Tanaji Malusare the forgotten Indian warrior

 

Tanaji Malusare (Marathi: तानाजी मालूसरे) was a military leader in the Maratha Empire of present-day India. He fought alongside Great Maratha King Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in various battles throughout the years. He is most famously known for his role in the Battle of Sinhagad in 1670.

Battle of Sinhagad
In 1670, Tanaji, who hailed from “Umrathe” near Mahad, Konkan, was busy making preparations for his son, Rayaba’s wedding when he was summoned by Shivaji Maharaj for a meeting. Tanaji put the wedding plans on hold and immediately left for the meeting. On hearing Shivaji Maharaj’s plan to recapture Kondhana fort near Pune from the Mughals, Tanaji took charge of the campaign and started his preparations.

Upon reaching the foot of the fort, Tanaji and his detachment of 300 troops were said to have scaled the fort from the western side on a dark night with the help of a domesticated Bengal monitor lizard (called ghorpad in Marathi) named Yashwanti to which they were said to have tied ropes and sent crawling up top to the precipice of the fort. After two failed attempts, Tanaji and his men successfully scaled the steep hill fortress.

Once inside and after opening the Kalyan Darwaza, Tanaji, his men and another detachment of 500 troops headed by Suryaji (his younger brother) attacked the army holding down the fort. The fort was controlled by Udaybhan Rathod, a rajput officer appointed by Mughal general Jai Singh I.

A fierce combat took place between the forces of Tanaji and Udaybhan. During the battle, Tanaji broke his shield but he continued fighting by tying his upper garment over his defending hand in order to ward off Udaybhan’s blows. The fort was eventually conquered but in the process, Tanaji was gravely wounded and died fighting on the battlefield.

Upon hearing the demise of Tanaji, Shivaji Maharaj was struck with grief and expressed his sorrow by uttering,

“Gad ala, pan sinha gela” (“Got the fort but lost the lion.”)

As a tribute to the bravery of Tanaji, the fort was renamed, Sinhagad (lion’s fort) by Shivaji Maharaj.