Later Mughals v2.c13.s7: Sec. 7.—Defeat and Death of Dilawar Ali Khan.
Later Mughals v2.c13.s7
- Language
- English
Sec. 7.—Defeat and Death of Dilawar Ali Khan.
v2.c13.s7.1
On the 13th Shaban 1132 H. (19th June 1720), Nizam-ul-mulk marched four kos, then drew up his army ready to give battle. Ghiyas Khan was placed in command of the vanguard, having under him Shaikh Muhammad Shah and his brother, Nur-ullah Faruqi, heads of the artillery. In the right centre was Iwaz Khan, nazim of Berar (Ilichpur) and the Nawab's uncle by marriage, with his son, Jamal-ullah Khan, Anwar Khan, Hakim Muhammad Murtaza and others. Marahmat Khan, Fil Jang, was on the left centre. To the right wing was posted Aziz Beg Khan Harisi; and to the left, Abdur-rahim Khan (uncle of Nizam-ul-mulk) and Qadir Dad Khan Raushani; while Mutawassil Khan (grandson of Sadullah Khan), Ismail Khan Khweshgi, Kamyab Khan and Darab Khan, Sad-ud-din Khan and Mir Ahsan, Bakhshi, took their place in the centre. Reayat Khan, Nizam-ul-mulk's first cousin and the brother of Muhammad Amin Khan Chin, was left in charge of the town of Burhanpur, while Rustam Beg Khan was told off to protect the rear of the army. Fath-ullah Khan Khosti, and Rao Rambha Nimbalkar, the Mahratta, with five hundred men, acted as skirmishers.*
v2.c13.s7.2
∗ Elsewhere, p. 879, Khafi Khan has "Sher Khan," which is also in the copy of Nizam-ul-mulk's tumar (despatch) in Sahib Rai, Khujista-kalam, where the name of Farhat Khan is added.
v2.c13.s7.3
The site of the battle, as we are told, was in the hilly country called Pandhar† between Burhanpur and the Narmada, and Nizam-ul-mulk himself says that he had marched forty *kos* from Burhanpur. He moved out four *kos* from his last camp before he met the enemy, and the battle did not begin until the afternoon (13th Shaban 1132 H., 19th June 1720). Dilawar Ali Khan had occupied a rising ground to the east of the Nawab. Leaving his baggage at the foot of this hillock, Dilawar Ali Khan sent out his advanced guard, consisting of some three thousand horsemen and about eight thousand matchlockmen, under the command of Sayyid Sher Khan and Babar Khan. Then, surrounded by his principal officers on their elephants, he followed in person at the head of the main body. [K. K. 876, Kamwar 223.]
v2.c13.s7.4
† For the position of Pandhar, and its possible connection with the Pindharies, see my article in the *Indian Antiquary* for May 1900. Rustam Ali, *Tarikh-i-Hindi*, 240b, says the battle was fought near Qasba Khandwa, which is not far from Asir. This place was about 32 miles n. of Burhanpur and about 60 miles s. w. of Handiya. It is now the civil station of the Nimar district of the Central Provinces (C. P. Gazetter, 383). The *Tarikh-i-Muzaffari*, p. 181, has "Husainpur, 14 *kos* from Burhanpur," which is also the name in the *Asiatic Miscellany* (1785), an account of Asaf Jah (Nizam-ul-mulk) translated by Henry Vansittart (the younger) from a Persian work, of which the title is not given.
v2.c13.s7.5
The action began after midday with artillery fire and the discharge of rockets. Ghiyas Khan and Iwaz Khan advanced from two different directions to attack Dilawar Ali Khan. They were unable, however, to effect a junction, and Iwaz Khan was left to meet alone the full force of the Sayyid, Rajput, and Afghan onset. In spite of his elephant turning round and the flight of many of his men, Iwaz Khan kept the field manfully until he was severely wounded and forced to retire. With shouts of exultation, Sayyid Sher Khan and Babar Khan, riding rein to rein, started in pursuit. Qadir Dad Khan in spite of his wounds fought on. Aziz Beg Khan and his brother were also wounded. Then Azmat Khan, one of the principal officers under Iwaz Khan, dismounted and continued the contest on foot. Mutawassil Khan now brought up reinforcements. Thus one attack followed another and the fortunes of the day varied at every turn. At length, both Sayyid Sher Khan and Babar Khan were cut down.*
v2.c13.s7.6
∗ Khafi Khan ii. 876; *Masir-ul-umara*, iii. 877; *Ahwal-ul-khawaqin*, 154b; Kamwar Khan, entry of 17th Shaban; *Gulshan-i-ajaib*, 132b. The date is the 11th (17th June) in *Khush-hal* f. 1002a, and in *Burhan-ul-futuh*, f. 168a.
