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Rh ing. The enemy had cut down the grass, so that no fodder could be obtained, and when the Moghuls tried to victual the army by sea, the enemy intercepted the corn-ships. The rocks and forests of the Ghats had been quite as destructive to the cavalry as the spears of the Marathas. Fighting torrents and precipices, and enduring an unhealthy climate and scarcity of food was an unprofitable business; and the princes were ordered to converge upon Bijapur, while Aurangzib pushed forward to Ahmadnagar.

As soon as the enemy's back was turned, Sivaji's son, Sambhaji, swiftly led his active little horsemen behind their flank, and crossing over to Khandesh burned Burhanpur and set the whole countryside in a blaze. Before the Moghuls could get at them, they were safe again in their fastnesses in the Ghats. The stroke was typical of Maratha warfare. They never risked an engagement in the open field unless numbers made victory sure. When the heavy Moghul cavalry attacked them, these hardy little warriors, mounted on wiry steeds as inured to fatigue as themselves and splendidly broken for their tactics, would instantly scatter in all directions and observe the enemy from a neighbouring hill or wood, ready to cut off solitary horsemen, or surprise small parties in ambush; and then, if the pursuers gave up the useless chase, the Marathas were upon them in an instant, hanging on their flanks, dispatching stragglers, and firing at close quarters into the unwieldy mass. To fight such people was to do battle with the air or to strike blows upon water. The Moghul might