Hambirrao Mohite (English: Hambirrao Mohite) was a Kohinoor general of the Maratha Empire.┬аHe performed the duty of commander┬а┬аfrom Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj to K┬аSambhaji Maharaj .
Hambirao was a very faithful and loyal commander who wanted to make the dream of Swarajya a reality.┬аHe obeyed every order of┬аhis ruler┬аChhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and thought about the welfare of the subjects.
Introduction to Hambirrao Mohite
name | Hambirrao Mohite |
Birth | 1 May 1632, Talbid, Satara District, Maharashtra |
father | Sambhaji Mohite |
Daughter | Tara Bai |
Brother | Harifrao, Shankar |
sissy | Soyarabai┬аand Annubai |
nephew | Rajaram I |
niece | Deepabai (Balibai) |
brother in law | Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj |
cause of fame | commander of the maratha empire |
retired | in the Maratha Empire |
Post | commander |
death | 16 December 1687, Wai, Maharashtra |
Age | 57 years |
Hambirao Mohite was born on 1 May 1632 in Talbid, present-day Satara district, Maharashtra.┬аHis father Sambhaji Mohite was a loyal main hero.┬а
Hambirao had 2 brothers and 2 sisters.┬аHis brothers were Harif Rao and Shankarji and his sisters were┬аSoyarabai┬аand Annubai. Mohite had adopted all the qualities of his father Sambhaji Mohite.┬аHe also became a loyal chief hero and performed the duty of commander of the Maratha Empire.
His daughter’s name was┬аTarabai who was married to┬аRajaram┬а, the younger son of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj┬а.┬аMohite’s grandson was┬аShivaji II┬а.
Hambirrao Mohite’s sister Soyrabai was married to Shivaji Maharaj.┬аHis other sister Annubai was married to Shivaji Maharaj’s half-brother, Venkoji.
The son of Sambhaji Mohite is Hansaji alias Hambirrao Mohite.
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj gave Hansaji Mohite the book Hambirrao and appointed him as the Commander-in-Chief of his army.┬аPrataprao Gujar died while fighting Bahlolkhana on 24th February 1674 and Hambirrao was appointed in his place.
Maharaj’s second wife Soyarabai was the niece of Hambirrao Mohiti.┬аMaharani Tarabai, the daughter of Hambir Rao, was the wife of Rajaram Maharaj.
When it was learned that Prataprao had fallen, Hambirrao launched a fierce attack on Adilshahi’s army.
After the coronation, Shivaji Maharaj ordered Hambirrao to attack the camp of Mughal subhedars Diler Khan and Bahadur Khan.┬аBy successfully conducting this invasion, they invaded the region of Khandesh, Baglan, Gujarat, Barhanpur, Varhad, Mahud and Varkad of the Mughals.┬аAfter this (in the year 1676) Sarsenapati Hambirrao defeated the Adilshahi Pathani Sardar Hussain Khan Miyana of Koppal in Karnataka at Yelburga and liberated the ryots from his tyranny.┬аThe description of the maximum of Sarsenapati Hambirrao’s sword has come from Bakhari.┬а(There is a similar sword in the temple of Bhavani Mata at Pratapgad. It has six chars on it. The letter ‘Kanhoji Mohite Hambirrao’ is engraved in gold on this sword.
After capturing Hussain Khan, the warriors Dhanaji Jadhav and Sarsenapati Hambirrao Mohite met Shivaji at Bhaganagar in Govalkonda.┬аAfter this, Maharaj wanted to establish good relations with his brother Vyankoji Raje through sympathy.┬аHowever, Vyankoji’s visit was not successful.┬аLater, Maharaj took over the campaign in Karnataka and came to Maharashtra.┬аHambirrao, however, later came to Maharashtra in the year 1678. After that, Maharaj married his youngest son Rajaram Maharaj’s daughter Pratapi Gujar to Janakibai.┬аChhatrapati Shivaji died just ten to twelve days later.┬аAt this time Hambirrao was camping in Karhad area.
