Fall of the Mughal Empire v1.c9.s1.20

v1.c9.s1.20

But nothing daunted, this old man of seventy-one personally took command of his army, marched out of his camp, and after fighting a severely contested battle near Bardwān (March 1747) defeated Jānoji and the entire Marātha army with heavy loss. Thereafter the Marāthas had not the heart to face him again in the field. They once more tried their old game of slipping past the Nawāb's flank and making a dash upon Murshidābād in his absence. But so quick was Alivardi's return behind them that they were prevented from doing any damage to the capital, though they sacked and burnt some villages near it as usual. So, the baffled raiders fled back to Medinipur, the Murshidābād and Bardwān districts were temporarily cleared of them, and at the approach of the rainy season the Nawāb returned to his capital. [Siyar, ii. 158.]