Battle of Chakan

The Battle of Chakan was fought between the Maratha Empire and the Mughal Empire in the year 1660.[1]

Battle of Chakan
Part of Mughal Conquests
DateJuly–August 1660
Location
Chakan, Maharashtra
Result Mughal victory[1]
Belligerents
Maratha Empire Mughal Empire
Commanders and leaders
Firangoji Narsala Shaista Khan
Strength
800 20000
Casualties and losses

Killed or wounded 300

Surrendered 500		 3000-5000 killed or wounded

The Mughal army advancing towards Pune had to overcome the fort of Chakan around 30 km from the city.

The fort of Chakan was a Bhuikot, i.e. a land fort and was occupied by around 800 infantry.

Mughal forces laid siege to the fort hoping for a quick surrender by the numerically inferior Maratha garrison.

However the Mughal artillery was unable to force the fort into submission.

Several assaults by the Mughals were repulsed with high casualties.

After almost two and half months without success the Mughals finally resorted to mining the Buruj or tower of the fort.

With the towers demolished the Maratha force agreed to come to terms. The remainder of garrison withdrew from the fort.

Aftermath

The Mughal commander Shaista Khan was surprised with the prolonged resistance offered at the relatively small fort.

The siege revealed glaring shortcomings of Mughal army like poor strategy and tactics and overconfidence.

These were exploited by the Marathas when they routed a Mughal force deployed in Konkan, and again during the most celebrated strike at Shaista Khan's camp in Pune.

References
  1. Jacques, Tony (2006). Dictionary of Battles and Sieges. Greenwood Press. p. 220. ISBN 978-0-313-33536-5. Archived from the original on 26 June 2015. Retrieved 27 March 2015.
  • Producer-Nitin Desai. "Raja ShivChhatrapati". Star Pravah. Missing or empty |series= (help)
  • Purandare, Babasaheb (August 2003). राजा शिवछत्रपती [Raja Shivachhatrapati] (in Marathi) (15 ed.). Pune: Purandare Prakashan. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)

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