helplessly on the top. The Mughals began to fall back by the way they had come, and even reinforcements, tardily sent by Kam Bakhsh and Asad Khan, failed to restore the battle. The narrow crest and side of Lal Tikri were so much encumbered with dead horses, elephants and men that these fresh troops could not reach the spot; they only added to the crowd and confusion on the hillside. The position had at last to be abandoned after heavy losses. The Emperor disapproved of the plan of making another attempt on Lal Tikri, and ordered his generals to attack Wagingera from some other side. That day, while Chin Qalich and Muhammad Amin were riding out to select suitable places for trenching, a cannon ball from the fort killed the horses of both, but the riders were unhurt. The Mughal trenches started from a spot between Lal Tikri and the hillock opposite Talwargera, while an outpost was established under Muhammad Amin Khan between Lal Tikri and these trenches, to guard against enemy attacks from that hill. The hillock facing Talwargera1 was occupied by Kam Bakhsh's troops and another mound near by was held by Baqar Khan, both being subjected to daily attacks of the enemy, but checking their advance and thus safeguarding the siege trenches. The Mughals now seemed to be fairly on the road to success. VIII.-Arrival of Marathas. But a new enemy now appeared to dash down their hopes and nullify their efforts. On Sth March a Maratha force of five to six thousand horse under Dhana Jadav and Hindu Rao (brother of Santa Ghorpare) arrived near the fort to support their Berad allies, because the families of many Maratha generals had taken refuge there while Aurangzib had been capturing their own strongholds in Maharashtra. The hillock occupied "for a time" by Kam Bakhsh's men is called in M.A. "the conquered hillock," which Khafi Khan takes to mean Lal Tikri. But we know that the Mughals were dislodged from this Lal Tikri the very day they sur prised it, and also that it was in Berad possession when Nusrat Jang arrived there later. So, I take it that Talwargera, the hillock opposite the peth, is meant here. The first task of the Marathas was to remove these families safely from this fort, whose fall they believed to be certain, as not even the most powerful forts of Shivaji had been able to withstand Aurangzib's assault. [M. 4. 500.] While the main body of the new comers kept the imperialists in play by a noisy feint against the siege lines in front of the fort, assisted by a heavy fire from the walls, another body of 2,000 picked troopers brought their women and children out by the back-door of Wagingera, mounted them on swift mares, and escaped, their rear being guarded by a body of infantry that sallied out of the fort. Pidia had promised the Marathas a daily subsidy of several thousand rupees as long as they would assist in the defence of his capital but they advised him to make terms with the Emperor, as resistance to him was vain. The Berad chief, however, continued to subsidise and feed them, and they halted in the neighbourhood, and made frequent attacks on the Mughals. Though no decisive action took place and the Marathas retired from the field every evening, the imperialists suffered much loss and their hearts were shaken. The Mughal army itself was now thrown into a state of siege. Its activities ceased and it was confined to its own lines. Though a strong wall had been raised round the imperial camp, the enemy used to make sorties every night and fire rockets and muskets into the camp, thus reducing the men there to extreme distress, so that no one could step outside. Grain and fodder became extremely scarce in the camp. The Emperor censured his generals, but it had no effect. They were distracted on seeing the enemy's large number and their own dangerous situation." [Dil. ii. 1506.] IX.-False Peace Proposals by Pidia Nayak. Pidia, as advised by his Maratha allies and also following his old policy, made proposals of submission to the Emperor. Aurangzib appeared to welcome these negotiations, but his real object was to gain time and call up heavy reinforcements from far and near for a supreme effort. Abdul Ghani, a glib-tongued lying Kashmiri pedlar, who used to hawk his wares in the camp and secretly in the fort too, one day brought to Hedayet-kesh (the chief of the imperial Intelligence Department) a letter from Pidia proposing peace, and told a story of his having gone near the fort wall to say hist evening prayer when some Berads had suddenly seized him and taken him inside, where their chieftain had entrusted him with the letter. Aurangzib failed to detect the enemy's trick and the Kashmiri's worthless character; he gave a favourable reply to the letter and nominated his son Kam Bakhsh as mediator in the negotiations, so that in the official proclamations and histories the credit for gaining Wagingera might be recorded in that prince's name. Pidia next sent his brother Som Singh to the Mughal camp, offering to give up the fort and asking that the zamindari, the headship of the clan, and a mansab might be granted to his