Fall of the Mughal Empire v1.c9.s4.3

v1.c9.s4.3

But the Nawāb was too old a general to act in heedless haste. He first searched the dense jungle for Mir Habib for some time; but no trace of the Marāthas having been found, he issued from the jungle, left a force to watch the pass leading out of it, and with 2,000 men made a forced march from Barā to Katak, riding all that night and half of the next day, suffering terribly from the heat of the May day sun along a treeless road. At the end of eighteen hours of continuous exertion, with his escort reduced to three hundred worn-out horsemen, the Nawāb arrived before Barābāti at noon (c. 17th May, 1749). No baggage or tent had been able to keep up with him. The garrison agreed to capitulate the next day.