v2.c13.s7.7
Dilawar Ali Khan in person now led an attack on the centre. Here he was struck in the chest by a bullet and killed, many of the Barha Sayyids losing their lives at his side. Rao Bhim Singh and Rajah Gaj Singh still kept the field. Soon Bhim Singh was shot.† Then Gaj Singh of Narwar, a fine-looking young man, dismounted with forty or fifty of his brethren, and attacked at close quarters. Taking sword and shield in hand, they pressed the Nawab's vanguard very hard. But Marahmat Khan charged them vigorously from the left. In the end, after the death of the remaining Rajput chief, four hundred Rajputs and many Barha officers, and in all some four thousand soldiers, fell a prey to the arrows, spears, and swords of their opponents. The broken remnant of survivors, among them Dost Muhammad Khan Afghan, withdrew from the field and made good their retreat into Malwa, pursued and plundered by the Mahratta auxiliaries of Nizam-ul-mulk. This somewhat unexpected victory gives an opening to one author to quote the lines:
v2.c13.s7.8
∗ Farah Khan was killed on Dilawar Ali Khan's side. See Ahwal-ul-khawaqin, 159a; it is "Farhat" Khan in Gulshan-i-ajaib, 132b.
v2.c13.s7.9
† Tod's account of Bhim Singh's death, ii. 487, affords us a more than usually noticeable instance of his flagrant inaccuracy. The fight is made out to be undertaken by Bhim Singh without allies, while the scene is laid in the broken ground along the Sind river, near the town of Korwai Borasu. An additional touch of grotesque error is given by the assertion that Jai Singh Kachhwaha, of Amber, gave the order to Bhim Singh and Gaj Singh to bar Nizam-ul-mulk's road! The town referred to is evidently Kurwai in Malwa (Thorton, 520) on the right or east bank of the Betwa with Borasu immediately opposite. A slight misreading of Khandwa, the true place, may have given the hint to connect the battle with Korwai Borasu.
v2.c13.s7.10
Bakht bawar gar bavad, sindan zi dandan bi-shkanad, Tali-i-bargashtah ra faludah dandan bi-shkanad.
v2.c13.s7.11
“The fates aiding, you may bite a bit off an anvil,
With the stars against you, your teeth break over flummery.”*
v2.c13.s7.12
Nizam-ul-mulk ordered his drums to beat for victory. On his side the losses were few, the only men of any note who fell being Badakhshi Khan and Diler Khan, an officer serving under Iwaz Khan. Among the wounded were Iwaz Khan himself and Ghiyas Khan. In addition to the guns and elephants appropriated by Nizam-ul-mulk to his own use, much booty fell into the hands of the soldiers and plunderers. The victors encamped where they were, the night being disturbed by a false alarm caused by an unruly elephant which broke from his chains and rushed about the camp, destroying as he went, until his progress was arrested by an arrow from the bow of Mutawassil Khan. [K. K. 881.]
v2.c13.s7.13
The above is the official account and is, no doubt, the one most favourable to Nizam-ul-mulk and his army. Other writers describe the event differently and tell us of an ambuscade. Such a device would not only accord with Nizam-ul-mulk’s scheming habits, but would also more satisfactorily account for the great loss sustained by the other side, more especially among its leaders. From these other sources we learn that between the two forces lay deep ravines where a large army could have been effectually concealed. Nizam-ul-mulk sent out his guns and placed them in position so as to command from both sides the only road across this ravine. His advanced guard was concealed in the hollows on each side. Then two or three men, closely resembling the Nawab in beard, features and age were dressed up, placed on elephants, and sent out to represent Nizam-ul-mulk at the head of his main body, which showed itself beyond the entrance to the ravine. Dilawar Ali Khan’s men came straight at their foe, and were drawn on and on by a simulated retreat. Anxious to slay or capture the opposite leader, who, as they believed, was in command, they pursued steadily, disposing on their way of several of the pretended Nizam-ul-mulks. When Sayyid Sher Khan at length brought his elephant close to that of Iwaz Khan, the Mughal, by a sign, caused his elephant to kneel, and by this trick escaped with his life. The ravine having been reached, the guns did their work; and their leaders having been killed, the rest of Dilawar Ali Khan’s army dispersed. [Shiu 37b, Qasim 314.]
v2.c13.s7.14
∗ *Tarikh-i-Muzaffari*, f. 183. We have Nizam-ul-mulk’s official report or *tumar* of the battle in Sahib Rai’s *Khujista-kalam* (Irvine MS., p. 323). A copy was sent to Muhammad Khan Bangash of Farrukhabad, under cover of an exulting letter. *M.U.* iii. 370.
