Fall of the Mughal Empire v2.c27.s14.29

v2.c27.s14.29

Ahmad Shah’s own troops, brought from Afghanistan and Persia and forming the backbone of his army, did not undergo any material change in their number during the three months intervening between the muster at Shāhdara and the battle at Pānipat, except for the addition of the newcomers under Hāji Atāi Khan (about 8,000.) The fluctuation was greatest among his Indo-Muslim allies, as it is definitely stated by Kāshiraj that Najib had 15,000 in the field (against 26,000 at the muster) and Shuja 3,000 (against 4,000.) Accepting this scale of shrinkage and allowing that no appreciable portion of the Durrāni regular troops was kept back to serve as baggage guard in the camp during the battle, we can make this fairly approximate calculation of the forces on the two sides actually engaged in the battle, counting each line of battle from its left:—