New History of the Marathas v2.c30.14

v2.c30.14

Before describing the actual nature of the titanic struggle that now followed, some salient points regarding the position of the two parties deserve to be noticed. Although the two forces and particularly that of the Marathas, were large on account of the vast numbers of the non-combatants, the strength of the actual fighting calibre has now been ascertained to be sixty thousand Muslims and forty-five thousand Marathas. The latter were certainly weakened by starvation and the loss of animals. In this respect the Afghans were in high and buoyant spirits. In generalship also, the superiority of Abdali was obvious, as Bhau Saheb with all his enthusiasm was inferior to the Shah in the military handling of a battle-field. Bhau Saheb had from the beginning a great faith in his powerful artillery of more than two hundred pieces, and in its effective use by his trusted commandant Ibrahim Khan. But this itself proved rather a handicap in the predicament that had developed. The heavy guns took time to be brought into proper position, while the Maratha army was on the move. Otherwise this heavy arm of the Maratha force could have done great execution. On this occasion Ibrahim Khan’s long range cannon overshot their objective and could be easily silenced, when the two sides came close together. The Shah on the other hand had no heavy guns of the Maratha type : he had instead an efficient set of about two thousand light guns, camel-borne swivels, which could inflict severe havoc upon the dense mass of the Maratha ranks at short range. These light-guns of the Afghan Shah were handled each by two expert gunners riding one camel. Besides, this whole corps was kept in reserve by the Shah for a last moment execution, after the Marathas had exhausted themselves in the early stages of the combat. In addition to this light artillery the Shah kept in reserve a select force of six thousand Kazalbash of his personal body-guard, with fine young horses freshly imported from the north-west. The members of this Kazalbash corps regarded themselves as the Shah’s faithful slaves, receiving special treatment in food and dress. It is these two bodies of carefully reserved men which decided the issue.