Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, or the Central and Western Rajput States of India v3.c42.s2.t1.150.5

v3.c42.s2.t1.150.5

If there was one master-mind that could have combined and wielded their resources for our overthrow, it was that of Zalim Singh alone. Whether the aspirations of his ambition, far too vast for its little field of action, soared to this height, or were checked by the trammels of nearly eighty winters, we can only conjecture. Once, and once only, the dubious oracle came forth. It was in the very crisis of operations, when three English divisions were gradually closing upon the grand Pindari horde, under Karim Khan, in the very heart of his dominions, and his troops, his stores, were all placed at our disposal, he heard that one of these divisions had insulted his town of Bara; then, the ideas which appeared to occupy him burst forth in the ejaculation, " that if twenty years could be taken from his life, Delhi and Deccan should be one "; and appeared to point to the hidden thoughts of a man whose tongue never spoke but in parables.