After the death of Khambir┬аMama Hambir Shivaji Maharaj with the backing of Shambhu Raje, on hearing the news that Sambhaji Raje had ascended the stage without placing Sambhaji Raje on the post of Chhatrapati, Sambhaji Raja ordered all his forts and powers to be restored to their feet.┬аThis order was also received by Sarsenapati Hambirrao.┬аHambirrao decided to serve the Sambhaji kings.
After the coronation of Sambhaji Raje, according to his order, Hambir Rao showed his prowess on various fronts, of which the huge loot he got in the victory of Barhanpur is important.┬аThis victory shocked the Mughals.┬аAfter that, the invasion of Hambir Rao on the Mughal Sardar Shahabuddin Khan alias Ghaziuddin Khan Bahadur is important.┬аWhile Khan Ramses was besieging the fort, Hambirrao attacked him and showed his prowess.┬аHambirrao was wounded during the siege.┬аAfter this, on the orders of Sambhaji Raja, Hambirrao made a successful attempt to oust Mughal Sardar Kulichkhan from the area of тАЛтАЛBhima river and Prince Ajjam from the area of тАЛтАЛPanhala.┬аAfter that he defeated Rahulullah Khan and Bahadur Khan near Kalyan.┬аIn the year 1688, near Raigad, Hambir Rao joined hands with Gajiuddin Khan in a battle which caused great loss to the Marathas.┬аIn the later period, along with Sambhaji Raje himself, Hambir Rao was heavily involved in many campaigns.┬аThe last battle of Sarsenapati Hambirrao took place near Vai.┬аIn this battle, the Mughal chief Sarjakhana was defeated, but Hambir Rao was shot and killed.
Hambirrao Mohite in the Battle of Koppal
During the time of Hambirrao Mohite, two generals of Adilshah Abdul Rahim Khan Mian and his brother Hussain Mian ruled in the Koppal state of Karnataka.┬а
Both the brothers were very merciless people.┬аHe used to treat the farmers very cruelly.┬аThey used to collect full tax from the farmers even when there was no crop in the state and there was a famine.┬а
Poor farmers used to beg in front of him, but he did not listen to anyone.┬аBoth of them had created panic there.
So the farmers of Koppal province┬аcomplained about it to┬аChhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj .┬аShivaji Maharaj sent his general Hambirao there to solve their problem.┬а
On January 1677, the army of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj fought against the army of Adil Shah under the leadership of Hambirrao Mohite.┬аMohite and Dhanaji Jadhav showed great valor.┬аHis army destroyed more than half of Adilshah’s army there.┬аThey put Abdul Rahim Khan to death and took Hussain Khan as a prisoner.┬а
Hambir Rao’s Battle Against Venkoji, Shivaji’s half-brother Venkoji
After some time Shivaji Maharaj went to Dakshin Digvijaya (South Province).┬аThere his half-brother Venkoji refused to share the property of his father Shahaji.┬аAfter which the war started between Shivaji and Venkoji.
Because Mohite was the commander of Shivaji’s army, he conquered many provinces of Venkoji such as Jagdevgarh, Kaveripattam, Chidambaram and Vriddhachalam etc.┬аWenkoji became disheartened after losing so many of his provinces.┬а
So Venkoji attacked Hambirrao on 6 November 1677.┬аAt that time Shivaji was not as active in the battle field due to his family concerns.┬аSeeing the circumstances, it seemed that Mohite would be defeated in this war.
But Mohite attacked Venkoji’s army with great speed and defeated them.┬аAfter about 2 months this war ended.┬а
Battle between Hambir Rao and Venkoji
Hambirrao had two sisters, Soyarabai married Shivaji and the Annubai married Venkoji (step-brother of Shivaji). When Shivaji came to Karnataka to┬аDakshin Digvijay┬а(South conquest). When Venkoji (Ekoji) refuses to share father’s property with Shivaji then war starts between them and then Hambirrao won major provinces of Venkoji┬аsuch as Jagdevagad, Kaveripattam, Chidambaram, and Vriddhachalam. Venkoji was very upset that Shivaji captured his states. On 6 November 1677, the battle started in Venkoji and Hambirrao. Venkoji won in battle, but later Hambirrao suddenly attacked Venkoji’s army and won the defeated battle. After two months Shivaji’s intervention ended the fight.
