Manazil al-futuh 1.3.4

1.3.4

when a young Mughal riding a Turki charger set out in pursuit of me. However much I pressed my steed, whenever I looked behind, there I saw his horse shaking his ears, and coming straight on; till at last, the mare being incapable of further exertion, he overtook me. He then took away my steed and accoutrements, and gave me a wound in the leg, saying: 'This shall give you a mark to remember for years to come.' From that day to the present I have continued suffering from this painful wound, insomuch that I remember it well." Another extraordinary incident was this. During the flight of the Mahratta forces, a party of them had stopped at the caravanserai of Sonpat, for the purpose of eating bread and drinking water; when the Kazalbásh and Abdáli warriors came up in pursuit, and through fear of them, the guardians of the serai closed its gates. As soon as the Mahrattas got intelligence of their arrival, every one mounted his horse, wishing to escape, but found the gate shut. One of them spurred on his mare, which he conceived to be a good galloper, that he might clear the wall of the serai at a leap. The gallant animal, flying off the ground like a falcon, stuck amongst the battlements of the wall, and there expired. Thirty years ago the author of this work, happening to alight at that serai, beheld the horse's skeleton fixed in the battlements. This noble feat is famous throughout the world.