When the Nawaub had heard the terms of the letter from his distinguished servant, and the lists of the captured property, he, in presence of those assembled round him, involuntarily broke out in expressions of admiration, at his valour and judgment; and immediately gave orders, that a salute of one hundred and twenty five guns should be fired, as a testimony of gladness and thanksgiving for this victory, and also that his drums should beat the rejoicing for good news. He also conferred on the commandant kingly presents; a jewelled girdle and a horse with saddle and housings of gold, and he exalted the standard of his rank and estimation above all other of the officers and Khans of his court.— Verse. “He raised him above his fellows”— “and distinguished him with great honour and confidence.”
During this time, the newswriters of Rai Droog frequently wrote to the Nawaub, that Busálut Jung’s commander in chief, although he had besieged the hill fort of Bullari closely for three months, had effected nothing; that the besieged Náík had made frequent sorties at night, and had attacked the batteries of the besiegers, and had killed a great many of the Moghuls;* and that Dhoonsa, with his ill omened force, had arrived near Kunukgiri and Gopul, and that the people of the country were terrified at his tyranny and cruelty. As soon as he had heard the contents of these letters, the Nawaub immediately despatched his orders to the commandant, styling him Ghoonsa,* to this effect, that he, the Nawaub, had conferred on the commandant the title of Ghoonsa, and that he had appointed him to oppose the further progress of Dhoonsa; that he, (Ghoonsa), was to proceed as early as possible, and attack Dhoonsa, and chastise him as he deserved; and that, please God, he the Nawaub would also fall on him like sudden death, by the route of Rai Droog. He also commanded him to send his prisoners to the presence. Immediately on receiving the Nawaub’s mandate, the commandant got his troops in readiness, and marched by forced marches towards the army of Dhoonsa. In the meanwhile agreeably to the orders of the Nawaub, the prisoners and spoil were sent to Puttun, under the escort of a thousand regular and two thousand irregular foot.
The Nawaub now marched from his capital,* Puttun, and proceeded towards Ruttun Giri, where he halted. Then, leaving there all heavy baggage, the camp followers and artillery, under charge of Purnia, a Mutsuddi of the Tosha Khana, (wardrobe or storeroom of presents) who was appointed thenceforth Chief officer of the baggage and followers, he with the light horse,* and the regular and irregular foot, lightly equipped, with only four meals of provisions ready cooked, marched on at such a rate, that, after crossing mountains and forests for two days and two nights, on the third night, he, like an arrow speeding from the bow to the mark, reached the camp of Busálut Jung. In obedience to his orders, his brave troops attacked it on every side, and, with the discharge of rockets,* matchlocks, arrows, and camel-swivels, he drove the dark vapours of pride out of the bodies of that force. The horse and foot, of the Moghul army, therefore, who hitherto, like the knot of the Pleiades, had preserved the form of a compact body, being wholly unprepared for the arrival of such a sudden calamity, at once, became loosened, and separated like the daughters* of the bier; and, some rubbing their hands, and some their eyes, but mostly beating their heads and wailing, put forth the foot of flight; but whole troops of them sleeping on their beds, striking out their hands and feet, drank to the full of the Sherbet of the brave blood-drinkers’ swords, and lay stretched out at length on the ground. The commanding officer of the army, thinking the day of resurrection had arrived, ran away with naked feet, and now rising, now falling, sought refuge with the detachment of Monsieur Lalli, which compared with the rest of the army, remained in some degree collected and in order. There he found safety, and the gallant Frenchman, now binding the waist-belt of courage tight round the loins of enterprise, having collected the remainder of his men, whom the sword had spared, and a few Kaim Khani horse, formed them in regular array, with closed ranks, and, preceded and followed by two light guns, marched by night to Adhooni. But the whole of the baggage of his troops, tents, standards, and even to the women of the Moghuls, fell into the hands of the Nawaub’s brave warriors.
When the clamour of the trumpets, horns, drums, and kettle drums, beating and sounding the rejoicing for victory, rose to the skies,— the Náík, or Chief of the fort, frightened beyond measure, lighted up torches and blue lights, and despatched a messenger to learn the news. No sooner was he made aware of the forced march of the Nawaub, and the defeat of the Moghul army, than, not thinking his situation at all improved by these circumstances, and trembling like a reed at the lion-like attack of the Nawaub, he at once so entirely lost his senses and his manhood, that, with his women, a few friends, and some money and valuable jewels, he descended by the back part of the mountain, and, making night marches, and crossing deserts and hills, proceeded towards Bejapoor; but, to the present day, no one has discovered the place of his retreat. All the property of his state, all his household goods, arms, drums, and nagaras, all which had been collected by the Náíks of former generations, he left to the servants of the Nawaub.
The Nawaub was delighted with this piece of good fortune; and, leaving a strong garrison to defend the fort, with strict orders to repair the walls, he with his army marched towards Adhooni, and encamped in the plain of Gulbayen. Thence, he despatched a message to Busálut Jung, that, by enduring privation and hunger for two months, in their endeavour to burn their enemies, his army had been greatly distressed— and that two months’ pay, being by the accounts, ten lakhs of rupees, he was required to send that sum. Busálut Jung, who, in consequence of the defeat of his army, and the plunder of his baggage and property,* had been deprived of rest and appetite, was paralyzed by this requisition, but, knowing the critical situation in which he stood, he collected some money from his treasury, and a sum from the pledging of his valuable jewels; and, without any further hesitation, despatched the ten lakhs of rupees, affecting, after the manner of the wolf, a disposition to be friendly.* Having done this, he was allowed to remain unmolested.
The conquering Nawaub now marched on, determined to punish Dhoonsa, who had swept the districts of Gujindurgurh and Kunukgiri with the besom of destruction, and who had arrived in the vicinity of Kunchungurh. Muhammad Alí Ghoonsa, also, had arrived in Dhoonsa’s rear, by the route of Kuduk, Sirhutti, and Dumul. When Dhoonsa heard of the defeat and dispersion of the Moghul troops, the conquest of the fort of Bullari, the exaction of a sum of money from the Chief of Adhooni, and, also, of the Nawaub’s near arrival to attack and punish him, his courage forsook him, and, without obtaining his desire, he made a quick retreat to Hydurabad. The Kuzzaks of the Nawaub’s army followed him, however, to the neighbourhood of Raichore, and took a great quantity of the baggage of his army, and also two guns, forty or fifty camels of his Tosha Khana, or treasury, and three elephants carrying tents, after which they returned.
At the period when the Nawaub, by his sudden night attack, had put to flight the Moghul army, and had taken Bullari, Morar Rao had left his capital to the charge of Pali Khan, and he himself with his troops took up their quarters in Dhoonsa’s camp, and tried to persuade him to attack and subdue the Province of the Balaghaut. Huleem Khan, the Hakim of Kirpa, also, and the Poligar of Chitul Droog, at the instigation of the same firebrand, expelled the newswriters of the Nawaub from their towns, and with their troops and stores assisted Dhoonsa; but, when they found he did not attend to their interested advice, and returned to Hydurabad, all three of these wicked promoters of strife returned, likewise, to their homes, ashamed of themselves; and counter-marching also from that side of the country, the Nawaub honoured Bullari with his presence.