Volume 37: Madhavrao's Mysore campaign III
Part 3 deals with Haider violating his agreement and attacking yet again, after the departure of Madhavrao to Pune. He returned to lead the campaign, even pushing to Shrirangapattanam. But his health was weakening, and Haider refused to seek terms despite the Maratha inroads. He assumed their armies will retire in the monsoons, and that will give him an opportunity to retake his territory.
Madhavrao handed over the charge of the campaign to Trimbakrao Pethe, his father-in-law. An able general, and a strict disciplinarian, he won a great victory at the Battle of Moti Talao, routing Haider's army entirely.
By this time, Madhavrao's health had deteriorated, and Raghunathrao had opened correspondence with Hyder secretly to setttle directly as he expected an upcoming power struggle after Madhavrao's passing.
182 - 1 January 1770
Mahadaji Ballal writes about Haider's movements and their orders.
As ordered, we met with the army of the Tungabhadra in 17 days. We marched till there with the goal of going to Shrirangapattanam. Haider Khan was at Mysore. Avoiding his force, we advanced to Pattanam. Unable to do anything as his army was strongly positioned in rough terrain, we carried on. To check him, Gopalrao Raste has been deployed with 10,000 cavalry. So Haider will most likely stay there, or march on us. Ever since the Swami's orders have arrived, we have not made any halts. The Shrimant's wish is an order.
184 - 4 January 1770
Reports of the Peshwa's army and Haider's army in the province of Savnur.
I am writing from province of Savnur. Haider Naik is at Mysore. He has 14,000 cavalry, 10,000 infantry, 10,000 gardis and 25 field artillery pieces. Rajashri Gopalrao and Raste are at the entrance to Savnur's pass. The khas swari ( Peshwa's elite force) is heading to Shrirangapattanam. Haider has not moved so far. The khas swari will be 20 kos away from his army. In case he moves, Gopalrao and Raste's forces are prepared. As soon as news of his movement arrives, the khas swari and Gopalrao's force should catch him in a pincer movement. Shrimant Rajashri Moroba dada has also joined the army.
191 - February 1770
Atrocities by Haider Ali on the garrison of Chiknaikanhalli - Marathi soldiers had their ears and noses cut off.
I had written about Chiknaikanhalli before. Brahmins, Marathas, officers, and spies were captured and taken prisoner. Of those, Moro Khanderao, Narsinghrao Lele's two sons, Bachajipant Barve's nephew and one Maratha child were spared, but the rest had their noses chopped off. Nilo Rakhmaji, Pandurangpant, the 2 clerks, Haripant (not Phadke), Tukopant, 2 representatives, Moro Khanderrao's cook, and Kesoram Phatak, Rambhat Phatak's son - all had their noses chopped off. He has acted in a very evil manner. Kesoram Pathak, Tukopant went to Budehalli. Gopalrao Govind operated surgically on them and using some skin from elsewhere, restored their noses. The rest have gone to Sira. Some Marathas have arrived here, and we have ordered their noses to be operated on, immediately. The people have been very mistreated, the Shrimant is very upset. Murrarrao Ghorpade came and met us. A sizeable force has been assembled. The plan is to march on Bengaluru. Pandurangpant Godbole has been sent to bring good cannons from Konkan. He has also been told to go to Mumbai and get more cannons if they are of good quality. He has left today. Bahirji More’s infantry have reached here today. The rosters are being drawn up. We will leave from here in a day or two.
193 - 10 February 1770
The garrison at Chikanaikahalli was taken by a surprise attack and destroyed. This letter is reporting the same incident as the previous.
