Page:Haidar Ali and Tipu Sultan.djvu/45

Rh attacked that chief and ravaged his country, seizing also the fortress of Dhárwár on the other side of the Tungábhadra. In order to check his advance, the Peshwá pushed on Gopál Ráo, the chief of Míraj, with a considerable force to attack Haidar, but the latter, notwithstanding his inferiority in numbers, obtained a victory. Soon, however, the main body of the Maráthá army advanced to meet him, and a bloody contest ensued near Rattihalli, south of Sávanúr, in which, in spite of his skilful manœuvres, Haidar was overwhelmed by the Maráthá horse, and signally defeated, losing the best portion of his troops.

To such a stress was Haidar now reduced that he had to flee with a few cavalry to the woods of the Bednúr country, and although Madhu Ráo's advance was for a time checked by the rainy season, he soon crossed the Tungábhadra, and pursued so vigorously that Haidar, hemmed in on all sides by the Maráthás, was forced to despatch his family and treasure to Seringapatam, and to sue for peace. Madhu Rao consented, on condition that all the territory formerly held by Morári Ráo of Gútti should be restored, that Sávanúr should be surrendered, and that thirty-two lacs of rupees should be paid as an indemnity for the expenses incurred by the Maráthás. Haidar was not however disturbed in the possession of Sírá, or of the tracts wrested by him from the neighbouring Pálegárs.