Battle of Wadgaon: Difference between revisions

Name: Battle of Wadgaon
Start: 1779-01-13
End: 1779-01-13
Location: Vadgaon Maval

Battle of Wadgaon
	Part of First Anglo-Maratha War
	; A mural depicting the British surrender during the First Anglo-Maratha War. The mural is a part of the Victory Memorial (Vijay Stambh) located at Vadgaon Maval (Off NH-4, Malinagar, Vadgaon Maval, Pune)
Date	12–13 January 1779
Location	Vadgaon Maval, Maharashtra, India18°44′55″N 73°38′28″E / 18.7486°N 73.641°E
Result	Maratha victory; Signing of the Treaty of Salbai;
Belligerents
Maratha Empire	East India Company
Commanders and leaders
Mahadji Shinde ; Tukoji Rao Holkar; Nana Fadnavis	Thomas Goddard; Captain James Stuart; Colonel Charles Egerton; Lt. Col Cay; Lt. Col Cockburn
Strength
	4,000 British forces , inclusive of artillery and gun men's under Stewart and Egerton.; small contingents of infantry and gunmens under Raghunath Rao
	Wadgaon is located in Maharashtra Wadgaon Location within Maharashtra Wadgaon Wadgaon (India)

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Latest revision as of 14:55, 1 December 2025

The Battle of Wadgaon (12–13 January 1779) was fought between the Maratha Confederacy and the British East India Company near Vadgaon Maval village in Maharashtra and was part of the First Anglo-Maratha War.^[2]

Event[edit | edit source]

A British force of over 3,000, supported by 19,000 bullocks, had run out of supplies during a slow march over the Ghats which was aimed at joining with another force coming from Bengal. Mahadji Shinde's men attacked and surrounded the British at Wadgoan as they retreated from their exposed position. The British were forced to surrender and agreed a treaty in February 1779 before being allowed to return to Bombay.^[3]

Legacy[edit | edit source]

In 2003, a group named 'Express Nagrik Vadgaon Vijaystambh Pratishthan' installed a victory pillar to commemorate the victory in the Battle of Wadgaon. The victory at the Battle of Wadgaon is still celebrated in the region every year.^[4]

References[edit | edit source]

↑ .R, Manjunath (3 June 2021). Timeline of Nearly Everything. Manjunath.R. p. 1531.
↑ .R, Manjunath (3 June 2021). Timeline of Nearly Everything. Manjunath.R. p. 1531.
↑ Eaton, Richard M. The Marathas - Cambridge History of India (Vol. 2, Part 4). p. 164.
↑ Paranjape, Shailendra (18 January 2018). "Vadgaon Maval – A tale of unsung heroes and astounding warcraft". Daily News & Analysis India.

[1] .R, Manjunath (3 June 2021). Timeline of Nearly Everything. Manjunath.R. p. 1531.

[2] .R, Manjunath (3 June 2021). Timeline of Nearly Everything. Manjunath.R. p. 1531.

[3] Eaton, Richard M. The Marathas - Cambridge History of India (Vol. 2, Part 4). p. 164.

