Konkan had been under Portuguese rule from the north of Mumbai upto Daman. They had built a string of forts along the coastline. They had a strong artillery with mounted guns on the bastions.

Vasai fort is surrounded by sea on three sides with a long exposed access towards the land. Over a two year campaign that ended in 1739, Chimaji Appa laid a siege and conquered the Vasai fort. The Portuguese surrendered and were allowed to evacuate to Goa peacefully with honour. It was the first time in many centuries that an oriental power had beaten a European power in battle.

The victory at Vasai liberated people living under oppressive Portuguese rule. Chimaji Appa would later write that the Lord’s sudarshan hit the head of the fanatics who harbour religious ill-will.

Source: Dr Uday Kulkarni, Footsteps of Marathas.
The picture is Wikimedia picture of Vasai Fort

Persians and Mughals clashed at Karnal in northern India. On February 24, 1739, the Persians under Nadir Shah comprehensively crushed the Mughal emperor Muhammad Shah’s larger army. They sacked the Mughal capital Delhi. Nadir Shah looted the city, capturing a great fortune in jewels, including the famed peacock throne of Shah Jahan. The battle marked the effective end of the Mughal Empire. As the Persians advanced toward Karnal, the Mughals sent a huge force to meet them, including several war elephants. The Mughal front was more than 2 miles long, and the same depth. It was to prove no match for Nadir Shah’s disciplined army. The Persians waited until the Mughal force came within close range and then unleashed devastating volleys of gunfire. The elephants became easy targets for the guns. Within two hours, the Mughal army was routed and of its two main generals, Khan Duran was dying and Saadat Khan was captured.

Source: Brittanica.

Picture is Nadir Shah sitting on peacock throne after the battle, Wikimedia Commons

Sind saw the first large scale invasion. Between 632 (year of death of prophet) and 650 AD, Arabs had conquered Palestine, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Khorasan Mongolia, Bukhara, Samarkand and Tashkand. Arabs had sent small expeditions to Thane (Maharashtra) and Bahrauch (Gujarat) which were defeated. The first major campaign was against Sind during the second caliph. Their expedition was to Debal which was defeated and its leader was killed. The third caliph did not attempt to send any expedition to Sind at all.

The fourth caliph sent a land expedition in 662 AD which was also routed. The next caliph sent six expeditions all of which were slaughtered. But in 680 AD, Makran was occupied. In 712 AD, against the caution of the caliph, the Governor of Iraq sent his nephew cum son in law Muhammad bin Qasim. He managed to subdue Sind, but on his recall in 714 AD, the locals reoccupied the territories. Only a narrow coastal strip was under Arab control.

Subsequent Islamic invasions overpowered Sind. Their spread was stopped by Solankis (chalukyas) of Gujarat at Navsari and Gurjara Pratiharas of Ujjain. Till the 10th century, Arab domination was limited to two principalities at Multan and Mansurah. The Gurjara Pratiharas would constantly wage war against the Arabs. Unlike their conquests in other regions, Arabs were unable to convert Sind into Islam. They faced strong resistance from Hindus for more than three centuries. Arabs had to even permit Hindus to rebuild the temples that they had destroyed.

Source: R.G Mishra. Indian Resistance to Early Muslim Invaders, upto 1206 AD.

Picture is the cover of the book on the Arab Conquest of Sindh.

The Alexander Porus standoff is legendary. Alexander had progressed eastwards rapidly. The best of men from the surrendered kingdoms had also joined Alexander’s army. The ruler of Taxila, Ambhi Kumar had also signed a deal with Alexander and had weaned away some of the allies of Porus. Alexander’s large army gathered on the western bank of Jhelum. Porus had refused Alexander’s demand to surrender and reached the eastern bank with his army. Jhelum was difficult to cross but Alexander managed to cross the river 17 miles upstream of Porus’ camp. Porus’ army was surprised, but it also lacked armour and proper tactics. Porus lost two of his sons and was also taken captive. His cavalry and infantry suffered major losses.

Macedonian losses were understated in dispatches. However, the Indian elephants had played havoc in the minds of the Macedonian army. Plutarch, the biographer of Alexander wrote that “the combat with Porus abated the spirit of Macedonians and made them resolve to proceed no further in India.“ They had reached the banks of Beas and the army of Nanda kingdom which was across also created additional fears in their mind. Alexander would stop his eastern march and return but would die within three years.

Source: Jadunath Sarkar. Military History of India.
Picture is of Alexander and Porus after the battle, Wikimedia Commons.

