Battle of Palkhed

01The chase

In 1727 the Nizam backed a rival claim against Chhatrapati Shahu and marched on Pune. Bajirao did not stand to meet him. He took his light horse north into Khandesh and Gujarat, threatening the Nizam’s own lands, and the Nizam had to turn and follow with his guns and baggage. Bajirao kept just out of reach, wore the army out, then drew it into waterless ground near Palkhed and closed the roads.

02Mungi Shevgaon

By the treaty of Mungi Shevgaon in March 1728 the Nizam accepted Shahu as the only Chhatrapati and recognised the Maratha right to chauth and sardeshmukhi in the Deccan. Field Marshal Montgomery, in his History of Warfare, held up the campaign as a model of strategic mobility.

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 →