Battle of Bharatpur

Date of Battle: 13 December 1804 till 17 April 1805.

Yashwantrao Holkar had attacked the British and chased colonel Manson. He had attacked Delhi to free the Mugol Emperor from the British. Meanwhile he learnt that Colonel Mare and Colonel Wallace had attacked his Kingdom.

On 16 November 1804 Maharaja Yashwantrao Holkar reached Deeg by defeating the army of Major Frazer. After the death of Major Frazer, Manson took the charge of the British army. In Farrukhabad Lord Lake was a mute spectator watching Yashwantrao Holkar proceeding towards Deeg. He didn't dare to attack Maharaja Yashwantrao Holkar. Governor General was disappointed by this conduct of Lord Lake and he wrote to him about his disappointment. The Jat King Ranjit Singh of Bharatpur welcomed him and decided to be with Maharaja Yashwantrao Holkar against the British. The Jats greeted him with open arms. The Jats would not give up their traditional hospitality and courtesy even at the cost of their lives. Lord Lake advanced on Bharatpur in spite of the combined forces of Jats and Holkars.

Lord Lake attacked Deeg on 13 December 1804. The army of Holkar and Jat resisted successfully and reached the Bharatpur Durg. Lord Lake attacked Bharatpur on 3 January 1805 along with General Manson, Colonel Marey, Colonel Don, Colonel Berne, Major General Jones, General Smith, Colonel Jetland, Setan and others. The war lasted for five months in Bharatpur. This war was compared with the Mahabharata war.

Surprisingly the Jat King Ranjit Singh signed a treaty with the British on 17 April 1805 when they had nearly won the war. Due to this, Maharaja Yashwantrao Holkar had to leave Bharatpur.

Due to heavy pressure from the enemy, the Jats had to evacuate Deeg for better defensive positions.

Maharaja Yashwantrao Holkar sought help from Raja Bhag Singh of Jindh, Raja Fathesinh Ahuwalia of Patiyala and other Sikh rulers they all rejected to help Maharaja Yashwantrao Holkar against the British. He then went to Maharaja Ranjit Singh (Punjab) of Lahore who too turned down his request to fight against the British. As soon as the British learnt this, they sent Bahg Singh, uncle of Ranjit Sinh, to prevent Ranjit Sinh from helping Maharaja Yashwantrao Holkar. Ranjit Singh and Fateh Singh signed a friendship treaty with British ( The Treaty with Lahore ). The agreed draft of this treaty was ready on 17 December 1805. Maharaja Yashwantrao Holkar cursed him. This curse became a saying in Punjab.

British army and the army of Maharaja Yashwantrao Holkar again came face to face near Amritsar.

The English Council told Lord Lake to anyhow make a treaty with Maharaja Yashwantrao Holkar because if they were late and the other Kings accept the appeal of Maharaja Yashwantrao Holkar it would be difficult for them to remain in India. The British were worried because of the continuous failure against Holkars. The British approached him for peace.

Maharaja Yashwantrao Holkar saw that rest of the Kings were not ready to unite and were interested in personal benefits and interests, he was the last to sign a treaty with the British on 24 December 1805 at a place called Rajghat (in Punjab) ( Treaty at Rajghat ). He was the only King in India to whom the British approached to sign a peace treaty. He didn’t accept any condition which would affect his self respect. The British recognised him as a sovereign King and returned all his territory. They accepted his dominion over Jaipur, Udaypur, Kota, Bundi, and some Rajput Kings. They also accepted that they would not interfere in the matters of Holkars. The Victorious King reached Indore and started ruling his Kingdom.

He was successful to keep the British out of his state but he wanted them out of India. He knew that was impossible without sufficient cannons. He built a factory to manufacture cannons in Bhanpura.