Colachel is on the western coast, but is part of Tamil Nadu. Marthanda Varama was the King of Travancore. On 10th August 1742, he fought the Dutch East India Company and defeated them. Ananthapadmanabhan Nadar was the chief of the Travancore army. The Dutch Commander was Estachius De Lannoy and he was taken captive. The Treaty of Mavelikkara was signed between Travancore and the Dutch and the Dutch withdrew. The Dutch never recovered from the fight and their colonial threat to India ended at Colachel.

Lannoy was asked to continue as the Maharajah’s commander and reorganize the Travancore army using European techniques. He served the kingdom for 37 years. He rebuilt the fort of Vattakottai in Tamil Nadu. He also created a long defensive wall to prevent land and sea attacks. These defences were useful against the British and also against Tipu Sultan later on.

Source: Shiv Kunal Verma. Yodha – Illustrated Military History of India.
Picture is Lannoy surrendering to Marthanda Varma, Wikimedia Commons

Rig Veda has the oldest reference to the Dashrajna war. Dashrajna means Ten Kings. The war was fought, approximately, by ten kings. Numbers were generally used to denote large quantities and not a specific number. Therefore the war must have been fought among a number of kings, not necessarily ten. Pashtunistan, river Ravi and river Yamuna are clearly mentioned in the verses which identifies the geography of Dashrajna war.

Bharatas were an eminent ruling class. A king named Sudas, belonging to Bharata lineage, was the victor of the Dashrajna war. Sudas and some other kings formed one side. Rishi Vashishta was their advisor. Puru, Yadu, Turvasa, Anu, Druhyu and others (maybe 20) formed the opposite side. Rishi Vishwamitra, who had been impeached by King Sudas earlier, was their advisor. The Puru group cornered Sudas along the river Parushi (modern Ravi). Heeding to the hymns of Vashishta, Lord Indra made the river shallow. This helped Sudas escape to the other side of the river. The Purus pursued Sudas, but the river had swollen by then because Indra released waters. Some were lost in the river. Those who managed to cross the river were defeated by Sudas. Some other kings crossed the river and paid a tribute to Sudas. Sudas emerged victorious after the Dashrajna war.

Rig Vedic verses are open to interpretation. It does not say what caused the war and what happened to the defeated kings. Some say, Vishwamitra’s removal by King Sudas caused it. Some say that it represents the Aryan Invasion Theory, which has however been disowned by now. Some say the defeated kings migrated westwards supporting the Out of India theory. Some say that this marks the spread of Bharata kings from Sind to Punjab. Prof Dhandekar mentions that Sudas wanted to bring both Vedic and non Vedic people together.

Source: Lecture by Mugdha Gadgil, Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute

The Achaeminid empire of Persia established one of the strongest empires of the ancient world. They reigned between 550 BC and 330 BC and spanned an area from Egypt till Indus valley.
Their first King Cyrus made the first thrust towards India (558 BC to 530 BC) but was not successful. His successor was busy on the western front. Darius I (522 BC to 486 BC) conquered 23 countries. His conquests on the east include Gandhara, Herat, Kandahar and Ghazi. The name Hi(n)dus is also mentioned in his inscriptions as one of the countries conquered by him. This may have happened around 519 BC to 515 BC. Herodotus, the Greek chronicler and geographer mentions that India was made into the 20th province of Darius. It was probably just the Indus valley. He also mentions that India paid the largest tribute to Darius I, which amounted to one third of his revenue.

Source: Ranabir Chakravarti. Materials Background of Darius I’s Invasion of India.
Picture is Darius I, Wikimedia Commons

Bhaktiyar Khilji was born in Hemland in Afghanistan. He came to Ghazni and Delhi for employment. Eventually the commander of Benaras allowed him to oversee Mirzapur. Bhaktiyar is known for his barbaric invasions of Bihar and Bengal and for the destruction of Nalanda. He wanted to invade Tibet to loot the riches of the Buddhist monasteries. He achieved some initial success but was repulsed by Tibetans and suffered heavy losses.

