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THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY
[JULY, 1918
THE FARUQI DYNASTY OF KHANDESH, By LT.-COLONEL T. W. HAIG, C.M.G.
(Continued from p. 149.) THE peace was not long kept between the imperial troops and the armies of the Dakan. Each side accused the other of bad faith, but there appears to have been some excusable difference of opinion as to the position of the southern frontier of Berar, and the Dakanis, who accused the Mughuls of breaking the peace by occupying Pathri and other places beyond the limits of Berar, attacked some Mughul posts which were unquestionably within that province. The Mughuls could adduce some evidence to show that Pathri was included in Berar, and there seems to be no doubt that the responsibility for the renewal of hostilities lay with the rulers of Ahmadnagar, who, having obtained help from Bijapur and Golconda. decided to make an attempt to expel the imperial troops from Berar. Abang Khân of Ahmadnagar appealed for help to Ibrâhîm 'Adil Shâh II of Bijapur, who sent to his assistance a force, well supplied with artillery, under the command of his best officer, the eunuch Suhail Khân. A contingent under Mahdi Quli Khân was also supplied by Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah of Golconda, and the allied army of the Dakanis, 60,000 strong, marched towards Sonpat on the Godavari, about fifteen miles from the town of Pathri. The Khânkhânân, who had his headquarters at Jalna, at once assembled his forces and himself went to Shahpůr, to inform Sultan Murad of the impending danger. The prince wished to take the fielel in person but the Khânkhânân, whether from selfish motives or in the interest of the imperial cause, dissuaded him from this course, and himself assumed command of the field force with Shahrukh Mirza. The imperial army, which mustered no more than 20,000 horse according to Firishta, 26 or 15,000 according to the Akbarnáma, marched to Âshti, to the north of the Godavari, and there entrenched itself, halting for fifteen days before renturing to attack the enemy. The battle began on Feb. 8, 1597, according to Firishta, and on Feb. 17 according to the Akbarnama. The various accounts of this extraordinarily complicated battle differ in detail, but agree in all the main particulars, and display the lack of discipline and cohesion in oriental armies. In the army of the Dakan the contingent of Ahmadnagar occupied the centre, that of Bijapur the right, and that of Golconda the left. In the imperial army the Khânkhân nån and Shahrukh Mirzà commanded the centre and Râja 'Ali Khan and Raja Jagannath the right and left. As the imperial troops advanced to the attack Suhail Khân opened fire with his artillery and put two or three thousand horse out of action, Raja Ali Khan with thirty of his principal officers and 500 of his men being slain. The two wings of the imperial army were defeated and put to flight, so that many of the men hardly rested until they had reached Shahpur, more than a hundred miles distant. where their accounts of the total defeat of the imperial troops so alarmed Sultan Murad and his tutor, Muhammad Sadiq Klân, that they prepared to retire from Berar. In the meantime the Khânkhânån and Shahrukh Mirzà had not only stood their ground in the centre of the imperial army but had pushed back the army of Ahmadnagar and captured the Bijâpûr artillery, which they were enabled to clo by the disposal of the Bijâpûr contingent who, being assured of victory, and scattered in all directions in search of plunder. The battle had not begun until late in the afternoon, and when night fell the Krankhânân and Shahrukh Mirza, with the small force that remained to them, held their ground on the field, while Suhail Khân, who, though he believed the defeat of the imperial army to be complete,
26 ii, 320.
