Fall of the Mughal Empire v2.c27.s10.13

v2.c27.s10.13

Malhar Holkar first met the Bhāu about 18th June. He then allayed Suraj Mal's suspicion of treachery by taking personal oaths and giving solemn assurances, and conducted him to the Bhāu, who advanced two miles to welcome so valued an ally (on 30 June.) Arrived outside Agra (*c.* 14 July) with Malhar and Suraj Mal, the Bhāu inspected the Jamunā and was forced to abandon the plan to which he had clung so long for throwing a bridge of boats over the river and sending a strong detachment into the Doāb with orders to converge upon Aligarh. Early in that month some troops of Suraj Mal had crossed the river, probably by a boat or two, and attempted to restore the lost Jāt posts on the east bank facing Mathurā and Agra. But their number had only reached two thousand when the rising level of the rain-swollen Jamunā cut them off from their supports assembled at Mathurā. Not a single Maratha trooper could follow these Jāts to the assistance of Govind Ballāl.