A History of the Mahrattas v2.c48.61

v2.c48.61

The whole of the southern Mahratta country was in great disorder. The Raja of Kolapoor still waged war with the Peishwa, and the reinforcement brought by Chitoor Sing, after the defeat of the Raja of Satara, gave a new spirit to his efforts. Chitoor Sing had been closely pursued into the territory of the Raja of Kolapoor by a body of Rastia's troops, joined by some others on the part of the Pritee Needhee, the whole of whom encamped near the Warna river. Five hundred horse of the troops who had been dispersed at Satara, having got together, apprised Chitoor Sing of their situation, and by his direction concealed themselves for some days in the hills, until he had got a reinforcement from Kolapoor; when by a well-concerted attack upon the troops who had pursued him, he cut them off almost to a man. A body of Pureshram Bhow's troops were shortly afterwards in a like manner surprised and routed; and Chitoor Sing having learnt that after Pureshram Bhow's departure from Satara, two or three thousand of Rastia's troops with some guns were encamped in the neighbourhood of the fort, he vowed to avenge the disgrace sustained by the first defeat. Accordingly he led six hundred infantry through the hills and valleys until opposite to the village of Pal,¹ where he remained concealed until night, when, repairing to a celebrated temple in the village, he performed the usual worship, and the whole party, having solemnly invoked the deity, stained their clothes with yellow dye, rubbed their hands and faces with turmeric, and issued forth, thus fortified with the implied vow of conquest or death, to attack their enemy. They did not find Rastia’s troops unprepared; but the latter had only time to fire a few rounds, when they were furiously charged sword in hand, their guns taken and destroyed, and the whole body dispersed in a few minutes. A rapid march to the banks of the Warna, before his retreat could be intercepted, marked a prudence as well as enterprise, which gained Chitoor Sing considerable credit with the Mahratta soldiery, and his numbers were in a few months considerably increased. At the head of a very inferior force, and with no funds to support it, he kept seven thousand of Rastia’s troops in perpetual motion between the Neera and Warna. He was, however, frequently defeated; and on one occasion, when accompanied by only five hundred men,² he was surrounded by five thousand of Rastia’s troops, but cut his way through them, although with the loss of more than half his party. His enterprise, his remarkable escapes, his conciliatory manners, the popularity of his cause amongst Mahrattas, and his confidence in the peasantry, rendered him everywhere a favourite, notwithstanding his having repeatedly laid the whole of the villages under contribution.