Sitabaldi
This article has been extracted from THE IMPERIAL GAZETTEER OF INDIA , 1908. OXFORD, AT THE CLARENDON PRESS. |
Note: National, provincial and district boundaries have changed considerably since 1908. Typically, old states, ‘divisions’ and districts have been broken into smaller units, and many tahsils upgraded to districts. Some units have since been renamed. Therefore, this article is being posted mainly for its historical value.
Sitabaldi
Small hill and fort in Nagpur city, Central Provinces, situated in 21° 9' N. and 79° 7' E. It was the scene of an important action in 1817. War between the British and the Peshwa of Poona had begun on November 14 ; but Appa Sahib, the Bhonsla Raja of Nagpur, was nominally in alliance with the British, and Mr. (afterwards Sir Richard) Jenkins was Resident at his court. On November 24, however, Appa Sahib received in public darbdr a golden standard sent by the Peshwa and the title of general-in-chief of the Maratha armies. This was held to be a declaration of hostility ; and the Subsidiary force at Nagpur, consisting of the 20th and 24th Madras Infantry, both very weak, 3 troops of Bengal cavalry, and 4 six-pounder guns, occupied Sitabaldi, a position consisting of two eminences joined by a narrow neck of ground about 300 yards in length, that to the north being smaller than the other. Here during the night of November 26 and the following day they were attacked by the Nagpur troops, numbering 18,000 men, of whom a fourth were Arabs, with 36 guns. Numerous charges were repulsed, until at 9 a.m. on the 27th the explosion of an ammunition cart threw the defenders of the smaller hill into confusion, and it was carried by the enemy. The advantages afforded by the position to the British troops had now to a large extent been lost, the larger hill being within easy musket-range of the smaller. Officers and men were falling fast, and the enemy began to close in for a general assault on the position. At this critical moment the cavalry com- mander, Captain Fitzgerald, formed up his troops outside the Residency enclosure below the hill, where they had been waiting, charged the enemy's horse and captured a small battery. The dispirited infantry took heart on seeing this success, and the smaller hill was retaken by a combined effort. A second cavalry charge completed the discomfiture of the enemy, and by noon the battle was over. The British lost 367 killed and wounded. In a few days the Resident was reinforced by fresh troops, and demanded the disbandment of the Nagpur army. Appa Sahib himself surrendered, but his troops prepared for resistance ; and on December 16 was fought the battle of Nagpur over the ground lying between the Nag river, the Sakardara tank, and the Sonegaon road. The Maratha army was completely defeated and lost its whole camp with 40 elephants, 41 guns in battery, and 23 in a neighbouring depot. The result of this battle was the cession of all the Nagpur territories north of the Narbada, and Northern Berar.
