Battle of Poona (Hadapsar)

01A brother’s death

After Nana Phadnavis died in 1800, the Maratha confederacy fell into feuds. Daulat Rao Scindia dominated the young Peshwa Baji Rao II, and the Holkar house was split. In April 1801 the Peshwa had Yashwantrao’s brother Vithoji Holkar trampled to death by an elephant in Pune. Yashwantrao marched on the capital. On 25 October 1802, the day of Diwali, he met the Peshwa’s troops and Scindia’s brigades at Hadapsar and, leading his cavalry in person, broke them after a hard fight.

02The road to Bassein

Baji Rao fled, first to Sinhagad and then down the Konkan to Bassein, where on 31 December 1802 he signed a subsidiary treaty with the Company, accepting its troops and giving up his independence in foreign affairs. Yashwantrao set up Amrit Rao, the Peshwa’s adoptive brother, at Pune, but in May 1803 Arthur Wellesley marched in and restored Baji Rao. Scindia and the Bhonsle of Nagpur, seeing the treaty as the end of Maratha freedom, went to war with the Company that year.

Person · 3 Dec 1776 – 28 Oct 1811Yashwantrao HolkarA son of Tukoji Holkar, Yashwantrao fought his way to the head of the Holkar house, beat the Peshwa and Shinde together at Pune in 1802, and then took on the East India Company. He destroyed Monson’s column in 1804 and helped hold Bharatpur against four British assaults in 1805.Read →