[4] Paranjape, Shailendra (18 January 2018). "Vadgaon Maval – A tale of unsung heroes and astounding warcraft". Daily News & Analysis India.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+{{Short description|War in India}}
 {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}}
@@ Line 5: / Line 6: @@
 | image             = File:Maratha British Treaty.JPG
 | caption           = A mural depicting the British surrender during the First Anglo-Maratha War. The mural is a part of the Victory Memorial (Vijay Stambh) located at [[Vadgaon Maval]] (Off NH-4, Malinagar, [[Vadgaon Maval]], [[Pune]])
-| partof            =
+| partof            = [[First Anglo-Maratha War]]
 | date              = 12–13 January 1779
 | place             = [[Vadgaon Maval]], [[Maharashtra]], [[India]]
@@ Line 11: / Line 12: @@
 | map_type          = Maharashtra#India
 | map_relief        = yes
-| latitude          =
-| longitude         =
 | map_size          =
 | map_marksize      =
 | map_caption       = Location within [[Maharashtra]]
 | map_label         = Wadgaon
-| result            = Maratha victory <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/battle-of-Wadgaon|title=Battle of Wadgaon|publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica}}</ref><br />
+| result            = {{ublist|Maratha victory}}
-* The British East India Company retreats to [[Bombay]]<br />
+*Signing of the [[Treaty of Salbai]]<ref>{{Cite book |last=.R |first=Manjunath |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=17I2EAAAQBAJ&q=battle+of+wadgaon |title=Timeline of Nearly Everything |date=3 June 2021 |publisher=Manjunath.R |pages=1531 |language=English}}</ref>
-* Relinquishes all territories acquired by the Bombay office
-* Agrees to share revenues from the district of [[Bharuch|Broach]] (Bharuch)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/event/Convention-of-Wadgaon|title=Convention of Wadgaon|publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica}}</ref>
 | combatant1        = {{flag|Maratha Empire}}
 | combatant2        = [[Image:Flag of the British East India Company (1707).svg|23px]] [[East India Company]]
-| commander1        = [[Mahadji Shinde]]<br />[[Tukoji Rao Holkar]]<br />[[Nana Fadnavis]]
+| commander1        = [[File:Flag of the Maratha Empire.svg|border|22px]] [[Mahadji Shinde]] <br /> [[File:Flag of the Maratha Empire.svg|border|22px]] [[Tukoji Rao Holkar]]<br />[[File:Flag of the Maratha Empire.svg|border|22px]] [[Nana Fadnavis]]
-| commander2        = Thomas Goddard<br />captain James Stewart<br />colonol Egerton<br />Lt. Col Cay<br />Lt. Col Cockburn<br />[[Raghunathrao]]
+| commander2        = [[Image:Flag of the British East India Company (1707).svg|23px]] Thomas Goddard<br />[[Image:Flag of the British East India Company (1707).svg|23px]] Captain James Stuart<br />[[Image:Flag of the British East India Company (1707).svg|23px]] Colonel Charles Egerton<br />[[Image:Flag of the British East India Company (1707).svg|23px]] Lt. Col Cay<br />[[Image:Flag of the British East India Company (1707).svg|23px]] Lt. Col Cockburn
 | strength1         =
 | strength2         = 4,000 British forces , inclusive of artillery and gun men's under Stewart and Egerton.<br /> small contingents of infantry and gunmens under Raghunath Rao
-| name              = Battle of Wadgaon
 | causalities1      =
 }}
-The '''Battle of Wadgaon''' (12–13 January 1779) was a battle fought between the [[Maratha Empire]] and the [[British East India Company]] near [[Vadgaon Maval]] village in [[Maharashtra]] and was part of the [[First Anglo-Maratha War]].
+The '''Battle of Wadgaon''' (12–13 January 1779) was fought between the [[Maratha Confederacy]] and the [[British East India Company]] near [[Vadgaon Maval]] village in [[Maharashtra]] and was part of the [[First Anglo-Maratha War]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=.R |first=Manjunath |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=17I2EAAAQBAJ&q=battle+of+wadgaon |title=Timeline of Nearly Everything |date=3 June 2021 |publisher=Manjunath.R |pages=1531 |language=English}}</ref>
-==Background==
+==Event==
