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88 Mughal dominion, whence supplies could more easily reach him. (A. N. 584-5.)

Chakan is a place of great strategic, importance. On the east it is separated from the imperial territory by the shallow upper courses of the Bhima and Ghod rivers only, with no difficult mountain pass to cross. Its possession would have greatly shortened Shaista Khan's line of communication with his base of supplies at Ahmadnagar and also secured his camp against any attack from the north. Moreover, Chakan is only 31 miles due east of the Bhorghat pass and commands the shortest route leading from Ahmadnagar to Konkan.

Leaving Puna on 19th June, the Khan arrived in the vicinity of Chakan on the 21st, reconnoitred the fort and distributed the lines of investment among his officers. The fort of Chakan is a square enclosure with bastioned fronts and towers at the four corners. The walls are high, with a ditch 30 ft. deep and 15 ft. wide all around. The only entrance is in the eastern face, and passes through five or six gateways. Beyond the walls there is an outwork of mud with a ditch, the remnant of a very old fortification. (Bom. Gaz. xviii. pt. iii., p. 121; Ind. Antiq. ii. 43, iv. 352.) Shaista Khan, after throwing up defensive earth- works round the positions taken up by the four divisions of his army, began to run trenches towards the fort- walls, construct raised platforms at suitable points, and mount on them large pieces of artillery brought from the Mughal forts in the Deccan.