On November 5, 1817, the Maratha Empire made its final bid to recover what was stolen by the British. This is the story of the Battle of Khadki, also called Kirkee or Ganeshkhind.
By 1817, the Maratha Empire was no longer the force it once was. Centuries earlier, under Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, the Marathas had expanded, conquered and built a civilization that stretched across the Deccan. When Baji Rao II ascended as Peshwa, he was a less powerful ruler.
Meanwhile, the British East India Company had become more formidable. They developed disciplined armies, modern weapons and subsidiary alliances that strangled the independence of Indian states one by one. In June 1817, Baji Rao II signed the Treaty of Poona, a document that officially chained him to British interests. This treaty forced him to disband his own cavalry, allow the British to remain in his empire, and maintain foreign relations only with the permission of the British.
Secretly, Baji Rao II turned to his most capable commander, Bapu Gokhale, a brilliant military mind and perhaps the last great general of the Marathas. Gokhale covertly raised an army while pretending to follow the treaty. He hired hill tribes, fortified Sinhgad and Raigad and raised approximately 28,000 soldiers plus 20 cannons. But the British resident Mountstuart Elphinstone, through his network of spies, discovered that the Peshwa were planning an attack. On October 19, 1817, during the Dussehra festival, Peshwa’s cavalry charged the British soldiers. However, it didn’t work. The British sepoys stood their ground and reported the matter to their officers.
In early November, British forces assembled at Khadki with 3,000 troops led by Colonel Charles Barton Burr on 1 November. Captain John Ford arrived on 4 November. “A curious fact,” says historian Uday Kulkarni, “Captain Ford was a friend of Moropant Dixit, a Peshwa minister. They had an informal deal to remain on the same side. However, Ford backed out and switched sides as the battle approached.”
On 5 November, Maratha artillery attacked the British residence where Elphinstone was stationed. Elphinstone, now completely exposed, retreated to join Burr’s forces at Khadki. Burr and Ford’s forces moved in to join. “The Peshwa were watching from Parvati Hill. He was unsure of the attack from the beginning, aware of the power of the British. But Bapu Gokhale was determined to confront the British,” Kulkarni adds.
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What happened next was one of the most important geographical obstacles in history. The Maratha horsemen fell into the mud. This destroyed their momentum and order in seconds. Seeing this as an opportunity, the British fired merciless volleys. Only a handful of Maratha horsemen managed to move forward. The rest retreated or fled.
Kulkarni says, “The pace of recharging was so rapid and intense that a well would not have prevented the Maratha defeat.” By nightfall, the field had been cleared. While the Marathas suffered around 500 casualties, the British suffered only a few.
the aftermath
On 17 November 1817, the British occupied Shaniwarwada, the seat of the Peshwa. Baji Rao II himself fled south towards Satara. More battles followed. One by one, the pieces fell. Bapu Gokhale died on 19 February 1818 in the Battle of Ashti. Surrendered June 1818, Baji Rao II.
The Maratha Empire was over. Within two years, the British had solidified their control over most of central India. However, the consolidation was not instantaneous. Kulkarni explains: “We were at the end of the feudal era. This battle represented the last attempt to resist British rule. Still, the chances of success were quite slim. By then, the British had established themselves as a dominant force throughout the country. Without a unified coalition of princely states to challenge their authority, which did not materialize due to their individual motivations, defeating the British was nothing less than a distant dream.”
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However, historian Mohan Shete points out, “Despite the defeat, we should take pride in knowing that the Maratha Empire was the only entity that fought against colonial rule till its last breath.”
What these ruins tell us today
The British Residency, today, is the residence of Puneof the district court judge, with a small marble plaque in front of the house dating back to the battle. The battlefield is now part of the Savitribai Phule Pune University campus. Historians think that the swamp that destroyed the Maratha drive probably existed somewhere between what is now the Range Hills colony and the Khadki military station. Parvati Hill, from where the Peshwa saw the end of their world, still stands in the city.
What is the conclusion? Shete, against the backdrop of the Battle of Khadki, says: “We must recognize that the British were significantly advanced. They had the latest artillery technology and strategic prowess. This leads us to evaluate our position. Are we up to date in our search?”