Shivaji escapes Panhala; Baji Prabhu Deshpande makes hero's stand at Pavan Khind

In the summer of 1660, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj found himself trapped inside the hilltop fortress of Panhala, besieged by a massive Adilshahi army commanded by General Siddi Jauhar. The siege had dragged on for over four months, severely depleting food and ammunition within the fort. With Mughal forces simultaneously invading Maratha territory from the north under Shaista Khan, remaining trapped at Panhala threatened the total collapse of the nascent Maratha kingdom. Recognizing the desperate nature of the situation, Shivaji formulated a daring escape plan during a period of torrential monsoon rain on the night of July 13, 1660.

The plan relied on deception and extreme speed. A brave barber named Shiva Kashid, who bore a striking physical resemblance to Shivaji, volunteered to dress in royal attire and lead a decoy procession out of the fort toward the enemy camp. While Siddi Jauhar's soldiers celebrated the apparent surrender and capture of the Maratha leader, Shivaji and a fast-moving vanguard of 600 select Bandal infantrymen slipped out through a secret gate in the darkness, heading through rugged mountain terrain toward the safety of Vishalgad fort, located over sixty kilometers away.

The ruse was discovered within hours once the Adilshahi officers realized Shiva Kashid was an impostor. Enraged, Siddi Jauhar dispatched a fast cavalry force led by Siddi Masud to overtake the fleeing leader. As dawn broke, the Maratha rear guard noticed the cloud of dust raised by the pursuing enemy near a narrow mountain gorge known as Ghodkhind ("Horse Pass"). Realizing that Shivaji would be overtaken before reaching Vishalgad, Maratha Commander Baji Prabhu Deshpande made a heroic resolve. He requested Shivaji to push ahead to Vishalgad with half the troops while he held the gorge with the remaining 300 infantrymen.

For over six hours, Baji Prabhu Deshpande and his brother Fulaji led their small force in defending the steep, bottleneck pass against thousands of heavily armed Adilshahi soldiers. Even after sustaining multiple lethal sword and spear wounds, Baji Prabhu refused to fall, kept fighting, and commanded his men to hold the line until they heard the distant roar of three cannon shots from Vishalgad—the prearranged signal confirming Shivaji's safe arrival inside the fort. Upon hearing the distant blasts, the dying commander succumbed to his wounds, having successfully secured his king's escape.

The sacrifice at Ghodkhind allowed Shivaji to break through the local blockade around Vishalgad and secure the fortress. In honor of Baji Prabhu Deshpande and the brave Bandal warriors who sacrificed their lives, Ghodkhind was renamed Pavan Khind, meaning "The Sacred Pass." This heroic rearguard action prevented the capture or death of Shivaji, ensuring the survival of the Maratha movement during one of its most perilous moments.