Drawing

This dramatic coloured sketch shows an encounter during the battle of Garot on July 6th 1804. This was a key battle in the Second Anglo-Maratha War, and shows the Rajput Apji Amar Singh I of Palaitha (in Kota state) on horse-back, attacking Mohammad Khan Bangash, general of the Maratha Maharaja Jaswant Rao Holkar's army, mounted on a war elephant. Both of the protagonists are named on the sketch. The Rajput forces together with Capt. James Lucan, an Irish mercenary, numbered only 3,000 men and four artillery pieces, against the 30,000 of the Maratha army. Amar Singh of Palaitha was killed in the battle, together with Lucan and most of the Rajput forces. In recognition of their services, the British awarded a large amount of land to the Kota family which still belongs to the descendants of Amar Singh, who have kindly provided this information about the event.