Fall of the Mughal Empire v4.c56.s22.2

v4.c56.s22.2

There was not a single man of the Maratha race in the Sindhian infantry and artillery that fought General Lake at Laswari. It was entirely a battle between Hindustanis on both sides. Sindhia's battalions were formed exclusively by natives of Oudh and the Doab,—a very large proportion of them being Rajputs and Brahmans, the *Pandeys* of the Sepoy Mutiny, with some Pathans of Rohilkhand and the Doab. His artillery was manned by the same races, but the Muslims formed at least half of this arm, with a fair number of black Christians and some "poor white" gun-layers. The only soldiers of the Maratha race present at Laswari were some 1,200 to 1,300 Deccani cavalry under Gulāb Rai Kadam; but they made only a theatrical show by shouting and brandishing their swords from a safe distance and fled away before the British advance without striking one blow in support of their infantry brethren. Three French officers (mere gun-layers) were captured by the 29th Light Dragoons after this battle, and Skinner speaks of some Eurasian lads as serving in the same artillery. These Marātha warriors could save themselves only because they were mounted and left the field very early, abandoning their master's battalions to be butchered by the English.