t^6 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1S04. 



their artillery, 68 pieces of ord- 

 nance, and 37 tumbrels laden with 

 ammunition, in our possession : 24 

 tumbrels blew up during the action, 

 exclusive of which, many were lost 

 in the Jehna Nulla, and in the 

 Jumna. Two tumbrils, containing 

 treasure, were also taken on the field 

 of battle. The loss of the enemy 

 was estimated at 3,000 men, nearly 

 equal to threclourths of the whole 

 British army 1 



This celebrated action was fought 

 within sight of the minarets of the 

 city of Delhi, from which it is usu- 

 ally designated. During its conti- 

 nuance, it displayed to the greatest 

 advantage the judgment and gallan- 

 try of the commander in chief, and 

 the steadiness and valour of the Bri- 

 tish troops, Avho, on this glorious 

 occasion, were seventeen hours un- 

 der arms. 



Oa the following day, the whole 

 army encamped close to the Jumna 

 o])positc to the city' of Delhi. 

 On (ho 14th of September it began 

 to cross the river : that day, jM. 

 Bourqaien, who commanded the 

 enemy's forces in the late atlion, 

 and four other French ofticers, sur- 

 rendered themselver. prisoners to ge- 

 neral Lake; and on the IGth, the 

 commander in chief paid his first 

 Tisit to the unfortunate Shah Aulum, 

 in Delhi, to congratulate his majesty 

 on his release from the degrading 

 bondage in which he had been so 

 ong held by the French fadtion. — 

 Immediately after the battle of the 

 12th. that sovereign had seitt to the 

 commander in chief, to express his 

 earnest desire of placing his person 

 and authority under the protection 

 of the British g^ove-nment. and had 

 now directed his eldest son and heir 

 apparent, the prince Mirza Akbar 

 9ka]i, to candu^ geaeraJ Lake to 



his presence. The prince arrived at : 

 the, camp at half past three in the 

 afternoon, when the cavalcade was 

 formed, and proceeded to the city 

 of Delhi, where it arrived about 

 sun-set. The streets of the city 

 were crowded to such a degree, that 

 it was with difficulty the procession 

 could make its way to the palace ; 

 and even there fresh obstacles await- 

 ed the cavalcade, from the numbers 

 of people who thronged its various 

 courts, eager to witness the deliver- 

 ance of their sovereign, and to hail 

 with tr.insport the generous victors. 



At length the British chief was 

 ushered into the royal presence, and 

 found the unfortunate and venerabia 

 emperor, the descendant and repre* 

 sentative of the Tamcrlanrs, th» ' 

 Akbars, and the Aurungzobcs, op- 

 pressed by the accumulated calami- 

 ties of old age, degraded authority, 

 extreme poverty, and loss of sight I 

 His majesty was seated under a ca- 

 nopy, scanty and tattered ; all that 

 remained to him of his former state, 

 with every external appearance of 

 wretchedness and misery ! 



It was the immediate object of 

 general Lake, with united tender- 

 ness and rcspc(5t, to sooth and com- 

 fort the royal suifcrer ; to assure 

 him of the future protection of the 

 British government, which Avould 

 immediately employ itself in the for- 

 mation of a permanent arrangement, 

 for the future maintenance of the 

 dignity and comfort of his imperial 

 majesty, and of the royal family ; and 

 that the nobility and great otBcers 

 of state at his capital, (whose 

 fortunes had been destroyed by the- 

 \isurpation of Scindiah, and the ra- 

 pacity of the French adventurers,) 

 should be restored to their posses- 

 sions and revenues. 



It is impossible to describe the 



