Fall of the Mughal Empire v4.c54.s9: § 5. Battle of Bārāmati—flight of Peshwā’s generals, 8th October
Fall of the Mughal Empire v4.c54.s9
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§ 5. Battle of Bārāmati—flight of Peshwā’s generals, 8th October
v4.c54.s9.1
We now turn to the other prong of Jaswant’s plan for attacking Punā; namely the push along the north-western arm of our imaginary triangle whose apex was at Pandhārpur. Fath Singh Māné, with his forces considerably strengthened in the meantime, left Pandhārpur (c. 27th September) and made his way unopposed north-westwards up the Nirā river, giving out that he only wanted to make a pilgrimage to Jejuri, and worship the tutelary goddess of the Holkar family there. The move was ominous, as Jejuri lay only 30 miles south-east of Punā with nothing but the Borghāt as an obstacle between the two places, and there were no Sindhian troops in that region within a hundred miles. The wildest panic broke out in Punā at the news of Māné’s approach.
v4.c54.s9.2
The Peshwā had no army worth the name. His best advisers had shown him how he was between two fires, and that whether Holkar or Sindhia triumphed he would be equally the helpless slave of his own victorious vassal, while if he sought British armed aid as his father had done 27 years ago, he would remove the last obstacle to the imposition of British paramountcy over all India, which Marquess Wellesley’s successful statesmanship had made imminent. So, they urged him to raise an adequate army of his own and assert his independence. No advice could have been more fatuous. Bāji Rao II had neither the money nor the dependable agents necessary for carrying out such a plan. He had already alienated all the hereditary supporters of his house by disgracing and spoliating the old feudatories and all decent people by his licentious and deceitful character. Himself a coward sunk in sadist vices, he could not personally lead troops into action, but was the first to flee away from Punā at the approach of danger. However, by large promises and small cash payments, some thousands of rabble horsemen and ragged infantry were got together and sent to Bārāmati to bar the path of Māné. Even this force could not be properly equipped and fed, as Bāji Rao would not loosen his purse-strings, but only issued lordly orders on his vassals to pay these levies! The hungry soldiers began to trickle back from the Bārāmati camp to Punā in despair. Even his household troopers (*huzurāt*), so necessary for stiffening the raw recruits, refused to march out of Punā unless their long-standing arrears were cleared and adequate munitions supplied to them.
v4.c54.s9.3
∗ As Jaswant wrote, "Everywhere there was face to face fighting. . . There was a shower of shot and bullets, and the cannon balls (grape?) grazed my turban and tunic, but Sri Krishna warded them off with his discus." (Thakur, ii. No. 59.) Much confusion has been created by each side claiming the victory, and ignoring its own losses. But Bhawāni Shankar’s personal recollections and the contemporary Punā news-letters enable us to see the truth. The engagement really extended over two days, with opposite results, but in the end Holkar had to retire. Kharé, Nos. 6444-6446, 6458, 6452. Gulgulé, 12 Oct. Mohan S. f. 107b. PRC. x. 60.
v4.c54.s9.4
Worst of all, no competent general was available to lead this expedition, as all men of honour and ability had begun to shun him, and Bāji Rao’s sole confidants and agents were the pimps and sycophants who formed the inner circle of his court. The commanders of the Bārāmati force were Purandaré and Pāndoji Kunjar, the veteran heroes of the recent flight from Dond, and only one brave but rash fighter, Māloji Ghorpadé.* Their instructions were not to fight Māné, but to plant the royal standard (zari patākā) before their ranks and dare the rebel to outrage public opinion throughout Mahārāshtra by firing on the national flag. Thus a prestige which he had lost by his own cowardice and deceit, was expected to save him in the clash of arms!
v4.c54.s9.5
∗ The commanders were Nānā (Trimbak Mahipat) Purandaré, Pāndoji Kunjar, Ganpat Rao Pānsé (chief of artillery), and Māloji Ghorpadé. Chintāman Rao Āpā Patwardhan, did not arrive in time for the battle. Kh. 6446, 6461. Medad (spelt Merad in the maps and Merda in the Marāthi letters), also called Amrāvati, is one mile north-west of Bārāmati. Morgāon or Moreshwar is 12m. east of Jejuri, and 10m. west of the camp at Jalgāon. (Bomb. Gaz., XVIII, pt. 3, p. 259.)
v4.c54.s9.6
The Peshwā’s detachment encamped at Jalgāon, seven miles west of Bārāmati, when Māné reached Medad six miles to their east. Purandaré, leaving his camp standing, advanced with all his forces against him, on 8th October. Māné sent word to ask, “I am going on a pilgrimage to Jejuri and do not intend any hostility to you. My master has forbidden me to fight the Peshwā’s troops. Tell me what you mean.” Purandaré answered, “The Peshwā has ordered me to punish you.” So saying, he opened fire on Māné. The Holkar general told his troops that the Peshwā’s banner represented their sovereign, and they must not attack it before 50 shots had been fired from under that banner. After the 50th discharge from Purandaré’s guns had been counted, Māné opened his own fire and set his horsemen to the gallop. The military bubble from Punā immediately burst. “When Māné advanced, none of our men drew their arms, they all broke and fled away,” as a writer from Punā reported. The Chitpāvan commander-in-chief, the hereditary friend and supporter of the house of the Peshwās, was the first in the race for safety; abandoning his guns, abandoning the golden banner solemnly entrusted to his keeping, Nānā Purandaré, galloped away with his bare life. The second in command, Pāndoji Kunjar ran so blindly in his flight, that for three days after he could not be traced, to the intense grief of his worthy father Bāloji, the favourite pimp of Bāji Rao. The soldiers were worthy of such leaders. “All who had horses escaped, those on foot were seized and plundered of all their belongings”. Only one man, Māloji Ghorpadé, with his small personal contingent, made a stand round the Peshwā’s banner and fought for an hour against hopeless odds, to check the enemy’s advance, but he fell down from his horse after he had received five wounds and his charger had been speared.
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The field before him being absolutely clear, Māné swept on to the deserted camp of the enemy, and captured all their guns, much of their baggage, and above all the elephant carrying the golden banner on its back. He dismounted, loyally salāmed the national flag, and after two days sent it back to Purandarē in his place of retreat near Sāswād (at Kumbhār-bālnā). The chivalrous Māné placed the captive Ghorpadē in a *palki*, carefully dressed his wounds, and set him free.