When the hare beat the tortoise- Part 1

In our childhood, we have heard the story where the slow and steady tortoise won the race against the fast hare. 

Little did you know that the hare had already humiliated the tortoise around 300 years ago in the 18th century India. 

Let us explore the epic saga of this masterpiece of military strategy and movement.

We are going to explore one of the most acclaimed battles of the 18th century where the impossible was achieved and a struggling empire found its wings to spread across India. So tighten your seatbelts!

THE CALM AFTER THE STORM-

The Deccan had been ravaged by a massive storm for 27 years straight. After the death of Shivaji Maharaj in 1680, Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb had descended to Deccan in 1681 and the deccan had been destroyed with continuous battle for 27 years. 

Although Aurangzeb had destroyed Adilshahi of Bijapur and Qutubshahi of Hyderabad, the Marathas still stood strong under the leadership of Sambhaji Maharaj, Rajaram Maharaj and later his wife Maharani Tarabai. 

Aurangzeb had to die an unsatisfied death with his most hated and sworn enemy, the Maratha empire, staring down his face watching him die helplessly. 

Almost all of his treasury was exhausted with 27 years of war and his army had lost morale as more than 3/4th of it was destroyed facing the unending Maratha wrath. 

Though the Marathas still stood standing, all of the territory was in shambles with no businesses running smoothly and life was helter skelter for all of its subjects. 

RELEASE OF CHHATRAPATI SHAHU-

In the midst of the calm after the storm, Mughals decided to release Shahu, the son of Chhatrapati Sambhaji and let him go back to Deccan on the condition that he stayed their vassal, collected Chauthai(form of a tax) and kept paying agreed taxes to Delhi.

A hidden motive behind the release was to spark a race for succession between Shahu Maharaj, the son of Sambhaji Maharaj and Tarabai, the wife of Rajaram Maharaj.

And their plan worked to a large extent when Tarabai opposed the arrival of Shahu Maharaj speculating that he is an imposter. 

However, eventually, after a series of diplomatic and war tactics by Balaji Vishwanath, father of Peshwa Bajirao I, and Dhanaji Jadhav, the then senapati of the Marathas, Shahu was coronated in Satara in 1708 as Chhatrapati.

An arrangement was made with Tarabai of dividing the kingdom between the two lineages of Sambhaji and Rajaram where Shahu would rule Satara and surrounding territory while Tarabai would rule Kolhapur and surrounding territory. The two lineages thus formed temporary peace and stability.

However, around 1714, Tarabai was overthrown by her stepson Chhatrapati Sambhaji II. And he again had begun hostilities against the Shahu regime. 

THE TORTOISE-

Gaziuddin Khan, a trusted soldier and servant of Aurangzeb was a valourous warrior. He served in Aurangzeb's army along with his son Kamaruddin Khan.

Impressed by their honest service, Aurangzeb had granted Kamaruddin an honorary title "Chin Kilich Khan".

Chin Kilich Khan rose to prominence in Aurangzeb's army gradually and held a high post when Aurangzeb died in 1707.

After Aurangzeb's death, the next successor Bahadurshah I had appointed him as the subhedar of Deccan. This is none other than He however, was opposed to granting Marathas the rights to collect Chauth. 

After being appointed as the Subhedar of Deccan he kept on funding rogue Maratha sardars like Chandrasen Jadhav to keep creating unrest in the Maratha territories controlled by Shahu Maharaj. 

Eventually, he formed a virtually independent throne at Hyderabad by 1724 and came to be known as "Nizam-ul-Mulk", who is the tortoise of our story. We will discuss how he gained prominence some other time.

THE HARE-

In 1719, the Marathas under the leadership of Balaji Vishwanath had penetrated Delhi along with Syed brothers and got the written papers authorizing them to collect chauthai from the 6 deccan provinces. 

Shortly after, Balaji Vishwanath passed away in 1720. Shahu Maharaj, despite the opposition from his ministers appointed Visaji, Balaji Vishwanath's son as Peshwa due to the immense respect he had for Balaji's work as Peshwa. 

Visaji, the hare of our story, was a brilliant military general and had grand plans for the Maratha empire. He later came to be known as Peshwa Bajirao I due to his fast and successful campaigns after his appointment as Peshwa in 1720. 

THE TORTOISE ACTS-

As Chin Kilich Khan or Nizam-ul-Mulk was opposed to the Maratha rights of collecting chauth and could not bare the rise of Marathas under Shahu Maharaj, he tried his best to challenge the Marathas at every step. 

He tied up with Chhatrapati Sambhaji II of Kolhapur and defected him to his side. 

Nizam's objective was to declare Sambhaji as the true Chhatrapati of the Marathas, reduce the importance of Shahu Maharaj and install Sambhaji as a vassal of Nizam which would benefit him in taxes amd territorial expansion. 

By January 1727, Sambhaji II met Nizam in his camp