On the Pune – Ahmadnagar highway, just 19 kilometers North East of Pune, stands an imposing granite monument on the banks of the Bhima River. This well-maintained monument commemorates the site of the battle of Bhima Koregaon where some 800 British led troops of the East India Company put up a doughty defense against the Marathas under Peshwa Baji Rao II. The day long skirmish saw the large Maratha force withdraw after being unable to overrun its much smaller adversary and marked the ascendancy of the British – or more appropriately, East Indian Company – power in the Deccan
The Battle of Bhima Koregaon took place on 01 January 1818, but had its roots in the Anglo –Maratha rivalry for the control of the Deccan. The Anglo –Maratha Wars from 1770 – 1817 had seen the British slowly gain the upper hand. Following the Maratha defeat in the Third Anglo-Maratha War of June 1817, the Peshwa was forced to flee from Pune, their capital.
The Peshwas was pursued by a large British force under General Smith and Pune was placed under a garrison under Colonel Burr. As the Peshwa escaped from his pursuers, he retraced his steps and moved back towards Pune. Colonel Burr hearing of the arrival of the Marathas asked for help from the Company’s troops stationed at Shirur. Around 500 troopers of the 2nd Battalion of the Bombay Native Infantry, 300 horsemen of Poona Auxiliary Horse (later Poona Horse – one of India’s most illustrious Armoured Regiments) along with a contingent of artillery with two six-pounder guns, left Shirur at 8 pm on 31 Dec 1817 under the command of Lt Francis Staunton, to reinforce the Poona Garrison. Marching all night, they reached the village of Talegaon and there they spotted the advance guard of the Peshwa Army across the Bhima River.
Koregaon, on the banks of the almost dried up Bhima River was a small hamlet of huts surrounded by a low mud wall, with almost no defense potential. Stanton however chose to stand and fight there and deployed his infantry and cavalry in a concentric pattern around the village. He placed one of his guns to cover the crossing place across the Bhima River and deployed the other to guard the road from Shirur.
Although the Maratha army was led by the Peshwa himself and comprised of around 20,000 cavalry and 8000 infantry, only its advance guard, of around 2-3000 infantry was tasked to clear the position. At around 8 am on 01 Jan, three parties of 500-600 troopers (Comprising of Arabs, Gosavis and Marathas) crossed the Bhima River at three different places, supported by the fire of cannons and rockets. Another force launched a feint attack along the Shirur – Pune road. Although out-numbered, the defenders of Koregaon held on in the face of three attacks. The first two attacks were repulsed, but the third gained a foothold on the outskirts of the village. From there they launched an attack towards a small temple where the British cannon was deployed. They killed all eleven gunners, including the British officer Lt Chisholm and captured the gun. It was now around noon, and the force inside Koregaon were hungry, thirsty and exhausted. With the Marathas so close to them, morale cracked and some of the troops suggested a surrender. However the British officers refused, and instead launched a counter attack on the captured gun position, led by the 6 feet 7 Inches Lt Pattison. His spirited attack pushed the Arab and Maratha troops out of the foothold they had established and recaptured their gun. The decapitated bodies of Lt Chisholm and the gunners were also recovered and displayed to the wavering troops saying that they would be accorded the same treatment if they surrendered.
The troops, though denied food or water all day, held on. Some contingents of the Maratha forces managed to enter the village and fierce hand-to-hand fighting took place in the congested lanes. However the ingress was contained and barring small parties, the Marathas were unable to enter the main village. The British led infantry, supported by its small cavalry contingent held strong, counterattacking fiercely against any breach. As night fell, the fighting reduced and by around 9 pm even the Marathas who had entered the village withdrew and moved back to its outskirts. Nightfall also permitted the East India Company soldiers to creep up to the river and get some much needed water.
The Marathas did not attack by night, nor did they attack the next day, even though the defenders were exhausted. Rather, the Peshwa himself was apprehensive that the bulk of the British forces, led by General Smith would return to attack his forces and went on the defensive himself. That night on 02 Jan, Capt Staunton decided to vacate Koregaon and at nightfall, the remnants slipped away from the village moving back to Shirur, carrying their wounded with them.
They reached Shirur after marching all night. Of the 834 troopers that had set out three days ago, 275 were dead, wounded or missing. The Marathas too, suffered grievously, losing 500- 600 men in just a day of battle. Worse, the British, gained the psychological ascendancy after this battle.
The Peshwas withdrew from the vicinity of Koregaon on the night of 02 January and the next day, a large British column under General Smith reached Koregaon. The village was deserted, its streets littered with dead men and horses, most of them from the attackers who had succeeded in penetrating the village. The Peshwa’s forces were relentlessly pursued away from Poona and suffered a series of reverses at Nashik, Satara and Astha. Finally in June, with most of his trusted lieutenants killed and his army dispirited, the Peshwa surrendered to the British. The Deccan, came under the East India Company allowing them to continue their loot and plunder of the sub-continent.
To commemorate “One of the proudest triumphs of the British Army in the East” a large victory pillar was erected by the British at the site, with the names of the dead inscribed. This victory pillar, which was a symbol of the victory of a foreign power against a local ruler, unfortunately became a symbol of the victory of the oppressed Dalits against the upper castes of the Maratha army. Most of the men who fought under British arms at Koregaon were local Dalits. They wanted to be recruited in the largely upper caste Maratha army but had been brusquely refused. The British willingly accepted them into their army where they served with discipline and courage. The staunch defense of Koregaon is projected as Dalit valour, though the defending force was a homogenous mix of all castes and a roll call of the dead shows 22 Mahar, 16 Marathas, 8 Rajputs, 2 Muslims and 2 Jews, along with 11 European soldiers and two British officers. Perpetuating the divide between castes and religions in India to further their own aims was a standard British practice which they had perfected. Unfortunately, the victory monument which was built by the British to symbolize their power also became a symbol of the caste struggle that rips apart the fabric of our country, and which has been repeated exploited by outsiders to help divide and subjugate our country.