Fall of the Mughal Empire v1.c10.s4.23

v1.c10.s4.23

After this Abdāli could no longer think of conciliating Hayātullah. On 10th January his soldiers forded the Rāvi one by one and reached the Shālamār garden four miles east of the city. Next day they appeared in force on the plain of Shāh Balādil and the hermitage of Shāh Husain. The advanced posts of the defenders were two, the small fort of Hazrat Ishān held by Hayātullah’s pay-master and an entrenchment close to the hermitage of Shāh Balādil (in the Parvizābād suburb)* commanded by Mirzā Asmatullah and Lāchin Beg. These two divisions, totalling 16,000 men, now issued to the plain to meet the enemy. The Afghāns sent out only a thousand mounted musketeers, who galloped up to the Mughals, fired their pieces, and as quickly rode back beyond range. The battle raged in this manner till evening, neither side being able to make an advance from its position. About sunset, the Indian troops, regarding the fighting as over for the day, set out to return to their trenches in the careless disorder that usually marks their retirement, when the Afghān horsemen delivered a sudden attack, charging them at full speed and firing such sharp volleys from their muskets that the imperialists were completely taken by surprise and driven off the field in hopeless rout. The paymaster and other captains, without making any attempt to rally their men in the redoubt or the trenches, fled at once to the shelter of the walled city. Adina Beg alone stood outside the city during the first quarter of the night, firing his guns to keep the exultant Afghāns back from advancing nearer than the Hazrat Ishān. Then he came back to his master and reported the situation. Hayātullah found Lāhor untenable and fled away from the city at midnight,* and his officers and soldiers followed his example, each man only thinking how to save himself.