The Rashīdī History 3.4.2

3.4.2

His total force is nowhere stated in figures, and apparently it was divided into at least two, or perhaps three, columns. One of these was attacked by a force of "men armed with short swords," sent by "a Rai of Hind" to the assistance of the Tibetans—a statement that appears to point to a body of Nipali tribesmen, armed with their national weapon, the kukri. The inference is that the Moghuls were beaten in at least one fight with these people. Yet Mirza Haidar continued his march towards the capital, until he arrived at, and plundered, a place he calls Astabrak (or Astakbark), which was represented as being within eight days' journey of Lassa. No map or book of any date, now available, seems to contain this name or any variant of it, but if the estimate of eight marches from Lassa be correct, and these marches are intended for the long Tibetan post-stages, the invaders would still have been some 800 miles, or more, distant from their goal. However this may be, the mortality among his horses, want of supplies, and the general distress caused by cold and the high elevation, obliged the Mirza to abandon his enterprise at this point, and to set out in retreat towards Ladak. His experience, indeed, was almost exactly that of the Dogra general Zorawar Sing who, in 1841, made an attempt to conquer the western provinces of Tibet for his master, Rajah Gulab Sing of Kashmir.