Battle of Saunshi

01Haidar moves north

Madhavrao Peshwa had beaten Haidar more than once and taken tribute and territory from him. After Madhavrao’s death in 1772 and the murder of Narayanrao the next year, the Maratha frontier in the south lay open. Haidar sided with Raghoba, who had promised him the lands north of the Tungabhadra, and began to take the forts and towns of the southern Maratha country. The Pune ministers sent an army under Haripant Phadke’s officers, with Konher Rao and Pandurang Rao among the commanders.

02The rout at Saunshi

Muhammad Ali, one of Haidar’s most trusted commanders, caught the Maratha force near Saunshi, south of Dharwad. The Marathas were broken. Konher Rao died on the field and Pandurang Rao was carried off a prisoner to Mysore. The defeat let Haidar take the country up to the Krishna, and the next year he besieged Nargund and Chitradurga. The Marathas would only win this land back under Nana Phadnavis in the war of 1785–87 against Tipu.