Chiknaikahalli was taken by the Shrimant, and a garrison force of 400 was left behind to finish tax collection and administration. Moro Khanderao was the head clerk, and some siledars were posted. Four more shiledars, twenty five rauts, Narsinghrao Narayanrao Lele’s two sons, and one of Potdar’s gumasta, and twenty Khas bardars were posted. The villagers were treacherous. When our men were collecting taxes, they secretly met Haider’s men, and led about 1000-1500 of them by a secret route. They used ladders and ropes, and scaled the walls on Saturday night. The village is large, and our men were scattered and resting. Some were able to escape, but about 300 were cut down. More Khanderrao was injured and taken prisoner. We are unsure of the exact casualties. It is unlikely there are many survivors, they would have taken refuge here by now. Haider’s men have relocated the villagers leaving it empty. It is not usual for a garrison to be this small. But our men’s carelessness and the villagers’ treachery proved fatal. As soon as the Shrimant heard of this, Narsinghrao Paygude, Shahji Bhonsle were dispatched to Chinaikahalli. Mahimji Shinde was sent with 1000 men to Gurumkonda, he was redirected to join them. 300 gardis have also been sent. A new garrison is to be established. Gopalrao was at Savnur, he has also been sent summons. He will move to Budehal.
195 - 15 February 1770
Moroba writes to Nana Fadnavis, Haider’s territory upto Nagmangalam was captured.
We are busy establishing garrisons. The Shrimant had taken forts upto Nagamangalam. Bahiravdurg, the fort on the mountain is a very strong fort, we seized it in two or three days. With a few good men in the garrison, it is impervious to attack. Haider’s men have attacked some convoys, but he has not left his position and met us in the plains.
198 - 6 March 1770
Krishnarao Ballal writing to Nana Fadnavis, gives an overview of the campaign, and describes a night attack by the enemy.
We have liberated 10 to 15 small forts and towns from Haider Khan, their net revenue is 20 lakhs. We set up batteries at Nandigarh. The fort will capitulate after a day or two of shelling. After this, we will take Kolar, and that will secure this entire province. That leaves only the fort of Bangalore. When it is secure, we would have acquired a total of 25 lakhs of territory. That leaves only Pattanam and Bednore. If Haider Khan is fully defeated, we would end up liberating a total of 2 or 3 crore worth of territory that he has seized. Murrarrao Ghorpade came and met us. Haider Khan was at the garrison of Tarikir(?). Rajashri Gopalrao and Raste are marching from Budehalli. They are four kos away. In the Falgun month, starting on the night of Pratipada, the Khan attempted a large scale attack on us. With 5000 cavalry, 10,000 infantry, and 15 field pieces and 40 rocket camels, he marched by night, covered 12 kos (24 km) and came within 3 kos distance from us. However, we received word from our spies, and our armies were ready. Early at dawn, he started firing his cannons. But since we were ready, we were able to return fire. Our camp followers were sent back already. The element of surprise was lost, even though we lost some 10-20 horses and men. Haider then retreated. Even though he had departed, we were careful in our march.
206 - 30 April 1770
Storming of the fort of Nijgal, Narayanrao is slightly injured.
The fort of Nijgal is on a hill, and a very strong position. To take it, Rajashri Gopalrao, Raste, and Gaekwad’s men have set up batteries. The fort is enormous. It has a garrison of 1000 gardis of Haider. On receiving news, the Shrimant, who was at Devraydurga, marched to us. His men also erected batteries from multiple sides and started bombardment. For 8 days, the fort held out. Finally we decided to storm the fort. Everyone was assembled at dawn. Shrimant Raosaheb and Shrimant Narayanrao were in the batteries when the cannonade started. The garrison returned fire heavily. With much bravery, our men scaled the walls and took the fort, and wiped the defenders. Rarely have I seen such a desperate battle. Shrimant Narayanrao was standing behind Shrimant Madhavrao. He was hit by a bullet on his wrist. It injured the skin but did not hurt the nerves or bones. It is a light wound. It was his good fortune. A number of bullets and roundshot fell near Shrimant, but luckily none hit him. Shrimant Narayanrao was not fazed by his injury, but held his position. In total, we have about 1000 men injured, and 100 dead. Never did we have to fight this hard for a fort.
210 - 25th May 1770
Hari Ballal writes that Trimbakrao Pethe is to be left in command after Madhavrao's return to Pune, and Gopalrao Patwardhan and Murrarrao are to assist him.
