A few of the men, spared by the sword, were made prisoners; and those, with the arms and artillery taken, were presented to the Nawaub, who, ordering the heads of the slain to be cut off, and packed in twenty large baskets, sent them into the fort to frighten the garrison, with a message, directing them to give up the fort to his officers immediately, otherwise he would soon cut off their heads in the same manner. Considering this town of Paleh as a place of victory, or good fortune, he pitched his tents and displayed his victorious stan­dards there. The Prince, with the troops belong­ing to Monsieur Lalli, was appointed to the western side of the fort (of Trichinopoly); and, after the labour of two or three days, the materials for the bat­teries and the assault, such as ladders, fascines, and bundles of straw, to fill up the ditch, were collected.

Colonel Lickson, (Nixon), Shadi Khan, the Col­lector of the Revenue there, and Mr. Hall, however, were almost without resource, for want of troops, as they had not more than two or three hundred men with them; but to supply this deficiency, they gathered together all the people of the city, Hin­doo and Mussulman, took them into daily and monthly pay, and appointed the blacksmiths and goldsmiths to the duties of the artillery, and placed them in great numbers, for show, in the towers and bastions. The Poligar of Turwur Paleh, also, with two hundred foot, having strengthened the gates of the fort, remained in readiness to defend them.

When the Nawaub had obtained the materials for the siege, and assault, by the road of Churgul Paleh, and had piled them up in heaps near the gate; and the Prince, also, from the Waroor Paleh side, had collected and piled up materials to a great amount, near the Durgah or tomb, of Nuthur Wulli,* Surmusti Kinaani, and, had resolved at night to attempt the capture of the fort; letters to the presence unexpectedly arrived, from Meer Alí Ruza Khan, and other officers, stating, that General Coote, with a well appointed force, had left Koda­loor, (Cuddalore), and was marching to Mahmood Bundur, (Porto Novo), and that, if the Nawaub would march that way with his valiant army, he might soon and easily do away with his enemies. The Nawaub, on hearing this, decamped without a moment’s delay, and made a forced march with the whole of his army and artillery; and the Prince, after setting fire to the materials for forming the batteries, followed as quickly as he was able.

When the General, (Coote), left his encampment and his advanced guard, which, in the technical language of the English, is called picquet,* had arrived in the neighbourhood of Bagoor, Sidi Hillal, the Bukhshi, charged that body with his cavalry, and, they actively employing their bows, spears, and swords, a severe action followed; and, on both sides, many of the bravest men were slain. Fate decided, also, that the Bukhshi, Sidi Hillal, should be sent to Paradise, by a shot from a musket and a bayonet wound. On the same day, Lal Khan the Kayim Khani, deviated from the road of honour, and followed the path of treachery and ingratitude; that is to say, he deserted with his Risala of horse, and joined the General’s army. General Coote marched straight from this place to Mahmood Bun­dur, and that day encamped there. At night, he made an attack on Selimbur, (commonly called Chil­lambrum.) The Killadár, or officer commanding in that fort, whose name was Yousuf Khan, was, how­ever, a brave soldier, and, with three hundred men, defended the fort gallantly; and, by a continual shower of musket balls, rockets and shells, he so effectually beat off the assailants, that between two and three hundred of the English army lost their lives, without any advantage gained. The General, there­fore, submitting to the exigencies of the time, returned to Mahmood Bundur, without effecting his purpose; and scarcely had he returned when, behold! the Nawaub arrived, treading on his heels, and took possession of the head of the route, shut­ting up on all sides the paths of safety.* To that end, also, he posted his guns on the sand hills, which lie scattered on the sea shore, like little mountains, and gave orders to open their fire. The General, meanwhile, in order to ascertain the Nawaub’s plans, ranged his troops and guns in lines on the beach, placing the whole of his followers and baggage near the waves of the sea; and, keeping the eye of hope on what the agents of fate might bring forth from the womb of time, waited for opportunities to commence the action. The Nawaub, also, under cover of the sand hills, sat in his golden chair, like the world-conquering sun, alone, (without an equal,) and closely watched the movements, of both armies. Meer Alí Ruza Khan was appointed to act on the rear of the English army, and the Prince and Mon­sieur Lalli, with a very large body of troops, were stationed to block up their retreat or passage. The Risalas or regiments of the gallant Commandant, Syud Humeed, Shaikh Oonsur, Shaikh Omr, &c. formed the advanced guard, and now received strict orders to attack and destroy their enemies. The matchlock and artillery men, without pity,* by their fire, burned the heads and breasts of those who were advancing, or taking up their ground. The rocketeers, according to the orders they had received, each man taking post behind the Kewra (Spikenard) trees, of which many grew in the neighbourhood, fired their rockets among the fol­lowers and baggage of the English; and the poor people, frightened, were thrown into the utmost confusion. The flames of war thus blazed high, until mid-day, and on every side lay heaps of dead.

The General had borne, with much patience, the loss of a great many of his soldiers and followers, when two* ships arrived from Kodaloor, and anchored opposite his army. He now therefore arose, forthwith, and, with his troops formed in excellent order, marched straight to the spot where the Nawaub himself had taken his station; and, notwith­standing the horse and foot, and the Risalas of regular infantry, strove to impede, and arrest his advance, they could not withstand the vigour of his charge, but fled before him, and, by the constant discharge of English shot, most of their bravest men were killed and wounded. On becoming acquainted with the intrepidity of his enemies, and the useless destruction of God’s creatures being contrary to his principles, the Nawaub gave orders that the guns should be withdrawn to the rear, and that the troops should occupy the plain, in as wide or open an order as possible, and they anxious to preserve their fame, did as they were ordered. At this moment Meer Alí Ruza Khan was galloping, at the head of his cavalry, along the beach, intending by an attack on the troops and followers of the English army to throw them into confusion, when, of a sudden, a shot from a can­non on board of one of the ships struck him and broke the arm of his valour, and threw him off his horse. His astonished attendants, with cries of grief and consternation, assembled round their master, and, placing him in a Palkee, carried him to the presence. The Nawaub, on seeing his con­dition, was struck with grief and compassion; but, in respect to the exigencies of the time, he bore his loss with patience and constancy, and did not even bend his eyebrow at the sight, but lifting up the curtain of the Palkee, with his own hand, he saw that the eagle of his (Alí Ruza’s) soul, at one flight,* had winged its way to the gardens of Para­dise. They, therefore, immediately put him into a coffin,* and sent it off to Gurum Koonda. The whole of the troops of Meer Alí Ruza, his treasure and valuables, horses and elephants, according to the inven­tories, were handed over by the Nawaub to the Prince Tippoo, (Walukudr), who was his own sister’s son. Kumr-ud-dín Khan, the son of Meer Alí Ruza Khan, who had arrived at years of discretion, and, although the son of a lady* of his Hurum, was a very worthy young man, and endowed with the best qualities of an officer, was sent for to the presence; and Hydur, passing his hand over his head, presented him with a dress of mourning, and renewed to him the honours and distinctions of his father, as kettle-drums, elephants, the umari, &c. and that he might be well educated, or brought up, put his hand into the hand of the Prince.