1878.] W. Irvine —The Bangash Nawabs of Farrnlchdbdd. 
381 
On seeing this, Mahmud Khan Bakhshi drove his elephant forward, 
and was soon afterwards shot dead. Then Nawab Kaim Khan ordered his 
brother, ’Abd-un-nabi Khan, to advance in support. ’Abd-un-nabi Khan and 
Shah Asad ’Ali # were seated on one elej^hant. The former was killed and- 
the latter wounded above the elbow. One after another, the sons of Muham¬ 
mad Khan advanced by Kaim Khan’s order and were shot down. Those 
killed were ’Abd-un-nabi Khan, Hadidad Khan, Bahadur Khan, Murid Khan; 
while those wounded were Imam Khan, Fakhr-ud-din Khan and Murtazza 
Khan. Those sons of an Amir in bravery and courage did not belie their 
race ; but “ against the foreordained what avails, failure and success are 
“ alike in the hand of God.” 
Three accountsf attribute the Nawab’s death to an ambuscade, an in¬ 
cident omitted by others. J Some such accident is almost required to 
account for the immense slaughter of leaders. It is related thus. Mangal 
Khan Musenagari had counselled Kaim Khan not to advance too far, before 
the fate of the day was decided. His advice was disregarded. Now be¬ 
tween the two armies lay a hollow, long, wide and deep, like the ditch of a 
fort, called in the Hindi tongue Bihcir§. Close to the edge of this hol¬ 
low were high bajra crops. The Rohelas had three thousand men on one 
side with muskets ready loaded, and five thousand on the other hidden in 
the high crop along the edge of the ravine. Kaim Khan in his pride charg¬ 
ed at the enemy, the Rohelas gave way and threw themselves into the hol¬ 
low. Kaim Khan with sixteen thousand veterans and fifty-one chiefs on 
elephants descended into the hollow in pursuit of the fugitives. As these 
were on foot, they could scramble up the high bank on the other side, and 
thus made good their escape. Nawab Kaim Khan had only got half way 
across the low land, when suddenly the Rohelas in ambush rushed up to 
the edge, and eight thousand matchlocks were fired down in one volley. 
At the critical moment of the attack, Rajahs Hindu Singh and Ganga 
Singh and Kusal Singh, who were on Kaim Khan’s right, turned for flight. 
Their bad example was imitated by the Mahrattas from Kalpi. Seeing 
this, the other Rohelas, Hafiz Rahmat Khan, Honde Khan, Fath Khan and 
others, came out of the bdgh , joined Mulla Sardar Khan, and with their 
united forces turned against Nawab Kaim Khan. Those of his companions, 
who were still unhurt, gathered round his elephant. The enemy maintain¬ 
ed their fire, but attempted no hand-to-hand encounter. When most of 
those round the Nawab had been slain, the Rohelas surrounded his elephant 
and pointed their matchlocks upwards to shoot at him. Shekh Farhafc- 
ullah of Lakhnau, who was on the right hand, brought his elephant closer 
* Died 7th Safar 1184 H. (2nd June 1770). 
f The Siyar-ul-Muta’Jcharin, the ’ Amdd-us-Sa*dat, and the Lauh-i-Tdrilch . 
% Life of H. R. K. and Shah Hisam-ud-din, 
§ Uneven land, full of ravines. 
