Siyar al-mutaʾakhkhirin 19.3.1

19.3.1

As soon as the appointment took place, the new Governor crossed the Ganga with a small train of artillery, and his own body of troops; and from thence he wrote circular letters to every principal man, and to every civil and military officer in the province: all men whom he knew personally. These letters with now and then a menace, contained a variety of promises, and were calculated to gain the heart of every one. This passage of the Ganga roused the attention of Hazyr-aaly-qhan, who had forgot himself totally on seeing six or seven thousand foot, and two or three thousand horse under his command; he armed himself and resolved to repel the enemy, and he made choice of a post which he fortified with intrenchments. But all this while he was unaware that his troops, being no better than so many farmers of Pùrania, were faint-hearted, and unfit for a day of battle; those people making nothing of throwing away their arms, and abandoning their officers, without any sense of shame. Instead of that knowledge so necessary in a man of his station, he had provided himself with certain astrological predictions, which a certain Gentoo, called Ratan-pat, had been brewing for him, and he had strengthened his post on his own notions of success and victory. However, he took care to gain the hearts of his troops, by bestowing much money amongst them from the large sums that had been brought together with so much trouble by Seradj-ed-doulah's Deputy.