Battle of Bhopal

The Battle of Bhopal was fought on 24 December 1737 in Bhopal between the Maratha Empire and the combined army of the Mughal chiefs,^[21] Nizam of Hyderabad, Rajput kingdoms and the Kingdom of Oudh in which Marathas under the leadership of Peshwa Bajirao I were victorious.^[22]

Battle of Bhopal
Part of Mughal–Maratha wars
Date 24 December 1737 Location Bhopal, India Result Maratha victory Treaty of Bhopal Territorial changes Malwa formally ceded to Marathas following the Treaty of Bhopal
Belligerents
Maratha Empire[1]	Mughal Empire[2] Hyderabad State Kingdom of Awadh Kingdom of Jaipur[3] Kingdom of Kota[4] Other Mughal chiefs[5]
Commanders and leaders
Baji Rao I Chimaji Appa Ranoji Scindia Pilaji Jadhav Malhar Rao Holkar[6] Jaswant Pawar[7] Raghoji Bhonsle[8]	Asaf Jah I  Nasir Jung[9] Saadat Ali Khan Safdar Jung[10] Mansur Ali Khan[citation needed] Ishwari Singh[11] Subhasingh Bundela[12] Ayamal Kacchwaha (AWOL)[13] Rao Durjan Sal Hada Ram Singh Hada
Strength
Sinha: Total 80,000 men [14]         +No artillery Chhabra: 70,000 (Bajirao) 10,000 (Chimaji Appa) (didn't engage in battle at Bhopal) 70,000 men (engaged)[15]	Sinha & Sardesai: 30,000 men (Nizam)[16][17] Unknown (Nasir Jung) Reinforcements (Safdar Jung)[18] Fine artillery (best in India then)[19] Chhabra: 50,000 (Nizam) Unknown number of allies strength Unknown number of artillery 70,000 men (engaged)[20]
Casualties and losses
Unknown	Unknown

Background

As the Mughal Empire continued to weaken after Aurangzeb's death, the Maratha Peshwa Bajirao I invaded Mughal territories of Malwa and Gujarat. The Mughal Emperor Muhammad Shah was alarmed by the Marathas' conquest. Initially, Maratha war-bands that entered the province from the south (Deccan) were constantly defeated and repulsed by Jai Singh II, the Subahdar of Malwa.^[23][24] In 1737, the Marathas invaded the northern frontiers of the Mughal Empire, successfully reaching as far as the outskirts of Delhi under the command of Bajirao and were now marching back to Pune.^[25]

Battle

The battle was fought between the Marathas and Mughal forces led by the Nizam of Hyderabad near Bhopal in India in December 1737. The Marathas poisoned the water and the replenishment supplies of the besieged Mughal forces. Chimaji was sent with an army of 10,000 men to stop any reinforcements while Bajirao blockaded the city instead of directly attacking the Nizam. The Nizam sued for peace after he was denied reinforcements from Delhi.^[26]

Aftermath

On 7 January 1738, a peace treaty known as Treaty of Bhopal was signed in Doraha near Bhopal and the Mughals agreed to pay 5,000,000 Rupees as war expenses to the Marathas.^[27][26] The Marathas were given the territory of Malwa.^[26][28]