Page:Shivaji and His Times.djvu/362

342 Tiruvadi. With his contingent of 5,000 horse and abundance of elephants and war-material, he offered an obstinate resistance to the invaders. Ami (defended by Vedo Vaskar) seems to have been invested in May, and we find it holding out till the beginning of October, 1677. (Chit. 142; Dig. 330.)

Shivaji laid siege to Vellore about the middle of May, 1677. On the 25th of that month, we find him present in person before the fort. The attack was entrusted to Narahari Ballal Sabnis. He opened trenches around it and began to bombard it, after mounting batteries on two neighbouring hills, which he fortified and named Sazra-Gozra. Vellore was one of the strongest forts in the Karnatak. A deep wet ditch, swarming with crocodiles surrounded it. The outer ramparts were wide enough fox two carts to be driven abreast. It had four concentric lines of circumvallation. (Sabh. 90.) It defied the Marathas for 14 months and fell only in Aug. 1678.

At the end of the next month Sher Khan suffered a decisive defeat. In the night of 26th June he attempted to escape from the fort of Tiruvadi, 13 m. west of Cuddalore, towards Tevenapatam (or Devenapatam, a suburb of Cuddalore.) The Maratha horse, getting scent of the design, gave chase and drove him into Akala Nayak's wood, which lay in the way. Five hundred of the Khan's horsemen offered battle and held up the pursuers for two hours. Then the moon set and Sher Khan ran away with some of his cavalry and elephants to the south of the