History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v4.c63.s4: § 6. Shivaji defeats Daud Khan at Dindori, 17th October 1670.
History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v4.c63.s4
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§ 6. Shivaji defeats Daud Khan at Dindori, 17th October 1670.
v4.c63.s4.1
Prince Muazzam had just returned to Aurangabad after chasing Dilir Khan to the bank of the Tapti, when he heard of the plunder of Surat. He immediately summoned Daud Khan from Burhanpur and sent him off to attack the Maratha raiders. Meantime, Shivaji had left Surat, entered Baglana, and plundered the villages nestling at the foot of the fort of Mulhir. Daud Khan, after sending his baggage back to Aurangabad, marched westwards with light kit to Chandor, a town at which the road from Nasik to Baglana crosses the hill range. Spies brought him news that Shivaji had started from Mulhir, and intended to cross the Chandor range by the pass of Kanchana-Manchana, ten miles west of Chandor. Arriving at the hamlet of Chandor (below the fort) at about 9 P.M., Daud Khan waited to verify the news of the enemy's movements. At midnight his spies reported that Shivaji had already issued from the pass and was rapidly following the road to Nasik with half his forces, while the other half of his army was holding the pass to pick up stragglers. Daud Khan at once resumed his march. But the moon set about three o'clock in the morning, and in the darkness the Mughal soldiers were somewhat scattered.
v4.c63.s4.2
Ikhlas Khan Miana (son of Abdul Qadir Bahlol Khan, a former Pathan leader of Bijapur), commanded the Mughal vanguard. Ascending a hillock in the early morning, he beheld the enemy standing ready for battle in the plain below. While his men were putting on their armour, which was conveyed on camels, he himself with a handful of followers recklessly charged the enemy. The Maratha rearguard, which had faced about, was 10,000 strong and commanded by distinguished generals like Pratap Rao Gujar, the Master of the Horse, Vyankaji Datto and Makaji Anand Rao (a natural son of Shahji Bhonslé). Ikhlas Khan was very soon wounded and unhorsed. After a time Daud arrived on the scene and sent up Rai Makarand and some other officers to reinforce the Van, while he left his elephants, flags and drums at a ruined village on a height, surrounded by nalas, with orders to make his camp and rearguard halt there when they would come up.
v4.c63.s4.3
For hours together an obstinate and bloody battle raged. Sangram Khan Ghori and his kinsmen were wounded, and many were slain on the Mughal side. The Marathas, "like the Bargis of the Deccan, fought hovering round the imperialists." But the Bundela infantry of the Mughal army with their abundant fire-arms kept the enemy back. Daud Khan himself entered the fight, repulsed the enemy with his artillery, and rescued the wounded Ikhlas Khan.
v4.c63.s4.4
Meantime, in another part of the field, Mir Abdul Mabud, the *darogha* of the divisional artillery, who had been separated from the main army by a fold in the ground, was attacked. He was wounded with one of his sons and some followers, while another son and many soldiers were slain; and his flags and horses were carried off by the enemy. There was a lull in the fight at noon.
v4.c63.s4.5
At that time Daud Khan had less than 2,000 men with him, while the Marathas outnumbered him fivefold. In the evening they charged him again, but were driven back, evidently by the artillery. At night the Mughals bivouacked under the autumn sky, their camp was entrenched, and they engaged in burying the dead and tending the wounded. The Marathas retreated to Konkan without further opposition. This battle was fought near Dindori on the 17th of October, 1670. About a week later the Peshwa captured the fort of Trimbak (Nasik district.)
v4.c63.s4.6
This battle neutralized the Mughal power for more than a month afterwards. The day after the fight, Daud Khan marched with the broken remnant of his army to Nasik, and halted there for one month, evidently to recoup his strength and also to watch the route from Konkan (by the Tal pass?). The wounded were sent to Aurangabad. Late in November, he removed to Ahmadnagar, but at the end of December he was recalled to the scene of his last battle by the revival of Maratha activity in the Chandor range.