Ashti, Maharashtra
Valentine Blacker1818
Kalakriti Archives
Hyderabad, India
The Battle of Ashti fought on February 19, 1818, was a small but highly consequential affair. It occurred near Ashti, to the east of Pune, while the Peshwa was in the midst of his long and meandering flight from the EIC army. General Lionel Smith’s force was gaining on the Peshwa and in an effort to retard their advance Bapu Gokhale, the Maratha’s best general, stayed back to confront Smith. As shown on the map a fierce cavalry battle ensued. Gokhale was killed in the heat of combat and Smith’s forces won the battle, capturing the Peshwa’s ally, the Raja of Satara. The stand at Ashti did allow the Peshwa to continue his flight, but the loss of Gokhale was a severe blow to Maratha fortunes.
- Title: Ashti, Maharashtra
- Creator: Valentine Blacker
- Date Created: 1818
- Date Published: 1821
- Location Created: India
- Physical Dimensions: 28 x 30 cm
- Type: Map
- Publisher: The Book titled on " Memoirs of the operations of the British Army in India during The Mahratta War of 1817, 1818, and 1819", Valentine Blacker, Londan, 1821.
- Medium: Manuscript, in pen and ink, with watercolour on paper
- Title (Original): Plan of the Combat at Ashtee Between the Cavalry of the 4th & Reserve Divisions of the army of the Deckan under the Command of Brig. General Lionel Smith, C.B. And the Pasha’s Horse Commanded by Geklahl.
- Creator's Lifetime: 1778/1826
- Creator's Bio: Valentine Blacker was a lieutenant colonel who served in the British East India Company during the first half of the 19th century. Blacker was born in 1778 in Armagh, Ireland, and came to India and joined in the Madras army in 1798, then started his career with the Mysore campaign. Later, he was employed in Wayanad district under Col. Stevenson in 1800 and given charge of cavalry troops; he was then under Col. Agnew, and in 1802 acted as the secretary to the Col. Pater, who was then commanding the southern divisions. In the subsequent years, due to his sheer merit, he commanded and participated in many campaigns. Finally, he was appointed as the Surveyor General of India. Valentine Blacker died in 1826 and was buried in the city of Calcutta.
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