Fall of the Mughal Empire v2.c27.s17.4

v2.c27.s17.4

Marathas had remained unchecked and done great damage to the Afghans by cutting off their stragglers, grazing cattle and horses, and grain supplies. But now the Shah arranged for the strictest watch not only on his own camp, but also around that of the enemy. Every night a body of 5,000 Durrānī horse advanced as near as they could in safety towards the enemy's camp, and there they remained all the night, keeping watch against surprise. Two other bodies of his horse made half circles round the Maratha encampment, one to the right and the other to the left. These night-patrols, each at least 5,000 strong, mounted on powerful Turki horses and commanded by practised cavalry leaders like Shah Pasand Khan and Jahān Khan, cut off every provision convoy that attempted to steal into the Bhāu's camp and every party of camp-followers that issued from Pānipat under cover of the darkness to gather firewood and fodder in the neighbouring woods. The southward road to Delhi was the first to be closed by reason of the Afghan army sitting astride it. A detour through the jungles south-west of Pānipat and north-west of Delhi was rendered all but impossible by the hostile Jat villagers and still more vindictive Baluch landlords occupying that tract. In the rear of the Bhāu's position, Kunjpurā was recovered by Dilir Khan (a son of Ināyet Khan Ruhela) from its small isolated Maratha garrison, and the grain collected there for despatch to Pānipat was seized by him. Only from the north-west did provisions reach the Bhāu once or twice from the dominions of Ālā Singh Jat of Patiālā; but these had to be paid for in hard cash by the Bhāu, as the Marathas had no vassal or revenue collector of their own in that region. This loss of communication with his base quickly impaired the Bhāu's military strength in addition to reducing his men and horses by starvation. The profuse firing, both in the actual fight and in the protective random cannonade, soon exhausted his munition stock, and as early as 15th November he was in urgent need of manufacturing 400 maunds of powder and 100 maunds of shot, and wrote to Govind Ballāl for every ounce of ready-made munition he could send immediately. These were to have come via Delhi, but that path was shortly afterwards closed. [Raj. i. 268. SPD. xxix. 27, camels for Marwar.]