History researcher compiles book on valour of Maratha warriors

Aurangabad: A Punebased history researcher is compiling facts in form of a book based on a lesserknown the battle of Devgiri that was fought between Maratha and the Nizams in 1763. The historical records point out that more than 10,000 soldiers of the Nizam were defeated by as many as 500 Marathas deployed at the fort. Pune-based history researcher Raj Memane is looking forward to compile the facts related to the war in form of a book. For this, he underwent the study of about 15,000 historical documents.

As compared to other dynasties, only scant details about the period when the Marathas held the Devgiri Fort, located at Daulatabad in Aurangabad district, are available, says the historian adding, “The win of Marathas over the Nizam army should in fact be celebrated on July 17 every year.” The battle was fought from July 03 to July 17 in the year 1763. Although the Marathas were outnumbered, still they succeeded in retaining the fort, claims Memane, who is also an expert of Modi script that is used to write Marathi. “I have gone through thousands of documents from the Peshwa Daftar (archives in Pune) to get details about the battle”, he said.

The Marathas used guerrilla tactics to attack the Nizam forces and to retain the fort, claims Memane. According to records, only one Maratha soldier died in the battle, he adds, without detailing the losses suffered by the Nizam troops. “Marathas, displaying exceptional warfare intellect, melted the waste iron available inside the fort to make cannon carts as iron could not be brought from elsewhere,” Memane said. Uddhav Chitale was the chief of Devgiri from Marathas side. Govind Kanho, Bajirao Raghunath, Kanhoji Sakpal and others fought alongside. Rajaram Bapurav led the Nizam’s troops, he said.