The Cambridge History of India, Vol. III: Turks and Afghans v3.c20.298

v3.c20.298

The Mughuls had missed the opportunity offered by the siege of Ranthambhor and the simultaneous disorders of the kingdom, but the news of ‘Alā-ud-dīn’s departure for Chitor, the siege of which appeared likely to be protracted, encouraged them to make another attempt on Delhi, and Targhī, their chief, led an army of 120,000 into India and encamped on the Jumna, in the neighbourhood of the capital, but ‘Alā-ud-dīn had already returned from Chitor. He had lost many horses and much material of war in the siege and during his retirement, the army of Kara was so disorganised by the unsuccessful campaign in Telingāna that before it could reach Baran and Koil the Mughuls had closed the southern and eastern approaches to the capital, and the movements of the invaders had been so rapid that they were threatening the city before the great fief-holders could join the king with their contingents. He was thus unable to take the field and retired into his fortress of Sīrī, where he was beleaguered for two months, while the Mughuls plundered the surrounding country and even made raids into the streets of Delhi. Their sudden and unexpected retreat, attributed by the pious to the prayers of holy men, was probably due to their inexperience of regular sieges, the gradual assembly of reinforcements, and the devastation of the country, which obliged them to divide their forces to a dangerous degree in their search for supplies.