, he decided to attack the Konkan forts. Seeing this, Shivaji too mobilized his forces to check the invaders. Shaista Khan ordered his Uzbek commander Kartalab Khan to push deeper into north Konkan and capture its forts with him, a brave Maratha Brahmin lady warrior Rai Bagan, who was also accompanied in this campaign, were all set out to march against the Maratha Empire.[2][3]
Battle
Kartalab Khan with his thirty thousand men infantry left Pune and ascended to the Western Ghats to capture the Lohgad fort. To do that, he had to cross a narrow pass also known as the Umberkhind pass which was covered by steep hills and had only two entrances. Shivaji was familiar with this passage, then he decided to trap and ambush the invaders by closing both entrances and launching volleys of arrows and stones. He led his well-trained infantry and cavalry and attacked the Mughal forces on a signal. The attack was in such a coordinated manner that they inflicted heavy casualties on the Mughal forces. This battle became worse when Shivaji himself attacked the enemy in the rear. Seeing the situation could not be resolved by a battle, Mughal commander Rai Bagan asked Kartalab Khan to negotiate with Shivaji by surrendering to him, thus to allow the rest of the army to escape from the trap. He then let the Mughal army make their way back to Pune[3]
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Sorokhaibam, Jeneet (1 January 2013). Chhatrapati Shivaji: The Maratha Warrior and His Campaign. Vij Books India Pvt Ltd. p. 169. ISBN 978-93-82573-49-4. Search this book on
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Sardesai, GS (1946). "New History of the Marathas". Phœnix Publications. p. 137. Search this book on
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Vaibhav, Purandare (22 August 2022). Shivaji: India' Great Warrior King. Juggernaut Books. p. 53. ISBN 9789391165505. Search this book on
- ↑ Shivaji The Great Vol.ii. 1932. p. 333. Search this book on
- ↑ Sardesai, GS (1946). "New History of the Marathas". Phœnix Publications. p. 138. Search this book on
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