When the day broke, Trimuk became acquainted with the arrival of the lion commandant in the field, and, being aware of his having sent his artil­lery to Puttun, he immediately despatched troop after troop of his force, to pursue in that direction, and he himself mounted his horse and followed their track. The scouts or sentinels of the commandant, who were stationed on a small hill, and who had sent out spies in all directions, now reported to their commanding officer, that troops of Mahratta horse were marching on the road by which the artillery on the night before had proceeded. The expe­rienced commandant, the moment he heard this intelligence, gave orders to his men to fire vollies in the air; his object being to attract the enemy to his quarter, that the artillery might arrive unmolested at the Presence; and so it happened, for the Mah­ratta horse, at the report of the first discharge, immediately returned, and attacked his party. When the commandant had, by his address and ability, drawn off the Mahratta troops to his side, he faced about, and began to retire by easy paces through the jungul of Makri. Before, however, he could attain the skirts of the forest, Trimuk himself arrived; and, with all his horse, surrounded and attacked him, sniping* at him and galling him with a distant fire. The commandant had scarcely time to arrange and post his men in ambush, when, all at once, a body of fifty or sixty thousand horse, gallopped on to the charge, and, with sword and spear, engaged rank to rank, and hand to hand. Having warned his men, who, ready formed on their ground, had loaded and were silent, the valiant com­mandant now gave the word to fire; and the brave and experienced fellows arose and poured such close and heavy vollies* on their enemies, that the earth trembled at the shock, and the ears of the heavens, were deafened at the sound.

For two hours the battle raged with the utmost violence; the troops of the commandant advanc­ing and firing; and, from their heavy fire and desperate charges, it is estimated that not less than ten thousand brave fellows of the Mahratta army, slept the sleep of death; for, they fought in such throngs, that they had no room to turn or retreat, and their lives were, therefore, thrown away. About forty or fifty chiefs of note among the Mahrattas were killed on this occasion. The standard and Howda elephants, and camels, bear­ing the kettle drums, were also killed or wounded by musket balls. (Translation of some verses, from the Shah Nama apparently)— “In that field contested by the brave”— “Strife was awake, and Safety asleep”— “Peace had fled many fursungs away”— “And Fate in the mean time was in the midst (of the throng) doing its own work”— “The road of Life was lost”— “The horseman fell under his horse’s hoofs,”— “Death like a shadow fell on every one.”— “So fast did the souls of men fly hand in hand, (to Paradise) that even Death bit his hand in grief”— “One shouting take, and kill,”— “The other opening his mouth to wail,”— “The brother bewailing his brother”— “The mother weeping for the blood of her son”— “The father mourning for his son,”— “And the son shedding fast and bitter tears for his uncle and father.”— But, to return,— a river of blood flowed from that field, and the Mah­rattas sustained a shameful defeat, and they fled so fast that the plain was too narrow for them, and the Mussulmans, planting their feet firm in the field of honour, remained victorious.

On seeing the condition of his own army, and the intrepidity of the Muhammadans, Trimuk was greatly enraged, and became heated like a horse-shoe in a forge, and having sent for his artillery he established his batteries in front of the Mussul­mans, and gave orders to commence firing. His artillery men fired from a considerable distance, but as if firing at a mark; and their balls gave great annoyance to the troops of the commandant, damping their ardour by breaking their arms and legs; so that one hundred and fifty excellent sol­diers lost their lives without advantage. But, although it went very near that the discipline and order of the troops were entirely broken, and the page of the book of shame disclosed, still the able commandant, having given the curl of manhood and intrepidity to the moustache of perseverance, arrested the wavering of those who had acquired the properties of quicksilver, and, having calmed and allayed their disorder, he gave orders that those men who were desperately wounded, and the bodies of the slain of the Mahrattas, of whom a great number had fallen, should be dragged together, and piled round his troops like a breast­work. Then, he himself, with his confidence firm, and a pure faith, performed his ablutions,* after which, turning towards the Kibleh, he repeated with a loud voice the Uzan or call to prayer. He next encircled or stockaded his position with branches of trees,* and made his men lie down in their ranks. From this time, the saintly influence of the com­mandant appeared evident; for, after he had repeated the call to prayer, though the Mahrattas fired thousands of cannon shot at his party, all passed over their heads, and injured no one. “If the sword of the world fly out of the scabbard”— “It will not cut a vein except by God’s com­mand.”* In fact, the Mahrattas, by the evening, had expended many Tumbrils of ammunition, but had effected nothing, and could obtain no advantage over this little party. At night, therefore, they drew off their guns, and returned to their encamp­ment, which was about two Fursungs distant.

