Battle of Umrani
| Battle of Umrani | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Maratha—Bijapur sultanate war | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Maratha Empire | Bijapur Sultanate | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Prataprao Gujar Anandrao Dhanaji Jadhav |
Bhalol Khan  Mahammad Barqi † | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 10000–15000 | 12000 | ||||||
The Battle of Umrani was a 1673 Indian conflict between the Bijapur Sultanate and the Marathas west of Bijapur.[1][3][4]
Background
[edit]Panhala was captured by Shivaji in 1673 alerted Bijapur. Bhopal Khan set out with 12000 troops to check Maratha offensive and reached Umarrani (45 km west of Bijapur). Shivaji, who was at Panhala learnt about the advance of Bijapur army and dispatched Prataprao Gujar and Anandrao with 10,000 to 15,000 army.[1][5][2]
Battle
[edit]Maratha Army reached Umarrani within 2 days and cut the enemy off from their water supply. According to Basatslin-us Salatin, Marathas numbering from 10,000 to 15,000 encircled Bholal Khan (other sources do not mention this event).[1][6]
The battle that followed was confined for some time to arrows and firearms. Khan was at a great disadvantage as the Marathas had cut off his water supply and April's heat began to take effect. At sunset Khan made an effort to break out. This led to hand to hand fighting with Marathas in which Adilshahi officer Mahammad Barqi was killed and an elephant was captured.[1][4]
In the same month [i.e April-March] battle was fought between Bhalol Khan[at one side] and Prataprao Gujar and Anandrao [on other side]. Victory was attained near Bijapur. One elephant was captured.
— Jedhe and Despande Chronicle
Prataprao allowed Bhalol Khan to retire as he begged that he will never raise a war against Marathas. When Shivaji learnt about this he taunted Prataprao for making peace with enemy.[1][5]
Aftermath
[edit]The Marathas entered Hubli on 16th April. They made the company's house its target and started plundering. Clothes were brought to Prataprao. While plundering, Marathas accidentally set fire to a workshop, leading to an explosion in which 20 Marathas were killed.[1]
They suffered losses including copper plates, lead, paper, and cloth, as well as cash. Besides this they lost 5200 soldiers.[1]
While plundering, Marathas learnd about the approach of Muzaffar Khan with 4000-5000 cavalry. They departed with what they already packed up.[1]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g h i Gajanan Bhaskar Mehendale (2011). Shivaji His Life and Times. pp. 842–845.
- ^ a b Jaques, Tony (2006-11-30). Dictionary of Battles and Sieges: A Guide to 8,500 Battles from Antiquity through the Twenty-first Century [3 volumes]. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. p. 1053. ISBN 978-0-313-02799-4.
- ^ SETHUMADHAVRAO S. PAGADI. SHIVAJI - ENG - SETHUMADHAVRAO S. PAGADI. pp. 90–91.
- ^ a b Dr. Balkrishna. Shivaji The Great - 3 (Dr. Balkrishna). p. 123.
- ^ a b Takakhav, Nilkant Sadashiv (1985). Life of Shivaji, Founder of the Maratha Empire. Sunita Publications. p. 632.
- ^ Ed. R. C. Majumdar. History and Culture of Indian People - 8 Maratha Supremacy (Ed. R. C. Majumdar).