History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v2.c27.5

v2.c27.5

At Mairta the pursuers were six days behind; but the rumour of their coming preceded them everywhere, and at every halting place robbed the unhappy Prince and his followers of their sorely needed rest and lent wings to their flight. Covering thirty miles or even more a day, they fled southwards to Guzerat by way of Pipar (16th March) and Bargaon, and on the 29th reached a place 48 miles north of Ahmadabad, hoping to find a refuge in that city. Their misery was extreme. The baggage and tents had been abandoned in the wild rush to escape from the battle-field, and now all along the route various necessary articles and even treasure had to be sacrificed for want of porters. "The heat was intolerable, the dust suffocating," and the path a sandy waste. Bands of Kulis, a tribe of professional robbers, followed the fugitives day and night, pillaging and slaying stragglers. Horses, camels, and oxen perished from the heat and overwork. A French physician retracing Dara's path a few days later, noticed too often by the roadside the sickening "sight of dead men, elephants, oxen, horses, and camels; the wrecks of poor Dara's army."*