Battle of Umberkhind was a battle in the mountain range of Sahyadri that took place on 3 February 1661 near the city of Pen, Maharashtra, India between the Maratha under Chhatrapati Shivaji and the Kartalab khan of Mughals. The Marathas defeated the Mughal forces. Mughal forces were 20000 against 3000 light Maratha cavalry.
| Battle of Umberkhind|- | Part of the Imperial Maratha Conquests | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date: 3 February 1661 | ||||
| Place: Pen, Maharashtra, India | ||||
| Outcome: Decisive victory for Marathas | ||||
| Combatants | ||||
| Maratha Empire | Mughal forces | |||
| Commanders | ||||
| Shivaji, Netaji Palkar | Kartalab khan | |||
| Strength | ||||
| 3,000 | 20,000 | |||
| Casualties | ||||
| approx 50 | approx 400 | |||
The battle is known for strategic deployment of forces and rapid movement of cavalry by Shivaji.
Contents |
Shivaji had killed Afzal Khan and routed his army in the battle of Pratapgarh (10 November 1659). By December 1659 Shivaji appeared near Panhala fort and defeated Rustam Zaman, who was directed from Bijapur. His senapati Netaji Palakar caused havoc in the vicinity of Bijapur. Alarmed at this Adilshah requested mughals to send forces against Shivaji. Mughals sent Shaista khan with a huge force against Shivaji who camped at Pune. Meanwhile Shivaji was trapped in the siege of Panhala by Bijapuri forces under Siddi Jauhar from where Shivaji escaped. Shaista khan planned to reduce Shivaji's possessions in Konkan and deputed Karlab khan, an Uzbek General with a considerable force. Karlab decided to give a surprise to Shivaji and chose khnadal ghat to move towards Panvel. On getting this news, Shivaji spread news that he is moving force towards Panvel. Hearing through spies Karlab khan decided to move by another route and selected a less traveled path through Tungaranya. It was going to Konkan through a mountain pass locally known as Umberkhind.
To reach Umbar Khind from Pune, Kartalab traveled via Chinchvad, Talegaon, Vadagaon and Malavali (roughly parallel to the present railway line). At that point, he turned left towards Lohagad (a fort on the border of the Deccan plateau and Kokan). His army began the descent into Kokan area through the narrow pass that separates Lohagad from Visagad. His plan: descend into Tungaranya (a dense forest with hills on both sides), ascend some distance to Umbar Khind (pass) and then descend into Kokan proper. It is worth noting that when the British built the railroad between Mumbai and Pune, they chose go through Khandala Ghat and not via Umbar Khind. Why? Khandala Ghat, also known as BorGhat, is much more open and broad than Umbar Khind. It is much less subject to surprise attacks. Initially, Khan was planning to descend through BorGhat. Had he done so, Shivaji would have a much harder battle on his hands.
So, why did Kartalab chose to pass through Umbar Khind? The simplest answer is that Shivaji forced him to do that by ensuring that Kartalab knew that Shivaji was at the base of this Khind! This was the first important milestone in Shivaji's strategy. Khan was planning a secret campaign but Shivaji's spies were far more skillful. Khan had heard that Shivaji and his army would be at Kurawanda ? roughly 3 miles from Lonavala. When Khan reached Kurawanda, there was no sign of Shivaji or his army. His spies brought the news (!) that Shivaji was at Pen ? at the base of the Ghat. Naturally, Khan chose to quickly descend this mountain pass and launch a surprise attack on Shivaji. Khan was traveling in February when most rivers in Konkan area are dry or nearly so. It is difficult to fight a battle unless you import a large supply of drinking water.
Unknown to Kartalab Khan, Shivaji and his army were already in the hills that surrounded the UmbarKhind ? ready and waiting for Khan and his army to descend to the base of the pass. They were equipped with rocks and boulders in addition to the usual rifles, bow & arrows as well as sabers. How large was this army? About 1,000 strong. This entire pass was covered with dense forest and so, Shivaji's army was not visible to Khan and his army. The trap was now set for Khan. Khan and his army climbed down to the base in about 4 hours and met no resistance whatsoever. As his army moved down, Shivaji and some of his men reached the top of the pass. In short, unknown to him, Khan was now completely trapped. As soon as Khan reached the base of the pass, Shivaji's army began the battle with the help of rolling boulders! Since Shivaji's army was on top of the hills, Khan and his army were in effect fighting an invisible army. Nor could they retreat as a portion of Shivaji's army and Shivaji himself were waiting at the top of the mountain pass. In 2-3 hours at most, the battle was over!
Khan had no choice but to surrender and beg for a safe passage. Shivaji's small army of 1,000 had trapped and defeated a well-equipped army of 20,000! Shivaji agreed to let Khan and his army leave Umbar Khind and return to Khan's home base in Pune provided that:
Khan and his army left empty-handed (leaving behind their arms: rifles, guns, gun-powder, sabers, arrows, shields, etc.) Khan left behind their horse, bulls, wagons, tents, food stores, all extra clothing items, jewelry, gold, etc. Khan allowed anyone who wished to join Shivaji's army. Shivaji and his assistants inspected each person to ensure that they had followed the terms of the truce. Once Khan's army had left the battle area, Shivaji's army spent the rest of that day collecting, classifying and packing all items. Then they moved back towards RajGad.
This battle boosted the morale of the Marathas that they can defeat mighty Mughals. After this battle, Mughals gave up plan of conquering Konkan and changed their strategy. Encouraged by this, Shivaji attacked even Shaista khan in a night assault.
The casualties of this battle are approximately given in above table.
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