Fall of the Mughal Empire v2.c22.s7.10

v2.c22.s7.10

The encampment of the invaders in the immediate north of the city made it easy not only for Najib’s Ruhelas but also for Shāhdil Khan and two other Afghan captains of Imād to go over to their invading fellow-clansmen. The Sindāgh risala (or Central Asian troopers numbering 12,000) whom Imād had disbanded in 1755 and the Delhi artillery division of cannoniers and musketeers recruited in Oudh and Baksar, 11,000 strong, who were still in open mutiny for their heavy arrears of pay, now sent to Najib, begging him to save them from unemployment and starvation by enlisting them in the Shah’s service. A contingent of Qasur Afghans, about 5,000 in number, led by Usmān Khan Khweshgi, had joined the invader on the way. Thus an Indian force of 25,000 men was added to the 30,000 troops of his own country that Abdali had brought with him.*