Page:Shivaji and His Times.djvu/227

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1670]
MUGHAL REPULSE AT VANI.
207


Khan himself entered the fight, repulsed the enemy with his artillery, and rescued the wounded Ikhlas Khan.

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.

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 in the Vani- Dindori subdivision late in the month of October, 1670.* [1]

This battle neutralised the Mughal power for, more than a month. The day after the fight, Daud Khan marched with the broken remnant of his army to Nasik, and halted there for one month, evidently


  1. * Battle of Vani-Dindori; entirely based upon Dilkasha, 84-88, (Bhimsen was an eye-witness); with a few points from Sabh. 64-65.