The shamed and retreating Khalji army had to cross Kamrup (around Guwahati) and the river Brahmaputra. Raja Prithu was ruling Kamrup at that time. He destroyed the arches of bridges that the Khalji army had to cross. Raja Prithu mobilized his army and laid a siege on the stranded and tired Khalji army. The Khalji army decided to escape and swam across the Brahmaputra river which had swollen by then. Almost his entire army perished in the river and the rest were cut down by the army of Raja Prithu. Bhaktiyar survived but was exhausted and assassinated by his own clan soon after.
Source: Chandi Sengupta. Hindu Heroes of Medieval Bharat

Queen Nayika Devi was born in Goa and trained in war skills & diplomacy. She was
married to King Ajaypal Singh Solanki of Gujarat who was murdered by his own bodyguard in 1175CE. As their sons were minor, Nayika Devi ruled as regent. Muhammed Ghori had become king in present day Afghanistan and was looking to expand aggressively. He conquered Multan in 1175CE and seeing Gujarat (Patan) under a woman, he attacked in 1178CE. He asked Nayika Devi to submit and she feigned capitulation.

She sent word to Ghori that she would hand herself and her sons over to him but devised a plan to surprise the invader. A small group of soldiers disguised themselves and penetrated the invading army. The main contingent stood hiding from Ghori. The rani tied her younger son on her back and approached Ghori on horseback. He thought he had won. At her signal, the disguised soldiers attacked Ghori’s soldiers. As the invaders got confused, the main attack happened. The fleeing Gori was attacked by the Rani and she inflicted a blow on him. So shaken was Ghori at his defeat, that he postponed his India campaign for a few years. He would eventually return. His defeat of Prithviraj Chauhan in 1192 at Tarain opened the floodgates to Muslim rule of India.

Source: Khemchand Bairwa & Amit Mishra, “Foreign Invasion & Women’s Resistance”, IJSRD.

Picture is the poster of a 2022 movie on Nayika Devi.

Towards the end of the reign of the fourth emperor Kumaragupta, the Gupta empire tottered under the assault of the Pusyamitras & Hunas. Skandagupta, said to be from a low born mother, defeated the Pusyamitras as a prince. After confusion over succession, he became emperor and is said to have decisively defeated the Hunas.

The Bhitari stone inscription in UP says that Skandagupta won a comprehensive victory after a grand struggle in the late 5th cent CE. “By whose two arms the earth was shaken, when he, the creator of a terrible whirlpool, joined in conflict with the Huna’s,” says the inscription. The Hunas were kept away for a hundred years but would return to sound a death knell to the Guptas. The Huna rulers Toramana & Mihirkula would go down in history as blood thirsty tyrants.

Source: Sakir Hosain Laskar, “A Comprehensive Study of Huna Invasion in India during the Reign of Skandagupta”, IJSSRR

Picture is the Bhitari Inscription of Skandagupta, Wikimedia Commons

Lalitaditya Muktapida (r. 724 –757 CE), “Pearl-crowned tremulous Sun”, of Kashmir’s Karkoṭa dynasty was called a world conqueror and universal monarch by the 12th century historian Kalhaṇa in his Rajatarangini. Lalitaditya defeated the central Indian king Yashovarman, and then marched to eastern and southern lands, subjugating several more rulers on his way back. Later his campaigns towards the north and the west brought him further victories, and he conquered lands in the region of the Taklamakan Desert.

Many scholars believe that Lalitaditya created an empire that included major parts of India as well as present-day Afghanistan and Central Asia. Lalitaditya was also a great builder of cities such as the new capital Parihasapura, temples, and viharas. Many of his temples were dedicated to Vishnu, Rama, Krishna, and Shiva. There were stupas and viharas to the Buddha. The great Sun-temple of Martanḍ is a testament to the grandness and beauty of his conceptions. It is in ruins now.

Source: Subhash Kak, “Lalitaditya & His World Conquest”, Medium magazine

Picture is the ruins of the capital Parihasa, Wikimedia Commons

In 1757, Raghunathrao, along with Scindias and Holkars wrested Delhi from Abdali’s nominee. They marched northwards and took the cities of Lahore and Attock; and also reached Peshawar. They evicted Afghans from there. When Abdali returned in 1761, Marathas marched northwards to stop Abdali. Marathas were denied support by both the Hindu and Islamic powers in the northern India. Nevertheless the Maratha army fought Abdali at Panipat and lost severely. Abdali, although victorious did not want a second battle with marathas and sought a peace treaty. Abdali never again entered the city of Delhi.
Within ten years of the loss at Panipat, a young Madhavarao Peshwa would recover the lost territories of Marathas and bring the northern India under maratha control.

Source: Dr Uday Kulkarni, Footsteps of Marathas.

Picture is a painting of the 3rd battle of Panipat, Wikimedia Commons