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There is little doubt that the attack on Shringeri Matha is one of the darkest spots in the Maratha history...But was it really a state sponsored act of brutality or just a incident of the lawlessness on the field by Pindari and Laman irregulars who were not part of

the main maratha army??? Before going into this I think little backstory is required...During the first Anglo-Maratha war Tipu's father Haidar ali allied with the marathas and started attacking British possessions in the south..Though Anglo-Maratha war concluded with

Treaty of Salbai(1782) which was ratified by marathas only after Harder's death,Tipu refused to end hostilities and continued attacking the British possessions,He finally made peace with British with a separate treaty of Manglore(1784)..As soon as peace was established

with the british,Tipu in 1785 attacked the principality Nargund in the south which was under Maratha control, and committed unspeakable atrocities..The local ruler and diwan were packed off as prisoners to Srirangapatna and ladies of their household were forcibly taken into

Tipu's harem.. Apart from large scale massacre of people,many Hindus were forcibly circumcised and 2000 disciples of Shankaracharya committed suicide to escape the tyranny of Tipu...This resulted in an immediate all out war between the marathas and Tipu which concluded

with treaty of Gajendragad(1787) where Tipu was forced to accept Maratha hold over Badami and Gajendragad while Adoni was returned to nizam...He was also made to pay war indemnity of 45 lakhs to the marathas..

Even though the temporary peace was established there was little love lost between the Mysore and Marathas bcoz of Tipu's zeal to forcibly convert and large scale massacre of Hindus...In 1789,Tipu attacked the state of Travancore which was a British ally which immediately

culminated into Third Anglo-Mysore war...British were keen to obtain the assistance of marathas and nizam against Tipu and made an effort towards that end but despite Tipu's atrocities,marathas were a bit reluctant to coordinate with the British against a native power fully

conscious of british ambitions...Veteran generals like Parshurambhau patwardhan,Haripant phadke and Tukoji Holler were stringent opponent of the british alliance but everything changed suddenly when Tipu attacked the maratha garrison in Padshapur in 1790..

Alliance was concluded in 1790 between the british,marathas and nizam to attack Tipu and Maratha offensive began in the northern territories of Tips under Parshurambhau and Haripant...Maratha designed a ingenious strategy here to undercut the british so as the whole south

wldnt fall into british hands..Marathas carried out their northern campaign with leisure while british dashed towards Tipu's capital Srirangpatna...The decision was made that if the capital seems to fall marathas wld dash towards the capital and force the british to sign a treaty

as the marathas were the biggest power in the subcontinent and the other ally of the british,Nizam was a Maratha tributary..During northen campaign of leisure the unfortunate events at Shringeri matha took place in 1791...Maratha army used to have many irregular pindaris n lamans

who were listed for managing supply chains and for foraging...A group of some 20 freebooters among these attached to the camp of Raghunathrao Kurundwadkar

attacked shringeri and looted enormous wealth along with elephant,Shankaracharya's danda and kamandalu,jewellery etc..They also assaulted devotees and attempts were made to damage the structures in shrine complex...Shankaracharya agitated with the criminal acts declared fast unto

death..While the news took some time to reach pune,it caused a great uproar among the Maratha nobility..Even Nana Phadnis had to face the flack of anger of ppl and noble's alike bcoz of the events.. He immediately sent order to apprehend and punish the guilty,retrive lost goods