हिंदीOn this day

Battle of Mahidpur

Holkar army of IndoreThe boy Maharaja Malhar Rao Holkar II and his commanders
1817vs
VictorEast India CompanySir Thomas Hislop; Sir John Malcolm

Two days after the regent Tulsibai was murdered by her own officers, the Holkar army fought the Company on the Shipra at Mahidpur. Its gunners died at their guns, and Indore lost its independence.

Date: 21 December 1817Where: Mahidpur on the Shipra, Ujjain district, Madhya PradeshType: Battle
Photo: Unknown author · Public domain
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Cite

MLA

“Battle of Mahidpur.” Hindu History, 2026, https://www.hinduhistory.in/battles/battle-of-mahidpur-1817/. Accessed .

APA

Hindu History. (2026). Battle of Mahidpur. Retrieved , from https://www.hinduhistory.in/battles/battle-of-mahidpur-1817/

Result

The Holkar army was beaten after a hard fight for its guns; by the Treaty of Mandsaur Indore became a Company protectorate.

01A divided court

After Yashwantrao Holkar’s death in 1811 the Indore state was ruled in the name of his young son Malhar Rao II by Tulsibai, his widow. In the war of 1817, as the Company moved against the Pindaris and the Peshwa, Holkar’s army chiefs wanted to fight. Tulsibai leaned towards terms. On the night of 19–20 December her own officers seized her and killed her on the banks of the Shipra.

02The guns at the ford

On 21 December Hislop’s army found the Holkar army drawn up across the Shipra at Mahidpur, with a long line of guns on the far bank. The Company troops crossed by a single ford under heavy fire and formed up on the other side. Malcolm led the attack on the batteries. Prinsep, the official historian, records that the Holkar gunners stood and were killed at their pieces; the Company lost several hundred men killed and wounded. By afternoon the Holkar army had broken and the boy Maharaja had been carried away.

Holkars of Indore
Dynasty · 1733–1948 CEHolkars of IndoreMalhar Rao Holkar, a shepherd’s son from Hol near Jejuri, rose under Bajirao I to hold western Malwa. His daughter-in-law Ahilyabai ruled from Maheshwar for twenty-eight years and rebuilt temples across Bharat, including the Kashi Vishwanath temple that stands today.Read →

03The Treaty of Mandsaur

By the Treaty of Mandsaur on 6 January 1818 Holkar gave up his claims in Rajputana and lands south of the Satpuras, accepted a Company force and a Resident, and recognised Amir Khan as Nawab of Tonk. Malcolm stayed on to settle Malwa. Indore remained a princely state under the Holkars until 1948.

Why it matters

Mahidpur ended the Holkars as an independent power; with the Peshwa’s fall at Ashti weeks later, Maratha independence was over.

People 1

Yashwantrao HolkarRuler
3 Dec 1776 – 28 Oct 1811

Yashwantrao Holkar

Holkar ruler who fought the Company alone

Places near the battlefield 7

Kal Bhairav Temple, UjjainRebuilt
Maratha ascendancy and the Sikh empire

Kal Bhairav Temple, Ujjain

The temple of Kal Bhairav at Bhairavgarh on the Shipra, the guardian of Mahakal’s city, to whom liquor is offered and accepted. No pilgrimage to Ujjain is complete without his darshan.

Garhkalika Temple, UjjainStanding
Vedic Rishis and the Itihasa

Garhkalika Temple, Ujjain

Ujjayinyam Mahakali: many identify the Mahakali of the eighteen Shakti Peethas with Garhkalika, on the old fort mound of Avantika. Ujjain remembers it as the Devi who gave Kalidasa his speech.

Mangalnath Temple, UjjainStanding
Vedic Rishis and the Itihasa

Mangalnath Temple, Ujjain

A Shiva temple on a rise above the Shipra, held to be the birthplace of Mangal, the planet Mars. People with Mangal dosha in their horoscope come here for the bhat puja.

Gopal Mandir (Dwarkadhish), UjjainStanding
Company rule and the war of 1857

Gopal Mandir (Dwarkadhish), Ujjain

The second largest temple of Ujjain, a marble Maratha temple in the middle of the bazaar built by a Scindia queen. On Vaikuntha Chaturdashi Mahakal comes here at midnight to hand the world back to Hari.

Mahakaleshwar, UjjainRebuilt
Maratha ascendancy and the Sikh empire

Mahakaleshwar, Ujjain

The Jyotirlinga of Avantika, one of the seven moksha-giving cities, where Shiva is worshipped as Mahakal, Lord of Time and Death. The only Jyotirlinga facing south, and the only one bathed in ash at the dawn aarti.

Harsiddhi Mata, UjjainRebuilt
Vedic Rishis and the Itihasa

Harsiddhi Mata, Ujjain

The Devi temple of Ujjain, between the Mahakaleshwar temple and the Rudra Sagar, counted by tradition among the Shakti Peethas. She is remembered as the kuldevi of Raja Vikramaditya.

Chintaman Ganesh Temple, UjjainStanding
Vedic Rishis and the Itihasa

Chintaman Ganesh Temple, Ujjain

Ujjain’s largest Ganesh temple, across the Shipra at Jawasiya, where three self-manifest Ganesh murtis sit side by side. Ujjain holds that Shri Rama, Sita and Lakshmana worshipped here in their exile.