History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v3.c42.s9: §12. Expedition starts against Chatgaon.
History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v3.c42.s9
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§12. Expedition starts against Chatgaon.
v3.c42.s9.1
No time was, therefore, lost on the Mughal side. On 24th December, 1665, the expeditionary force, 6,500 strong, left Dacca under command of Buzurg Ummed Khan, a son of Shaista Khan.[*] The imperial fleet numbered 288 vessels of all kinds,—21 of them being gunboats or *ghurabs*, 157 fast-rowing *kosas*, and 96 *jalias*. The Feringis, with about 40 vessels of their own, acted as auxiliaries.
v3.c42.s9.2
The army and navy were concentrated at Noakhali. The plan of campaign was that the fleet under Ibn Husain should creep along the coast, while the army should march parallel to it, each supporting the other. Farhad Khan, who had won his laurels in the Assam war, led the vanguard, and advanced cutting the jungle along the sea-shore stage by stage and making a way.
v3.c42.s9.3
∗ Mughal conquest of Chatgaon, *Fathiyah, Continuation*, 158 *a*—175 *b* (MS. abruptly ends on 27 Jan. 1666), translated by me in *Studies in Mughal India*. A.N. 947-956; Phayre, 180 (scanty). No detail in Bernier or Manucci.
v3.c42.s9.4
Leaving Noakhali Farhad Khan reached the frontier outpost of Jagdia on 12th January, 1666, crossed the Feni river two days later, and entered the Arrakanese territory.
v3.c42.s9.5
The fleet entered the Kumaria creek only two marches short of Chatgaon, and landed a body of pioneers who began to cut the jungle *forward* in the direction of Chatgaon and *behind* towards the advancing army, which was also clearing a way in its front. The two divisions joined hands on the 21st. Buzurg Ummed Khan brought up the rear several miles behind.* Beyond this point the jungle was very dense and the road very bad, so that Farhad Khan's advance was extremely slow.