A G I 



A G 1 



Toodpour, Rantampour, loinagur, Banfwaleli, Nagore, anj 

 Bickaneer. Tlic capital of tliis fubah, of the fame name, 

 is fituated in a plcafant valley, and on a'll fides hiiTouiuled by 

 mountains. Its cireumference is lix miles, and it is guarded 

 by walls, towers, and a (Irong fortrefs ; 170 miles well-fouth- 

 wcil from Agra, and 178 miles weil from Delhi. N. lat. 

 z6^ 24'. E. long. 75^ 20'. 



AGIMYTHA, a town of Afia in India, on the other 

 fide the Ganges. According to I'tolcmy, it was fituated 

 in long. 170" 40'. and lat. 18"^ 40'. 



AGINCOURT, in Geography ami Hijlory, a village of 

 the French Netherlands, fituated in the county of St. Pol, 

 ex-department of the Straits of Calais ; N. lat. 50° 35' and 

 Y.. long. 2° 10' ; remarkable for a glorious victory which 

 the Englifl\, commanded by king Henry V. obtained over 

 the French, Ott. 25th, in 1415. The army of Henrj- was 

 reduced by ficknefs and various accidents to 10,000 men ; 

 and the French had collected a force confifting of 100,000, 

 or, as fome fav, of 140,000 men, to intercept the march of 

 the Engliih from Harfleur towards Calais. The king had 

 recourfe to all the means in his power for encouraging the 

 progrefs of his fmall army, amidft the difficulties and incon- 

 veniences of their route ; and on the evening of Ottober 24, 

 they anived at Agincourt, within fight of the French, and 

 prepared for a battle, which it was impoffible to avoid. 

 Whilil the Engliih foldiers were exhorting one another to 

 fight bravely in the approaching aftion, the king overhear- 

 ing fome of his nobles expreifing a wifii, that the many 

 brave men who were idle in England were prefent to affill 

 them, exclaimed — " No ! I would not have one man more ; 

 if we are defeated, we are too many ; if it fliall pleafe 

 God to give us the viflory, as I trull he will, the fmaller 

 our number, the greater our glory." Henry, with the ad- 

 vantage of moon-light, reconnoitered the gro\md, and pitched 

 upon a field of battle, admirably adapted for preferving a 

 fniall army from being fuiTounded by a great one. It was 

 a gentle declivity, from the village of Agincourt, of fuffi- 

 cient extent for his fmall army, defended on each fide by 

 hedges, trees, and brufli-wood. Having determined upon 

 the place of action, the king and his army betook thcm- 

 fejves to reft ; except thofe who, confidering this as the lall 

 iiight of their lives, fpent it in devotion. The French, ex- 

 ulting in their numbers, confident of victory, and fupplied 

 with abundance of provifions, fpent the night in riotous 

 feftivity, and in forming fchemes for the difpofal of their 

 prifoners and booty. It was, in general, refolved to put all 

 the Englifli to the fword, except the king and the chief 

 nobility, who were to be madeprifoners for the fake of their 

 ranfom. On the next morning the hoftile armies were ranged 

 in order of battle ; each of them fonning three lines, with 

 bodies of cavalry on each wing. The conftable d'Albert, 

 who commanded the French army, loil tlie advantage of his 

 fuperior number by drawing up his troops in a narrow plain, 

 between two woods ; and this was obferved to be the chief 

 caufe of all the difafters that followed. The king of Eng- 

 land employed various arts to fupply his defect of numbers. 

 His firrt line confifted wholly of archers, four in file ; each 

 of whom, befides his bow and arrows, had a battle-axe, a 

 fword, and a ftake pointed with iron at both ends, which he 

 fixed before him in the ground, with the point inclining 

 outwards, to proteft him from the cavalry. This was a 

 new invention, and had a happy effeft. He difmified all his 

 prifoners on their word of honour to furrender themfclves 

 at Calais, if he gained the viClory ; and lodged all his bag- 

 gage in the village of Agincourt, in his rear, under a flen- 

 der guard. The firll line was commanded by Edward duke 

 of York ; the fecond by the king himfelf ; and tlie third 

 by the duke of Exeter, the king's urxle. When the lines 

 Vol. I. 



were formed, the king, in (hining armour, with a crown of 

 gold, adorned with precious ilonts, on his helmet, monnttd 

 on a fine while horfe, rode along them, mid addrelfed each 

 corps with a chcatfnl countenance and animating fpecclus. 

