Battle of Pävankhind was a rear guard battle that took place on July 13, 1660 at a mountain pass in the vicinity of fort Vishalgad, near the city of Kolhapur, Maharashtra, India between the Maratha sardar Baji Prabhu and Siddi Masud of Adilshah. The Marathas held the Adilshahi forces till Shivaji reached the fort Vishalgad. The Adilshahi forces were 15,000 strong against 300 Maratha light infantry.
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Battle of Pavan Khind
In 1660, Adil Shah sent Siddi Johar - an Abyssinian general of great repute. He was eager to put down Shivaji once and for all and he committed all the manpower and war-materiel available to him in his kingdom. At that time Shivaji was camped at the fort Panhala with a small part part of his army, near present day Kolhapur, on the borders of his dominion. Siddi Johar's very large and intimidating army camped near Panhala cutting off supply routes to the fort. Shivaji, in a bold move, decided to escape to a nearby fort Vishaalgad, where he could regroup his soldiers to fight a decisive battle.
Shivaji sent misleading messages to Siddi Johar indicating that he was willing to negotiate and was looking for accommodation, understanding and mercy. With this news Adilshahi soldiers relaxed somewhat, and Shivaji escaped on that stormy night. However, Johar's soldiers captured a small group of the Marathas apparently including Shivaji, only to realize he was a look-alike dressed like Shivaji sent out to create a diversion and facilitate the real king's escape. But it did not take much time for Siddi Johar's soldiers to figure out that the imposter was Shivaji's barber and that Shivaji and his army were headed to Vishaalgad.
| Battle of Päwan Khind | ||
|---|---|---|
| Part of the Imperial Maratha Conquests | ||
| Date: July 13, 1660 | ||
| Place: Pävan Khind, Vishalgad, Maharashtra, India | ||
| Outcome: Decisive victory for Marathas | ||
| Combatants | ||
| Maratha Empire | Adilshahi forces | |
| Commanders | ||
| Baji Prabhu | Siddi Masud | |
| Strength | ||
| 600 | 15,000 | |
| Casualties | ||
| 300 | 3,000 | |
A large enemy cavalry, in hot pursuit of Shivaji might have easily overtaken and captured him had they been able to catch up with him. This eventuality was avoided by Shivaji in a last minute rear-guard defensive move. Baji Prabhu Deshpande, a brave Sardar along with 300 soldiers, volunteered to fight to the death to hold back the enemy at Ghod Khind.
In the resulting battle of Pavan Khind, Baji Prabhu fought relentlessly, at times with swords in both hands. He was almost fatally injured but he held on for precious minutes and only succumbed to his injuries after hearing cannon fire from Vishaalgad, signalling Shivaji had reached safety of the fort. Ghod Khindi was covered with blood of 300 Marathas who willingly gave up their lives and fought to the last man for the cause of freedom, along with that of 1286 of Adilshah's brave and elite troops. Baji Prabhu Deshpande and his men's bravery, sacrifice and heroic stand at Pavan Khindi is a very popular story in the annals of Maratha history and has been recited as a folk lore in Maharashtra in many awe-inspiring renditions.
A truce was made between Shivaji and Adilshahi through Shahaji, acknowledging and formally recognizing the independence of Shivaji's Kingdom. Also, as the terms of peace, the fort at Panhala was awarded to Siddi Johar. This remained the situation until the death of Shahaji, when Shivaji was free to deal with the Mughals. Thus the Marathas became an emerging power in the Deccan. Ghod Khind (khind = "narrow pass in mountainous terrain") was renamed Pavan Khind (Sacred Pass) in honor of Bajiprabhu Deshpande and the soldiers who selflessly fought and died to save their king and country. A small memorial stands even today in the pass in recognition of the heroism of Bajiprabhu and his men.
This battle was one of the last serious challenges to Shivaji from the regional sultanates, from now on the attention of the mighty Mughal empire would be firmly fixed on danger posed by the emerging Maratha nation under the leadership of Shivaji and his potential challenge to their Supremacy in India.
The battle is known for gallant defense of the mountain pass by Maratha sardar Baji Prabhu Deshpande. This battle can be compared with the Battle of Thermopylae, except that the Greeks could not hold the pass and were overrun.
