Battle of Bhopal

The Battle of Bhopal was fought on 24 December 1737 in Bhopal between the Maratha Confederacy and the combined army of the Mughal chiefs,^[9] Hyderabad State, Rajput kingdoms and the Oudh State in which Marathas under the leadership of Peshwa Bajirao I were victorious.^[10]

Battle of Bhopal
Date 24 December 1737 Location Bhopal, India Result Maratha victory Territorial changes Malwa formally ceded to Marathas following the Treaty of Bhopal
Belligerents
Maratha Confederacy	Hyderabad Awadh Jaipur[1] Kota[2] Other Mughal chiefs[3]
Commanders and leaders
Baji Rao I Chimaji Appa Ranoji Scindia Pilaji Jadhav	Asaf Jah I Saadat Ali Khan Safdar Jung[4] Mansur Ali Khan[citation needed] Sawai Jai Singh[5] Ishwari Singh of Jaipur[6] Subhasingh Bundela[7]
Strength
80,000 light cavalry[8]	70,000 troops 120 cannons drawn by war-elephant corps 3,000 Camel-drawn Zamburak gunnery[8]
Casualties and losses
Unknown	Unknown

Background

As the Mughal Empire continued to weaken after Aurangzeb's death, the Maratha Peshwa Bajirao I invaded Mughal territories of Malwa and Gujarat. The Mughal Emperor Muhammad Shah was alarmed by the Marathas' conquest. Initially, Maratha war-bands that entered the province from the south (Deccan) were constantly defeated and repulsed by Jai Singh II, the Subahdar of Malwa.^[11][12] In 1737, the Marathas invaded the northern frontiers of the Mughal Empire, successfully reaching as far as the outskirts of Delhi under the command of Bajirao and were now marching back to Pune.^[13]

Battle

The battle was fought between the Marathas and Mughal forces led by the Nizam of Hyderabad near Bhopal in India in December 1737. The Marathas poisoned the water and the replenishment supplies of the besieged Mughal forces. Chimaji was sent with an army of 10,000 men to stop any reinforcements while Bajirao blockaded the city instead of directly attacking the Nizam. The Nizam sued for peace after he was denied reinforcements from Delhi.^[8]

Aftermath

On 7 January 1738, a peace treaty known as Treaty of Bhopal was signed in Doraha near Bhopal and the Mughals agreed to pay 5,000,000 Rupees as war expenses to the Marathas.^[14][8] The Marathas were given the territory of Malwa.^[8][15]

References

1. Tikkiwal, H. c (1974). Jaipur And The Later Mughals. p. 37.
2. Sinha H. N. (1954). Rise Of The Peshwas (1954). p. 161.
3. Chhabra, G.S., ed. (2005). Advanced Study in the History of Modern India Vol. 1. Lotus Press. p. 26. ISBN 978-81-89093-06-8. Reaching Delhi, the Nizam was joined by several other Mughal chiefs, and at the head of seventy thousand soldiers supported by enormous military supply he marched out to meet the Marathas.
4. Sinha H. N. (1954). Rise Of The Peshwas (1954). p. 161.
5. Tikkiwal, H. c (1974). Jaipur And The Later Mughals. p. 37.
6. Tikkiwal, H. c (1974). Jaipur And The Later Mughals. p. 37.
7. Tikkiwal, H. c (1974). Jaipur And The Later Mughals. p. 37.
8. Chhabra, G.S. (2005). Advance Study in the History of Modern India (Volume-1: 1707-1803). Lotus Press. pp. 26–27. ISBN 978-81-89093-06-8.
9. G.S.Chhabra (2005). Advance Study in the History of Modern India (Volume-1: 1707-1803). Lotus Press. ISBN 978-81-89093-06-8.
10. Jaques, Tony (30 November 2006). Dictionary of Battles and Sieges: A Guide to 8,500 Battles from Antiquity through the Twenty-first Century [3 volumes]. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. p. 137. ISBN 978-0-313-02799-4.
11. R.K. Gupta, S.R. Bakshi (2008). Studies In Indian History: Rajasthan Through The Ages The Heritage Of Rajputs (1st ed.). Sarup and sons. pp. 92–93. ISBN 978-81-76258-418.
12. Husain, Zakir (2001). "The Rise of Dost Muhammad Khan (1708-1728), the First Nawab of Bhopal". Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. 62: 309–316. ISSN 2249-1937. JSTOR 44155775.
13. Tikkiwal, H. c (1974). Jaipur And The Later Mughals. p. 37.
14. Bakshi, S.R.; Ralhan, O.P. (2007). Madhya Pradesh Through the Ages. Sarup & Sons. p. 384. ISBN 978-81-7625-806-7.
15. Sinha H. N. (1954). Rise Of The Peshwas (1954). p. 161.

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