Fall of the Mughal Empire v2.c27.s23.4

v2.c27.s23.4

Half a mile from the front a fair-coloured sharp-nosed deep-eyed youth, with a tall robust frame, every muscle of which was developed by regular daily exercise,—was seen limping with the help of a short spear. He wore very costly pearls in his ears and round his neck, together with a highly ornamented vest. Throughout that afternoon he had been seeking death, but death seemed to avoid him. Three horses had fallen under him during the battle; the first two were powerful chargers, but the third time only a sorry country mare was left for him which could not carry him far. He had received a spear wound and a musket-shot in his thigh, the latter of which had thrown him down. As he was walking over the field like a man in a dream, utterly worn out by the last two months' anxiety and the wreck of all his hopes, a knot of five Durrāni horsemen, lured by his splendid dress and rich jewels, surrounded him and cried out to him to surrender and save his life. But it was not his life that he was seeking to save, and he gave them no reply. The Afghan plunderers then attacked him. The wounded lion turned at bay and struck three or four of his assailants with his spear before he was killed and his head cut off and carried away by his slayers. Thus perished Sadāshiv Rāo Bhāu on the grave of his reputation and of the imperialistic dreams of his race. The historian's memory goes forward to the day 38 years later, when under a dark gateway of Seringapatam another heroic Indian prince, after the wreck of his army and cause, came to his end in resisting an alien spoiler's hand on his person.