The Nāṣirī Generations 140.5

140.5

The troops were told off in parties, to advance by the different practicable paths, and Mas’ūd himself kept parallel to them, for the fighting there was likely to be severe. Bū-l-Hasan-i-Khalaf, and his men, were sent to the right, and Sher-wān, with his contingent, to the left. The accursed ones evinced the utmost daring, and pressed forward with impetuosity, particularly in front of the Amir, and they disputed the greater part of the ground with determination. The troops were hard pressed, and the enemy crowded towards the standards of the Amir, and the fighting became desperate. [This reads something like an Umbeylah expedition.] Three mounted warriors of the enemy succeeded in getting close up to the Amir, who, perceiving them, smote one of them full on the breast with his mace of twenty mans in weight [the man varies from forty to eighty pounds], which laid him sprawling on his back, and prevented his rising again; and the ghulāms attacked the other two, and hurled them from their horses. This was enough for the Ghūrīs, who gave way; but they continued, now and again, to face about and dispute the ground, until a village [town] was reached at the foot of the mountain [on the other side], and, on the way thither, numbers were slain and made captive.