brother. Muhtasam Khan, an officer then living in the camp without employment and a debtor to the Kashmiri, was requested by Pidia to be sent in to take delivery of Wagingera. He was given a mansab by the Emperor and was admitted into the fort with some men, while Som Singh stayed in the camp and spread the tale that Pidia had turned mad and fled with the Marathas. The Kashmiri next brought a message from the Berad chief's mother repeating this story and begging that Som Singh might now be allowed to return and undertake the management of his estate, while the fort would be vacated in seven days. The Emperor sent Som Singh back with a mansab, a robe of honour and an elephant for himself and some jewels for his mother. And Abdul Ghani, the great maker of this glorious treaty, was created a commander of 300 horse! "The fire from the trenches ceased, and the generals were recalled from their posts to the Emperor's camp." [M. A. 502.] And then the bubble burst. The whole thing was a fraud. Pidia was alive and sane and still within the fort; he refused to surrender it and renewed his attacks. The Emperor almost went mad with rage and shame. X-Nusrat Jang's Vigorous Operations. Meanwhile he had summoned his ablest generals from all sides,-Nusrat Jang (the captor of Jinji and Raigarh), Daud Khan Pani (the wild Afghan fighter) and many brave qiladars and faujdars with their choicest troops. These arrived about the middle of April. The day after his arrival Nusrat Jang rode out in full force to reconnoitre the fort,-Dalpat Rao's Bundelas forming his van and Ram Singh Hada's clansmen guarding his rear. After viewing the gate of Wagingera, he went to the side where two mourds were held by the imperialists, and galloped up to the hillock of Lal Tikri from which the Mughals had been dislodged in the early days of the siege. The Berads in a large body offered him battle, firing at him from behind the boulders. Nusrat Jang charged them, climbed the hill, and drove out the enemy, who ran into the village of Talwargera at its foot, and began to ply their muskets from behind its mud wall. Many Rajputs fell in the attack on Lal Tikri and outside the village. Rao Dalpat on his elephant came to the van. and, with the blind impetuosity of a true Rajput, wanted to storm the village, though it was walled round and held by such good shots. But Nusrat Jang turned away the hot-headed Bundela to a neighbouring hillock which was still in the enemy's hands. Here, too, many Rajputs, with only sword and spear, blindly advanced to the very edge of the fort ditch, only to be shot down by the garrison. Fifty Rajputs were slain and more. than a hundred wounded in this part of the field; their loss in horses also was very great. "Most of the Rajputs now turned aside to pick up their dead and wounded brethren, and Dalpat was left with a very slender force, but he bravely went to the right wing of the Khan where the fighting was then hottest. The enemy fled from the second mound too and hid in the village of Dhedpura. On this day twenty-one bullets and one rocket hit Dalpat Rao's elephant. The historian Bhimsen, sitting behind him on the same elephant, was struck by some 12. Considered a letter, dated the 21st November 1923, from Professor J. N. Samaddar, asking for the use of the blocks and permission to reproduce certain plates published in the Society's Journal. Resolved that this be granted, subject to the concurrence of the author whose article the plates were used to illustrate and on payment by Professor Samaddar of a royalty equal to 5 per cent. of the cost of the blocks. 13. Considered a letter, dated the 15th September 1923, from the Superintendent of Archæology, Jammu and Kashmir, proposing an exchange of publications with the Society. Resolved that the proposal be accepted. 14. Considered a letter, dated the 24th October 1923, from the Director of the French School of the Far East, Hanoi, proposing an exchange of publications with the Society, beginning with the year 1920. Resolved that the proposal be accepted. 15. Resolved that Dr. Sten Konow, an Honorary Member of the Society, be supplied with a complete set of the Society's Journal free of cost. 16. Considered a letter, dated the 28th August 1923, from the Honorary Secretary, the Peace Memorial Association, Anantpur, asking that his Association may be supplied with the Society's publications free of cost. Resolved that his request cannot be complied with. 17. Resolved that a quarterly meeting of the Society be held in December 1923, at which Principal D. N. Sen will read a paper on "Nirvana," and another in March 1924, at which Professor J. N. Sarkar will read a paper on " Shivaji." Resolved further that, if convenient to the President, the Annual General Meeting of the Society be held in March 1924. 18. Considered the question of reproducing, for publication in the Society's Journal, a map showing the residences, etc., along the river bank at Patna in the year 1812. Resolved that the map be reproduced, provided that the cost does not exceed Rs. 450, E. HORNE, Honorary General Secretary. |