-The port of [[Mumbai|Bombay (Mumbai)]] had been under British rule since 1661. Towards the second half of the 18th century, with the rise of the [[Maratha Empire]], the British felt the need to secure the port and taking control of the supply routes to it from [[Vasai|Bassein]] (now known as Vasai) to the north and from [[Pune]] to the east, both of which were part of the Maratha Empire. Also, the Marathas had started [[Franco-Indian alliances|negotiations with the French]], which was alarming for the British.<br />
+A British force of over 3,000, supported by 19,000 bullocks, had run out of supplies during a slow march over the Ghats which was aimed at joining with another force coming from [[Bengal]]. [[Mahadji Shinde]]'s men attacked and surrounded the British at [[Vadgaon Maval|Wadgoan]] as they retreated from their exposed position. The British were forced to surrender and agreed a treaty in February 1779 before being allowed to return to Bombay.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Eaton |first=Richard M. |url=http://archive.org/details/the-marathas-1600-1818-cambridge-history-of-india-vol.-2-part-4 |title=The Marathas - Cambridge History of India (Vol. 2, Part 4)|page=164}}</ref>
-With this objective, on 6 March 1775 the British entered into the [[Treaty of Surat]] with [[Raghunathrao]] who was a claimant to the Peshwa throne. As per the treaty, Raghunathrao would be installed as Peshwa and in return would cede [[Salsette]] and [[Bassein Fort]] to the British.<ref>{{cite book|author=William Wilson Hunter|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yUhvfR1S_UEC&dq=treaty+of+surat&pg=PA391|title=The Indian Empire: Its People, History, and Products|publisher=Asian Educational Services|year= 2005|isbn=9788120615816|pages=747}}</ref>
-==British in the Bor Ghat==
-The campaign began in November 1778, when British forces under Capt. James Stewart and Col. Egerton, among others proceeded from Mumbai towards Pune via the [[Bhor Ghat|Bor Ghat]] (this ghat was also used by [[Shivaji]] on his return from [[Surat]] and currently is part of [[Mumbai]] – Pune railway). Col. Egerton captured the [[Belapur Fort|Belapur fort]] and established a base at [[Panvel]], while Capt. Stewart proceeded to [[Khandala]] (22nd November 1778). The British forces number nearly 4000, inclusive of artillery and gun lashkars. Small contingents of infantry and cavalry were also with [[Raghoba|Raghunath Rao]]. The British were counting on [[Nana Fadnavis|Nana Phadnis]] to resist at Pune with a force of 7-8 thousand. Moreover, the British resident at Pune, Mr. Mostyn was convinced that Shinde and Holkar would desert Pune and join Raghoba as soon as the British were in sight! Both proved to be fatal errors for the British.
-From Panvel, Col. Egerton reached [[Khopoli]] and established a second British base in the valley in the winter of 1778 . Capt. James Stewart had by then reached the village of Khandala and established a camp at the top of the ghat. Col Egerton followed suit and by the middle of December, a large British force had assembled there. Col. Egerton then divided his forces between Lt. Col Cay and Lt. Col Cockburn. Throughout the march from the fort at Mumbai, they had faced no resistance from the Marathas and the morale was thus sky high in the British camp.
-<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.britannica.com/event/Maratha-Wars | title=Maratha Wars &#124; British-Maratha history &#124; Britannica }}</ref>
-==Preliminaries==
-The East India Company's force from Bombay consisted of about 3,900 men (about 600 Europeans, the rest Asian) accompanied by many thousands of servants and specialist workers.  They were joined on the way by [[Raghunath Rao]]'s forces, adding several thousand more soldiers, and more artillery.<br />
-The Maratha army included forces contributed by all the partners in the federation, tens of thousands in all, commanded by [[Tukojirao Holkar]] and General [[Mahadji Shinde]].
-Mahadji slowed down the British march and sent forces west to cut off its supply lines.  When they found out about this, the British halted at [[Talegaon]], a few hours' brisk march from [[Pune]], but days away for the thousands of support staff with their ox-drawn carts.{{Citation needed|date=February 2017}}  Now the Maratha cavalry harassed the enemy from all sides. The Marathas also utilized a scorched earth strategy, vacating villages, removing food-grain stocks, burning farmland and poisoning wells.<ref>{{cite news |last= Athale|first= Colonel Anil A|date=12 January 2018|title=How a Maratha general defeated the British|url=https://www.rediff.com/news/column/how-a-maratha-general-defeated-the-british/20180112.htm|newspaper=Rediff News}}</ref>
