The Dynasties of the Kanarese Districts of the Bombay Presidency from the Earliest Historical Times to the Musalman Conquest c11.40

c11.40

The Bijápur king proceeded at once to make good use of the strong position thus obtained in the south. Having secured himself by an agreement with Mortaza Nizám Sháh against intervention on the side of Ahmadnagar, he set to work (A.D. 1573) to recover the conquests that had been made by Firoz Sháh Bahamani some sixty-seven years before. The first place taken was Torgal,² which was in the hands of Venkati Yesav Rai, an officer of the Bijápur government who had revolted. Thence the king moved to Dhárwár, which was held by an officer of the late Rám Ráj who had assumed practical independence. Dhárwár fell after a siege of six months; and then the Bijápur troops moved against Bankápur, then the capital of Velápa Rai, who had formerly been a servant of the Vijayanagar king but was now independent. After vain applications for aid to Venkatadri, the brother of his former master, Velápa Rai defended himself with such vigour that he nearly forced his enemy to raise the siege. The Musalmáns were especially annoyed by night attacks, which are thus described by Farishtah: "The infantry of the Karnátak, who value their lives but little, were quite naked, and had their bodies anointed with oil to prevent their being easily seized: thus prepared they entered the tents at night and stabbed the soldiers while sleeping without mercy." These attacks occasioned a panic, which would have led to disastrous results, especially as the supplies of the besieging force were also cut off by the activity of the enemy. Mustápha Khán, the Bijápur general, however, by a judicious use of his Bárgirs or Marátha cavalry, re-opened his lines of communication, and by a strong cordon of sentries round the camp effectually checked the night attacks. The result was that after a siege of one year and three months Bankápur was surrendered; and thus nine or ten years after the battle of Tálikot, the whole of the Southern Marátha Country was absorbed into Bijápur.