New History of the Marathas v1.c18.56

v1.c18.56

At the end of 1692 Ali Mardan Khan a daring Mughal officer in charge of Kanchi, boldly came out and encountered Santāji Ghorpade with a view to preventing him from falling upon Zulfiqar Khan. A stiff action was fought on 13 Dec. 1692 in which Ali Mardan Khan was defeated and taken prisoner to Jinji, where he had to pay a large ransom to effect his release. Ismail Khan Maka, another Mughal general, was similarly dealt with by Dhanāji, (9 Jan. 1693). Thus Zulfiqar Khan found himself in sore straits. His two valiant helpmates Daud Khan Panni and Sarfaraz Khan also turned against him, making his situation precarious. His only recourse was to send frequent piteous appeals to the Emperor for reinforcements.