The retrograde movement made by the Sultán, from motives of policy or convenience, and the pursuit of the Mahrattas;— also the arrival of Boorhanuddín Sipahsalar, with his troops and the arrival of a convoy of provisions from Nuggur in charge of Budruzzumán Khán Foujdár; also the seizure of the district of Sanore, and the flight of Hukím Khán, and a description of the battles fought between the Infidels and Moslems in the same year 1199, Hijri.— A. D. 1784.

THE Sultán after the night attack made a night march, and the next morning pitched his camp in the Jungle where he remained the whole day. The next night he again marched to the junction of the river Bala with the river Tungbhudra, and there encamped.

It is not to be concealed here, that the cause of these night marches was this;— from the filth accumulated from the great numbers of horses and bullocks in camp, and from the carcases and stench of those which died, and the multitude of people in camp, flies were generated in such numbers, that they became a pest to the whole army, to such a degree that the soldiers at night even, could neither cook nor eat their victuals; the Sultán, therefore, gave orders that they should dissolve sugar and sweetmeats in water and sprinkle it before their tents, and this being done, when the flies settled upon this sugar and water, he marched off and left the ground. At this time Boorhanuddín Sipahsalar with his division of troops, arrived from the neighbourhood of Anooti, and Budruzzumán Khán with an immense convoy of provisions also arrived from the district of Nuggur, and was admitted to the honour of an audience. When, however, intelligence of these night marches reached the Mahrattas, they immediately fancied that they arose from fear of their mighty army, and that the Sultán was returning to his capital, and that he had no power any longer to withstand them;— they, therefore, with the whole of their force followed quickly and encamped at the distance of two fur­sungs in the rear of the victorious army, so near that the pickets and outposts of both armies were stationed at the distance of an arrow’s cast only from each other, and at this distance repelled the different attacks made by each other. The Sultán, therefore, having formed his plans, morning and evening had his Kushoons out in the plain, under pretence of exercise,* manœuvring about and firing from daylight in the morning to eight o’clock; and in the evening from five until it was dark;— and this was done continually. After manœuvring five or six days after this fashion, the Sultán one evening, leaving the baggage and followers of his army in the same place, gave orders to his Amírs, to make a night attack from different points in the mode following:— Mír Moinuddín with two Kushoons, five guns and the French regiment was ordered to attack the right flank of the enemy, and Boorhanuddín with two or three Kushoons and six guns marched towards the left wing of the enemy for the same purpose, while the Sultán himself with two Kushoons, the horse of his Paigah, and the Ahshám foot, advanced with a determination to attack the main body of the enemy.

The night was, however, without moonlight, and so excessively dark, that the troops with the greatest difficulty and labour made their way to the points of attack.* By the light of the false or earliest morning, however, Boorhanuddín, first among them all, attacked the troops of Hurri Punt and Rastia, and opened the gate of dismay and calamity upon them; Mír Moinuddín, embarrassed by his guns, which, owing to the deep mud of the roads could not be got on, left them behind, and with two light French guns marching quick fell upon the troops of Syfe Jung, (in some copies he is called Subkut Jung*) or, the right wing of the Nizám’s army, (the symbol of flight) which was entirely unsuspicious of such tricks of the night,* and caused the confusion of the day of judgment to fall among them.

At this time, the Sultán himself with the greatest rapidity moved on to attack the main body of the enemy. These attacks on all sides having com­pressed the Mahrattas in a small space, the chiefs of that army, who were bound to the service of the Sultán, keeping aloof from the action, the Moghul army was entirely overrun and plundered, and all their baggage and property trodden under the hoofs of the Sultán’s horse. For the rest, the chiefs of the Mahrattas mounting their horses fled to the Tope Khána, or park of artillery, which was about one fursung distant. The baggage of the army and the stores and wealth of the Oordoo Bazar of the Mahrattas, fell, therefore, into the possession of the servants of the Sultán, and the tents, camels, standards and horses with their head and heel ropes, &c. were all taken. The Sultán remained to rest and refresh his troops the whole day in the Mah­ratta camp; after mid-day, however, the troops of the Mahrattas assembled and advanced with their heaviest guns, about a fursung, and, taking posses­sion* of some high ground, placed them in bat­tery there, and opened their fire with such pre­cision, that they greatly distressed the Sultán’s army, and broke the arms and legs of many of his soldiers.