New History of the Marathas v1.c10.100

v1.c10.100

Thereafter Jay Sinh spent the wet season in completing his preparations for the war against Bijapur, in which Shivaji joined with a following of 9000 Mavlas under Netāji Pālkar. The combined armies started from Saswad on 25 November 1665 and reached Mangalvedhe on 18 December. Here Māloji Ghorpade of Mudhol and Ekoji from Bangalore came and joined the Bijapuri forces under Sharza Khan and Khawas Khan who had come from Bijapur to oppose the Mughals. A stiff battle took place in which Netāji Pālkar and Dilir Khan inflicted a severe defeat upon the Bijapuri forces. The two brothers Shivaji and Ekoji for the first time met personally in an open encounter. But after all the war did not turn out as successful for the Mughals as they had expected. Dilir Khan secretly reported to the Emperor the real or fancied wrongs he had received at the hands of Jay Sinh, and behaved like a spy on the movements and measures adopted by the latter. This was indeed an intentional contrivance used by the Emperor, who entertained grave suspicions that Jay Sinh sympathised with the Hindus of the Deccan. Any way this open conflict between the two top-men of the Mughal army affected the fortunes of the war very adversely. The Bijapur forces fought for life with unexampled valour and determination and were joined by the troops of Golkonda also. The moment for the extinction of these two States had not arrived.