New History of the Marathas v2.c30.11

v2.c30.11

2. Position of the Parties in the field.—At last the fatal 14th January arrived for Bhau Saheb to get into close grips with the Abdali Shah, for which he had been longing ever since he left the Deccan. The Shah did not take long to realize, when on that early morning he reconnoitred the huge mass of the whole Maratha camp moving in a block towards him, that it was no longer to be one of the light actions which he was having during the last two months. He at once prepared his whole army for a final issue and quickly arranged his line of battle with judicious calculation for reaping the highest advantage. In arranging his men he used his best discretion, assigning suitable positions and duties to his various captains and allies. Of his total of sixty thousand, nearly half was foreign and half Indian, the major portion consisting of cavalry with a small admixture of infantry. He placed Barkhurdar Khan and Amir Beg on his extreme right wing keeping next to their left the Ruhelas of Hafiz Rahmat and those of the Bangash Nawab. Thereafter in his line came his camel swivels and his own Kabuli infantry. Next to these came the central command of the Wazir Shah Vali Khan in whom he had the highest confidence. To the left of the Wazir was posted Shuja-ud-daula leading his own contingent, closely joined on his left by Najib Khan’s party. The extreme left of the line was made up by Shah Pasand Khan along with the Shah’s own slave squadrons and his personal body-guards, the last two having been kept behind in reserve to be moved as necessity would demand. It would here be noticed how the Ruhelas, the Bangash contingent and Najib Khan’s men were purposely wedged in between the Shah’s own foreign troops, as he was suspicious of the loyalty of his Indian allies. He himself remained behind the whole line, directing the operations and repairing any weak points that would develop when the action came to be joined.