Fall of the Mughal Empire v2.c30.s3.25

v2.c30.s3.25

Here, under Kāmgar Khan's able guidance he followed the bold and original plan of sending his artillery and baggage back, pushing on through the unknown hills and jungles of south-eastern Bihār with a lightly equipped body of select horse, and surprising Murshidabad, which now lay utterly defenceless. The thrust penetrated, by way of Deoghar and Mānkar and across the Dāmodar river, to Bishnupur, where a Maratha force under Sheo Bhat Sāthé joined him. But the raiders hesitated, gave up their original objective, the Bengal capital, and lost precious days. The raid failed, for Caillaud, undergoing indescribable hardships, followed close on the Emperor's track, effected a junction with Nawab Jafar Ali Khan and a detachment from Calcutta at Mangalkot (20 miles north of Burdwan) and blocked the road to Murshidabad. On 7th April, there was a skirmish and some exchange of gun fire between the Emperor's vanguard which had crossed the Dāmodar and the full English force advanced to Belkhas. Kāmgar lost heart, set fire to his tents, and beat a hurried retreat with the Emperor by the same route, and arriving again before Patna, which was now totally denuded of English troops, attacked it from a distance. But on 28th April, Captain Knox by an incredibly rapid march came up from Bengal and relieved the city. The Emperor raised the siege, and fell back on Rāni Sarāi (30th April), where he was joined by M. Jean Law. But it was too late for his success. After lingering for two months more in South Bihar and being further disheartened by the defeat of his partisan Khādim Husain (the usurper of Purnia) by Knox at Hajipur (19 June), Shah Alam retired from the province and reached the bank of the Jamuna in August, 1760.