182 POONA CITY
order of Aurangzeb, the imperial viceroy Shaista Khan took possession
of the open town, from which, when surprised a few days afterwards by
Sivaji, he had great difficulty in making his escape. His son and most
of his guard were cut to pieces, and he himself wounded. A powerful
force, however, immediately reinstated the discomfited commander.
In 1667 Aurangzeb restored Poona to Sivaji ; but under the sway of
his successor Sambhaji, it was occupied by Khan Jahan, an officer
of the emperor. On the Peshwd obtaining supremacy in the Maratha
confederacy, the chief seat of government was removed from Satara
to Poona. In 1763 Nizam Ali of Hyderabad sacked the city and
burned such parts of it as were not ransomed. In the struggle between
the successive Peshwas and their nominal subordinates Sindhia and
Holkar, Poona suffered many vicissitudes, until in 1802, by the provi-
sions of the Treaty of Bassein, the Peshwa allowed a British subsi-
diary force to be stationed here.
The final defeat of the Peshwa Baji Rao, and the capture of Poona
in 1818, were the results of three engagements. In the battle of
KIRKEE (November 5, 1817) the British forces, commanded by
Colonel Burr, defeated a vastly superior force under Bapu Gokhale.
The battle of Yeraoda (November 16 and 17, 1817) occurred near
where the present Fitzgerald Bridge now stands, the British guns on
Picket Hill' commanding the position. The British troops were com
manded by Brigadier-General Lionel Smith. The result was the flight
of the Peshwa's army and the immediate occupation of the city by the
British. The third battle, that of KOREGAON (January r, 1818), was
fought 2 miles distant from Loni, on the right bank of the Bhima, and
16 miles from Poona. After the deposition of the Peshwa Baji Rao 11
(1818), the city became the head-quarters of a British District as well
as the principal cantonment in the Deccan.
The city stands on the right bank of the Mutha river. Much of the
country round is barren and rocky, and to the east stretches an open
plain. Not much high ground is seen to the north and west, but to the
south extends a line of hills ending in the bold square rock of Sinh-
garh. Close at hand, on the north, is the confluence of the streams
of the Mutha and Mula ; through the heart of the city, the line
of the Kharakvasla canal, and on the south the lake and temple-
crowned peak of Parvati are objects of interest. The Katraj aqueduct
was built by an ancient Maratha family. This duct, together with
three other private aqueducts, supplies the city in ordinary years with
about half the required supply of drinking-water. The other half is
derived from the Mutha Right Bank Canal at three places. The main
near the Parvati bank supplements the supply from the Katraj aqueduct.
The municipality draws from the canal about 750,000 gallons a day,
for which it pays Rs. ro,ooo to Government. Any amount drawn in
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