Hambirrao won the important fort of Vellore on 22 July 1678 from Adilshahi general Abdullakhan.
Contribution of Hambirrao in Coronation of Sambhaji
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj died on 3 April 1680.┬аAfter his death the question of the successor to the Maratha rule arose.┬аHis wife Soyarabai (Hambirao’s sister) put her 10-year-old son┬аRajaram┬аon the throne.
Sambhaji Maharaj┬аwas the eldest son of Shivaji Maharaj.┬аBeing an adult, he could become the heir to the Maratha Empire according to the then customs.┬аSambhaji was living in another fort at the time of his father’s death.┬аAs soon as Sambhaji Maharaj came to know about this, he thought of removing Rajaram and occupying the throne of the Maratha Empire.
Actually Rajaram was the nephew of Hambirao Mohite.┬аMany anti-national ministers also joined Rajaram.┬аThey had taken Sambhaji captive.┬аHambirao freed K Sambhaji Maharaj by making all those ministers captive and later got his coronation done.
Attack on Burhanpur Fort
At that time┬аBurhanpur┬аused to connect North and South India by trade route.┬аProbably many Portuguese people also lived in Burhanpur.┬аThe Mughal area-general there had created terror against the local people.┬а
Those local people sought help from Sambhaji Maharaj.┬аOn 30 January 1681 Sambhaji Maharaj and his general Hambirrao Mohite attacked Burhanpur.┬аAt that time the Subedar of Burhanpur was Khan Jahan and there were only two 200 soldiers in the fort.
But there were 20,000 soldiers in the army of Sambhaji and Hambirrao Mohite.┬аThere was no strength in front of the Mughals to stop such a large army.┬аMaratha soldiers looted all the Mughal trading centers of Burhanpur and within 3 days got goods worth more than one crore rupees from there.
Death of Hambirrao Mohite
In 1686, the war┬аof Wai took place between the Mughals and the Marathas┬а.┬аThis battle took place in the province of Wai, due to which it is known as the “Wai of Wai”.┬аIn this war, the Maratha ruler Sambhaji had sent his general, Hambir Rao, and Sarja Khan was on the side of the Mughals.
Hambirao intelligently led the Mughals from the area of тАЛтАЛWai to the hills.┬аThere they were defeated and the Marathas were victorious.
Unfortunately, on 16 December 1687, a cannonball fell on Hambirrao Mohite in the battle of this Wai, due to which he died.┬аAt that time Hambirao’s age was only 57 years.┬а
Marathas were victorious in this war.┬аBut, even after their victory, the Marathas lost one of their prized diamonds ‘Hambirao Mohite’ forever.
FAQs
[sc_fs_multi_faq headline-0=”h2″ question-0=”Who was Hambirao Mohite?” answer-0=”Hambirao Mohite was born on 1 May 1632 in Maharashtra. He was the chief general of the Maratha army from the time of Chhatrapati Shivaji to the time of Sambhaji Maharaj. Together with Shivaji Maharaj, he defeated the Mughals and assisted the villagers. He also made a significant contribution to the coronation of Sambhaji Maharaj.” image-0=”” headline-1=”h2″ question-1=”Who performed the important duty in the coronation of Sambhaji Maharaj?” answer-1=”Hambirrao Mohite had performed a very important duty in the coronation of Sambhaji Maharaj. He took all the anti-national ministers captive and presented them in front of Sambhaji Maharaj.” image-1=”” headline-2=”h2″ question-2=”When and where was Hambirao Mohite born?” answer-2=”On 1 May 1632, Talbid, present-day Satara district, Maharashtra. ” image-2=”” headline-3=”h2″ question-3=”When and where did Hambirao Mohite die?” answer-3=”On 16 December 1686, Wai Province, Maharashtra. ” image-3=”” count=”4″ html=”true” css_class=””]