Rajashri Trimbakrao Mama (Pethe) will be in command. Rajashri Murrarrao, Senapati, Rajashri Gopalrao, Raste and others will be deputed with a force of 25,000 cavalry with him.
In Hindustan, Rajashri Ramchandra Ganesh fought a battle with Navalsingh Jat. The battle lasted 3 prahars, near Mathura. The Jat’s army fought hard. 4-5 thousand men were lost by him. 40 cannons and elephants, and 4 to 5 thousand horses came into our possession. This news must have reached Pune. We lost 1000-1200 men dead and injured, and 800 horses.
226 - 10th March 1771
Battle of Moti Talao, Trimbakrao Pethe (mama) defeats Hyder Ali's army, near Shrirangapattanam. Haider is forced to flee in a disguise.
We are 3 kos from Shrirangapattanam. As per the Swami’s orders, from Tumkur, we marched to Hebbur. With around 7-8k cavalry , 45 cannons, and 15,000 gardis, and some firangis, Karnataki infantry with rockets, Haider marched on our rear. He expected to take us by surprise. He even marched within 3 kos distance of us at one point. He sent some 1000-1200 men ahead to skirmish, with the intention of baiting us to attack the force and then counter attack with his larger force. Our spies were very well informed. As soon as news arrived, the army assembled and stood in formation.
When he learnt that his ruse was foiled, he retreated to rough forested terrain near Magdi. We marched after him, and in front of Bhairavdurga, we made 2 halts near Hebbur. He had taken very strong positions in the forested land near Bednore. We could not follow him there. Since we could not attack, we moved and Haider followed us. He marched via Nagmangalam near Mailkotte. When learnt of this, Rajashri Krishnarao Balwant, Rajashri Sakharam Hari, Nilkantrao Thorat, and Bhavanji Wagh and Mahimji Mudhe, Antoji Mane, with the entire army marched ahead. Haider sent 1000 men ahead to intercept these. Krishnarao engaged this force. They routed it and forced it back. We seized 250-300 horses from them. Keeping the gardis and artillery in the front, he started firing. At this time, Sakharam Hari was slashed by a sword in close combat. Other than him, there were no major injuries among the officers. We lost some 30-40 horses. 100-150 men killed and injured. By this time, the remainder of the army also arrived. There was a lull in the battle, and the armies stood 1 kos away from each other.
At night, to the west of Melkote, Haider positioned himself with artillery in the front. When we learnt of this next morning, keeping Melkote to our left, we went to check how his army had deployed. There was a tree line of around 8 kos. At some places, the paths were so thin the horses had to go in a single file. Beyond the trees about 1-1.5 kos, there was a large open plain with mountains on all sides. We were setting up our artillery there. But before we could finish, Haider’s army marched on us. We turned around to face him.
There was one route where he could move to Shriranagapattanam. We stationed a force there to intercept. Vamanrao Govind, Anandrao Gopal, Narsinghrao Dhyayegude, Gaekward’s forces were kept at the western part of the ground. From the east of Melkote, we dragged our field pieces atop a height on the mountains, and started firing on his army from there. Unable to retaliate, he retreated to the nalas near the fort and set up a camp. We set up some batteries of rockets and jezails on the mountains near his camp and started firing again. We also made a battery of 2 cannons and opened fire. Once again, caught in a bad terrain, he retreated by the night.
He slipped away without us finding out. Evading Vamanrao to the west, he marched by an unknown path to the south to Pattan. The batteries on the mountains noticed that the camp seemed unusually quiet, and informed us, but we could not ascertain the route that he had taken- whether he would go to Bednore or Pattan. Keeping Melkote to the left, we sent some forces on the road to Kadurbana and others on the road to Pattan. Haider moved 1 kos from the camp. Just then, 2 Turkish cavalrymen defected from his army and ran to us. They told us that Haider is marching to Pattanam. As soon as we heard this, we prepared our army with drums, and readying the cannons, took the same road. The advance guard that we had posted on that road intercepted Haider’s force. As soon as they made contact, they sent a messenger to report this to us and everyone else. As soon as the other groups got the message, all of us marched. With 4 ghatikas left in the night, the battle began. He had spread out his artillery in a wide front, and the gardis had formed squares. Holding these formations, he continued a slow march to Pattanam. There was a continuous heavy fire from bullets, rockets, and artillery. The fire was too heavy to describe. We were able to position our forces on his flanks as well, but the firepower was too great to close in. In our haste, we had not been able to bring our own artillery yet, so we were unable to press any advantage.
