The Cambridge History of India, Vol. IV: The Mughul Period v4.c21.172

v4.c21.172

As it moved northwards, reinforcements poured in. Malhār Rāo Holkar, Jānkojī Sindia, Dāmājī Gāikwār, Yashwant Rāo Powār, with other Marāthā chiefs and innumerable swarms of vagabond Pindārīs, flocked to the royal standard, till the total exceeded 300,000, of whom about one-fourth were fighting men, with 200 cannon. It was not merely an army, but a crusade, united to drive the Afghān invaders from the sacred soil of India. But now rifts began to appear. The Rājputs, offended at the high-handed conduct of Sindia and Holkar, held aloof. At the Chambal, Sūraj Mal, the Jāt chief of Bharatpur, rode in with his force, and a council of war was held. Sūraj Mal, a veteran fighter, earnestly advised the Bhāo Sāhib to park his baggage and artillery at Bharatpur, and then to start guerrilla operations in the traditional Marāthā fashion against the Abdālī's flank and rear: by this means, he said, and by avoiding a pitched battle, they would compel him very quickly to retreat. Holkar and Sindia heartily concurred, but the Bhāo Sāhib contemptuously rejected the sage advice of these experienced warriors, as "the chatter of goatherds and zamindars".¹ The taunt deeply wounded the pride of the Marāthā generals, and the old jealousy of the rule of the Chitpāvan broke out afresh. "If this Brāhman wins", they said, "he will send his couriers to collect the revenues of Hindūstān, and we shall have to wash his loin-cloths. It is better that he should meet with a defeat, or else what consideration shall we be allowed?" Sūraj Mal determined to slip away from the doomed force at the first suitable opportunity.