Battle of Maonda and Mandholi

2021-07-03T09:58:16Z

2401:4900:16A8:1874:AF7C:CDAC:4B1C:663B: Fixed typo

{{Copy edit|for=grammar|date=June 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2019}}
{{Use Indian English|date=April 2019}}
{{Short description|War between Jat ruled Bharatpur and Kachawaha territory of Jaipur}}{{Infobox military conflict
| image =
| caption =
| date = 14 December 1767
| place = [[Mandholi]], [[Rajasthan]]
| coordinates =
| result = Jaipur Victory<ref name="Rima Hooja">{{Cite book |last=Hooja |first=Rima |title=A History of Rajasthan |publisher=Rupa Publication |year=2006 |location=New Delhi |pages=726, 736}}</ref><ref name="Alwar Gazetteer">{{Cite book |last=Ram |first=Maya |title=Rajasthan District Gazetteer, Alwar |year=1968 |page=61}}</ref><ref name="Jadunath Sarkar 2">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O0oPIo9TXKcC |title=A History of Jaipur: C. 1503–1938 |first=Jadunath |last=Sarkar |year=1994 |page=259|isbn=9788125003335 }}</ref>
| combatant1 = [[File:Flag of Jaipur.svg|25px|]] [[Jaipur state|Kingdom of Jaipur]]
| combatant2 = [[File:Flag of Bharatpur.png|25px]] [[Bharatpur State|Kingdom of Bharatpur]]
| commander1 = [[Madho Singh I|Madho Singh]]
| commander2 = [[Jawahar Singh]]
| strength1 = 16,000 Horsemen and Infantry<ref name=CT>{{Cite book|first=Jadunath|last=Sarkar|title=Fall of the Mughal Empire vol-2|publisher=Orient Black Swan|year=2007|isbn=9788125032458|pages=284|quote=The Kachwaha tribe could no longer restrain themselves. The long halt of Jawahar at Pushkar gave them enough time to assemble their tribal levy of 16,000 horse besides infantry.}}</ref>
| strength2 = 25,000 infantry<ref name="Jadunath Sarkar Z"/><br>15,000 cavalry<ref name="Jadunath Sarkar Z"/><br>300 cannons<ref name="Jadunath Sarkar Z">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O0oPIo9TXKcC |title=A History of Jaipur: C. 1503–1938 |first=Jadunath |last=Sarkar |year=1994 |page=252|isbn=9788125003335 }}</ref>
| casualties1 =
| casualties2 =
| conflict = Maonda Mandholi War
}}

The '''Battle of Maonda and Mandholi''' was fought between the rulers of [[Jaipur]] and [[Bharatpur, Rajasthan|Bharatpur]] in 1767 in [[Rajasthan]]. Maharaja [[Jawahar Singh]] of [[Bharatpur State|Bharatpur]] was leading an army on his way back from [[Pushkar]] when the forces of [[Madhosingh I|Maharaja Sawai Madho Singh]] of Jaipur met them near [[Maonda]] and [[Mandholi]] villages close to present day [[Neem ka Thana]]. The Bharatpur forces under [[Jawahar Singh]] were defeated and the Jaipur ruler [[Madho Singh I]] followed up his victory by invading [[Bharatpur, Rajasthan|Bharatpur]] at the head of 16,000 men where he defeated [[Jawahar Singh]] again on 29 February 1768.<ref name="Jadunath Sarkar 1">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O0oPIo9TXKcC |title=A History of Jaipur: C. 1503–1938 |first=Jadunath |last=Sarkar |year=1994 |pages=253–256|isbn=9788125003335 }}</ref>

==Background==
[[Suraj Mal]] had been a loyal ally to the house of Jaipur. He would visit [[Jai Singh II]] every Dussehra and present gifts to him and whenever Jai Singh passed through Bharatpur territory Surajmal would wait upon him and feed the Jaipur Raja and his troops and then lay the keys of his forts before him saying that "they were the property of his overlord". Jai Singh also favoured the Bharatpur Raja and secured a province worth 5 lakh rupees a year for them. These good relations continued till Surajmal's death, his successor Jawahar Singh was very proud of the wealth and the soldiers that he inherited from his father. Jawahar Singh's army was trained and led by Europeans like Madec and Samru and consisted of 15,000 cavalry, 25,000 infantry (not counting the garrisons) and 300 pieces of artillery. He thus found no need to give allegiance to Madho Singh, the son of Jai Singh and then Raja of Jaipur. The growing enmity between the Rajas of [[Bharatpur State|Bharatpur]] and [[Jaipur state|Jaipur]] continued to rise.<ref name="Jadunath Sarkar 1"/>

[[Jawahar Singh]] the ruler of Bharatpur state had earlier defeated his step brother Nahar Singh thus Nahar Singh escaped to the nearby Jaipur state in refuge. The insult meted out at himself made Nahar Singh desperate. Hence he succumbed to death by poisoning himself leaving his widow behind in the Jaipur state. Jawahar now demanded his widow, who is described by [[Jadunath Sarkar]] as one of the most beautiful women on the earth. But, the lady refused, justly fearing Jawahar's notorious character (Jawahar Singh wanted to add the widow to his harem), and Madho Singh could not forcibly expel an asylum seeker.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sarkar |first=Jadunath |title=The Fall of Mughal Empire Vol. 2 |publisher=Orient BlackSwan |quote= He demanded from Madho Singh the surrender of Nahar Singh's widow and children (with their hoarded treasures). The lady refused, justly fearing Jawahir's notorious character, and the Jaipur rajah could not forcibly expel a suppliant for asylum. Jawahir taxed him with the design of adding this beautiful widow to his harem-the very step he himself had been contemplating.|pages=284}}</ref> This made Jawahar furious. Further Jawahar was also keeping his eyes upon the Narnol district, which was a territory of [[Jaipur state]]. Jawahar Singh along with his [[Sikh]] mercenaries had made several iincursions into the Jaipur state and their unchecked aggression made [[Madho Singh I|Madho Singh]] intrigue against Jawahar and the Bharatpur state.<ref name="Jadunath Sarkar 1"/>