 To inflame their refcntment againft their enemies, he told 

 them that the French had determined to cut off three fingers 

 ot the right hand of every prifoner ; and to ruufe their love 

 of honour, he declared, that every foldier who behaved 

 well, flionld fiom that time be deemed a gentleman, and 

 entitled to bear coat-armour. The Eiiglilh thus incited to 

 exertion, llripped tliemfelves almoil naked, that they might 

 deal tlicir blows with the greater rapidity and vigour. 'i"he 

 two armies, prepared for aftion, ilood for a confidcrabic 

 time gazing at each other in folemn filence. At 10 o'clock, 

 however, Henry, fearing that the French would difcover 

 the danger of their liluation, and decline a battle, com- 

 manded the charge to be founded. Upon this the Engliih 

 kneeled down and kified the ground, and then rifing lud- 

 denly, difcharged a flight of arrows, which did great execu- 

 tion among the crowded ranks of the French. Tiiis onfet 

 was fucceeded by the attack of a body of archers, who had 

 been placed in ambufli, and who difcharged their arrows on 

 the flank of the French line, and threw it into diforder. 

 The battle now became general, and raged with uncommon 

 fur)'. When the Engliih archers had expended all their 

 arrows, they threw away their bows, and, rufliing forward, 

 made dreadful havoc with their fwords and battle-axes ; the 

 firft line of the enemy was thus defeated ; and its leader* 

 either killed or taken prifoners. The fecond fine, com- 

 manded by the duke d'Alen9on, who had vowed either to 

 kill the king or take him prifoner, or to perilh in the at- 

 tempt, advanced to the charge, and was encountered by tlie 

 fecond line of the Engliih, condutl;ed by the king. The 

 confliCl was very furious. The duke d'Alen(;on forced his 

 way to the king, and aflanlted him with great violence ; but 

 the king brought him to the ground, and he was inllantly dif- 

 patclied. Difcouraged by this difailer,the fecond line made no 

 farther refillance ; and the third fled without ftriking a blow : 

 and thus the Englifli, after a violent ftruggle of three hours, 

 obtained a complete and fignal vicloi-y. Although the klii-T 

 did not permit his men to purfue the fugitives to any great 

 diftance, the number of his captives exceeded that of his 

 foldiers ; and many of thefe prifoners were perfons of rank 

 and fortune, who, encumbered with their heavy amtour, 

 could not make their efcape. The French left dead on the 

 field of battle, the conilable d'Albert, three dukes, the 

 archbifliop of Sens, one mardial, 13 earls, 92 barons, 1500 

 knights, and a far greater number of gentlemen, befides 

 feveral thoufands of common foldiers. The French hifto- 

 rians acknowledge, that the lofs of the Enghfli was incon- 

 fiderable ; and thofe of our own contemporary writers who 

 make it the greateft, affirm that it did not exceed 100 ; and 

 that the duke of York and the earl of Suffolk were the only- 

 great men who fell on that fide in this memorable aClion. 

 To the grofs error committed by the conftable d'Albert, as 

 much as to the wife meafures of Henr\-, and the heroic 

 valour of the Engliih, the difgrace and ruin of the French 

 army may be imputed. Henry, after this battle, purfued 

 his march to Calais, with his fpoils and prifoners ; embarked 

 for England, Nov. 16, and arrived that evening at Dover, 

 where he was received with tranfports of joy, many of the 

 people plunging into the fea to meet his barge. At his tri- 

 umphant entry into London, Nov. 23, the fhows and pa- 

 geants exhibited by the citizens were lo numerous that it 

 would have required a volume to defcribe them. Henr)-'« 

 Hift. vol. ix. p. 46 — 54. 8vo. 



AGINIS, a burgh or village of Afia in Sufiana, fituatc 

 en the cafl bank of tlie Tigris, towards lat. 30° 15'. 



3 F AGINNA, 



