History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v2.c24.62

v2.c24.62

As the Imperialists were very weak in boats, their immense superiority on land could be effectively used to close the river if only the fort and the army co-operated from the two banks. Saf Shikan Khan’s rapid march had left all his boats far behind; and now Dara’s superior flotilla, stationed between, prevented them from passing down the river to his entrenchments. The Khan, therefore, asked for some boats from the fort of Sehwan in order to cross over to the right bank and fight Dara on land. He further instructed the qiladar to sally out and seize a narrow pass which lay in front of Dara’s path, and also to direct the full broadside of the fort guns and muskets on Dara’s boats if they tried to slip down the river along the right bank close to the fort wall. But the qiladar, Muhammad Salih Tarkhan, could not rise to the height of the occasion: he feared to risk a battle on land with his small garrison without reinforcement from Saf Shikan Khan, and yet he durst not take the only step by which such reinforcement could have reached him. His few boats, he said, in crossing the river to Saf Shikan’s trenches would be cut off by Dara’s superior naval power. He further reported that as the river was shallow near the right bank, Dara’s boats would have to hug the left bank where Saf Shikhan’s guns would be easily able to overpower them.