Battle of Ram Chatauni

01The quarrel over Farrukhabad

After Qaim Jang Bangash fell fighting the Rohillas in 1749, Safdar Jang tried to take the Bangash lands into the imperial treasury. The family rose under Ahmad Khan, Qaim Jang’s brother. On the night of 12 August 1750 at Khudaganj his men surprised and killed Naval Rai, Safdar Jang’s Hindu deputy in the region. Safdar Jang, furious, came down from Delhi with the imperial army and the Jats of Suraj Mal and camped near Marhara.

02The wazir beaten

On 13 September 1750 the Afghans struck at Ram Chatauni. Safdar Jang’s centre gave way, he was hit and his attendants carried him off, and the imperial army scattered. Suraj Mal’s Jats were among the few who kept order. Ahmad Khan followed up by overrunning the Doab and laying siege to Allahabad. Safdar Jang turned to Malhar Rao Holkar and Jayappa Scindia, and the Maratha armies that answered him broke the Bangash power the next spring.

Person · 16 Mar 1693 – 20 May 1766Malhar Rao HolkarA Dhangar shepherd boy from the village of Hol near Jejuri, Malhar Rao rose under Peshwa Bajirao I to be one of the great Maratha commanders in Malwa and founded the Holkar state of Indore. He rode with every major Maratha campaign for forty years, from Palkhed to Attock and Panipat.Read →