The Cambridge History of India, Vol. IV: The Mughul Period v4.c21.s1.18

v4.c21.s1.18

Meanwhile Mahmūd Khan had crossed the Ganges into Oudh and attacked Bilgrām, but the determined attitude of the Sayyids of that town, of the same stock as the Sayyids of Bārha, saved it. He sent detachments to occupy the *parganas* of Shāhābād and Khairābād and marched to Phāphāmaū, on the Ganges, near Allahābād, whence he despatched a force to capture Lucknow. The Afghāns entered Lucknow, but one of Safdar Jang's officers raised the citizens and drove them out of the city, while other troops from Oudh moved towards Phāphāmaū and Mahmūd Khān fled. The expulsion of the Afghāns from Oudh was now a simple matter, but they still remained dangerous. Safdar Jang now decided to summon to his aid Malhār Rāo Holkar from Mālwā, Jayappa Sindia from Nārnaul, and Sūraj Mal the Jāt. He did this, intent only on his own ends and negligent of the danger of bringing Marāthās into disputes in the neighbourhood of the capital. The Marāthā horse were first sent against Ahmad Khān’s governor of Kol and Jalesar, who was suddenly attacked and completely defeated, and fled to Farrukhābād. Ahmad Khān, on hearing of this, withdrew at once from Allahābād, which he had been again besieging. His army, largely composed of adventurers, deserted him, and he reached Farrukhābād with but a few followers. Safdar Jang and the Marāthās and Jāts marched on Farrukhābād and on their approach Ahmad Khān withdrew from the city to a fort now called Fatehgarh, which he had built on the bank of the Ganges, and appealed to the Rohillas for aid. There was some hesitation on their part in responding. The elders had been on good terms with the minister, since they had defeated Qāim Jang, and even the impetuous Sa‘d-ullah Khān hesitated to join Ahmad Khān, who had not yet avenged his brother’s blood. Ahmad Khān assured him that help at such a time would be ample atonement and Sa‘d-ullah Khān marched, too late, to his aid.