Fall of the Mughal Empire v2.c28.s12.31

v2.c28.s12.31

When the Sikhs arrived near Barari ghat, Jawahir crossed over from the east bank to the west and interviewed their chiefs. He had to submit to every kind of insult in order to enlist these allies. He was not allowed to approach the place of conference on an elephant. In the assembly of their sardars, he was introduced by their Guru Ardas crying out, ‘Jawahir Singh, the son of Suraj Mal, has sought the shelter of the Khālsajiu and become a Sikh of Nānak. He is demanding [through you] redress for his father’s blood.” They also drove out the Jat Rajah’s *huqqa*-bearer with insult and abuse, because, among the Sikh sect, tobacco is an abomination, but the strongest wine, opium and *bhāng* are allowable. He bore all this in silence. According to the new plan of campaign, the Jat army took post on the east bank opposite Delhi, the Maratha army on the same bank, but to the north of the Jats, and the Sikhs on the west bank, north and west of the capital. The Sikh horsemen were to scour the country on the north and west and cut off provisions from that side. The besieged had only the two gates towards the south open, but these faced the Jat country, and the Jat fort of Ballabhgarh barred the path in that direction.