History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v1.c15.51

v1.c15.51

Meanwhile the Bijapuris had made some feeble attempts to relieve Bidar. A force under Khan Muhammad, their prime minister, had been advancing towards it during the siege; but it had evidently retreated without striking a blow.[*] After the fall of the fort, Aurangzib learnt that a large Bijapuri army was being mobilised near Kulbarga. Their light troopers arrived within six miles of the Mughal camp and carried off some of the transport oxen that were grazing there. So, Aurangzib sent a force of 15,000 well mounted and experienced troopers under Mahabat Khan, to punish the assembled enemy and ravage the Bijapur territory up to Kaliani in the west and Kulbarga in the south, "leaving no vestige of cultivation in that tract." In his march southwards from Kaliani, the Mughal general encountered the enemy on 12th April. The Bijapuris, numbering some 20,000, under their famous chiefs Khan Muhammad, Afzal Khan, and the sons of Randaulah and Raihan, began the attack. Mahabat Khan, leaving his baggage and camp behind, advanced with the Van. The fiercest onslaught was delivered on the Mughal Right under Dilir Khan. The Bijapuris kept up a hot fire of rockets and muskets from all sides, but, as was their wont, did not engage at close quarters. A counter-charge on the enemy's Centre produced no lasting effect on the illusive Deccanis. Mahabat Khan like a good general kept his men well in hand, amidst the ring of his enemies and their distracting mode of attack. Finding his Right Wing hard pressed, he charged the enemy with his own followers; the Bijapuris fled without standing the shock, and the Mughal general chased them for four miles; but evidently he found his position insecure, as on the 14th he fell back on Bhalki, without waiting for the reinforcements sent under Najabat Khan.*