History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v2.c21.21

v2.c21.21

∗ Kambu says, "These two inexpert generals, through faulty counsel, took post in a narrow swamp and uneven ground. Next morning when they marshalled their troops, a large body was packed in that narrow pass, one behind another, and some stood here and there on the sides, without order or method....Owing to the narrowness of the field and the pressure [of the enemy] from the two sides, the Imperialists found no space to manœuvre." (11b). Aqil Khan supports this statement and adds, "Jaswant drew up his troops on uneven ground, on the bank of the Narmada (!); having poured water he made 200 yards of ground near it muddy." (28, 30.) Murad's own description is, "Jaswant encamped on a plot of land which had ditches of water on all the four sides [ joined to ] swamps, and set up entrenchments round it." (Faiyaz, 469). Bernier's description of the battle-field is very inaccurate; the Persian histories do not speak of any "disputed passage" across the river, as the fight seems to have taken place more than a mile from the bank. I have visited the scene and found there not a single "rock in the bed of the river"; and the banks are not of "uncommon height," as is asserted by Bernier, (38-39).