History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v4.c62.s12.16

v4.c62.s12.16

Next morning (21st Feb.) he returned with his entire army and artillery, and breached the gate of Shahpur with his cannon. Standing near the gate on his elephant, he kept encouraging his troops, who entered the village and looted it completely. Ikhlas Khan occupied the village, while a reserve under Dilir’s son stood near the field of crops. The Berad infantry, sheltered behind the parapet of the fort, hillocks and even boulders, plied their matchlocks with deadly effect on the Mughal troops densely crowded in the village. So heavy was his loss and so impossible any effective reply to the enemy’s fire, that Dilir abandoned the village at noon and ordered a retreat to Gogi. But this movement was soon turned into a disastrous rout; the Berads, so long hidden in the passes, rocky nooks and jungles, now charged the retreating Mughals from all sides. Dilir’s son escaped with his bare life. Vast numbers of the Mughals, especially the soldiers dispersed for plunder, were slain or wounded. The imperial cavalry galloped away in a panic, assailed in their backs by the fleet-footed Berads and piteously crying for mercy. The Mughal casualties mounted up to 1,700 men on that day.