Yashwantrao Holkar: The biggest headache of the British, Shinden’s betrayal… the story of ‘Napoleon of India’

New Delhi: By the 19th century, many Indian kings had accepted the British Empire. The Mughals were greatly weakened and it was beyond their power to face the British alone. The British were making treaties with the Indian kings by offering all kinds of inducements. They used to negotiate peace and seize the entire kingdom. During that time a young Maharaj of Indore comes forward, starts uniting the kings against the British. The name of that king was Yashwantrao Holkar. Maharaja Yashwantrao understood the tactics of the British very well. When most of the kings succumbed to the East India Company, Yashwantrao single-handedly decided to overthrow the British rule. When the British tasted defeat, they realized that this time there was no ordinary king before them. In the history of British rule in India, there were very few kings before whom the British did not stand a chance. Maharaja Yashwantrao is one of them. Maharaja Yashwantrao Holkar was the only king with whom the British made a peace treaty on equal terms. Despite the treaty, he did not give up his intention to oust the British. An army of one lakh soldiers was raised to attack Kolkata. However, an untimely death robbed India of a king who might have freed India from the shackles of slavery much earlier. Historians call him ‘Napoleon of India’.

Why didn’t Yashwantrao trust anyone?

The last decade of the 18th century saw many upheavals in the state of Indore. Tukoji Rao Holkar was ruling at that time. But it was the second of the four sons, Malharrao Holkar, who dominated. Although Tukojirao’s eldest son Kashirao Holkar was the successor, there were not a few who doubted his ability. Keeping the future of the state in mind, Malhar Rao staked claim for the throne. Younger brothers- Yashwantrao and Vithojirao supported. Malharrao’s popularity was increasing. Recognizing the danger, Kashirao sought help from the Shinde royal family. Till then Holkar and Scindia were not getting along at all. Daulatrao Shinde killed Malharrao suddenly. His pregnant wife Jijabai and Yashwantrao’s daughter Bhimabai Holkar were imprisoned.

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When Peshwa Bajirao II’s minister, Nana Fadnavis, openly opposed Shinde’s act, he too faced imprisonment. Yashwantrao took refuge with Raghoji II Bhosale in Nagpur. When Shinde got the clue, he asked Raghoji to arrest Yashwantrao. Raghoji did the same and was imprisoned on 20 February 1798 by Yashwantrao’s patron. Yashwantrao escaped from Nagpur on 6 April 1798 with the help of Bhawani Shankar Khatri. After witnessing many molestations, Yashwantrao did not trust anyone again.

A friend was crushed under the feet of an elephant

Yashwantrao Holkar’s camp was getting stronger in Indore. He captured Maheshwar in December 1798 and was crowned the following month. Here Vithojirao Holkar made a bet with Amrita Rao for the Peshwa. Vithojirao said that Amritrao would be a better Peshwa than another Bajirao. In April 1801, Bajirao arrested Vithojirao and produced him in Pune. He was sentenced to be crushed under the feet of an elephant. At that time, many people told the Peshwas not to do this, otherwise the Maratha Empire would disintegrate. The Peshwas did not accept it. When Yashwantrao Holkar came to know all this, he vowed to avenge his brother’s death.

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Battle of Pune, Peshwa’s Revenge and Betrayal

Yashwantrao, who fled in the heat of exchange, first attacked the capital of Sindh, Ujjain. About three thousand soldiers of Ujjain were killed. The Shinde dynasty was severely defeated. Holkar’s next target was the Peshwa. Holkar left for Pune in May 1802. Sendhwa, Malegaon, Ahmednagar, Baramati… one by one small states were won. The battle of Pune took place on the day of Diwali. In Hadapsar, Shinde and Peshwa’s army was on one side and Yashwantrao Holkar’s army on the other side. Holkar ordered the army not to attack unless the enemy fired 25 shells. As soon as 25 bullets were fired, the signal of attack was received. Even the combined forces of Shinde and Peshwa could not survive against the genius of Holkar.

