The Cambridge History of India, Vol. IV: The Mughul Period v4.c21.188

v4.c21.188

The two lines advanced obliquely on a front of about 7½ miles, the Marāthā left under Ibrāhīm Khān making contact first. The battle began with a fierce discharge of artillery and rockets all along the line, but the Marāthā gunners, deceived probably by the light, fired high, and the shots flew harmlessly overhead. Thus the weapon on which the Bhāo Sāhib chiefly relied failed him at the critical moment. Ibrāhīm Khān, who had promised Sadāshiv Rāo that on this day he would justify the trust placed in him, thereupon ordered the guns to cease firing, and closed his opponents with the bayonet. After a fierce struggle, during which their commander was wounded, the regular sepoys pressed back the Rohillas. This exposed the Afghān centre under the chief minister, and at once the Bhāo Sāhib, seeing his opportunity, charged into the gap with the whole of the house-hold cavalry at full gallop. The impact was incredibly violent; the Afghāns were surprised and met their enemies at the trot, and the Marāthās broke through three lines of their opponents. It was now impossible to see anything for the clouds of dust, and nothing could be heard but the opposing cries of *Har, Har, Mahādeo!* and *Dīn, Dīn!*, as the troopers, locked in a death grip, stabbed and struck with lance and battle-axe, and even with daggers. The Shāh Walī Khān, who commanded the centre, dismounted and in full armour, in a paroxysm of rage, was trying to rally his men in vain. “Our country is far off, my friends,” he was crying, “whither do you fly?” But none heeded his orders or his exhortations.