How the Battle of Khadki became the final major gamble by the Maratha

In secret, Baji Rao II turned to his ablest commander, Bapu Gokhale, a brilliant military mind and perhaps the last great general of the Marathas. Gokhale covertly raised an army while pretending to play along with the treaty. He hired hill tribes, strengthened Sinhgad and Raigad, and gathered approximately 28,000 troops plus 20 cannons. But, the British Resident, Mountstuart Elphinstone, through his network of spies, discovered that the Peshwa was planning an attack. On October 19, 1817, during the Dussehra festival, the Peshwa’s cavalry charged toward the British soldiers. However, it didn’t work. The British sepoys stood firm and reported the matter to their officers.

By early November, British forces gathered at Khadki with 3000 troops led by Colonel Charles Barton Burr on November 1st. Captain John Ford arrived on November 4. “A fun fact,” states historian Uday Kulkarni, “Captain Ford was friends with Moropant Dixit, a Peshwa minister. They had an informal deal to stay on the same side. Yet, Ford backed out and changed sides as the battle loomed.”

On November 5, the Maratha artillery attacked the British Residency where Elphinstone was stationed. Elphinstone, now fully exposed, retreated to join Burr’s forces at Khadki. Burr and Ford’s forces moved towards each other to unite. “The Peshwa watched from Parvati Hill. He was uncertain about the attack from the beginning, realising the British’s power. But Bapu Gokhale was resolute in confronting the British,” adds Kulkarni.

What happened next was one of history’s most consequential geographical obstacles. The Maratha horsemen floundered into the mud. This destroyed their momentum and order in seconds. Seeing this as an opportunity, the British fired rounds of merciless bullets. Only a handful of Maratha horsemen managed to press forward. The rest retreated or fled.

Kulkarni says, “The rate of reload was so rapid and intense that a pit wouldn’t have prevented Maratha defeat.” By nightfall, the field had been cleared. While the Maratha suffered around 500 casualties, the British suffered only a few.

The aftermath

By November 17, 1817, the British occupied Shaniwarwada, the seat of the Peshwa. Baji Rao II himself fled southward towards Satara. Further battles followed. One by one, the pieces fell. Bapu Gokhale died on February 19, 1818, at the Battle of Ashti. By June 1818, Baji Rao II surrendered.

The Maratha Empire was finished. Within two years, the British had solidified their control over most of central India. However, the consolidation was not instant. Kulkarni elaborates, “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. The British had, by that time, established themselves as a dominant force nationwide. Without a unified coalition of princely states to challenge their authority, which didn’t materialise due to their individual motivations, defeating the British was nothing short of a distant dream.”

Yet historian Mohan Shete highlights, “Despite the defeat, we should take pride in knowing that the Maratha Empire was the sole entity that fought against colonial rule until its last breath.”

What these ruins tell us today

The British Residency, today, is the residence of Pune’s district court judge, with a small marble plaque in front of the house that traces back to the battle. The battleground now forms part of the campus of Savitribai Phule Pune University. Historians think that the morass that destroyed the Maratha’s momentum probably existed somewhere between what is now Range Hills Colony and the Khadki Military Station. Parvati Hill, from where the Peshwa watched his world end, still stands in the city.

What’s the takeaway? Shete, on the backdrop of the Battle of Khadki, says, “The British, we must acknowledge, were significantly advanced. They had the latest artillery technology and strategic prowess. This prompts us to assess our standing. Are we staying current in our pursuit?”