The way the firangi gardis are shown fighting in their pictures, the same way, holding a tight formation, Haider’s men continued pouring fire from artillery, rockets and muskets. (This portion has been highlighted as very important. It shows the Marathi sardar was well acquainted with European tactics, sufficiently to identify formations that he had studied in books.)
Haider reached 3 kos from Pattanam and halted at the Moti lake. We kept our forces to his left close to the water. To our rear were the huzurat, Hindurrao Senapati’s army, and Daulatrao Ghorpade’s son Anandrao. To our right were Vamanrao Govind, Anandrao Gopal, Dhyagude and Gaekwad’s pathaks. Just then, Krishnarao Madhav with great effort, was able to bring two large cannons and reached us. Just as we unlimbered and started firing these two cannons, two more cannons arrived. With these 4 cannons and rockets, we began firing. As his forces were grouped in tight formations, the cannonballs and rockets blew holes in it and created gaps.
Taking the Swami’s name, the standards were raised and moved close to his army. The Huzurat followed. All the sardars followed and made a tremendous cavalry charge on these disordered formations. The cavalry charge on his rear, where he had posted the gardis in tight formations destroyed it utterly. Cutting through the disordered men, the cavalry made its way almost to the front, where Haider was standing. At this point, his army routed, and taking 5-7 thousand of handpicked men, Haider fled to the mountain near the lake. The rest of his force was destroyed. This was a great battle. We have acquired 45 cannons, and 25 elephants. In addition, around 7-8 thousand horses, treasure, and standards. His entire army is destroyed. At least 2000 men were slain in the charge itself, many more wounded, fled or surrendered.
Of Haider’s men who took to the mountains, they made one sortie and were beaten back. 2 thousand cavalry were sent in pursuit. By now, 4 ghatikas had passed. Haider disguised himself as a hermit, and gave us the slip, fled to Pattanam. The rest of his men and officers surrendered to us. We imposed a harsh penalty, and after taking their weapons and standards, let them leave. Lalmiya, Mir Reza, Lala Bakshi and other senior nobles were either seized or killed. We asked civilians enroute for his whereabouts, but could not find him.
Mir Faizullah was supposed to be in the army, but could not be found. By the Swami’s fortune, we have won a great victory. A great number of men and horses have been lost by us as well. I was hit by a bullet on my right ear. The bullet passed through. It appears the wound will heal. Nilkanthrao Trimbak, Gopalrao Govind’s brother and Antoji Mane of the paga did well. Krishnarao Balwant’s horse was hit by a bullet. Anandrao’s horse was killed under him. Our men fought very well. The standard bearing elephant’s foot was pierced by a shot. It was operated and removed. The losses of horses is substantial, and a great number of men are injured. Once the casualties are recorded properly, I will send an update.
234 - May 1772
Total expense and balance sheet of campaign
1,29,00,000 total
65,00,000 huzurat
61,00,000
3,50,000 from tax collections
46,50,000 Expenses made by Mama till Vaisakh
17,50,000 Nalbandi for the current year not previously recorded.
10,00,000 Adjustments for earlier tax records
—-
1,39,00,000
23,30,000 campaign’s/ cavalry share
732,000 expenses net of jama
10,00,000
—-
17,32,000
878,000 Leftover balance
65,00,000 huzurat’s share
x1,50,000 kitta ain?
350,000 Share of tax collections alloted
——
88,30,000
50,70,000 Hali aiwaj pahije
33,20,000 Mamani pathvave mhanun lihile
17,50,000 total nalbandi for the year
- - - - - -
50,70,000
1,39,00,000