A History of the Mahrattas v2.c45.17

v2.c45.17

The war, whilst still at a distance, was extremely popular amongst the Moghuls; the grand army under Nizam Ally’s personal command was assembled at Beder, and the camp exhibited much bustle and animation. The most vaunting threats were constantly heard from the ill-appointed, disorderly soldiery. Poona was to be pillaged and burned, the dancing girls already sang the triumphs of their army, and even the prime minister declared in a public assembly that ‘the Moghuls should now be freed from Mahratta encroachments; that they should recover Beejapoor and Candeish, or they would never grant peace, until they had dispatched the Peishwa to Benares, with a cloth about his loins and a pot of water in his hand, to mutter incantations on the banks of the Ganges.’³