Visaji Krushna Chinchalkar, popularly known as Visaji Pant Biniwale, was one of the leading generals of

Peshwas The Peshwa (Pronunciation: e(ː)ʃʋaː was the appointed (later becoming hereditary) prime minister of the Maratha Empire of the Indian subcontinent. Originally, the Peshwas served as subordinates to the Chhatrapati (the Maratha king); lat ...

Northern India North India is a loosely defined region consisting of the northern part of India. The dominant geographical features of North India are the Indo-Gangetic Plain and the Himalayas, which demarcate the region from the Tibetan Plateau and Central ...

during 1759 to 1772. Peshwa

Madhavrao I Peshwa Madhavrao Bhat I (February 15, 1745 – November 18, 1772) was the 9th Peshwa of the Maratha Empire. During his tenure, the Maratha empire fully recovered from the losses they suffered during the Third Battle of Panipat, a phenomenon kn ...

mainly sought his assistance in his attempt to restore

Maratha Empire The Maratha Empire, also referred to as the Maratha Confederacy, was an early modern Indian confederation that came to dominate much of the Indian subcontinent in the 18th century. Maratha rule formally began in 1674 with the coronation of Sh ...

in the North after the defeat in the Battle of Panipat (1761).

Early life

Visaji Krushna was born in a

Karhade Brahmin Karhaḍe Brahmins (also spelled as Karada Brahmins or Karad Brahmins) are a Hindu Brahmin sub-caste mainly from the Indian state of Maharashtra, but are also distributed in states of Goa, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh. Classification Along w ...

family having surname ‘Chinchalkar’. There is no mention as to his year of birth, however, it must be around 1730. He got the title ‘Biniwale’ (which means a person at the front) during his career as a

Military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

General A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". O ...

since his troops would remain at the front of the

Maratha The Marathi people ( Marathi: मराठी लोक) or Marathis are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who are indigenous to Maharashtra in western India. They natively speak Marathi, an Indo-Aryan language. Maharashtra was formed a ...

army during battles.

Military career

On 10 October 1759, Visaji Krushna defeated

Nizam The Nizams were the rulers of Hyderabad from the 18th through the 20th century. Nizam of Hyderabad (Niẓām ul-Mulk, also known as Asaf Jah) was the title of the monarch of the Hyderabad State ( divided between the state of Telangana, Mar ...

's troops and conquered the fort of

Ahmednagar Ahmednagar (), is a city located in the Ahmednagar district in the state of Maharashtra, India, about 120 km northeast of Pune and 114 km from Aurangabad. Ahmednagar takes its name from Ahmad Nizam Shah I, who founded the town in 1494 ...

. In 1760–1761, he fought in the Panipat war under the leadership of

Sadashivrao Bhau Sadashivrao Bhau Peshwa (3 August 1730 – 14 January 1761) was son of Chimaji Appa (younger brother of Bajirao I) and Rakhmabai (Pethe family) and the nephew of Baji Rao I. He was a finance minister during the reign of Maratha emperor Chhatr ...

. In 1769, he marched towards

Udaipur Udaipur () ( ISO 15919: ''Udayapura''), historically named as Udayapura, is a city and municipal corporation in Udaipur district of the state of Rajasthan, India. It is the administrative headquarter of Udaipur district. It is the historic ...

along with his senior Ramchandra Ganesh Kanade. The

Rajputs Rajput (from Sanskrit ''raja-putra'' 'son of a king') is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating from the Indian subcontinent. The term Ra ...

there agreed to pay him Rs.60 lakhs in the tribute. On 5 April 1770, he defeated

Jats The Jat people ((), ()) are a traditionally agricultural community in Northern India and Pakistan. Originally pastoralists in the lower Indus river-valley of Sindh, Jats migrated north into the Punjab region in late medieval times, and su ...

Haryana Haryana (; ) is an Indian state located in the northern part of the country. It was carved out of the former state of East Punjab on 1 Nov 1966 on a linguistic basis. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with less than 1.4% () of India's land ...

. On October 1770 he vanquished

Najib Khan Najib ad-Dawlah ( ps, نجيب الدوله), also known as Najib Khan Yousafzai ( ps, نجيب خان), was a Rohilla Yousafzai Afghan who earlier served as a Mughal serviceman but later deserted the cause of the Mughals and joined Ahmed S ...

