The Battle of Jaitpur was fought between the

Maratha Empire The Maratha Empire, also referred to as the Maratha Confederacy, was an early modern Indian confederation that came to dominate much of the Indian subcontinent in the 18th century. Maratha rule formally began in 1674 with the coronation of Sh ...

under

Peshwa The Peshwa (Pronunciation: e(ː)ʃʋaː was the appointed (later becoming hereditary) prime minister of the Maratha Empire of the Indian subcontinent. Originally, the Peshwas served as subordinates to the Chhatrapati (the Maratha king); later ...

Baji Rao I, on behalf of Chhatrasal Bundela, the ruler of Bundelkhand; and the

Mughal empire The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...

under of

Muhammad Khan Bangash Nawab Ghazanfar-Jang, Bangash Khan (1665 – 1743) was the first Nawab of Farrukhabad in Uttar Pradesh, India. He was a "Bawan Hazari Sardar" (Commander of 52,000 men strong force) in the Mughal Army. He served as governor of Malwa and Allahaba ...

in March 1729. Bangash attacked the state of Bundelkhand in December 1728. Being too old to fight, as well as heavily outnumbered,

Chhatrasal Chhatrasal Bundela (4 May 1649 – 20 December 1731) was an Indian warrior and ruler from the Bundela Rajput clan, who fought against the Mughal Empire, and established his own kingdom in Bundelkhand during the 17th-18th centuries. Early l ...

appealed Baji Rao for assistance- under whose leadership the Maratha-Bundela alliance defeated Bangash at Jaitpur.

Background

In Bundelkhand,

had rebelled against the

Mughal Empire The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...

and established an independent kingdom. In December 1728, a Mughal force led by

attacked him and besieged his fort and family. Although Chhatrasal repeatedly sought Baji Rao's assistance, he was busy in Malwa at the time. He compared his dire situation to that of

Gajendra Moksha Gajendra Moksha ( sa, गजेन्द्रमोक्षः) or The Liberation of Gajendra is a Puranic legend from the 8th Skandha of the ''Bhāgavata Purāṇa'', a sacred text in Hinduism. It is one of the famous exploits of the preserver ...

. In his letter to Baji Rao, Chhatrasal wrote the following words:

Battle

In March 1729, the Peshwa responded to Chhatrasal's request and marched towards Bundelkhand with 25,000 horsemen and his lieutenants Pilaji Jadhav, Tukoji Pawar, Naro Shankar, Ramsingha and Davalji Somwanshi. Chhatrasal escaped capture and joined the Maratha force, increasing it to 70,000 men. After marching to Jaitpur, Baji Rao's forces surrounded Bangash and cut his supply and communication lines. Bangash launched a counterattack against Baji Rao, but could not pierce his defences. Qaim Khan, son of Muhammad Khan Bangash, learned of his father's predicament and approached with fresh troops. His army was attacked by Baji Rao's forces, and he was defeated. Bangash was later forced to leave, signing an agreement that "he would never attack Bundelkhand again".

Aftermath

Chhatrasal's position as ruler of Bundelkhand was restored. He granted a large jagir to Baji Rao, and gave him his daughter from a concubine named Ruhani Bai, Mastani. Before Chhatrasal's death in December 1731, he ceded one-third of his territories to the Marathas.

References

Military history of India Bundelkhand 1729 in Asia 1729 in India Bundelkhand Bundelkhand {{MarathaEmpire