The Cambridge History of India, Vol. III: Turks and Afghans v3.c20.498

v3.c20.498

The troops suffered more severely during the retreat than during the siege. The disease among the horses lost none of its virulence, and grain still rose in price. The starving soldiery fell out by the way and died, and the survivors were reduced to eating carrion and hides. The principal officers were obliged to march on foot with their men, and treacherous guides led the army into the Rann of Cutch, where there was no fresh water, so that thirst was added to their other privations, and they suffered terrible losses. Once again no news of the army reached Delhi for some months, and Maqbūl, the regent, had great difficulty in restraining the turbulence of the anxious and excited populace, and was at length reduced to the expedient of producing a forged dispatch. The execution of one of the treacherous guides induced the others to extricate the army from its perilous position, and it emerged at length from the desert and salt morass into the fertile plains of Gujarāt. Dispatches to Delhi restored order in the city, and the governor of Gujarāt, Nizām-ul-Mulk, who had failed to send either guides or supplies to the army, was dismissed from his post, Zafar Khān being appointed in his place.