Fall of the Mughal Empire v1.c16.s5.2

v1.c16.s5.2

When the Maratha army approached the famous Jāt forts of Dig (16 Jan. 1754), Bharatpur and Kumbher, they were driven back by the fire of the artillery on the walls. One pitched battle was fought in the plain with heavy slaughter on both sides, after which Suraj Mal, overcome by the enemy's superior numbers, shut himself up in Kumbher. The Marathas sat down before it, but they had no siege guns, and merely plundered and occupied the country round. Raghunath Rao encamped at Pingaré (near Kumbher) on 20th January and removed to the plain before Kumbher on 28th February, where he continued to stay till 22nd May. Khandé Rāo Holkar was encamped at Hodal early in January, engaged in expelling the Jāt outposts in that district. He was now ordered by his father to march with his 4,000 horse and join in the siege of Kumbher, where he arrived after looting parts of Mewat on his way. Malhar, through his ally Imād-ul-mulk, begged the Emperor for the loan of siege-guns from the imperial arsenals in Delhi and Agra, but Ahmad Shah, tutored by his wazir, delayed compliance on the plea of lack of money to pay his artillerymen and replenish the munitions exhausted during the war with Safdar Jang.