New History of the Marathas v1.c6.63

v1.c6.63

5. Battle of Bhatavadi.—Shah Jahan, as has been already mentioned, left Burhanpur for the north in March 1622 and soon came to be involved in the war of succession which raged throughout India during the next five years and which threw into utter confusion the affairs of the Empire, thus supplying the welcome opportunity for Malik Ambar and Shahji to strengthen their position in the south. Shah Jahan turned a rebel and was vigorously pursued by Parwiz and Mahabat Khan. Lest Shah Jahan should join Malik Ambar and offer a formidable opposition, Jahangir directed Shahzada Parwiz to put down the combination. Malik Ambar accepted the challenge and resorting to his tactics of guerilla warfare managed to inflict a crushing defeat upon the combined force of the imperialists and the Adil Shah at the famous field of Bhatavdi, about ten miles east of Ahmadnagar. Graphic descriptions of this battle (date November 1624) are given by Paramanand and the Persian writers. The success was mainly due to Malik Ambar's superior tactics of long and patient manoeuvering for contriving an inescapable trap in which the Mughal and Bijapuri forces were caught. Thus this battle of Bhatavadi forms a landmark in the history of the Maratha rise, as Shahji's genius shone brilliantly on the occasion in support of Malik Ambar. He received the best lesson of his life in the art of overcoming a superior enemy through tactical methods. The full and detailed description of this battle of Bhatavadi given by the author of the *Shiva-Bharat* deserves a careful study. Shahji was therein heartily supported by his brother Sharifji and by Vithoji's sons.¹⁰