Later Mughals v2.c13.s14.4

v2.c13.s14.4

The camp was about seventy-two miles from Agra, about one hundred and twenty-eight miles from Dihli, and the nearest point on the Jamuna, to the north-east, was distant about sixty-eight miles. Under the altered circumstances any further advance in the direction of the Dakhin was useless. There was some doubt and debate as to whether they should return to Agra or make for Dihli. At last it was decided to move northwards till they struck the Jamuna. Churaman Jat, although he owed a great deal to the Sayyid brothers, was for the moment persuaded by the offer of great rewards to join Muhammad Shah with a large force. A cunning answer of his has been preserved. Muhammad Amin Khan said to him: "Thou art a creature of the Sayyids, I have no reliance on thy service or good will." Swearing by his Hindu gods, he replied: "Nawab Sahib! it is true that those great men have conferred on me such benefits that if I had a thousand lives and a thousand times my wealth, I would have offered up all, including my family and children, on their behalf. But now I am under the imperial flag, the true lodestone, and I swear by Bhagwan I will do such service on the day of battle that the Nawab himself will acknowledge it." He spoke the truth, for on the day of battle he plundered the imperial baggage and the goods of many others. [Qasim 366, Kamwar 236.]