Fall of the Mughal Empire v1.c14.s2.24

v1.c14.s2.24

Then the Persian contingent, which was the backbone of the wazir’s army, lost heart, “their feet shook and they thought defeat certain.” (*Siyar*, iii. 33.) The van fell into utter confusion and broke up into a disorderly mass of soldiers elephants and driverless carts, which obstructed the ground between the centre and the vanguard. The wazir ordered up reinforcements from the rear, but only three hundred horse, under Muhammad Ali Khan and Sayyid Nurul Hasan Bilgrami could force their way through the crowd to the fighting line. This handful of men could not restore confidence to their vanguard. A high wind with dust storm then arose and aggravated the confusion. (*G-i-R*, 38.) Numbers of the wazir’s men began to leave the field.