But the Bijapuris had their revenge immediately afterwards. Bahlol Khan, "regarding the loss [of the elephants] as a great disgrace to him, became desperate, attacked the robbers again, and being reinforced secured such a victory that the robbers had to abandon 1,000 horses and were pursued for a long distance." It was not the Maratha policy during a raid to fight pitched battles. So, Hambir
Rao rapidly retreated with his booty to Shiva's dominions, left it there in safety, and then (in April) burst into Balaghat. *[1]
§9. Defeat of Dilir Khan, Jan. 1674.
Late in January 1674, a Mughal army tried to descend into Konkan and cause a diversion in that quarter simultaneously with the Bijapuri invasion of the Panhala region. But Shiva stopped the paths by breaking the roads and mountain passes and keeping a constant guard at various points where the route was—most difficult"; and the Mughals had to return baffled. It was probably this expedition to which the English merchants refer in a letter written at the end of January 1674, in the following words, "Dilir Khan hath lately received a rout by Shivaji and lost
- ↑ * Sabhasad, 81, says that Hambir Rao's raid extended over Khandesh, Baglana, Gujrat, Ahmadabad, Burhanpur, Berar, and Mahur, to the bank of the Narmada, and that the tired Mughal pursuers always lagged 30 or 40 miles behind, so that the Marathas returned home unmolested and with all their booty.