v2.c13.s7.15
The morning after the battle the bodies of Dilawar Ali Khan and of Sayyid Sher Khan were prepared for burial and despatched to Aurangabad, where the sons of the former were serving with Alim Ali Khan. The same day a report was brought in that Alim Ali Khan had arrived at Talab Hartala,* seventeen kos to the south of Burhanpur, and Mutawassil Khan was sent off at once with three thousand horsemen to reinforce the garrison and protect that town, where the families of many of the men had been left. Mutawassil Khan marched forty kos in one day and thus prevented the surprise of Burhanpur. Alim Ali Khan, who had not anticipated such a prompt movement, was perplexed and therefore halted where he was. [Qasim 318, K. K. 881.]
v2.c13.s7.16
NOTE.—Another version of the fight taken from the “Ahwal-ul-khawaqin,” f. 162a.
v2.c13.s7.17
Dilawar Ali Khan, after crossing the Narmada, made four or five marches till he was near to Nakti Bhawani. As the Shab-i-barat (14th Shaban, 20th June 1720) approached, they made three or four halts, intending to resume their advance when that festival was over. But hearing of Nizam-ul-mulk’s movement in their direction, the Sayyid came out and ranged his men in battle order one kos from his camp.
v2.c13.s7.18
Nizam-ul-mulk’s scouts reported that the Sayyid was facing eastwards, with his guns in front. Nizam-ul-mulk thinking a frontal attack dangerous, enquired if the rear could be reached. The scouts said that by a détour of six *kos* this could be effected; the sun was not yet in the meridian, they had time to make the movement. Changing direction they arrived at the Sayyid's rear in about three hours and were then at a distance of one *kos*.
v2.c13.s7.19
∗ Hartala, a lake of 440 acres on a tributary of the Tapti, four miles s. w. of Edilabad in the Bhusawal sub-division, Khandesh district. Edilabad is about 30 miles south of Burhanpur, Bombay Gazetteer, xii. vi. 142, 449.
v2.c13.s7.20
When Nizam-ul-mulk's standards began to show faintly in the distance, Sayyid Dilawar Ali Khan was amazed and accused his head spy of treachery. This accusation the man, an old Barha Sayyid, vigorously repudiated. As there was no help for it in this sudden emergency, the artillery was left behind, and the front changed to meet the enemy. The artillery was ordered to follow as quickly as it could.
v2.c13.s7.21
Ghiyas Khan, commanding Nizam-ul-mulk's vanguard, was attacked by Bhim Singh, Gaj Singh, and "Be-dost Rohela" (Dost Muhammad Khan); while Sayyid Sher Khan, Babar Khan and Farah Khan turned against Iwaz Khan. Gaj Singh and Bhim Singh Hada dismounted and at the head of two thousand Rajputs fought hand to hand, breast to breast. Quresh Beg, Khwaja Masum, and a few others resisted, but they were hardly more than a pinch of salt in flour. Against two thousand mail-clad Rajputs what were forty men! Bhim Singh and Quresh Beg fought in single combat; then some forty Rajputs attacked the latter. In spite of these odds the Beg succeeded in killing Bhim Singh before he fell himself under numberless wounds. The bodies of the Rajputs lay piled on the top of each other.
v2.c13.s7.22
Meanwhile Iwaz Khan was engaged with Sher Khan and Babar Khan. The fighting was so hot that it was like the coming of the Day of Judgment. It went on for two hours, and the Sayyid's men did their best, until he and four thousand five hundred of his men were killed. Dost Muhammad Khan Rohela was the only one who turned and fled.
v2.c13.s7.23
Nizam-ul-mulk was not even wounded, but Khwaja Masum, Mirza Naim and others of his men were killed. Sayyid Musafir Khan especially distinguished himself in repulsing an attack on Ghiyas Khan, in which he was greatly aided by Yalras Khan, Khwaja Abdul-haman, Mir Qutb-ud-din, Khwaja Ibrahim and some others, one hundred and twenty-five men in all. Some of the Panni Afghans, too, were killed and wounded while defending Iwaz Khan. Altogether some thirty men were killed and about one hundred wounded on that side; while of the Sayyid's army four thousand five hundred were killed and the number of wounded was not known.
v2.c13.s7.24
Nizam-ul-mulk's officers asked for orders to pursue, but he refused. He collected the wounded near his tent and sent them surgeons, healing salves and clothes. For some he provided horses, for some palankins, for some litters. On their recovery he asked them to enlist with him. As their master, Husain Ali Khan, was still alive, they refused; their road expenses were then paid and they departed. The body of Dilawar Ali Khan was decently buried; those of the Hindus were burnt under the supervision of Rajah Indar Singh. Nizam-ul-mulk and his troops returned to Burhanpur.