Fall of the Mughal Empire v1.c10.s5.12

v1.c10.s5.12

The women of the wazir's harem and all the heavy baggage, treasure, and surplus stores and carts of this huge army were left in the small fort of Sarhind with a garrison of 1,000 horse and foot under a eunuch of the wazir, while the army advanced towards the Satlaj. The straight route between Sarhind and Lāhor crosses that river at Ludhiāna, but as the water-level was lower at the ford of Machhiwārā, 22 miles above Ludhiāna, the imperial chiefs decided to make a detour via Machhiwārā, thus leaving the customary and shorter road far to their left. And yet they did not send any detachment to hold Ludhiāna, nor even posted scouts there to watch for the enemy's appearance. Worse than that, the advancing army immediately lost touch with its depot at Sarhind, as it did not care to maintain a lengthening chain of outposts from that base to itself.