The commandant, who had so manfully fought, and with his brave companions, had maintained the field without food or water the whole day, and thereby gained so much honour, at night, finding the coast clear, without fear marched with his men formed in order of battle towards Mysore, leaving all his wounded, whose power of movement had been cut off by the balls of the enemy, on the field of battle, telling them to be of good cheer, for that he would send Doolies* for them from Astara, a town on the road to Nuggur. The Mahratta picquets and videttes, on the flank on which they marched, although they were quite aware of his movement, and had mounted their horses, and formed to the right and left of the road, looking on, still offered no opposition to the night travellers; nor did they make any report of their march to Trimuk, but wilfully allowed them to pass, and even extolled their actions as they marched along. When the morning appeared, the foolish Mahratta, posted his guns in the same place they had before occupied, and commenced to fire;— but, when the sun had risen high, and the veil of cowardice was withdrawn from before their eyes, they found the field clear of the Mussulmans, and, running forward, soon obtained information of them from the wounded who were left the ground, and a clear detail of what had occurred the night before. Trimuk, therefore, hastened off to Astara; and the commandant, with­out opposition from any one, entered the fort of Mysore. On the same night the Prince, (Tippoo), with five or six thousand horse, and two or three thousand regular and irregular foot, attacked an escort of the Mahrattas, coming from Poona, con­sisting of eight thousand horse and ten thousand irregular infantry, conveying an immense supply of stores, provisions, and treasure, which was carried on thirty elephants, a hundred camels, and fifty mules, and accompanied, also, by merchants with gold and jewels of great value, and a supply of ammunition. These men were encamped near Chund­raiputtun, perfectly at their ease, and not having the slightest intimation of a night attack, Tippoo, therefore, at once assailed them and put forth the hand of exertion to the slaughter and plunder of the convoy; in such wise, that he did not allow one among them to escape in safety, or fail to take every article of the least value belonging to the Mahrattas, including their treasure; and, this done, he sent them all off to the capital, Puttun, or rather to his illustrious father, while he himself marched towards Nuggur.

On hearing of this exploit, Trimuk let fall the hands of weakness on the earth of despair, and drew his head deep into the collar of reflection, being unable to divine what he should do in the end, or by what means he should subdue the victorious Mussulmans. While he was in this state of sus­pense, a pair* of Hurkaras* brought news from Poona, that Raghoba had murdered his nephew Narayen Rao, and had seated himself on the Mus­nud, and was making his own arrangements in the government. On receiving this intelligence, Tri­muk was immersed in the whirlpool of dismay and affliction, and considered that the best thing he could now do was to make peace; and, therefore, by the medium of the Nawaub’s Vakeel, he began to trace his steps in the path of conciliation. He, how­ever, insisted on being paid the expenses of his army; for which he had disbursed Krores* of rupees. The astute Vakeel returned for answer, in the words of the Nawaub Bahadúr, that all the wealth of the (Mysore) state was taken at the field of Churkooli; that even the wearing apparel of the Nawaub was presented to the army of the Paishwa, on that occasion; and nothing was left— that the whole of the country had become a grazing field for the Poona horse; that, consequently, the state now, (instead of paying), required assistance; that the profits of present peace would be seen in the future prosperity of the Mysore* state; that (the Nawaub hoped) Trimuk by any means would be generous enough to return to his own country; and that he was to consider the increase of the pros­perity of Mysore as an increase of his own dignity.

In fine, the offer of such cajoling and fool-deceiv­ing words and the payment of two hundred thou­sand rupees, having satisfied Trimuk, he released the prisoners of Churkooli and the Nawaub was allowed to remain unmolested. Trimuk now from the pressing circumstances of the time, considering his own safety as victory and conquest, withdrew his garrisons from the forts depending on Seringa­puttun, and dismissed his prisoners with presents and honorary dresses; and having appointed Bapojee Sindiah to the government of the Souba of Sura, he commenced his march to Poona; and, from political motives, joined the camp of Raghoba. The Kuzzaks of the Nawaub, however, followed his camp to the river Tungbhudra, and under the cover of the hills and jungles, slew many of the Mahrattas, took many prisoners, and returned with great spoil. After enduring much mortification, and discomfort, Meer Alí Ruza Khan, by the mediation of Nana Furnavees, was allowed to quit the Mah­rattas, and again joined the Nawaub, and Gurum Khoondah and Dindigul were again assigned to him in Jageer.