Battle of Pavan Khind

The Battle of Pavan Khind (/pɑːvʌnxɪnd/ ^ⓘ PAAVANKHIND) was a rearguard last stand that took place in September 1660, at a mountain pass in the vicinity of Vishalgad between the forces of the Maratha and the pursuing Bijapur Sultanate forces.

Battle of Pavan Khind
Date 1660 Location Pavan Khind, Vishalgad, Maharashtra, India Result Inconclusive
Belligerents
Maratha Empire	Bijapur Sultanate
Commanders and leaders
Baji Prabhu Deshpande † Fulaji Prabhu Deshpande † Rayaji Bandal  † Shambu Singh Jadhav †	Siddi Masud Siddi Jauhar Rustam Zaman Fazar Khan

After escaping the Siege of Panhala, Shivaji and his small accompaniment were pursued by Siddi Masud of the Bijapur Sultanate with a much larger force. As morning was breaking, the Maratha generals Baji Prabhu Deshpande and Shambhu Singh Jadhav with half of the force fortified a narrow mountain pass and repulsed the chasing cavalry and continued fighting off the Bijapuri infantry. When Shivaji and the rest of the force reached the fort they sounded the signal with cannon and the remaining Maratha forces retreated.

According to legends, despite being mortally wounded Baji Prabhu Deshpande continued defending and encouraging his troops until he heard the signal. The engagement ended with the destruction of the Maratha forces, and a tactical victory for the Bijapur Sultanate that failed to achieve the strategic victory of capturing Shivaji.^[1][2][3]

Baji Prabhu Deshpande Statue in Panhala Fort

In popular culture

• The battle was depicted in episodes of Raja Shivchatrapati
• In 2022, Pawankhind, a Marathi-language film depicting the battle directed by Digpal Lanjekar and starring Chinmay Mandlekar as Shivaji and Ajay Purkar as Baji Prabhu Deshpande was released on 21 January.^[4]
• Also in 2022, Har Har Mahadev, another Marathi-language film depicting the prior siege and the battle directed by Abhijeet Deshpande and starring Subodh Bhave as Shivaji and Sharad Kelkar as Baji Prabhu Deshpande was released on 25 October.

See also

• Battle of Kolhapur
• Third Battle of Panipat
• List of last stands