History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v4.c61.s3.10

v4.c61.s3.10

During the first month of the campaign Jai Singh’s march was an uninterrupted triumph. From Purandar to Mangalvide, a fort 52 miles north of Bijapur, the invaders advanced without meeting with any opposition. The Bijapuri forts on the way were either evacuated in terror or surrendered at call to Shivaji’s men who had been detached from Jai Singh’s army to capture them; Phaltan, 35 miles s. e. of Purandar was entered on 7th December. Thathora 13 miles south-west of Phaltan on the 8th, Khatav about a week later, and Mangalvide itself about the 18th. The invaders marched on, and then on 24th December had their first contact with the enemy, because the Bijapuri king had wisely concentrated all his forces near his capital and suffered the Mughals to penetrate unmolested thus far from their own frontier. In the night of the 24th, the Bijapuri scouts, in the favourite fashion of the Deccanis, fired rockets into the Mughal camp.