The Army of the Indian Moghuls: Its Organization and Administration c24.8

c24.8

Throughout the day of the 13th, the battle was chiefly one of artillery. The brunt of the fighting on ʿAbdullah Khān’s side was borne by his brother, Najm-ud-dīn ʿAlī Khān, who commanded his vanguard. Originally the Sayyads had intended to rely on a general onset. But Rājah Muḥkam Singh, who had deserted from the imperialists, dissuaded them, pointing out that to charge down on such a powerful artillery as the other side possessed, would be to expose themselves to destruction. Their own small supply of guns ought, he said, to be entrenched in a good position on the edge of some ravine, and there they could await the favour of events. Although Muḥkam Singh had acquired in the Dakhin the highest reputation as a soldier, his advice was not adopted. The Sayyads’ artillery was placed on a high mound, under the shelter of some trees, near a deserted village, and it tried to reply to the other side’s fire to the extent of its ability. In the field, the usual scattered fighting, charging and counter-charging, went on all day, and at one time it looked as if the imperialists would give way. But Khān Daurān, Sayyad Nuṣrat Yār Khān, Sābit Khān, Dost ʿAlī Khān, Sayyad Ḥāmid Khān and Asad ʿAlī Khān by redoubled exertions prevented a catastrophe. In the end, some of the Sayyads’ field pieces were taken, and they were ejected from their sheltered position among the trees. Najm-ud-dīn ʿAlī Khān was wounded by an arrow near the eye¹, and a ball from a swivel-gun struck him on the knee. Among the chiefs who lost their lives were Shekh Ṣibghatullah of Lakhnau, three sons, and seventy-five of his men, ʿAbd-ul-Qādir Khān, Thathawī, (nephew of Qāẓī Mīr, Bahādur Shāhī), ʿAbd-ul-Ghanī Khān (son of ʿAbd-ur-Raḥīm Khān, ʿĀlamgīrī), Ghulām Muḥi-ud-dīn Khān, and the son of Shujāʿ Khān, Palwalī. Many soldiers also were slain.