Fall of the Mughal Empire v1.c12.s1.13

v1.c12.s1.13

Marching from Kālpi into Rājputānā, Khande Rāo was joined at Udaipur by the contingent of Durjan Sāl of Kotā (patron of Ummed Singh) and the Mewār forces. The allied army, thus swollen to vast numbers, crossed the Jaipur frontier and reached Rājmahal (ten miles north of Deoli cantonment and south of a bend in the Banās river) where Ishwari Singh’s general Nārāyan-dās confronted it. The rival armies encamped two miles apart. Meantime efforts at peace were made both from Delhi and Jaipur. Ishwari Singh’s counsellors and even his general Nārāyandās,—who had hastened alone from the front to the capital at the pacific appeal of the Udaipur minister,—urged him to avoid an engagement and try negotiations for peace, lest the Mahārānā and the Marāthas should be made enemies for ever by an armed conflict. But Ishwari Singh decided to hasten to his frontier and beat the invaders before the Mahārānā could come up and swell their number. He transferred the command of his advanced division to Haragovind Nātāni, a tradesman by caste but an exceptionally brave and able general, and himself arrived with the reserve one day’s march behind the fighting front.