hello guys and welcome to another edition of the defenders of India series
so many people have heard about the 300 Spartans that held off the Persian army
and it's a legendary battle of course but surprisingly a lot of people from
India do not know about the other story of the brave 300 soldiers that held off
a much larger attacking army and I'm going to talk about that legendary story
today so more and more people can hear about it that story of course is the
story of the 300 brave Marathas at the Battle of Ghaorkhind or the Battle of
Pavankhind and I really really think that everybody in India and everybody of
Indian origin should know about this story what I'm talking about of course
is the story of bhaji prabhu Deshpande now this is a name that maybe a lot of
people outside of western India haven't necessarily heard but again like I said
this is one of my favorite stories and I really want everybody to know about this
name because because in medieval India when Hindus were at the brink of
complete destruction and extinction this bravery played a major role in ensuring
that our culture that our civilization continues so in 1660 the Maratha King
Shivaji was trapped in the fort of Panhala under siege and vastly
outnumbered by an Adilshahi army led by an Ethiopian named Siddi Massoud The
Adilshahis were the dynasty which ruled Bijapur for many centuries the ruler of
the Adilshahi dynasty at the time was Ali Adil Shah the second Shivaji had
inflicted embarrassing defeats upon the Adilshahis and they were determined
to crush him and kill him finally even though the Adilshahis considered
themselves separate from the Mughals they were aligned with the Mughals in
this case with the joint purpose of crushing and killing the audacious and
crafty shivaji. shivaji decided that he was not going to last very long if he
stayed at Panhala and that he would be captured and killed so he decided to
escape to the fort of vishalgad which was administered by a Maratha chieftain
named Range narayan orpe who was under the allegiance to the Adilshahis
but who had come to a secret agreement with Shivaji and he
is going to switch sides and join Shivaji when the time was right there
was also a Mughal garrison stationed at Vishalgad which Shivaji would have to
defeat Shivaji have waited for months planning and depleting the Adilshahi
food source he waited until he knew that the Adilshahis needed to go and
gather more food and then he planned his escape Shivaji and Baji prabhu who was
the Deshpande of Hardis maval and around 600 of their best troops would dash
through the Adilshahi force at night a man named Shiva Kishida who resembled
Shivaji in appearance had volunteered to dress like the king and get captured
it was envisaged that this would buy Shivaji and his troops some additional
time before Siddi Massoud realised his mistake and started giving chase to
Shivaji so Shivaji made his escape on the night of July 13th with a small
contingent of troops of around 600 people
Baji Prabhu was the second in command of this contingent but the Adilshahi
gave hot and rapid chase under Siddi Jauhar's son Siddi Aziz and Afzal Khan's son
Fazl Khan. the Adilshahi Army that gave chase to Shivaji was an army of
8,000 soldiers so Shivaji's troops were severely outnumbered. it was clear that
there was no way to shake the enemy and that the Marathas would not
simultaneously be able to defeat both the Mughal garrison and Vishalgad and
the chasing Adel Shahi Army. the only option then it was decided, was for a
section of the Marathas to stay back and fight the much larger Adilshahi
forces while the rest of the Maratha troops would carry on. Sri
Aurobindo a great thinker and a great yogi of the 20th century wrote a
beautiful poem describing the brave actions of Baji Prabhu who as well.
he wrote a passage in which Shivaji said to Baji, "Baji, more than once in battle
thou has stood a living shield between me and the foe. but more today O baji,
save than any single life thy nation's destiny." bhaji prabhu Deshpande readily
agreed to face the troops of Bijapur with half of the contingent around 300
people. shivaji said that bhaji prabhu would hear the cannon fire from Vishalgad
as signal of Shivaji safety. the strategic
position of Gharkhind horse pass was chosen for the defense it was very
narrow and only a few soldiers could pass through at one time
baaji Prabhu gave strict orders to the 300 Maratha troops: under no circumstances
and the other Shah he's be allowed to pass until Shivaji is safe in Vishalgad.
the Adilshahi army repeatedly tried to break through the defenses of
the pass but were constantly repulsed and beaten back. the unequal battle
between the Adilshahis and the 300 Murata troops raged for hours with the
defenders clinging to their positions, rapidly reducing in numbers. close to
2,000 other Chinese soldiers were killed. wielding two huge and very heavy swords
one in each hand Baji Prabhu repulsed the waves using his
body as a wall to prevent the Adel Shahi soldiers from getting through. even
though Baji Prabhu was shot by a Siddi gunman and fatally wounded he continued
to fight and continued to cut down Adilshahi soldiers that tried to
pass through. he literally refused to die till he heard the cannon fire announcing
Shivaji safe passage to Vishalgad. it was almost as if he told YamaRaj to
wait until Shivaji was safe. over 200 Maratha soldiers were killed in
this battle and only after baji Prabhu heard the cannon fire did he finally
fall down and die. when shivaji heard of Baji Prabhu's passing he was deeply
saddened. he personally visited Baji Prabhu's whose family and paid his condolences. he
also gave Baji Prabhu's eldest son a position of leadership and honour in the
forces. the morale of the Adel Shahis was destroyed after the battle at Ghodkhind
against baaji prabhu and they declined to beseech vishalgad and
retired to their own territory. the defense of the pass of Ghod Khind by
300 Marathas led by Baji Prabhu Deshpande was named the Battle of Pavan
Khind, which in Marathi means the Battle of the sacred pass. for the rest of his
life, Shivaji would also act as the Guardian
for Baji Prabhu's children. Denis Kincaid a prominent historian said
that Baji Prabhu's defense of Ghorkhind has become legendary in western India.
this action is remarkable as An example of the spirit with Shivaji's
leadership infused into his followers. and not just Shivaji it was the cause it
was because of defending and protecting the Hindu civilization and ensuring that
from generations from then men women and children can enjoy these traditions and
can follow this culture the way we do. Shivaji's mother jija bai wept at the
news of bhaji propose death. ballads and poems have been composed in his memory
many of which are still sung today. Sri Aurobindo like I said before, the great
yogi of the 20th century wrote a splendid poem dedicated to baji prabhu
again I would provide the link to that poem in the description below you should
really go and read it the reason this is one of my favourite stories and the
reason this story gives me so much inspiration is because it was the
passion that defending our civilization and defending our culture infused in
people like baji prabhu that these 300 men laid down their lives so that our
culture could continue. and i hope if there are people out there that don't
know already about baji prabhu they have heard about him today and they go
and read more about him they go read the poem that Sri Aurobindo wrote about
Baji Prabhu as well and realised that it is because of brave hearts like baji
prabhu that today we are able to celebrate and practice and live our
culture. again guys thank you very much for watching today's episode of the
defenders of India series, I hope you enjoy today's episode if you did, make
sure to give this episode a thumbs up make sure to give this episode a like it
helps me out it helps the channel out. also I know some of you wanted me to do
Lalitaditya Muktapida, I will be doing an episode on him very soon as
well please bear with me. I do hope you enjoyed today's episode as well if you
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until then stay happy stay healthy and I'll see you soon