To counter the loss at Pratapgad and to defeat the nascent Maratha power, another army, this time numbering over 10,000, was sent against Shivaji, commanded by renowned Bijapuri general Rustemjaman. With cavalry of 5000 Marathas, Shivaji attacked them near Kolhapur on 28 December 1659. In a swift movement, Shivaji led a full frontal attack at the center of the enemy forces while other two portions of his cavalry attacked the flanks. The hand-to-hand combat was ferocious, the action was interspersed with the Maratha war cry "Har Har Mahadev" (hail to Lord Shiva), with "Allahu Akbhar" (God is great) the Muslim war cry. In a bloody pitched battle, the Bijapuri forces folded under the ferocious Maratha onslaught and in the ensuing panic, Rustemjaman fled the battlefield.
Shivaji's Mavale/Maratha soldiers clearly demonstrated their courage and martial tendency by fearlessly attacking in a pitched battle the combined and formidable Bijapur army made up of elite forces of Arab, Abyssinian, Persian and Afghan mercenaries. This news made the mighty Mughal empire more alarmed at the successes of the upstart Maratha Shivaji, who was now derisively called "Mountain Rat" by the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb. He was now actively preparing to bring the full might and resources of the Mughal Empire to bear down on the potential Maratha threat, as he was not one to tolerate any potential challenge to his rule
