Pindari
Encyclopedia
The Pendharis or Free Companions ( ; Hindi piṇḍārī, पिण्डारी / पिंडारी) were dispersed throughout the Maratha
Maratha
The Maratha are an Indian caste, predominantly in the state of Maharashtra. The term Marāthā has three related usages: within the Marathi speaking region it describes the dominant Maratha caste; outside Maharashtra it can refer to the entire regional population of Marathi-speaking people;...

 states and were countenanced and protected by the Maratha chiefs to whom they acted as agents for supplying all the commissariat required by their armies. They were composed of different tribes who congregated together solely for purposes of plunder. They came into existence during the 18th century when the Mughal Empire
Mughal Empire
The Mughal Empire ,‎ or Mogul Empire in traditional English usage, was an imperial power from the Indian Subcontinent. The Mughal emperors were descendants of the Timurids...

 was breaking up. The Pindaris were loosely organized under self-chosen leaders, and each group was usually attached to one or other of the Maratha leaders. Their main characteristic was that they received no pay, but rather purchased the privilege of plundering on their own account.

Etymology

The term Pindar may derive from pinda, an intoxicating drink, or from Pandhar, a village in Nimar
Nimar
Nimar is the southwestern region of Madhya Pradesh state in west-central India.The region lies south of the Vindhya Range, and consists of two portions of the Narmada and Tapti river valleys, separated by a section of the Satpura Range, about 15 miles in breadth...

, or from pinda, a bundle of fodder carried by the Pindara. Another possible derivation is from pindā-paṛna (to follow close by) or pindā-basne (to stick close to).

Alternate spellings include Pindara, Pindarah, Pendhari.

Emergence

When the regular forces of the Marathas had been broken up in the campaigns conducted by Sir Arthur Wellesley
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS , was an Irish-born British soldier and statesman, and one of the leading military and political figures of the 19th century...

 and Lord Lake
Gerard Lake, 1st Viscount Lake
General Gerard Lake, 1st Viscount Lake was a British general. He commanded British forces during the Irish Rebellion of 1798 and later served as Commander-in-Chief of the military in British India.-Background:...

 in 1802-04, the Pindaris made their headquarters in Malwa, under the tacit protection of Maratha Dynasties like Sindhia and Holkar
Holkar
The Holkar dynasty , whose earliest known clan-man was Malhar Rao, who joined the service of the Peshwa in 1721, and quickly rose to the ranks of Subedar...

. They were accustomed to assemble every year at the beginning of November, and sally forth into British occupied territory in search of plunder. In one such raid upon the Masulipatam coast they plundered 339 villages, killing or wounding 682 persons, torturing 3600 and carrying off property worth a quarter of a million pounds. In 1808-09 they plundered Gujarat, and in 1812 Mirzapur
Mirzapur
Mirzapur is a city in the heart of North India, nearly 650 km between Delhi and Kolkata and also equidistant from Allahabad and Varanasi. Located in the state of Uttar Pradesh, Mirzapur has a population of a little over 205,264 and is renowned for its famous carpet and brassware industry...

. In 1814 they were reckoned at 25,000 to 30,000 horsemen.

The Pindari War

Lord Hastings
Marquess of Hastings
Marquess of Hastings was a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 6 December 1816 for Francis Rawdon-Hastings, 2nd Earl of Moira. The Rawdon family descended from Francis Rawdon , of Rawdon, Yorkshire. His son George Rawdon settled in the village of Moira in Downshire, and...

, with the approval of the Court of Directors of the East India Company
British East India Company
The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...

, decided to exterminate and eliminate the Pindaris. The approval was received in September 1816 and Hastings put into place a plan by the end of 1817. To begin with, he entered into an understanding with several other powers active in India, and then commenced precise military planning and preparations to encircle and eliminate all the Pindaris. This organized campaign, known as the Pindari War, became the Third Anglo-Maratha War
Third Anglo-Maratha War
The Third Anglo-Maratha War was the final and decisive conflict between the British East India Company and the Maratha Empire in India. The war left the Company in control of most of India. It began with an invasion of Maratha territory by 110,400 British East India Company troops, the largest...

.

This was an elaborate military plan: to attack the Pindari forces from the north and east from Bengal
Bengal
Bengal is a historical and geographical region in the northeast region of the Indian Subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. Today, it is mainly divided between the sovereign land of People's Republic of Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal, although some regions of the previous...

, from the west from Gujarat, and from the south from the Deccan. Hastings committed 120,000 men and 300 artillery pieces to the command created and entrusted with the task to eliminate the Pindaris. The command consisted of the Northern Force, of 4 divisions under his personal command; the Deccan Force of dive divisions under the command of Thomas Hislop
Sir Thomas Hislop, 1st Baronet
Sir Thomas Hislop, 1st Baronet, GCB was a senior British Army officer of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Serving exclusively in colonial campaigns, Hislop fought in the West Indies between 1796 and 1810 and subsequently in India, where he was a senior commander during the Third...

 with Sir John Malcolm as his principal lieutenant. The forces moved swiftly, and by January 1818, the Pindaris were expelled from the regions of the Malwa and the Chamba
Chamba, Himachal Pradesh
Chamba is an ancient town in the Chamba district in the state of Himachal Pradesh, in northern India. According to the 2001 Indian census, Chamba has a population of 20,312 people...

.

The Pindaris were surrounded on all sides by the great army, which converged upon them from Bengal
Bengal
Bengal is a historical and geographical region in the northeast region of the Indian Subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. Today, it is mainly divided between the sovereign land of People's Republic of Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal, although some regions of the previous...

