Battle of Bhatvadi
The Battle of Bhatvadi (also Bhatavadi or Bhatwadi) was fought in 1624, near modern Bhatodi Pargaon village in Maharashtra, India. The Ahmadnagar army led by Malik Ambar defeated a combined Mughal-Bijapur force led by the Bijapuri general Mullah Muhammad Lari.
| Battle of Bhatvadi | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Mughal invasion of Deccan | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| Ahmadnagar Sultanate |
Bijapur Sultanate Mughal Empire Golconda Sultanate[1] | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Malik Ambar Shahaji Sarfoji †[2] |
Mullah Muhammad Lari † Ikhlas Khan (POW)[3] Lashkar Khan (POW)[4] Farhad Khan  [5]Randaula Khan (WIA)[6] Lakhuji Jadhav[7] | ||||||
  Bhatvadi Location of Bhatvadi in India  Bhatvadi Bhatvadi (Maharashtra) | |||||||
Malik Ambar's army was being pursued by the allied forces, when he took shelter at a fortified complex near Bhatvadi. He then breached a dam to cause flooding that prevented the allied cavalry from approaching his camp. Meanwhile, disagreements between various generals and heavy rains added to the chaos in the Mughal-Bijapur camp. Taking advantage of this situation, Malik Ambar attacked the allied camp, and achieved a decisive victory, imprisoning several Bijapuri and Mughal generals. Muhammad Lari was killed, possibly on the orders of the rival Bijapuri general Ikhlas Khan.
The generals of the Ahmadnagar army included Shahaji, whose son Shivaji subsequently established a kingdom that evolved into the Maratha Empire. The Maratha records portray the battle of Bhatvadi as an auspicious omen signaling the rise of the Maratha power.
Background
The Ahmadnagar Sultanate was a major kingdom in the Deccan region of India; it was officially ruled by the Nizam Shahi dynasty, but its de facto ruler was the powerful minister Malik Ambar. Ahmadnagar was involved in conflicts against its northern neighbour, the Mughal Empire, its southern neighbour, the Bijapur Sultanate, ruled by the Adil Shahi dynasty, and its eastern neighbour, the Golconda Sultanate. A peace treaty between the Mughals and Bijapur led to their alliance against Ahmadnagar. Malik Ambar could not match the military superiority of the Bijapur-Mughal forces, and relied on guerilla tactics.[8]
Shahaji and other local Maratha chiefs frequently changed their allegiance between the warring sides. Sometime before the battle of Bhatvadi, Shahaji and some other Maratha leaders joined the Mughals, but returned to Malik Ambar's service just before the battle.[9] The Maratha officers who fought on Malik Ambar's side at Bhatvadi included Shahaji, Sharofji, Maloji, Parsoji, Mambaji, Nagoji, Trimbakji, Kakoji, Hambir Rao Chavan, Madhji, Nar Singh Raj, Ballela Tripul, Vithal Raj Kavata, Dattaji, Naganath, Nar Singh Pingle, and Sunder Jagdev.[10]
By 1624, the Mughals had captured the Ahmadnagar city, and Malik Ambar controlled the rural areas to the east of the city.[11] After a series of conflicts and negotiations, Malik Ambar invaded the Bijapur Sultanate, and besieged its capital, the Bijapur city. The Bijapuri king Ibrahim Adil Shah II asked his general Mullah Muhammad Lari to come to Bijapur, and also secured support of the Mughal viceroy Sarbuland Rai by offering 200,000 huns to him. Meanwhile, an epidemic killed 500 horses in Malik Ambar's camp in a single night. He attempted to convince the Mughals to stay away from the conflict and tried to negotiate a peace treaty with Bijapur, but was unsuccessful. The impending arrival of a combined Bijapur-Mughal army forced him to retreat from Bijapur.[12]
Adil Shah sent an army led by Ikhlas Khan Habshi to pursue Malik Ambar's retreating army, and shortly after, sent a larger army comprising Mughal and Bijapur troops commanded by Muhammad Lari.[13]
- ↑ Tamaskar, B. g (1978). The Life and Work Of Malik Ambar. Delhi., Idarah-i Adabiyat-i.
- ↑ Tamaskar, B. g (1978). The Life and Work Of Malik Ambar. Delhi., Idarah-i Adabiyat-i.
- ↑ Tamaskar, B. g (1978). The Life and Work Of Malik Ambar. Delhi., Idarah-i Adabiyat-i.
- ↑ Tamaskar, B. g (1978). The Life and Work Of Malik Ambar. Delhi., Idarah-i Adabiyat-i.
- ↑ Tamaskar, B. g (1978). The Life and Work Of Malik Ambar. Delhi., Idarah-i Adabiyat-i.
- ↑ Tamaskar, B. g (1978). The Life and Work Of Malik Ambar. Delhi., Idarah-i Adabiyat-i.
- ↑ Tamaskar, B. g (1978). The Life and Work Of Malik Ambar. Delhi., Idarah-i Adabiyat-i.
- ↑ Pushkar Sohoni 2016, pp. 15-16.
- ↑ Stewart Gordon 1993, p. 44.
- ↑ Richard M. Eaton 2006, p. 134.
- ↑ Pushkar Sohoni 2016, p. 16.
- ↑ Shanti Sadiq Ali 1996, pp. 79-80.
- ↑ Shanti Sadiq Ali 1996, p. 80.