In 1767, Jawahar Singh marched through Jaipur territory with his whole army along with French trained battalions and artillery guns to reach [[Pushkar]]. There he met with the ruler of [[Jodhpur State|Marwar]] state; [[Vijay Singh of Marwar|Vijay Singh]] and an agreement was signed between them to oust the [[Maratha Empire|Marathas]], who were making raids in [[Rajputana]] following their defeat at the hands of [[Ahmed Shah Abdali]] in 1761. The meeting between the two was not liked by Madho Singh. According to [[Jadunath Sarkar]], Madho Singh reprimanded Vijay Singh for sitting equally with Jawahar Singh, who he considered a mere peasant and a servant of Jaipur.<ref name="Jadunath Sarkar 1"/>

==Battle==
[[Jawahar Singh|Jawahar]] thus attacked the villages of Jaipur in revenge and looted them besides molesting the villagers while returning from [[Pushkar]]. The [[Kachwaha]] army followed them and attacked forces of [[Bharatpur State|Bharatpur]] at Mandholi, which was the last station of the Jaipur state and was located near to the frontiers of Bharatpur state. The [[Jaipur State|Jaipur]] artillery had lagged behind hence their first attack was repulsed by Bharatpur army. [[Jat people|Jats]] then hoping to escape from the battlefield entered a narrow pass ahead of them. But Kachwaha cavalry overtook them in the middle of the pass, and Jats made half turn to offer battle. Jaipur forces stood firmly against the guns of Bharatpur and finally threw themselves with swords in hand onto Jat army. The Jat army fled away with the first shock of Jaipur cavalry abandoning their baggage and artillery which was captured by Jaipur forces. The French sepoys of [[Walter Reinhardt Sombre|Samru]] and Madec saved Jawahar Singh and protected him from being captured and enabled him to retreat into his territory though rest of his army was already dispersed. The royal umbrella of Jawahar Singh was also abandoned in the battlefield along with their baggage and artillery.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Hooja |first=Rima |title=A History of Rajasthan |publisher=Rupa Publication |year=2006 |location=New Delhi |pages=726}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Sarkar |first=Jadunath |title=The Fall of Mughal Empire Vol. 2 |publisher=Orient Black Swan |pages=285}}</ref>

==Result==
The [[Bharatpur State|Bharatpur]] army thus retreated into their territory after being defeated<ref name="Jadunath Sarkar 2"/> in the fierce battle which resulted in heavy casualties on both sides, death toll supposedly reaching 5,000. The soldiers of Bharatpur abandoned their artillery and royal standards, including the royal umbrella of their king. According to Sarkar, the [[Jaipur State|Jaipur]] army lost most of their important generals with death toll on their side reaching 2000–3000. This had happened due to the superior artillery of Bharatpur and the presence of French led sepoys of Samru and Madec, on the other hand Kachwaha artillery and infantry was lagging behind.<ref name="Jadunath Sarkar 1"/> According to some sources [[Jawahar Singh|Jawahar Singh's]] defeat is ascribed to him insulting the Jaipur Raja by not intimating him about his motive while tresspasing through his territory. It is why the Rajputs attacked Jawahar Singh and defeated him.<ref name="Alwar Gazetteer"/> According to Rima Hooja, Pratap Singh led the Jaipur forces to victory against Jawahar Singh.<ref name="Hooja">{{Cite book |last=Hooja |first=Rima |title=A History of Rajasthan |publisher=Rupa Publication |year=2006 |location=New Delhi |quote=Pratap Singh quickly returned to serve it, and led the Jaipur forces to victory against Jawahar Singh of Bharatpur in the battle of Mawade in 1767. The battlefield is also called Maonda-Mandholi, and is located in the torawati hills |page=726}}</ref>

==Aftermath==
{{Main|Battle of Kama}}
[[Madho Singh I|Madho Singh]] then decided to invade [[Bharatpur State]] in order to follow up his victory. He made an intrusion into territory of Bharatpur and a sanguinary fight followed, in which Madho Singh again defeated [[Jawahar Singh]] at [[Battle of Kama|Kama]]. Madho Singh later retreated to his State due to the arrival of fresh contingent of 20,000 [[Sikhs|Sikh]] mercenaries, who were employed by Jawahar Singh for seven Lakh a month. The fortune of Jats was shaken in the battle and the result had been fatal to them. They returned home pillaged, stupefied and overthrown. The land beyond [[Chambal River|Chambal]] (recently conquered by Jawahar Singh) rose after the first report of the rout. His own country was the prey of enemy who followed him close. Madho Singh died in the following year due illness from the tiredness of the campaign, on the other hand Jawahar Singh was assassinated by one of his own trusted servicemen.<ref name="Jadunath Sarkar 1"/>

==See also==
*[[Jaipur state]]
*[[Bharatpur State]]
*[[Jodhpur State]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

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[[Category:Battles involving the Indian kingdoms|Maonda and Mandholi]]
[[Category:Conflicts in 1776|Maonda and Mandholi]]
[[Category:1776 in India]]
[[Category:History of Rajasthan]]
[[Category:Battles involving the Rajputs|Mandholi]]

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Battle of Maonda and Mandholi