The Battle of Salher was a battle fought between the

Marathas The Marathi people (Marathi: मराठी लोक) or Marathis are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who are indigenous to Maharashtra in western India. They natively speak Marathi, an Indo-Aryan language. Maharashtra was formed as a M ...

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 ...

in February 1672 CE. The battle was fought near the fort of

Salher Salher is a place located near Waghamba in Satana tehsil in Nashik district of Maharashtra, India.The old name of Salher was Gavalgarh, which was based on the name of the local Bhil king named Gaval Bhil, he was the discoverer of this place. I ...

in the

Nashik Nashik (, Marathi: aːʃik, also called as Nasik ) is a city in the northern region of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Situated on the banks of river Godavari, Nashik is the third largest city in Maharashtra, after Mumbai and Pune. Nashik ...

district. The result was a decisive victory for the

. This battle is considered particularly significant as it is the first pitched battle in which the

lost to the

Background

The

Treaty of Purandar (1665) The Treaty of Purandar was signed on 11 June 1665, between Jai Singh I, commander of the Mughal Empire, and Shivaji. Shivaji was forced to sign the agreement after Jai Singh besieged Purandar fort. When Shivaji realised that war with the Mughal ...

required

Shivaji Shivaji Bhonsale I (; 19 February 1630 – 3 April 1680), also referred to as Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, was an Indian ruler and a member of the Bhonsle Maratha clan. Shivaji carved out his own independent kingdom from the declining Adils ...

to cede 23 forts to the

Mughals 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 ...

. Strategically important forts, which were fortified with garrisons, such as

Sinhagad Sinhagad is an ancient hill fortress located at around 49 km southwest of the city of Pune, India. Previously known as ''Kondhana'', the fort had been the site of many battles, most notably the Battle of Sinhagad in 1670. The Sinhagad ...

, Purandar,

Lohagad Lohagad is one of the many hill forts of Maharashtra state in India. Situated close to the hill station Lonavala and northwest of Pune, Lohagad rises to an elevation of above sea level. The fort is connected to the neighboring Visapur for ...

, Karnala, and

Mahuli Mahuli is an area of the Indian state of Maharashtra, covering about 6km. It is approximately 75km north-east of Mumbai in the 421601 postcode. Features Mahuli Fort, located 2815 ft above sea level, is a popular trekking and rock clim ...

were turned over to the Mughal empire. At the time of this treaty, the

region, that contained the forts

and

Mulher Mulher is a village in the Nashik district of Maharashtra, India. Location The village of Mulher (Mayurnagari) is located on the Southern bank of the Mausam River. It is 3.5 km east by road of the village Vide Digar and the Haranbari Da ...

, was firmly in the Mughal Empire's hands since 1636. The signing of this treaty resulted in Shivaji's visit to Agra and after his famous escape from the same in September 1666, 2 years of ‘uneasy truce’ followed. The period between 1670-1672 saw a dramatic rise in Shivaji’s power and territory. Shivaji’s armies successfully conducted raids at Baglan,

Khandesh Khandesh is a geographic region in Central India, which includes parts of the northwestern portion of Maharashtra as well as Burhanpur District of Madhya Pradesh. The use of Khandeshi Language (a.k.a. the Ahirani Language) is prevalent in ...

, and Surat and retook more than a dozen forts. This culminated with a decisive victory against a Mughal army of more than 40,000 on an open field near

The Battle

Senapati Prataprao Gujar and along with his army of 15,000 captured the Mughal forts Aundha, Patta,

Trimbak Trimbak (also known as Trimbakeshwar Trayambakēśvara) is a city and a municipal council in Nashik District in the Indian state of Maharashtra. The Trimbakeshwar Shiva Temple is located here, one of the twelve Jyotirlingas, where the Hindu gene ...

and attacked

and

in January 1671. This led

Aurangzeb Muhi al-Din Muhammad (; – 3 March 1707), commonly known as ( fa, , lit=Ornament of the Throne) and by his regnal title Alamgir ( fa, , translit=ʿĀlamgīr, lit=Conqueror of the World), was the sixth emperor of the Mughal Empire, ruling ...

to send two of his generals Ikhlas Khan and Bahlol Khan along with 12,000 horsemen to reclaim

. In October 1671, the

Mughal Army The Army of the Mughal Empire was the force by which the Mughal emperors established their empire in the 15th century and expanded it to its greatest extent at the beginning of the 18th century. Although its origins, like the Mughals themselves, ...

laid siege on

. In return

commanded his two commanders Peshwa Moropant Pingle and Sardar Prataprao Gujar reclaim the fort. 50,000

had besieged the fort for more than 6 months. Shivaji knew the strategic importance of

as it was the main fort on important trade routes. Dilerkhan had also attacked

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million ...

in the meanwhile and Shivaji could not save Pune because his main armies were away. Shivaji devised a plan to divert Dilerkhan by forcing him reach Salher. He ordered

Moropant Moreshwar Ramchandra Paradkar (Devanagari: मोरेश्वर रामजी पराडकर) (1729–1794), popularly known in Maharashtra as Moropant (मोरोपंत) or Mayur Pandit (मयूर पंडित), was a Marath ...

