On the opposite side, Feroh-syur, in compliance with the Imperial custom, placed himself in the centre of his troops, seated upon a lofty elephant, having Abdollah-khan before him, who with many other Commanders, took post over against Zulficar-khan; and Khan-zeman and Aaly-asghar, with Chebil­ram-nagar, were opposed to Cocal-tash-khan. The engage­ment was commenced by Abdollah-khan, who, with his troops in good order, advanced first against the T8ranian Lords of the enemy, and then inclining towards the Imperial artillery, he, with an apparent incertitude in his motions, found means to push beyond it, and to come near the enemy’s centre, where Djhehandar-shah appeared. On the other hand, Hossëin-aaly-khan, supported by Fateh-aaly-khan, Commander of Feroh-syur’s artillery, and by Zin-eddin-ahmed-khan, son to Bahadyr-qhan the Rohilla, as well as by the two illustrious brothers, Mir Eshref and Mir Mushref, directed his attack against Zulficar-khan; and being vigorously received, his troops presently fell into confusion, and were slain in heaps; and his bravest officers, as well as his oldest soldiers, those men on whom he trusted so much, being mowed down in his presence, gamed away the capital of their lives, and covered the field of battle with their bodies. Hossëin-aaly-khan, seeing how his best troops had been used, closed at once with the custom of valiant men in Hindostan; and jumping down from his elephant, he engaged, hand to hand, and with a number of brave that followed him everywhere, he performed heroical actions; when, having received several wounds from sabre, musquet, and arrow, he fell speechless on the ground, and was trampled under foot. His brother, Abdollah-khan, had no luck. On his attacking the T8ranians, he was received by clouds of arrows, which threw his troops into confusion, and made them divide into several bodies, each of which was opposite, and contending with a body of ene­mies; and as he was exerting himself in the hottest part of the engagement, he was carried away by the crowd, without know­ing where he was, until he found himself amongst a body of about three hundred troopers, parted from the standard-bearing elephant, and at a distance from his several corps. It was at this very moment he saw himself singled out by a General, enemy, who proved to be the same Sëyd-abdol-ghaffar, who had received so shameful a defeat at Ilah-abad. He cried out who he was, and shot an arrow at Abdollah-khan; the latter was as quick as he, and lodged an arrow in his breast; and the General finding himself dangerously wounded, quitted the field, and retired at a distance. But Abdollah-khan was not the better for this action; he was again carried away by the crowds, without knowing where he was, and without having it in his power to guess what might be the consequence of so much confusion. Luckily for him, he was at so critical a moment joined by a body of his troops, with whom he gained an eminence, from whence, he no sooner described Djehandar-shah in the middle of his troops, than he marched up to him, opening his way with showers of arrows; and he availed himself so well of the dis­order into which the enemy was thrown, that he penetrated as far as the female elephants of the Seraglio. The Emperor, car­ried away by an elephant that became unruly, and, unable to range his troops in order, found himself in the middle of a num­ber of war elephants, which becoming furious, were engaging each other, and exhibiting a scene as dreadful as that of the last judgment. Laal Coär’s female elephant taking fright, had turned about and fled, followed by multitudes that sought to get out of the reach of the enemy’s arrows; and that dismayed multitude of men and elephants, falling upon two bodies of troops that yet stood their ground, confounded their ranks, and then bore them down. The Emperor, incapable to make a stand upon an elephant become ungovernable, was closely pursued by Abdollah-khan, whose troops were joining him by whole bodies; and this General, without giving the enemy time to recollect himself, was carrying every thing before him, in so much, that the Imperial troops, amongst which the music had already commenced to play, were now flying on all sides. Cocal-tash-khan, who with his corps made an effort to cover Djehander-shah, was encountered by Qhan-zeman, and Chebilram, who came out of a post they had chosen at the beginning of the action, drove Cocal-tash-khan’s troops, and wounded him in several places. And here was slain Reza-cooly-khan, Commander of the Imperial Artillery, as had already been Djani-khan and Moqhtar-khan. Meanwhile, Aazem-khan, brother to Cocal-tash-khan being wounded, came up to the Emperor’s elephant; and this Prince, finding that matters were now past remedy, went The Emperor is defeated, and flies for his life, whilst his Vezir, Zul­ficar-khan,
