Fall of the Mughal Empire v3.c41.s2.31

v3.c41.s2.31

Ismail Beg easily brushed aside the opposition of Rayaji Patil by means of his gun-fire and musketry action (11—15 Sep.) and arrived close to Agra. On the 16th, Lakhwā Dādā Lād, the governor of the fort, made a sortie with his Deccani horse and two battalions of sepoys led by Lesteneau, and gave battle to Ismail Beg Khan, while Rāyāji Patil fell on the Khan's rear and at first gained some success. But Lesteneau's troops had been exasperated by their salary remaining long unpaid and merely evasive replies being given by Mahadji Sindhia to their commandant's entreaty and warning. So, during this engagement they turned their muskets on their Maratha brethren in arms, and Ismail Beg, taking advantage of the confusion, made a vigorous advance. The Hindustani soldiers living in Agra opened the gates of that city to him and he captured it without resistance. The defeated Rāyāji galloped away towards the friendly base of Bharatpur; Lakhwā Dādā was cut off from his charge but contrived to re-enter the fort next day; Lesteneau joined Ismail Beg and was granted some jagirs in the north Agra district in lieu of pay. The fort of Agra, however, successfully defied the Muslims for nine months, under its exceptionally able and enterprising qiladar Lakhwā Dādā, till his master gained the upper hand again in June 1788.*