Dattaji Rao Scindia, also known as Dattaji Rao Shinde, (1723 – 10 January 1760) was the second son of Ranoji Rao Shinde and Maina Bai, alias Nimba Bai. His elder brother was Jayappaji Rao Shinde and his younger brother was Jyotiba.

Early life

He was the elder half-brother of

Mahadaji Shinde Mahadaji Shinde (b. 23 December 1730 – 12 February 1794), later known as Mahadji Scindia or Madhava Rao Sindhia, was a Maratha statesman and ruler of Ujjain in Central India. He was the fifth and the youngest son of Ranoji Rao Scindia, the f ...

who later became the confederacy head of

Gwalior Gwalior() is a major city in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh; it lies in northern part of Madhya Pradesh and is one of the Counter-magnet cities. Located south of Delhi, the capital city of India, from Agra and from Bhopal, the s ...

, and regent for his nephew Jankoji Rao Shinde from 1755 until his death.

Battle with Afghans and death

Dattaji Shinde was a

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 ...

military general who was given the command of

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

during the Afghan-Maratha Conflicts over the regions of

North India North India is a loosely defined region consisting of the northern part of India. The dominant geographical features of North India are the Indo-Gangetic Plain and the Himalayas, which demarcate the region from the Tibetan Plateau and Central ...

in 1758–59. The Peshwa gave him command of Punjab contingents with an army of 18,000 men to stop the Afghan Invasion led by

Ahmed Shah Durrani Ahmad Shāh Durrānī ( ps, احمد شاه دراني; prs, احمد شاه درانی), also known as Ahmad Shāh Abdālī (), was the founder of the Durrani Empire and is regarded as the founder of the modern Afghanistan. In July 1747, Ahma ...

. Marathas won the forts of

Attock Attock ( Punjabi and Urdu: ), formerly known as Campbellpur (), is a historical city located in the north of Pakistan's Punjab Province, not far from the country's capital Islamabad. It is the headquarters of the Attock District and is 61st larg ...

and

Peshawar Peshawar (; ps, پېښور ; hnd, ; ; ur, ) is the sixth most populous city in Pakistan, with a population of over 2.3 million. It is situated in the north-west of the country, close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is ...

in 1757–1758 and wanted to expand their rule up to

Kandahar Kandahar (; Kandahār, , Qandahār) is a List of cities in Afghanistan, city in Afghanistan, located in the south of the country on the Arghandab River, at an elevation of . It is Afghanistan's second largest city after Kabul, with a population ...

. After many centuries had Hindu rule come in

and

Indus River The Indus ( ) is a transboundary river of Asia and a trans-Himalayan river of South and Central Asia. The river rises in mountain springs northeast of Mount Kailash in Western Tibet, flows northwest through the disputed region of Kashmir, ...

since 1020, when Mahmud of Ghazni had defeated the

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

ruler Trilochanpala.

Raghunathrao Raghunathrao Bhat (a.k.a. Ragho Ballal or Ragho Bharari) (18 August 1734 – 11 December 1783) was the 11th Peshwa of the Maratha Empire for a brief period from 1773 to 1774. He was known among the Hindus for his extremely successful North-west ...

then returned to

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

. In March 1759, Dattaji Shinde reached Macchiwara with a massive army but like Raghunathrao, Dattaji also did not want to stay in Punjab anymore. He wrote a letter to the Peshwa and deployed Sabaji Shinde to take garrison of

with the assistance of Bapu Rao, and Dadu Rao. Dattaji himself went to fight with Najib-ud-Daula Rohilla in Ganga Valley. But due to absence of Sabaji in

Rohtas Fort Rohtas Fort or Rotas Ghur ( Punjabi, ur, ; ''Qila Rohtas'') is a 16th-century fortress located near the city of Dina in Jhelum district of the Punjab province of Pakistan. An Afghan warlord turned Padishah, Sher Shah Suri built the fort, w ...

, Afghan under Jahan Khan attacked Attock and Rohtas fort and won. Sabaji and Sikhs once again allied and defeated Afghans in

Battle of Lahore, (1759) The Battle of Lahore was fought between the Durrani Empire and the Maratha Empire, who were assisted by the forces of the local Sikh Misls such as the Sukerchakia Misl and the Ahluwalia Misl of the Punjab in 1759. Background and battle Ahmad S ...

. Jahan Khan lost his son in battle and once again Afghans retreated to Afghanistan. This victory of Marathas made Ahmad Shah more aggressive. Afghans and Rohillas allied and sent Jahan Khan with the massive army of 60,000. Jahan Khan won

and

by defeating Maratha garrison. Jahan Khan then defeated Triyambak Rao's army of 6,000 and Abdali move towards south

. they captured

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...

the capital of Punjab. Ahmad Shah attacked Dattaji's army of 2,500. Dattaji retreated to Delhi.

now allied with Najib Khan Rohilla attacked on Dattaji once again in January 1760. Dattaji was defeated and killed by Mian Qutb Shah in the

Battle of Barari Ghat A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

at Barari ghat, on the plains of Rudhir, near

on 10 January 1760.

In popular culture

* In the 1994

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

TV series ''

The Great Maratha ''The Great Maratha'' is an Indian historical drama television series directed by Sanjay Khan and produced by Numero Uno International Limited. The drama aired on DD National. The series is based on the life of Mahadaji Shinde. The show compr ...

'', Dattaji's character was portrayed by

Mangal Dhillon Mangal Singh Dhillon, better known as Mangal Dhillon is an Indian actor, writer, director and film producer. He was born in Wander Jatana near Kotkapura in Faridkot district, Punjab. Early life He was born in a Sikh family in a village Wander ...

. * In the 2019

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

film ''

Panipat Panipat () is a historic city in Haryana, India. It is 95 km north of Delhi and 169 km south of Chandigarh on List of National Highways in India, NH-1. The three major battles fought in First Battle of Panipat, 1526, Second Battle of ...

'', Dattaji Rao Scindia was portrayed by

Milind Gunaji Milind Gunaji (born 23 July 1961) is an Indian actor, model, television presenter, writer and author, most known for his roles in Marathi and Hindi cinema. He made his first film appearance in 1993's ''Papeeha'' and has since performed in over ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scindia, Dattaji People of the Maratha Empire Warriors of the Maratha Empire 1723 births 1760 deaths Indian princes

Early life

Battle with Afghans and death

In popular culture

See also

References