It is not to be omitted here, that when the French heard of the movements of the English army, and the plunder and ravage of the Payan­ghaut; from their extreme regard and friendship for the Sultán, they were very unwilling that any injury should be sustained by his army;— they, therefore, determined to send him a thousand men of their nation to assist him, that in all his measures they might be ready to serve under his orders;— some, however, of the Sultán’s servants, upon whose advice he placed the greatest reliance, with the view of manifesting their loyalty, represented that the throne and crown of that sun of the constel­lation of kingly power and greatness, (i. e. the Sultán) would rise and culminate without the coun­tenance or assistance of others, and that the con­quering Sultán did not in any way require the aid of French troops:*— that, moreover, it was proper to consider to whom these troops had ever been faithful, and what prince with their assistance had been supported and established?— By these specious arguments, they so effectually influenced the Sultán, that he rejected the offer of assistance from the French, and with his own troops only, marched to repel his powerful enemies, and the same night detached his Kuzzaks and rocketeers to surround and fire into the camp of the English army, while he himself proceeded to Bangalore. The Kuzzaks, therefore, remained all night attack­ing, or sniping and throwing rockets into the English camp, until the morning when the English Commander-in-chief, (Lord Cornwallis), without taking much notice of them, marched on and left a place full of fear and danger, and that day encamped at Hussoor, and the next day again marched to the north eastward, and encamped at the distance of one fursung from the town of Ban­galore.

The Sultán now, therefore, appointed Syud Humíd Sipahdár with his Kushoon to the charge of the second or lower fort, and Muhammad Khán Bukhshi before mentioned, and a certain Buhadúr Khán, who had previously been Foujdár of Kish­ingiri was appointed governor of the upper fort or citadel, and Shaikh Oonsur was sent with him.

The Sultán then marched on to the vicinity of Tunkri, where he determined to encamp, and directed his victorious standards to be planted there;— neither the Sultán’s tents nor those of any others, however, were yet pitched, most of the horse were scattered in search of forage, and only three or four Kushoons of the Jysh and Ussud Illahi infantry, and two or three thousand stable horse (household troops) remained with the Sultán, when Colonel Floy (Floyd) with the whole of the English regular cavalry advanced and charged into the Sul­tán’s camp, and all at once arrived in front of the Tope Khána or park of artillery. The artillery and the officers of the Kushoons, however, now immediately formed up and arrested their progress, and with their guns and muskets soon quelled their pride and insolence, and compelled them to retreat quickly.

It happened also that the colonel abovemen­tioned was struck with a musket ball in the throat and the wound depriving him of the power of speech,* the other officers commanding regiments, not being able to continue the engagement, turned their faces from the field of battle. The brave horse now pursued and attacked them, with the greatest vigour with sword and spear, and four hundred English troopers with their horses were taken prisoners;— the remainder spared by the sword, fled, rising and falling to the main body of the army. The next day Colonel Moorhouse* and General Meadows with a strong body of troops attacked the town (the Pettah of Banga­lore) and after the sacrifice of thousands of men on both sides, and after an attack of six hours, the town was with great gallantry taken, and so large a quantity of spoil, such as gold, jewels, &c. fell into the hands of the captors, that penury and want were thenceforward discharged or struck off from the muster roll of the English army. The colonel before mentioned (Moorhouse) was killed by wounds from musket balls during the storm. After this, the English collected the materials for their operations such as fascines, stockades, &c. round the town and commenced raising batteries, and for fourteen days they battered the fort con­tinually.

During this time, however, Kumr uddín Khán, agreeably to the Sultán’s orders, with his own division of troops, remained in the vicinity of Busoon Gori to render all the assistance he could to the besieged. When, however, the walls of the fort were battered down, the Sultán became very anxious and fearful for the result, and therefore gave orders that the fort should be evacuated; Kishn Rao accordingly was sent there and he brought away all the property of the state, such as the guns, the money, &c. with the store and other departments; and they were despatched to Seringaputtun, leaving only one Kushoon and two thousand irregular troops, (Ahshám) with their artillery in the fort. It was, therefore, determined by the advice of certain of the Sultán’s counsellors, that the defence of the fort, should be left to Mon­sieur Lally, and that Kumr uddín Khán and Syud Sáhib with a strong force should be appointed to make a demonstration against the English army, while the Sultán himself should march to arrest the progress of the Moghuls (the Nizám’s troops) and the Mahrattas. In pursuance of this arrange­ment the French officer (Lally) actually marched, and had arrived at the tank or reservoir* of the canal, when Kishn Rao, and some other traitors becoming acquainted with this plan gave a hint to the English Hurkaras, who were always about them habited as their own servants, and they immediately apprised the guards in the trenches that now the time had arrived to make an assault and take the fort. Kishn Rao after this left the fort, and at the bank of the tank above mentioned, meeting Monsieur Lally, took him by the hand and kept him in conversation about trifles, while the officers in the trenches as soon as they received the information before mentioned, immediately got their troops in readiness and a little after midnight, all at once made their attack. Syud Humíd the Sipahdár and the Killadárs (commanders of the garrison) according to the directions of the traitor Kishn Rao, had allowed their men who were all prepared to defend the fort, to go to their quarters and cook their victuals, and, therefore, except a few sentinels, no one remained at their posts, but notwithstanding their helpless condition they boldly advanced to repel their assailants, and drove them back from the chain of the gate. The Europeans, however, having been quickly supplied with the wine, (or rather spirituous liquor), which inspires courage, returned to the charge, and by the time the brave garrison had assembled, they had stormed and mounted the walls and towers. The Syud being without his men and seeing he could not maintain his ground, escaped and joined the army. The two Killadárs with forty or fifty of their men planting their feet manfully at the gate, were there slain, as was Shaíkh Boodhun Risaladár, after giving manifold proofs of his courage and fidelity. Shaíkh Oonsur Sipahdár and the Náíkwars (the Naírs or Hindu chiefs) and soldiers of the fort were taken prisoners. The fort, therefore, was captured and the garrison with their women and children, and their money and property of all kinds fell into the possession of the English soldiers, and the women were given up to violation.* Although at the time of the assault the Sultán mounted his horse, and with his troops stood ready to engage the enemy; still, he restrained his hand from shedding the blood of God’s people, and although the Khán above-mentioned (Kumruddín) and Syud Sáhib often requested orders to charge the English troops, the Sultán replied that the time would come by and by, for that the favorable opportunity had passed, and that they were on no account to allow their men to fall into disorder. The next morning the Sultán marched on, and placing the jungul or forest of Makri in his rear, encamped there. In short, after three or four days, the Commander-in-Chief of the English army appointed a garrison of two or three thousand native infantry and six hundred Europeans to the charge of the fort, and leaving there part of the stores of his army, marched by the route of Yuloonka to cover and take into his possession the supplies of provisions and cattle, which the Poligars of the north, such as the chiefs of Chuk Balapoor, Punganoor, Khut Komnere and Muddun Pulli had collected according to their engagements, and who with great gallantry had dis­possessed the Sultán’s officers some by fair, and some by foul means of the forts, towns and villages, which had been previously their hereditary posses­sions, and were now enjoying themselves in their success without fear or restraint. Although in the neighbourhood of the place above mentioned, Kumr uddín Khán with a large force had possession, or command of the roads, and laboured hard to obstruct and defeat the English, and that the Kuz­zaks also constantly hung on the rear of their army, and put to confusion and dispersed their followers, and cattle, plundering them of property to a great amount, and also, that the troops in general, in repelling their enemies used every exertion;— still, the days of conquest did not come to the Sultán’s aid, but hid themselves from his sight.