Capture of Kunjpura

01Vengeance for Dattaji

Kunjpura, a fortified town on the Yamuna north of Karnal, held some thousands of Afghan troops and a great store of grain for Abdali’s army camped across the river. Bhau, short of food in Delhi, marched north and took it by storm in mid-October 1760. Abdus Samad Khan, Abdali’s governor of Sirhind, was killed. Qutb Shah, who had cut off Dattaji Shinde’s head at Burari Ghat in January, was taken and put to death. The Maratha army kept Dasara in Kunjpura with captured horses and grain.

02Abdali crosses

Abdali could not save Kunjpura from across the flooded river, but its fall stung him into action. Late in October he found a ford near Baghpat and crossed the Yamuna, putting his army between the Marathas and Delhi. Bhau, now cut off from his base, fell back to Panipat and dug in. The siege of the next two and a half months ended in the battle of 14 January 1761.

Person · 1730 – 14 Jan 1761Sadashivrao BhauThe son of Chimaji Appa and cousin of the Peshwa Balaji Bajirao, Bhau won the Battle of Udgir against the Nizam in 1760 and was sent north the same year to meet Ahmad Shah Abdali. He took Delhi and Kunjpura, and died with most of his army at Panipat on 14 January 1761.Read →