Lessons in Leadership – Bajirao Peshwa.
A leader is termed successful when he
expands business or increases profit or leads change. For a General like
Bajirao Peshwa it’s about successful battles and expanding the empire.
And look how successful he was. The map on the left is the Maratha empire (in blue) soon after Shivaji in 1720 – it was essentially the western ghats and some part of south Maharashtra. And the map below is just after Bajirao died in 1740. In a span of twenty years he expanded the Maratha empire to include Gujarat, the Malwa region, parts of UP almost up to Delhi, Vidharbha and areas near Hyderabad.
Bajirao Peshwa was compared to the legendary Napoleon Bonaparte by the much decorated WW II veteran Field Marshal Montgomery because of the number of successful campaigns and brilliant military strategies.
It is the kind of success that would astound anybody. Yet, popular history remembers Bajirao more in connection with Mastani, amplified by the recent Bollywood movie Bajirao Mastani. The question remains: What kind of a mind was Bajirao Peshwa?
School history mentions him of course, and most Punekars know the folklore about Mastani. However, it’s usually more about Mastani rather than Bajirao’s battles and expansion of the Maratha empire. Few really know the kind of leader Bajirao Peshwa was.
Experts on history have the answers. Bajirao Peshwa is a man whom we can learn from today. And at the heart are lessons of leadership that are timeless.
There is a cliché – He was a born leader. But a leader is also made. They invariably have good mentors. Bajirao was mentored well. His father put him under Pilajirao Jadhav one of his better Generals. It was here that the young Bajirao learnt the art of cavalry warfare and cut his teeth. And he tasted his first victory at the battle of Alibagh against the combined might of the British and the Portuguese. We do not know whether it was Bajirao who led the battle but what we do know is that the Marathas numbering only 1200 defeated a combined British and Portuguese strength of 6000 troops. It was strategy that won the battle.
Talent is what leaders are on the lookout for – always. It builds teams. He had an eye for recognizing potential talent. And Bajirao believed in meritocracy. Three of his generals – Madhavrao Holkar, Ramoji Shinde (Scindia) and Gaikwad were mere soldiers in his army. He recognized their talent and promoted them. He was not concerned that Gaikwad was a Dalit or that Holkar was a Dhangar. By selecting them he broke caste barriers. And that was tantamount to sacrilege at the time. What was important to Bajirao was that they were capable soldiers and potential leaders. This was going against the grain of the Pune main-stream (read traditional thought) who believed more in hereditary appointments. But what could they do. Bajirao was winning wars!
His ability to recognize talent was also because he was always close to the action. News about exceptional valour made its way to him and he recognized and rewarded quickly.
Speed / Agility. This was the single biggest differentiator that Bajirao Peshwa brought into the war theatre. In the 1700’s his army could travel 70 kms a day compared to the Moghul army which trundled through at the rate of 20 km a day. He travelled over three times faster than the average army of the time. That means that he would strike when his enemy would least expect it. At will. Anywhere. In today’s terminology we would call this a game changer. He had mastered this by keeping his army light. Minimal baggage. This was a conscious decision. There were no heavy guns or long supply lines as he knew that these would slow him down. His men carried their own weapons and fed of the fields around them. One of Bajirao’s most famous painting is of him riding through a field of corn in full armour holding a bhutta in one hand. As good horses were central to the concept of speed he invested in them. Each cavalry man had two horses so that when one horse tired of carrying the weight of a soldier (wearing armour and carrying weapons) the other horse was available. Speed was never compromised.
While speed itself was an advantage he combined this with brilliant strategy to thwart Moghul Generals.
Bajirao had a learning mind-set. He inherited Shivaji’s legacy. And Shivaji was a hero and a legend and had passed on his way of doing battle. Bajirao quickly learned that in a cavalry battle the typical Maratha curved sword that was favoured by Shivaji was at a disadvantage. A straight and longer sword much like the British used would be much more effective in a cavalry war. You can imagine the uproar that this would have caused at that time. He was changing something which Shivaji had handed down. Nevertheless he changed the swords of the Maratha army. It made for a better fighting machine. While Shivaji fought a more defensive war, Bajirao fought a more expansionist war and he needed to be different. He learned and adapted. It was said that he even invented a kind of machine gun that spewed out arrows.
Bajirao was unorthodox in his approach. He was a Brahmin but he gave up his dhoti to wear an achkan and chudidar which was more suited for battle. Since he fought and lived with his troops he ate the same food as they did. So he drank alcohol and ate meat. Not a very Brahmin thing to do! As a result he endeared himself to his men. Although it caused him endless trouble with the orthodox Brahmin leaders in Pune.
He had immense faith in his deputies and gave them a free hand. He delegated well. But there was very good co-ordination and communication between the team. And this was exemplified at the battle of Palkhed (near Nashik) in 1728 where he defeated the Nizam of Hyderbad by sheer surprise and speed. Field Marshal Motogomery writes about this battle as one that exemplifies great military strategy.
No leader is a perfect 10 on 10. All have their weaknesses. Including Bajirao Peshwa. He was a great General but not a statesman. Shivaji was a statesman. Bajirao was never was able to handle the petty conspiracies and intrigue of his capital Pune, or the political manoeuvrings of the Satara and Kolhapur Courts. He had no patience for it and he never learned to handle these important issues, preferring to remain on the battlefield away from the reality of governing.
Bajirao died in 1740 at the young age of 40 but he had carried forward the ambitions of Shivaji and laid the ground for further expansion of the Maratha empire so that by 1758 the saffron swallow tailed flag was flying atop Attock which is in north west Pakistan, 1700 km from Pune.
The Maratha Empire crumbled under the onslaught of technology and better process which the British possessed. But that is another story.
Acknowledment: Col Anil Athale Retd for his expertise on the Maratha wars.
Map source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Historical_map_of_India_AD_1720.jpg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Historical_map_of_India_AD_1740.jpg
First published January 2016