Battle of Patan: Difference between revisions

Battle of Patan
Date June 20th , 1790 Location Patan, India Result Decisive Maratha victory
Belligerents
Maratha Confederacy	Rajputs of Jaipur Mughal Empire
Commanders and leaders
General de Boigne Gopal Bhau Holkar	Ismail Beg Sawai Pratap Singh
Strength
10,000+	45,000+
Casualties and losses
52 killed, 309 wounded	3000+ Rathore horsemen killed, 5 Mughal battalions vanquished.

The Battle of Patan was fought on June 20th, 1790 between the Maratha Confederacy and the Rajputs of Jaipur and their Mughal allies.

Background

With the crushing defeat in the Third Battle of Panipat, imperial ambitions of Marathas had suffered a serious setback. But by 1783, with the conquest of Gwalior, Maratha chieftain Madhavrao Scindia had managed to reassert Maratha influence over much of Northern India, especially Rajputana. Many Rajput kingdoms like those of Jaipur and Malwa began to be dominated by Marathas.

After the failure of Lalsot campaign of July 1987, Marathas of Scindia had evacuated the Jaipur territory. In early 1790, hoping to completely rid the Rajputana off Maratha interference, Rajput nobility managed to sway the Mughal general Ismail Beg over to their side.

The Pursuit

Intending to prevent the junction of Ismail Beg with his Rajput allies, Madhavrao Scindia, dispatched an army under his generals Gopal Rao Bhau and Benoît de Boigne. On the morning of 10th May, Marathas came upon Ismail Beg at Patan.

The Battle

For over three weeks, nothing was effected between the two armies. On 19th June, Ismail Beg expressed his intentions of attacking the Maratha lines. By this time, his Rajput allies had come to his aid.

De Boigne's disciplined brigade and artillery guns formed the spearhead of Maratha attack and occupied the central position in the Maratha lines . The Maratha captains Ambaji Ingle and Balaji Ingle commanded the left wing (opposite Ismail Beg) whilst Holkars commanded the right wing. Gopal Bhau commanded the Deccan cavalry which formed the centre.

The armies faced each other in east-west direction along a straight line. Ismail Beg's contingent formed the southern wing of Rajput-Mughal combine. It was followed by Rathore horsemen and Abdul Mtalab's (Ismail Beg's lieutenant) battalions. Bulk of the Rajput cavalry was concentrated in the centre of wing. The left wing was formed entirely by Jaipur Nagas (fighting monks). The alliance had over 125 artillery pieces at its disposal. They were placed in three rows, one before Ismail Beg, one before Matlab and the remaining one the trenches of Jaipur Nagas.

Maratha artillery under de Boigne's brigade, though smaller in number, was more rapid, accurate and mobile than the one in possession of their adversaries. Battle of Patan began in the form of sporadic skirmishes and evolved into an all out battle only at its end. The command of Rajput-Mughal army was disunited and had no concrete plan of action.

References

• Sir Jadunath Sarkar (1994). A History of Jaipur 1503-1938. Orient Longman. ISBN 8-1250-0333-9.
• H.G Kenne. The Fall of Mughal Empire of Hindustan. Champaign, Ill. : Project Gutenberg ; Boulder, Colo. : NetLibrary, [199-?]. ISBN 0-5850-1593-7.