Chimaji Appa
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I am starting this thread to post about forgotten Indian Military History which gets ignored in our textbooks. From Ancient times to Medieval Muslim invasions, lot of clashes between Locals and foreigners get forgotten. Feel free to post about your regions forgotten military history as well.
I will start with some Muslim defeats in Uttarakhand:
Some early Mughal/Muslim Invasions of the Siwalik Hills (Western Nepal and Uttarakhand);
1. In 1419, the governor of Sambhal conquers the fertile Terai region from the kingdom of Kumaon. The king sends his commander, Nilu Kathait, to drive out the invaders. He successfully defeats the governor and routs him out of the terai in open battle. The king ordered an inscription to be set up in his village for the bravery shown in the battle by the commander.
2. Mughals raid some principality. Sultan Mahmud, a nephew of the Mughal commander Pir Muhammad Khan, launches a raid into the Kumaon kingdom or the Doti Kingdom in far western Nepal/Eastern Kumaon. His army gets ambushed by the locals and many soldiers, along with the commander are killed. The chronicler Abdul Qadir Badayuni describes this event his Muntakhab-ut-Tawairkh.
3. The next governor of Oudh launched another invasion into the shivaliks. This raid was initially successful, but on the return from looting, the hill men ambushed and annihilated the expedition, and regained all the loot. Badauyuni describes that "the bravest of his (Hussain Khan-governor of Oudh's) men drank the cup of martyrdom".
4. Badauyuni relates that after this, Hussain Khan launched several more raids, but he could never penetrate into the interior and was repelled every single time by the hill forces. His last raid was successful, but the commander himself returned from the mountain injured with many of forces dead.
5. Shah Jahan sends a 130,000 strong expedition to coerce the Raja of Srinagar/Garhwal (Queen Karnavati). Karnavati lures the Mughal army into the interior of the kingdom by promising to pay tribute to the Mughals, and ambushes them somewhere near Srinagar. Najabat Khan, the Mughal commander, is said to have been the only survivor by the Maasir ul Umara. Nicholas Travernier claims that the survivors had their nose chopped by the queens forces.
6. After the raid of Hussain Khan -Nawab of Oudh-, the then Kumaon king, led by Rudra Chand and his general Purushottam Pant, led an army to expel the Mughal garrison at Terai, which they successfully did. The local tradition claims that the Akbar sent a massive army to coerce the Raja. The Raja, understanding the futility of the situation, is said to have challenged the commander in personal combat, which the Raja won. This tradition makes no sense as the Mughals would never adhere to the Rajas conditions, especially when the Mughals were much more powerful than them. It is possible that Rudra Chand repelled the Mughals, however.
I will start with some Muslim defeats in Uttarakhand:
Some early Mughal/Muslim Invasions of the Siwalik Hills (Western Nepal and Uttarakhand);
1. In 1419, the governor of Sambhal conquers the fertile Terai region from the kingdom of Kumaon. The king sends his commander, Nilu Kathait, to drive out the invaders. He successfully defeats the governor and routs him out of the terai in open battle. The king ordered an inscription to be set up in his village for the bravery shown in the battle by the commander.
2. Mughals raid some principality. Sultan Mahmud, a nephew of the Mughal commander Pir Muhammad Khan, launches a raid into the Kumaon kingdom or the Doti Kingdom in far western Nepal/Eastern Kumaon. His army gets ambushed by the locals and many soldiers, along with the commander are killed. The chronicler Abdul Qadir Badayuni describes this event his Muntakhab-ut-Tawairkh.
3. The next governor of Oudh launched another invasion into the shivaliks. This raid was initially successful, but on the return from looting, the hill men ambushed and annihilated the expedition, and regained all the loot. Badauyuni describes that "the bravest of his (Hussain Khan-governor of Oudh's) men drank the cup of martyrdom".
4. Badauyuni relates that after this, Hussain Khan launched several more raids, but he could never penetrate into the interior and was repelled every single time by the hill forces. His last raid was successful, but the commander himself returned from the mountain injured with many of forces dead.
5. Shah Jahan sends a 130,000 strong expedition to coerce the Raja of Srinagar/Garhwal (Queen Karnavati). Karnavati lures the Mughal army into the interior of the kingdom by promising to pay tribute to the Mughals, and ambushes them somewhere near Srinagar. Najabat Khan, the Mughal commander, is said to have been the only survivor by the Maasir ul Umara. Nicholas Travernier claims that the survivors had their nose chopped by the queens forces.
6. After the raid of Hussain Khan -Nawab of Oudh-, the then Kumaon king, led by Rudra Chand and his general Purushottam Pant, led an army to expel the Mughal garrison at Terai, which they successfully did. The local tradition claims that the Akbar sent a massive army to coerce the Raja. The Raja, understanding the futility of the situation, is said to have challenged the commander in personal combat, which the Raja won. This tradition makes no sense as the Mughals would never adhere to the Rajas conditions, especially when the Mughals were much more powerful than them. It is possible that Rudra Chand repelled the Mughals, however.