Prataprao Gujar

Prataprao Gujar (also Kudtoji Gujar) (1615 — February 1674) was a Maratha general who served as the 3rd Senapati of the Maratha Empire during the reign of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. He commander the Maratha Army until 1674.

Military career Prataprao Gujar raided Khandesh in 1670 and captured some forts from the Mughals in Baglan. He plundered Bahadurpur and, riding into Berar, looted the city of Karanja. From this time, Shivaji began levying chauth from the Mughal territories through which he passed.

Victory at Salher At the Battle of Salher, Prataprao Gujar routed a sizable Mughal army. The Maratha victory at Salher is seen as a watershed in their military campaigns against the formidable Mughal army.

Confrontation with the Adil Shahis

Prataprao Gujar was later dispatched to confront the Adil Shah's invading army under the command of Bahlol Khan. During the battle, Bahlol Khan was besieged by the Maratha army and taken as a prisoner. However, upon Khan's promise not to invade Maratha territory again, Prataprao released Bahlol Khan (around 15 April 1673).

However, Bahalol Khan returned again with a larger army which enraged Prataprao Gujar and he decided to attack Bahalol Khan on 24 February 1674. According to the description given by Krishnaji Ananta and the letter of the English interpreter Narayan Shenvi, dated 4 April 1674, "Prataprao attacked Bahalol Khan's camp in Nesari with only six of his trusted battle-hardened commanders. It was a daring surgical strike which killed many in the enemy camp and demoralised the Bahlol's army. During this daring raid, Prataprao and his six lieutenants also got martyred but only after inflicting huge damage to the enemy camp".

Popular culture

Them Marathi poet Kusumagraj wrote the song "" about this heroic battle, which was sung by Lata Mangeshkar. The commercial drama written by Bashir Momin ("Kavathekar") was also based on it. The inaugural performance of the play was staged by Malganga Natya Niketan on 19 May 1977. Seeing the encouraging response to the play, Kavathekar converted the play into a shorter version called , which was then performed and popularized by various Tamasha Troupes in rural Maharashtra.