Battle of Salher

01Two armies converge

Shivaji’s men had taken Salher, one of the highest forts of the Sahyadri, early in 1671. The Mughal governor of the Deccan sent Ikhlas Khan and Bahlol Khan to win it back. Shivaji ordered Prataprao Gujar up from the south and Moropant Pingle from the Konkan side. They struck together. The Sabhasad Bakhar describes a day so thick with dust that men could not tell friend from foe. The Mughal army broke, and its leaders were taken prisoner.

02The cost

Surya Rao Kakade, one of Shivaji’s oldest comrades, fell at Salher. After the battle the Marathas held Salher and Mulher and with them the road from the Deccan into Gujarat. Salher is a hard climb today, past rock-cut water tanks to a small Parashurama temple on the summit.

Person · 1630–1680 CE; crowned 1674Chhatrapati Shivaji MaharajBorn at Shivneri on 19 February 1630, Shivaji built a free Maratha state from a handful of hill forts around Pune, outfought Bijapur and the Mughals, escaped from Aurangzeb’s court, and was crowned Chhatrapati at Raigad on 6 June 1674.Read →