who was in South Konkan and Prataprao who was raiding near Aurangabad to meet and attack Mughals at Salher to relieve the fort. In his letter to his commanders Shivaji had written 'Go to the north and attack Salher and defeat the enemy'. Both the Maratha forces met near the village of Vani, they bypassed the Mughal camp at Nashik and reached near Salher. The total Maratha strength was of 40,000(20,000 infantry + 20,000 cavalry). The terrain was not suitable for cavalry battle hence the Maratha commanders decided to lure, split and finish the Mughal forces at different places. As per the plan Prataprao Gujar stormed the Mughals with 5,000 cavalry and killed many unprepared soldiers. After half an hour the Mughals became fully ready and Prataprao started to flee with his army. The entire Mughal cavalry of 25,000 started chasing the Marathas. Prataprao lured mughal cavalry in a pass 25 km away from Salher where the 15,000 cavalry under Anandrao Makaji was hiding. Prataprao turned his back in the pass and attacked the Mughals once again. The 15,000 fresh cavalry under Anandrao blocked the other end of the pass and Mughals were surrounded from all sides. The fresh Maratha cavalry soundly defeated the tired Mughal cavalry in 2-3 hours. Thousands of Mughals fled the Battle. Moropant later surrounded and attacked the 25,000 strong Mughal infantry at Salher with his 20,000 infantry. Prominent maratha sardar and Shivaji's childhood friend Suryaji Kakde was killed by a

Zamburak Zamburak ( fa, زمبورک), literally meaning wasp, was a specialized form of self-propelled artillery from the early modern period, featuring small swivel guns mounted on and fired from camels. Its operators was known as a zamburakchi. It w ...

cannon in the battle. The battle lasted for an entire day and it is estimated that around 10,000 men were killed on both the sides. The Mughal military machines (consisting of cavalry, infantry, and artillery) were outmatched by the light cavalry of the

. The imperial Mughal armies were completely routed and the

gave them a crushing defeat. 6,000 horses, an equal number of camels, 125 elephants, and an entire Mughal

train In rail transport, a train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and Passenger train, transport people or Rail freight transport, freight. Trains are typically pul ...

were captured by the victorious

Maratha Army The Maratha Army was the land-based armed forces of the Maratha Empire, which existed from the late 17th to the early 19th centuries in India. 17th century Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, the founder of Maratha Empire, raised a small yet effective l ...

. Other than this, a large amount of goods, treasures, gold, jewels, clothes, and carpets were seized by the Marathas. The

Sabhasad Bakhar ''Shri-Shiva-Prabhuche-Charitra'' (IAST: ''Śrī-Śiva-Prabhuce-Caritra''), better known as ''Sabhasad Bakhar'', is a Marathi language biography of Shivaji, the founder of the Maratha Empire. It was written by Krishnaji Anant Sabhasad at Jinji, a ...

describes the battle as follows "As the fighting began, such a (cloud of) dust arose that for a space of a three-kilometer square, friend and foe could not be distinguished. Elephants were killed. Ten thousand men on the two sides became corpses. The horses, camels, elephants (killed) were beyond counting. A flood of blood streamed (in the battlefield). The blood formed a muddy pool and in it (people) began to sink, so (deep) was the mud."

Outcome

The battle resulted in a decisive

Maratha The Marathi people (Marathi: मराठी लोक) or Marathis are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who are indigenous to Maharashtra in western India. They natively speak Marathi, an Indo-Aryan language. Maharashtra was formed as a M ...

victory which resulted in the liberation of

. Further, the nearby fort of

was also taken from the

as a consequence of this battle. 22 ''wazirs'' of note were taken as prisoners and Ikhlas Khan and Bahlol Khan were captured. Among the Mughal soldiers who were prisoners around one or two thousand escaped. The notable ''Panchazari'' Sardar of the Maratha army Suryajirao Kakade was killed in this battle and was revered for his ferocity during the battle. Approximately a dozen

sardars Sardar, also spelled as Sardaar/Sirdar ( fa, سردار, , 'commander', literally 'headmaster'), is a title of royalty and nobility that was originally used to denote princes, noblemen, chiefs, kings and other aristocrats. It has also been ...

'' were gifted for their remarkable achievements in the battle and the two officers ( Sardar Moropant Pingle and Sardar Prataprao Gujar) were specially rewarded.

Consequences

Most of Shivaji's victories until this battle had been through means of

guerilla warfare Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare in which small groups of combatants, such as paramilitary personnel, armed civilians, or irregulars, use military tactics including ambushes, sabotage, raids, petty warfare, hit-and-run tac ...

, but the Maratha's use of light cavalry on the

battlefield against the apparently superior Mughal forces proved effective. This grand victory resulted in the saint Ramdas to write his famous letter to Shivaji in which he addresses him as Gajpati (Lord of Elephants), Haypati (Lord of Cavalry), Gadpati (Lord of Forts), and Jalpati (Master of the High Seas). Although not as a direct outcome of this battle, a couple of years later in 1674, Shivaji was crowned the

Chhatrapati Chhatrapati is a royal title from Sanskrit language.The word ‘Chhatrapati’ is a Sanskrit language compound word (tatpurusha in Sanskrit) of ''Chatra (umbrella), chhatra'' (''parasol'' or ''umbrella'') and ''pati'' (''master/lord/ruler''). Th ...

of his realm.

References

Bibliography {{coord, 21, 10, N, 72, 50, E, display=title 1672 in India

History of Nashik

Background

The Battle

Outcome

Consequences

See also

References