108 W. Irvine — The Bangash Naw&bs of Furriiklidhdd. [No. 2, 



upon. He brought the Sayyad to the Nawab, who gave him a rich present 

 and sent him off to Almorah with the letter. Before the Sayyad reached 

 that place, a wakil from the Wazir had arrived by way of the Mahdi jangal. 

 The Wazir's message was, that as his enemies had sought shelter at 

 the foot of the hills, it would only be consistent with friendship to cut off 

 all supplies of grain from the fugitives. In return for this favour, the 

 Rajah would be allowed to take possession of all the Rohela territory. 

 When the Sayyad got to Almorah and delivered the letter and the rare 

 presents, the Rajah gave the Wazir's wakil his dismissal, saying it was in- 

 human not to feed those who took refuge with you. He ordered his 

 managers to direct the villagers near the Nawab's entrenchment to carry 

 loads of grain on their heads to the camp. He gave the Sayyad an answer 

 to the letter and sent him back. The Sayyad had not returned before 

 several thousand hillmen appeared in the camp with head-loads of grain? 

 which they at once offered for sale. The men in camp, who were suffer- 

 ing all the pangs of starvation, looking on the arrival of this grain, which 

 to them was " like sweetmeats without milk," as a special mark of the 

 divine grace, bought each according to his need, and having made a prostra- 

 tion of thanksgiving, proceeded to cook and eat. After this the Sayyad 

 returned with a gracious answer, the contents of which were not communi- 

 cated to any one but the chief personages. 



When the Wazir had crossed the river Ganges, he despatched Mulhar 

 Rao and his troops, giving them strict injunctions to follow up the enemy. 

 But the Mahratta leaders, true to their agreement, made excuses for delay, 

 saying to the Wazir that, as Tantia-Gangadhar and the Mughals with a large 

 force were already in pursuit of the Afghans, it would be better to wait 

 and see first what direction the enemy took. When trusty reports were 

 received, a forced march could be made. Soon after, it was reported that 

 Nawab Ahmad Khan and the Rohelas had gone to the foot of the hills. 

 The Mahrattas made forced marches, till they reached within three Jcos 

 from the hills occupied by the fugitives. At that distance they encamped, 

 and the Wazir pitched his tents near the village of Chaukya.* Every day 

 the Wazir, keeping to the rear himself, sent the Mahrattas forward to 

 fight. At sunset they all returned to their camp. After having been delayed 

 some time on the road, the Wazir's artillery arrived, while these daily contests 

 still continued. Next day at sunrise, he mounted his elephant and brought up 

 his guns opposite Ahmad Khan's battery. The firing, however, was so high 

 that all the shot passed quite over the battery attacked and fell beyond the 



* This name I have not traced. Hamilton (p. 110) says the Afghans went to 

 " a short distance ahove Lall Dong." — The life of H. E. K. (p. 42) says, the encamp- 

 ment was at Chilkya, which is about 22 miles north-cast of Kashipur. 