, the Deccan and Gujarat under the supreme command of Lord Hastings in person. Sindhia was overawed and forced to sign the treaty of Gwalior, consenting to aid in the extirpation of the Pindaris, whom he had hitherto protected. Since the Pindaris gave a portion of their loot to Maratha leaders, the Peshwa
Peshwa
A Peshwa is the titular equivalent of a modern Prime Minister. Emporer Shivaji created the Peshwa designation in order to more effectively delegate administrative duties during the growth of the Maratha Empire. Prior to 1749, Peshwas held office for 8-9 years and controlled the Maratha army...

 at Pune
Pune
Pune , is the eighth largest metropolis in India, the second largest in the state of Maharashtra after Mumbai, and the largest city in the Western Ghats. Once the centre of power of the Maratha Empire, it is situated 560 metres above sea level on the Deccan plateau at the confluence of the Mula ...

, the Bhonsle
Bhonsle
The Bhonsle were a prominent clan within the Maratha clan system who served as rulers of several states in India.The most prominent member of the clan was Shivaji, the founder of the Maratha empire...

 raja at Nagpur
Nagpur
Nāgpur is a city and winter capital of the state of Maharashtra, the largest city in central India and third largest city in Maharashtra after Mumbai and Pune...

 and the army of the infant Holkar
Holkar
The Holkar dynasty , whose earliest known clan-man was Malhar Rao, who joined the service of the Peshwa in 1721, and quickly rose to the ranks of Subedar...

 of Indore
Indore
Indore is one of the major city in India, the largest city and commercial center of the state of Madhya Pradesh in central India. Indore is located 190 km west of the state capital Bhopal. According to the 2011 Indian census, Indore city has a population of 1,960,631...

 each took up arms, but were separately defeated. The Pindaris themselves offered little opposition. The three strongest Pindari contingents were under the command of three leaders namely Karim Khan Pindari; Chitu Pindari and Wasil Muhammad Pindari.

Karim Khan Pindari had tried to convince other Pindari leaders to join him in a plan for defense but disagreements among the Pindari leaders, particularly with Chitu Pindari, destroyed any hope of a concerted effort even in the face of the impending war with the British. With the arrival of the British, Karim Khan and Wasil Muhammad headed for Gwalior. Chitu Pindari joined Holkar's forces in the meantime. Several engagements with the retreating Pindaris took place and despite defeating them, the British were unable to strike a decisive blow. All Pindari parties eventually returned south near their bases, with the British in close pursuit. During the last part of December, at the invitation of Jaswant Rao Bhau, Karim Khan Pindari had ridden north from Holkar's camp, while Chitu Pindari had come west from Kota
Kota, Rajasthan
Kota , formerly known as Kotah, is a city in the northern Indian state of Rajasthan. It is located south of state capital, Jaipur. Situated on the banks of Chambal River, the city is the trade centre for an area in which millet, wheat, rice, pulses, coriander and oilseeds are grown; industries...

 into the area around Jawar
Jawar
Jawar is a town and a nagar panchayat in Sehore district in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.-Geography:Jawar is located at . It has an average elevation of 294 metres .-Demographics:...

. British forces surrounded them on all sides. Both Chitu and Karim Khan began moving south toward their bases at the Narmada
Narmada River
The Narmada , also called Rewa is a river in central India and the fifth largest river in the Indian subcontinent. It is the third largest river that completely flows within India after Ganges and Godavari...

. Chitu had evaded British troops and proceeded to the ghats. Chitu fled to Bhopal, where he tried to reach an agreement with the British through the Nawab. The British rejected his plans as too extravagant.As for Karim Khan Pindari, he too was hotly pursued.In February 1819 most of the Pindari leaders surrendered to the British authorities. Namdar Khan one such leader gave himself up on 3 February 1819 , and Karim Khan Pindari surrendered to John Malcolm
John Malcolm
Major-general Sir John Malcolm was a Scottish soldier, statesman, and historian-Early life:Born at Burnfoot, Dumfriesshire, Malcolm was the son of George Malcolm, a gentleman farmer of Eskdale and Burnfoot. Jock, as he was then known, was one of the four Malcolm brothers who attained knighthoods...

 on 15 February 1819. Others gradually followed their example. Only Chitu Pindari had managed to elude capture. But eventually he fled to the jungle when deserted by his followers. Near the end of February 1819 his body was brought to the British; he had been attacked and killed by a tiger.

John George
John George
John "Jack" Phelps George was a British athlete. He competed at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London.He was born in Croydon and died in Purley, London....

arranged for the Pindari leaders and their families to settle in northern India at Gorakhpur
Gorakhpur
Gorakhpur is a city in the eastern part of the state of Uttar Pradesh in India, near the border with Nepal. It is the administrative headquarters of Gorakhpur District and Gorakhpur Division. Gorakhpur is one of the proposed capitals of the Purvanchal state which is yet to be formed...

 with pensions and land. To prevent any resurgence of the Pindaris, the British permitted only Namdar Khan, Karim Khan's nephew, to settle in Bhopal near the old banes of the Pindaris.

In popular culture

Pindaris are the central characters in the Salman Khan
Salman Khan
Salman Khan is an Indian film actor. He has starred in more than 80 Hindi films.Khan, who made his acting debut with a minor role in the drama Biwi Ho To Aisi with Rekha in a lead role, had his first commercial success with the blockbuster Maine Pyar Kiya , for which he won a Filmfare Award for...

 starrer movie Veer (film)
Veer (film)
Veer is a 2010 Hindi film directed by Anil Sharma, and starring Salman Khan, Mithun Chakraborty, Sohail Khan, Jackie Shroff and Zarine Khan. The film, written by Salman Khan, set during the 1825 Pindari movement of Rajasthan, when India was ruled by the British.Veer was released on 22 January 2010...

.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK