Battle of Bhopal
| Battle of Bhopal | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Later Mughal-Maratha Wars (1723-1738) | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Maratha Empire |
Mughal Empire Nizam of Hyderabad Nawab of Awadh Nawab of Bhopal Rajputs | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Baji Rao |
Yar Muhammad Khan Bahadur Asaf Jah I Saadat Ali Khan I Sultan Muhammad Khan Bahadur Iswari Singh Diwan Raja Ayamal Pratap Singh | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
|
~70,000 men (mostly cavalry) 30-50 guns |
~200,000 men ~100 cannons | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| ~7,000 | ~35,000 | ||||||
The Battle of Bhopal was fought on 24 December 1737 in Bhopal between the Maratha Empire and the combined army of Mughals and their allies (Rajputs of Amber).
Background
As the Mughal empire continued to weaken after Aurangzeb's death, the Maratha Peshwa Bajirao I invaded Mughal territories such as Malwa and Gujarat. The Mughal emperor was alarmed by Maratha conquests. In 1737, the Marathas invaded Delhi, defeated the Mughals, and then marched back to their capital Pune.
The Mughal emperor asked for support from their vassals, Rajputs and the Nizam. The Nizam intercepted the Marathas during the latter's return journey, with support from the Rajput subordinates of the Mughals. Their combined armies clashed with Marathas near Bhopal.[1][2]
Battle
The battle was fought between the Maratha Empire and Mughal forces led by Nizam of Hyderabad near Bhopal in India in December 1737, and was arguably the largest pitched battle fought in India in the 18th century. The battle resulted in decisive Maratha victory mainly through the swift tactics of Maratha Peshwa Baji Rao.[2]
The Rajput army included Sawai Raja Jai Singh's forces under his son Iswari Singh and Diwan Raja Ayamal, and Badan Singh's forces under his son Pratap Singh.
Later, on 7 January 1738, a peace treaty was signed between Peshwa Bajirao and Jai Singh II, deputy of Nizam at village Doraha near Bhopal.[3] The Mughal Empire was left in a wrecked position and was unable to face the later invasion of Nadir Shah. Marathas were given the territory of Malwa [2]