Rohilla Rohillas are a community of Pashtun ancestry, historically found in Rohilkhand, a region in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. It forms the largest Pashtun diaspora community in India, and has given its name to the Rohilkhand region. The Roh ...

, the main opponent of the Battle of Panipat (1761). In November 1771, he was appointed ‘In Charge of the Northern front of

Marathas The Marathi people ( Marathi: मराठी लोक) or Marathis are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who are indigenous to Maharashtra in western India. They natively speak Marathi, an Indo-Aryan language. Maharashtra was formed as a ...

’ by Peshwa

. In February 1772, along with

Mahadji Shinde Mahadaji Shinde (b. 23 December 1730 – 12 February 1794), later known as Mahadji Scindia or Madhava Rao Sindhia, was a Maratha statesman and ruler of Ujjain in Central India. He was the fifth and the youngest son of Ranoji Rao Scindia, the f ...

, he overpowered the

Rohilkhand Rohilkhand (previously Rampur State) is a region in the northwestern part of Uttar Pradesh, India, that is centered on the Rampur, Bareilly and Moradabad divisions. It is part of the upper Ganges Plain, and is named after the Rohilla tribe. ...

at Shukratal by defeating Zabita Khan. He avenged the defeat of Panipat by breaking the tomb of

, by looting the artillery and wealth of the

s and by recovering from them an additional tribute of Rs.40 lakhs.

Honor by Peshwa Madhavrao

Peshwa

was so delighted with Visaji Krushna's grand victory in the

that he specifically mentioned in his written will to shower golden flowers on him during his arrival at the border of

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, ( the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million As of 2021, Pune Metropolitan Region is the largest i ...

Later life and death

When Visaji Krushna arrived to

from North, he brought with him huge jewelry and cash of not less than Rs.22 lakhs. Meanwhile, Peshwa

had died and Peshwa

Narayanrao Narayanrao Bhat (10 August 1755 – 30 August 1773) was the 10th Peshwa of the Maratha Confederacy from November 1772 until his assassination in August 1773. He married Gangabai Sathe who later gave birth to Sawai Madhavrao. Early life Narayanra ...

was murdered. Hence, Visaji Krushna was welcomed by Peshwa

Raghunath Rao Raghunathrao Bhat (a.k.a. Ragho Ballal or Ragho Bharari) (18 August 1734 – 11 December 1783) was the 11th Peshwa of the Maratha Empire for a brief period from 1773 to 1774. He was known among the Hindus for his extremely successful North-west ...

and he was showered with the golden flowers as wished by Peshwa

in his will. Upon realising

's involvement in

's murder, Visaji Krushna joined hands with ‘

Nana Phadnis Nana Fadnavis (Pronunciation: aːna pʰəɖɳəʋiːs, fəɖ- also Phadnavis and Furnuwees and abbreviated as Phadnis) (February 12, 1742 – March 13, 1800), born Balaji Janardan Bhanu, was an influential minister and statesman of the Marath ...

’ to restore Peshwa Sawai Madhavrao on the

Peshwa The Peshwa (Pronunciation: e(ː)ʃʋaː was the appointed (later becoming hereditary) prime minister of the Maratha Empire of the Indian subcontinent. Originally, the Peshwas served as subordinates to the Chhatrapati (the Maratha king); later ...

throne. There is no reference found as to his date of death and cause thereof, so, presumably, it was not on the battlefield.

References

*‘Marathi Riyasat Volume V’ ( Marathi) by

Govind Sakharam Sardesai Govind Sakharam Sardesai (17 May 1865 – 29 November 1959), popularly known as ''Riyasatkar Sardesai'', was a historian from Maharashtra, India. Through his ''Riyasats'' written in Marathi, Sardesai presented an account of over 1,000 years ...

*‘Marathi Riyasat Volume VI’ (Marathi) by

*‘Peshvyanchi Bakhar’ (Marathi) Editorial notes by R.V.Herwadkar {{DEFAULTSORT:Chinchalkar, Visaji Krushna Indian military leaders People from Maharashtra