Battle of Palkhed The Battle of Palkhed was fought on February 28 , 1728 at the village of Palkhed , near the city of Nashik , Maharashtra , India between the Maratha " Peshwa " , Baji Rao I and the " Nizam - ul - Mulk " of Hyderabad . The Marathas defeated the Nizam . The battle is considered an example of brilliant execution of military strategy . Background . The seeds of this battle go to the year 1713 , when Maratha King Shahu , appointed Balaji Vishwanath as his " Peshwa " or Prime Minister . Within a decade , Balaji had managed to extract a significant amount of territory and wealth from the fragmenting Mughal Empire . In October 1724 , the Mughal Emperor Muhammad Shah appointed Nizam - ul - Mulk as the Governor of Deccan . The Nizam set about strengthening the province by attempting to control the growing influence of the Marathas . He utilized a growing polarization in the Maratha Empire due to the claim of the title of King by both Shahu and Sambhaji II of Kolhapur . The Nizam began supporting the Sambhaji faction , which enraged Shahu who had been proclaimed as King . The Nizam further decided to halt the payment of a 25 % of the revenue being given by many landowners of the Deccan province to the Marathas , as had been agreed by the Syed Brothers in 1719 . Battle . The battle plan was set by the withdrawal of Baji Rao ' s army from the southern reaches of the Maratha empire during May 1727 . This was followed by Shahu breaking off negotiations with the Nizam - ul - Mulk about restoration of the chauth . The Nizam pursued Baji Rao ' s army around the vicinity of Pune for about six months , where Baji Rao executed a series of thrust and parry moves to finally corner the Nizam at Palkhed . The Campaign . The Palkhed campaign of 1728 , is notable for two reasons . First , this campaign has been chosen as brilliant in strategy ( " A masterpiece of strategic mobility . . . " ) by Field Marshal Montgomery in his book , " A History of Warfare " . Whether this was a completely pre - planned strategy , or clever improvization in response to circumstances , is not known . Secondly , the success of this campaign established the Maratha supremacy in the Deccan – and gave way for further adventures . It also ensured the handover of the claim of the chauth and sardeshmukhi from Nizam - ul - Mulk to the Shahu . Various factors contributed to the campaign of Palkhed : Event . Baji Rao and the Maratha armies were called back from the south , from the Karnataka campaign . In May 1727 , Baji Rao then asked Shahu to break of negotiations with the Nizam - ul - Mulk ( Nizam - ul - Mulk had called for an arbitration over the payment of the chauth and sardeshmukhi ) and started mobilizing an army . With the monsoons over and the land ready for this exciting campaign , Baji Rao moved towards Aurangabad . After a skirmish near Jalna ( the Marathas by now had become famous for their strategy of not engaging with the enemy ) with Iwaz Khan ( the General of Nizam - ul - Mulk ) , as could have been predicted , Baji Rao moved away from the battlefield , towards Burhanpur . Nizam - ul - Mulk ’ s army pursued Baji Rao . Baji Rao then moved westwards to Gujarat from North Khandesh . However , the Nizam - ul - Mulk gave up the pursuit and moved southward towards Pune . This is an interesting reason and comparison between how the two armies functioned . The Nizam is known to have carried huge armies with him , including supplies to last for the duration of the campaign . In fact , the Nizam used to carry his jenana or womenfolk with him during his campaigns . The Maratha armies however were very light and found supplies on the way by plundering and looting out - posts on the way . As Nizam - ul - Mulk left the pursuit of Baji Rao and moved towards the headquarters of the Shahu stronghold , posts like Udapur , Avasari , Pabal , Khed , and Narayangarh surrendered to Nizam - ul - Mulk , who then occupied Pune and advanced towards Supa , Patas , and Baramati . In Baramati , Nizam - ul - Mulk got news of Baji Rao moving towards Aurangabad . Nizam - ul - Mulk began moving northwards to intercept the Maratha Army . By this time he was confident of crushing Baji Rao and his army . It was not to happen so . The Raja of Kolhapur , Shambhaji ( not to be confused with Sambhaji , son of Shivaji ) refused to join him in this campaign against Baji Rao . Nizam - ul - Mulk was cornered in a waterless tract near Palkhed of 25 February 1728 . Nizam - ul - Mulk ’ s army refused to fight . Through Iwaz Khan , the Nizam - ul - Mulk sent out word of his plight , and his army was allowed to move to the vicinity of the river . Outcome . The Nizam was defeated by the Marathas , and signed a peace treaty on March 6 , 1728 at the village of Mungi - Paithan . ( ) By the treaty of Munji Shivagaon , the Nizam was forced to make certain concessions .