Background
Shivaji defeated Adilshahi generals of distinction one after the other. Hence Adilshah as last measure pulled all his resources and sent Siddi Jauhar on the expedition against Marathas. At the same time he made correspondence with Mughals to attack Shivaji. Accordingly, Shaista Khan attacked from Northern side towards Pune.
Siddi Jauhar laid the siege to Panhala fort. All attempts to raise the siege were foiled. Shivaji's senapati (Commander) Netaji Palkar could not break through the siege from outside. Hence Shivaji decided to give a final battle. But instead of suicidal attack, he followed a different strategy. A grand escape was planned to give a battle from the fort Vishalgad.
Battle
Composition of Adilshahi forces
It consisted of selected cavalry of Adilshahi which was well known under the command of Siddi Jauhar assisted by Siddi Masud and Fazal Khan.
Jasvantrao Dalvi of Palavani and Surve of Sringarpur had laid siege to Vishalgarh.
Composition of Maratha forces
Shivaji was assisted by his Sardar Bajiprabhu, Jadhavrao, Bandal and many more. However, the light infantry forces were limited around 600. They consisted of hardened mountaineers of maval region who had remained historically unconquered till that time.
Movement and clash of forces
Siddi Jauhar had laid the siege around Panhala very well, with utmost care. Firstly, Shivaji sent his vakil to Siddi Jauhar saying that he was ready to sign a treaty with him. Siddi Jauhar and his army thus relaxed a bit, foreseeing that their siege going on for months together was going to end. Still, getting through the siege of about a lakh Adilshahi soldiers seemed impossible. According to the plan, on the dead of the full moon night, Shivaji passed through the siege along with some 300 men, led by Bajiprabhu. They were surprisingly successful and were speeding towards Vishalgad. When the enemy came to know about Shivaji's escape from Panhala, they chased and caught some portion of his troops. The caught king turned out to be an impostor of Shivaji. He was a barber, namely Shiva Kashid. This heroic sacrifice gave the fleeing Maratha force some breathing space.
The enemy started the chase once again, led by Siddi Masood, son-in-law of Siddi Johar. By that time, Shivaji had reached a strategic location, Ghod Khind (Horse Pass), a gorge. It was very narrow so as to pass only a few soldiers at a time. Bajiprabhu Deshpande, a gallant general along with his Bandal sena, took the position to defend the pass till Shivaji reached another fort, Vishalgad.
Shivaji attacked another siege at the base of fort Vishalgad with such vigour that it was broken. Meanwhile, Baji Prabhu, his brother Fulaji and Sambhaji Jadhav successfully defended the pass with 300 soldiers. He was badly wounded, but he gave up only when he heard the sound of cannons blasted by Shivaji from the fort, indicating that he had reached safely. The pass is now known as Pävan Khind - The Sacred Pass. After crossing the pass, the enemy attacked Shivaji at Fort Vishalgad. But again they were fiercely beaten by Rango Narayan Sarpotdar, Shivaji's young officer on the Fort, and repulsed with heavy losses. They left the battlefield never to return again.
Honour
The sword of honour was given to Bandal. Shivaji personally visited the house of slain Baji Prabhu, situated in the village of Kasabe Sindh near Bhor in the Pune district. His elder son was offered job as chief of a section. Other 7 sons were given honour of the Palkhi. Son of Slain Sambhaji Jadhav, Dhanaji Jadhav was inducted in the forces.the marata
Outcome
This was the last major battle between Adilshahi forces and Marathas. Hereafter Marathas were recognised as an independent power. The sacrifice of Bajiprabhu and Shiva barber is a legend itself. Even today youths trek on the route taken by Shivaji between the forts of Panhala and Vishal Gadh. The distance is around 70 km.
Casualties
The total casualties of this battle was 3,000 on Adilshahi side and 300 on Maratha side. It was a bloody battle. Almost all Maratha troops laid their life to save their king.
References
- Grant Duff - History of Marathas
- Babasaheb Purandare - Raja ShivChhatrapati
- S.D.Samant - Vedh Mahamanvacha
- Kasar D.B. - Rigveda to Raigarh making of Shivaji the great
- Bahekar Arjun - House of Sindhkhedkar Jadhavas'
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