Battle of Yerwada

01After Khadki

On 5 November 1817 Baji Rao II had attacked the small Company force at Khadki and failed to break it. The Residency had already been burnt. His army stayed camped around the city while the Company called up Brigadier-General Lionel Smith’s division, which was operating to the north. Smith arrived on 13 November and joined the Khadki force, and the two together prepared to cross the Mula-Mutha and attack the Peshwa’s position on the far side.

02The crossing and the withdrawal

On 16 November the Company columns crossed at the Yerwada ford under fire. There was sharp skirmishing with the Maratha horse, but Bapu Gokhale, who led the Peshwa’s army, did not offer a full battle. That night the Peshwa left with his army towards Satara and the south. On 17 November the city surrendered, and the Company flag went up over the Shaniwar Wada, the seat of the Peshwas for a century.

Battle · 5 November 1817Battle of Khadki (Kirkee)At Khadki, outside Pune, Peshwa Bajirao II made his break with the Company. His army was many times larger, but its cavalry charge was stopped, and within two weeks the British flag flew over Shaniwar Wada.Read →