A History of the Mahrattas v2.c48.46

v2.c48.46

⁴ [Dhōndia Wāgh aspired to found a new dynasty (see pp. 304-6, post). After the fall of Seringapatam, where he was a prisoner, he signalized his release by ravaging the Shimōga District in Mysore, pillaging and destroying the town of Shimōga. After a long pursuit General Wellesley eventually brought him to bay and defeated him at Manoli, on the banks of the Mālprabha river in Belgaum District. He was killed in a cavalry charge led by General Wellesley in person. ‘The campaign against Dhōndia was the first occasion on which the Duke of Wellington held an independent command in the field. The conquest of Mysore threw out of employment many of Tipū Sultān’s soldiers, and Dhōndia gathered round him a considerable force on the confines of Mysore and in the adjoining provinces. Our troops were engaged for nearly three months hunting him down.’ (Colebrooke, Life of M. Elphinstone (1884), i. 30 n.) See also Mysore Gazetteer, by B. L. Rice, ii. 438.]