The siege of Delhi (8–19 October 1804) was conducted by the

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 ...

leader

Maharaja Mahārāja (; also spelled Maharajah, Maharaj) is a Sanskrit title for a "great ruler", "great king" or " high king". A few ruled states informally called empires, including ruler raja Sri Gupta, founder of the ancient Indian Gupta Empire, an ...

Yashwantrao Holkar Yashwant Rao Holkar (c. 1776-1811) also known as Jaswantrao Holkar belonging to the Holkar dynasty of the Maratha Empire was the Maharaja of the Maratha Empire. He was a gifted military leader and educated in accountancy as well as literate in P ...

against the forces of the

British East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

, who were assisting 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 ...

in defending

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 ...

during the

Second Anglo-Maratha War } The Second Anglo-Maratha War (1803–1805) was the second conflict between the British East India Company and the Maratha Empire in India. Background The British had supported the "fugitive" Peshwa Raghunathrao in the First Anglo-Maratha War, ...

. Holkar's main political objective was to bring the Mughal emperor under his control and thus with force of 60,000 cavalry and 15,000 infantry, Holkar confronted the British commanders Lt. Col.s Ochterlony and Burn who were in charge at Delhi. Ochterlony and Burn defied Holkar's attack with great determination where "The important gates - Ajmeri Gate, Kashmiri Gate, and Lahori Gate - saw stiff fighting." Holkar abandoned the siege after reinforcements led by

Gerard Lake Gerard Lake, 1st Viscount Lake (27 July 1744 – 20 February 1808) was a British general. He commanded British forces during the Irish Rebellion of 1798 and later served as Commander-in-Chief of the military in British India. Background He was ...

arrived on 18 October.

References

*Mehta, J. L
''Advanced Studies in the history of modern India 1707-1813''
Conflicts in 1804 Delhi 1804 1804 in India Delhi 1804 Delhi 1804 Delhi 1804 19th century in Delhi Military history of Delhi October 1804 events {{Delhi-stub