Fall of the Mughal Empire v2.c25.s6.10

v2.c25.s6.10

Then Ālā Jāt came, waited on the wazir, and supplied provisions. The Bhattis even made a night attack on the Delhi camp, slaying and wounding many men and carrying away much property. The sufferings of the miserable imperialists were aggravated by a great storm of hail and rain which burst upon their camp at 3 P. M. on 30th October and continued far into the night. The Emperor's residential tent fell down from the weight and he was buried under it. No servant was present to erect it; so he cut the canvas with his dagger and crawled out, crying out to his still buried sons, who shouted back to indicate exactly where they were. At last all the camp gathered round the tent, the Emperor and his sons were rescued and took shelter in a large waggon (rath), but, horrible to relate, men and women were mingled together! Then the wazir patched up some sort of peace and returned towards Delhi. At Bhawāna, the Emperor's tent caught fire, but he at last reached his capital on 22nd November 1758.