Battle of Koregaon

By the 1800s, the Marathas were organized into a loose confederacy, with the major constituents being the Peshwa of Pune, the Scindia of Gwalior, the Holkar of Indore, the Gaekwad of Baroda, and the Bhosale of Nagpur. The British had subjugated and signed peace treaties with these factions, establishing Residencies at their capitals. The British intervened in a revenue-sharing dispute between the Peshwa and Gaekwad, and on 13 June 1817, the Company forced Peshwa Baji Rao II to sign an agreement renouncing claims on Gaekwad's revenues and ceding large swaths of territory to the British. This treaty of Pune formally ended the Peshwa's titular overlordship of other Maratha chiefs, thus officially ending the Maratha confederacy. Soon after this, the Peshwa burnt down the British Residency at Pune, but was defeated in the Battle of Khadki near Pune on 5 November 1817. The Peshwa then fled to Satara, and the Company forces took complete control of Pune. Pune was placed under Colonel Charles Barton Burr, while a British force led by General Smith pursued Peshwa. Smith feared that Peshwa could escape to Konkan and overpower the small British detachment there. Therefore, he instructed Colonel Burr to send reinforcements to Konkan, and in turn, call in for reinforcements from Shirur, if needed. Towards the end of December, Colonel Burr received news that the Peshwa intended to attack Pune, and asked the Company troops stationed at Shirur for help. The troops dispatched from Shirur came across the Peshwa's forces, resulting in the Battle of Koregaon. Peshwa's forces The Peshwa's army comprised 20,000 cavalry and 8,000 infantry. Out of these, around 2,000 men were deployed in the action, constantly reinforced during the battle. The force that attacked the Company troops consisted of three infantry parties of 600 soldiers each. The titular Maratha Chatrapati, Pratap Singh of Satara, also accompanied the Peshwa. The Company troops of Indian origin included Mahars, Marathas, Rajputs, Muslims, and Jews. This was mostly the troops that Capt. Staunton had raised three months ago with the object of strengthening the defense of Poona that was already under British control. ==The battle==

The Company troops left Shirur at 8 pm on 31 December 1817. After marching all night and covering a distance of 25 miles, they reached the high ground behind Talegaon Dhamdhere. From there, they spotted Peshwa's army across the Bhima River. Captain Staunton marched up to Koregaon Bhima village, which was located on the banks of the river. The village was surrounded by a low mud wall. Captain Staunton made a feint of crossing the shallow Bhima river. A 5,000-strong infantry, which was slightly ahead of the Peshwa's base, retreated to inform him about the presence of British forces. Meanwhile, Staunton stationed his forces in Koregaon instead of crossing the river. He secured a strong position for his guns, posting one of them to guard an approach from the Bhima river (which was running almost dry), and another to guard the road from Shirur. By noon, the Arabs took control of a temple on the outskirts of the village. One of the temples was retaken by a party led by Lieutenant and Assistant Surgeon Wyllie. The Arabs also captured the sole gun guarding the river, and killed eleven gunners, including their officer Lieutenant Chisholm. Driven by thirst and hunger, some of the Company's gunners suggested negotiating a surrender. However, Captain Staunton refused to yield. A group led by Lieutenant Pattison retook the gun, and found Lieutenant Chisholm's body with the head cut off. Captain Staunton declared that this would be the fate of those who fall into the enemy hands. This encouraged the gunners to fight on. The Company troops successfully defended the village. At night, the Company troops managed to procure a supply of water. == Casualties ==

Out of the 834 Company troops, 275 were killed, wounded or missing. The dead included two officers — Assistant-Surgeon Wingate and Lieutenant Chisholm; Lieutenant Pattison later died of his wounds in Shirur. According to the British estimates, around 500 to 600 of Peshwa's soldiers were killed or wounded in the battle. Mountstuart Elphinstone, who visited Koregaon two days later on 3 January 1818, wrote that the houses had been burned and the streets were filled with dead bodies of horses and men. There were around 50 dead bodies lying in the village, most of them of the Peshwa's Arab soldiers. There were six dead bodies outside the village. In addition, there were shallow graves of 50 native sepoys, 11 European soldiers and the 2 deceased officers belonging to the Company forces. == Aftermath ==

When Elphinstone visited the battle field shortly after its completion, he found that the Company soldiers had completely lost their morale and were reluctant to believe the praises that were showered on them . General Smith arrived in Koregaon on 3 January, but by this time, the Peshwa had already left the area. General Smith, in his official report of this battle, wrote, "The action at Koregaum was one of the most brilliant affairs achieved by any army in which European and Native soldiers displayed the most noble devotion and most romantic bravery under pressure of hunger and thirst almost beyond human endurance. == Decisiveness ==

Neither side achieved a decisive victory in the battle. Shortly after the battle, Mountstuart Elphinstone described it as a "small victory" for the Peshwa. Nevertheless, the East India Company government praised the bravery of its troops, who could not be overpowered despite being outnumbered. Notwithstanding this, the battle being one of the last ones to be fought in the Third Anglo-Maratha War, is since recognised as a Company victory after the war ended with Peshwa's defeat. == Legacy ==

Memorial To commemorate its fallen soldiers, the East India Company commissioned a "victory pillar" (an obelisk) in Koregaon. The inscription of the pillar declares that Captain Staunton's force "accomplished one of the proudest triumphs of the British Army in the East." Significance to Mahars and his followers at the Koregaon victory pillar on 28 December 1927 The Koregaon pillar inscription features the names of the 49 Company soldiers killed in the battle. 22 of these names end with the suffix -nac (or -nak), which was used exclusively by the people of Mahar caste. The obelisk was featured on the Mahar Regiment's crest until Indian Independence. While it was built by the British as a symbol of their own power, today it serves as a memorial of the Mahars. The Mahars were considered untouchable in the contemporary caste-based society. The Peshwas, who were the 'high-caste' Brahmins, were notorious for their mistreatment and persecution of the untouchables. Because of this, the Dalits (former untouchables), after independence, saw the Koregaon obelisk as a symbol of their victory over the high-caste oppression. Dalit leader B. R. Ambedkar visited the site on 1 January 1927. To commemorate his visit to the site, now thousands of his followers visit the site every New Year's Day. A number of Mahar gatherings have also been held at the place. This led to further violent protests and rioting in Mumbai and Maharashtra for two days. Films The Battle of Bhima Koregaon: An Unending Journey is a 2017 documentary by Indian filmmaker Somnath Waghmare. It explored the role of 500 Mahar soldiers in Battle of Koregaon on 1 January 1818 against the Peshwa dynasty. The Battle of Bhima Koregaon is an upcoming Indian Hindi-language period war drama film directed and produced by Ramesh Thete under his banner Ramesh Thete Films. The film stars Arjun Rampal as the Mahar warrior Sidhnak, and Digangana Suryavanshi. ==See also==