-==Battle==
-The British began to withdraw from Talegaon in the middle of the night, but the Marathas attacked, forcing them to halt in the village of Wadgaon (now called Vadgaon or [[Vadgaon Maval]]), where the British force was surrounded on 12 January 1779. By the end of the next day, the British were ready to discuss surrender terms, and on 16 January signed the 'Treaty of Wadgaon', the terms of which forced the Bombay government to relinquish all territories acquired by the Bombay office of the [[East India Company]] since 1773, the halting of a British force marching towards [[Pune]] from [[Bengal]]; and a share of revenues from the district of Broach (Bharuch).<ref>Beveridge, Henry [https://books.google.com/books?id=hRENAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA448&lpg=PA448&ots=s-E-Z3JG6w&sig=1HHmsff5rkrCrqWwpaCBBTcZ2Oo A Comprehensive History of India], London, Blackie (1862), via Google Books, accessed 2008-01-27</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/event/Convention-of-Wadgaon|title=Convention of Wadgaon|publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica}}</ref>
-==Aftermath==
-In a spirit of chivalry, the Marathas permitted the British to retreat to Bombay. As per British historian James Douglas, this proved to be a strategic mistake with ramifications not just for the Maratha Empire, but the history of India, when he said that had Nana Fadnavis, the powerful minister in Pune, been like [[Napoleon Bonaparte|Napoleon]] or [[Edward I of England|Edward I]], no British soldier would have survived to tell the tale and the whole course of history of India would have been different.<ref>{{cite news |last= Paranjpe|first= Shailendra|date=16 January 2018|title=Vadgaon Maval – A tale of unsung heroes and astounding warcraft|url=https://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-vadgaon-maval-a-tale-of-unsung-heroes-and-astounding-warcraft-2575765|newspaper=DNA India}}</ref>
-The treaty of Wadgaon did not last very long and the British Governor-General in Bengal, [[Warren Hastings]], rejected the treaty on the grounds that the Bombay officials had no legal power to sign it, and ordered that British interests be secured in the area.<ref>{{cite book|author=Spencer C. Tucker|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yUhvfR1S_UEC&dq=treaty+of+surat&pg=PA391|title=A Global Chronology of Conflict: From the Ancient World to the Modern Middle East|publisher=ABC-CLIO|year= 2009|isbn=9781851096725|location=940|pages=2777}}</ref>
 ==Legacy==
-In 2003, a group named 'Express Nagrik Vadgaon Vijaystambh Pratishthan' installed a victory pillar to commemorate the victory in the Battle of Wadgaon. The victory at the Battle of Wadgaon is still celebrated in the region every year.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-vadgaon-maval-a-tale-of-unsung-heroes-and-astounding-warcraft-2575765|title= Vadgaon Maval – A tale of unsung heroes and astounding warcraft|date=18 January 2018}}</ref>
+In 2003, a group named 'Express Nagrik Vadgaon Vijaystambh Pratishthan' installed a victory pillar to commemorate the victory in the Battle of Wadgaon. The victory at the Battle of Wadgaon is still celebrated in the region every year.<ref>{{cite news |last=Paranjape |first=Shailendra |date=18 January 2018 |title=Vadgaon Maval – A tale of unsung heroes and astounding warcraft |work=Daily News & Analysis India |url=https://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-vadgaon-maval-a-tale-of-unsung-heroes-and-astounding-warcraft-2575765}}</ref>
 ==References==
@@ Line 66: / Line 42: @@
 [[Category:Conflicts in 1779|Wadgaon]]
 [[Category:1779 in India]]
-[[Category:Battles involving British India|Wadgaon]]
 [[Category:Battles involving the Maratha Empire|Wadgaon]]
 [[Category:Battles involving the British East India Company|Wadgaon]]
-{{Battle-stub}}
-{{India-hist-stub}}