As soon as the Peshwas came to know, they fled from Pune. The British found it strategically appropriate to help the Peshwas. Because Yashwantrao’s next target was either the territories under the East India Company or the Nizam of Hyderabad. In December 1802, the Peshwas signed a treaty with the British. But Pune was the kingdom of Holkar. Yashwantar appointed Amrita Rao as Peshwa. The British again made Bajirao II Peshwa in May 1803, but Bajirao soon realized that he was now a nominal Peshwa. In August 1803 Amrita Rao relinquished his right to Peshwa. He agreed to join hands with the British to get a pension of 7 lakh rupees per annum and a jagiri at Banda.

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First attempt to unite Indian kings against the British

What happened to Peshwa Bajirao II, the British were also doing in other states. Yashwantrao Holkar understood this trick. He wrote letters to many kings to fight unitedly against the British. But most of the kings had already made a treaty with the British. In April 1804, a similar letter from Yashwantrao reached British General George Wellesley. Wellesley did not delay in sounding the battle bugle but soon realized that it would not be easy to compete with Yashwantrao Holkar. Colonel Manson, Colonel Fawcett… From June 1804 to September 1804, Holkar won many battles against the British. In October 1804, Holkar marched towards Delhi. Delhi was ruled by the Mughal emperor Shah Alam II, who, like the Marathas, was dispersed by the British. Yashwantrao postponed the war when Shah Alam sent troops to help the English army. But seeing his bravery, the Mughal emperor gave Yashwantrao the title of ‘Maharajadhiraj Rajeshwar Alija Bahadur’.

Yashwantrao’s army now left for Rajasthan. Major Fraser’s forces defeated at Deeg and Ranjit Singh, the Jat king of Bharatpur, welcomed Yashwantrao with open arms. Yashwantrao Holkar and Ranjit Singh joined hands and prepared to face the British. The next month and a half would see a battle that poets have compared to the battle of the Mahabharata. The British attacked in January 1805 but received a befitting reply from here. The British made four attempts but were chased by the forces of Holkar and Singh. However, in April 1805, Ranjit Singh accepted the British offer. As a result Yashwantrao had to leave Bharatpur.

The British gave equal status to the king for the first time

The British government sitting in London realized that it would be very difficult for them to stop Maharaja Yashwantrao Holkar. In such circumstances, Lord Cornwallis was sent as Governor General in place of Lord Wellesley. As soon as he arrived, he wrote to Lord Lake, the military commander, asking him to return the entire kingdom of Yashwantrao Holkar to him, and that he was ready to make peace. This was the first and perhaps only time the British approached an Indian king to negotiate a treaty on equal terms. Yet Yashwantrao refused to sign a treaty with the British. George Barlow, who came after the sudden death of Lord Cornwallis, also believed that Shinde-Holkar coexistence was not good for the British. When the British signed a treaty with Daulatrao Scindia in November 1805, Yashwantrao was isolated.

Lord Lake was asked to make a pact with Yashwantrao Holkar by any means. The British proposed an unconditional peace treaty. Maharaja Yashwantrao realized that the rest of the kings were not ready to join him, so he accepted the treaty. The treaty was signed on 24 December 1805. The British recognized Maharaja Yashwantrao Holkar as the sovereign king and returned all his property.

Preparations for the march to Calcutta remained incomplete.

Despite the treaty, Yashwantrao continued to strive for the consolidation of the Maratha kingdom. He also wrote a letter to Daulatrao Shinde about this, but Shinde told the British. Finally, Maharaja single-handedly decided to expel the British from India. He himself stayed at Bhanpura and started making guns. Work was going on day and night. More than 200 guns and one lakh soldiers were ready to march towards Calcutta. But Maharaja Yashwantrao Holkar was shocked by the stress of work and the sudden death of his nephew. He died suddenly on 27 October 1811. He was only 35 years old at that time.