Overview

On 1 January 1818, during the Third Anglo-Maratha War, a contingent of the East India Company's forces held a defensive position at Koregaon Bhima on the banks of the Bhima river. The Company detachment included a large number of Mahar soldiers — an African-Indian caste historically treated as "untouchable" under the social order of the Peshwa regime — and the engagement has been remembered as a rare instance where their courage is publicly recorded and commemorated. Over time Koregaon became a powerful symbol for Dalit assertion and pride.

Detailed timeline & events

  • Late Dec 31, 1817 — Company troops from the Bombay Presidency march toward the Pune region and take up position near Koregaon Bhima.
  • Jan 1, 1818 — The Engagement — A numerically superior Peshwa force attacked. The Company detachment, using disciplined musket fire, artillery and defensive positioning, withstood repeated assaults. Contemporary accounts describe the stand as lasting many hours and causing significant casualties to the attacking force.
  • Aftermath (1818) — The Peshwa forces withdrew; while not ending Peshwa rule by itself, the battle formed part of the Third Anglo-Maratha War that ultimately led to the Peshwa's surrender later in 1818.
  • 1851 — Memorial — A victory obelisk (often called the Vijay Stambh or Koregaon pillar) was erected by the Company at Koregaon to record the names of the fallen Company soldiers. The pillar later came to hold special meaning for descendants of the Mahar soldiers and for Ambedkarite and Dalit movements.
  • 1928 onwards — B. R. Ambedkar and Ambedkarite activists began commemorating the battle and the pillar. The annual observance on 1 January developed into a ritual of collective memory and political assertion.

Why the battle is symbolically important

The presence of Mahar troops — who were treated as outcastes in the Peshwa social order — among the Company ranks and the later visibility of their names on the monument gave the event a unique symbolic status. For many Dalit communities the battle and the Koregaon memorial are read not primarily as a military moment but as moral proof of dignity and resistance against caste oppression.

Note: Historical scholarship recognizes the engagement as part of the wider campaign that broke Peshwa power. The cultural meaning it acquired over the 20th and 21st centuries is as important to understanding Koregaon's legacy as the military details themselves.

The 2018 commemoration and violence

The 200th anniversary commemorations on 1 January 2018 were marked by clashes in and around Koregaon. Tensions between local groups and those attending the commemoration escalated into violence, resulting in injuries and loss of life, a subsequent judicial inquiry and a long-running set of criminal investigations and arrests that attracted national attention for the way they intersected with politics, caste tensions, and civil liberties.

Key figures & places

  • Captain Francis Staunton — Company officer present in the campaign (contemporary sources).
  • Mahar soldiers — Recruited into Bombay Native Infantry; their names and sacrifice are a central part of the memorial legacy.
  • Koregaon Bhima village — The battlefield site and location of the memorial pillar.

Further reading & scholarship

This page is a concise guide; scholars and journalists have produced detailed articles, archival research and commissions of inquiry that delve into the event, the pillar's inscriptions, local memory practices and the politics of remembrance. The narrative around Koregaon mixes military history with modern social and political movements.

Get involved / Visit responsibly

If you plan to visit Koregaon Bhima to view the memorial, be mindful of local customs and political sensitivities. Visiting can be a powerful act of learning — pair a visit with reading primary sources and scholarly accounts about the Third Anglo-Maratha War and Ambedkarite commemorations.