bravely stands his ground. down to Laal Coär, and taking her with him, he on the dusk of the evening, turned about towards Ecber-abad. Such was the state of things with the Emperor; but with Zulficar-khan, they bore a very different aspect. This General without being dis­mayed by the general discomfiture, had kept his footing without losing any ground, and he even intended to renew the action, as soon as he could bring, either the Emperor, or his son, Yezzeddin, to shew themselves at the head of his troops. But all his endeavours to find them out proved abortive; and several intelligent persons, who were prevailed by dint of money and promises to go on that errand, came back without even getting any intelligence about them. All his efforts failed; and the music of gladness and victory was already filling the air of the enemy’s army, whilst the officers of all ranks were running up to Feroh-syur with their congratulations and their Nuzurs. All this joy, however, did not remove the uneasiness he felt, on observing that Zulficar-khan, surrounded by a strong body of veterans, and by much artillery, did not move from the field of battle. Such a resolute countenance had something very imposing. He expressed his surprise in strong terms at what that General could mean by staying so late at night; and at last he sent him this message:— “He that pretended to the empire, has relinquished the throne and is fled—pray, have you any pretensions to it yourself, that you tarry so long after him? If you have, this is another matter; but if you have not, and you are only for an Emperor of the House of Aoreng-zib, what objections can you have to my being that Prince, instead of Muëzzeddin?” Such a message, and such a tone of voice, informed at once Zulficar-khan of what he wanted to know; and finding that things were past remedy, he marched off at the head of his troops in good order; and he had so respectable a countenance, that no one thought of dis­puting the ground with him. The Emperor, meanwhile, had passed the night at Ecber-abad, where he shaved his beard like a The Emperor is arrested and confined by the Vezir. Hindoo, changed his apparel for an humble one, and taking Laal Coär with him, he, in the latter part of the night, fled towards the capital, having about his person a number of people of all sorts personally attached to him. But instead of going to the citadel, he landed in the palace of the old Vezir, Assed-khan, who immediately seized and confined him; and hardly had he been secured, when Zulficar-khan himself arrived.

Abdollah-khan, on seeing the field clear of enemies, ordered strict searches to be made for his brother; and the latter was at last discovered stretched on the ground, speechless, and senseless. This lucky discovery was made by two of that valiant nobleman’s servants, one of whom remained by him, whilst the other went to give notice; and this piece of intelligence so overjoyed Abdollah-khan, that he took away all the jewels he actually wore, and presented them to the man. There is another account, which says, that on the servants discovering their master, they found him watched by two officers, at the head of a body of troops. These were Leshker-aaly-khan and Muhi-yär-khan, two men attached personally to Hossëin-aaly-khan. Still there is a third account, and this is in the memoirs of Hashem-aaly-khan-khasi, a nobleman of great distinction, who has wrote the History of the Timurian Emperors. He positively says, that Hossëin-aaly-khan having received several dangerous wounds, had fallen senseless on the ground, where he had been stripped stark naked; and it was in that condition that his servants had found him speechless, after a very laborious search. On receiv­ing some assistance, he recovered his senses, so far as to hear with pleasure of the victory of his party. Nevertheless, it was with some difficulty he was put in a Paleki, and conveyed to his brother, who on seeing him so unexpectedly, prostrated himself on the ground, and returned thanks to Providence for so signal a favour.

Zulficar-Khan, on landing at his father’s palace, disapproved of the seizure of the Emperor’s person. He wanted to bring him a second time in the field, and to try a second time the fortune of war; for as he had been so instrumental in raising Djehan­dar-shah, and in undoing Azim-ush-shan, father to Feroh-syur, he apprehended that nothing but what was inimical could be expected from the son, and at any rate he wanted to retire into Decan, a rich country, where he was absolute, and where he thought himself fully able to resist the new Emperor. But the father opposing his paternal authority to both these resolutions, and adding entreaties and prayers to all its weight, prevailed on the son to lay aside all thoughts of opposition, and to submit quietly to the new Prince: a fatal acquiescence, which so pru­dent a man would have never thought of, had he not been actu­ally under the pressure of a destiny that had decreed these very days for the last moments of Assed-khan’s prosperity, as well as for the epoch of the extinction of his family and the destruction of his beloved son. The old Vezir, without any certitude of being well received, and even with a moral certitude of his risk­ing his life as well as that of his son, took him by the hand; and trusting to the merits he had acquired in Aoreng-zib’s family, and to the high regard constantly shewn him by both that Prince and his successors, he went without any retinue to pay his respects to Feroh-syur, and to intercede in behalf of his son.