1 JAMANDAR SITAH. 183
2 talents, perceived a dagger of exquisite workmanship under the corner of
3 a pillow. He took it up, and, drawing it from the scabbard, began to admire
4 the beauty of the jewels with which it was adorned and the water of the
5 blade. No harm was apparently meant, but such was the terror felt by the
6 effeminate prince, Moz-ud-dfn, that he immediately sprang up from his seat,
7 and, his turban falling off, fled precipitately in the direction of the door of
8 the tent with bare head, and, forgetting his slippers at the entrance, fell over
9 the ropes. It was not until the servants had assistéd him to rise that he
10 adjusted his dress, and rode to his camp with as much speed as possible.
11 Azim-ush-shan, the favourite of his father, and the ablest of the princes,
12 acted as his lieutenant and had command of the household. Being already
13 in possession of the imperial camp, treasury and jewels, and having a large
14 army in his pay, he raised the royal canopy over his head and received the
15 homage of the ministers of state and the crown officers. Amir-ul-omerah
16 Zulfikar Khan embraced the cause of Moz-ud-din, who was joined by the two
17 other brothers, Rafi-ush-shan and Khajasta Akhtar, on the understanding that
18 there should be an equal division of the empire and‘treasures after victory
19 had been gained over Azfm-ush-shan. The three allied princes encamped
20 near the city of Lahore, but Moz-ud-din’s camp was immediately under
21 the walls, and the greater part of his train occupied the houses of the nearest
22 streets. Azim-ush-shan encamped on the plain, with the river in his rear.
23 The confederates, acting on the advice of Amfr-ul-omerha, drew all the
24 artillery from the citadel, and planting it on a rising ground, arrayed their
25 united forces in one line, with their rear resting on the city. A continuous
26 cannonade was kept up on both sides for four days. On the fifth day, Azim-
27 ush-shan marched out from his camp in order of battle. Khajasta Akhtar
28 moved forward steadily, in slow -order, to oppose the enemy, and fighting
29 with varied success was kept up for three days. On the eighth day a brisk
30 attack was made on the enemy’s entrenched position by Zulfikar Khan and
31 Rustam Dil Khan. They met with a hot resistance from Azim-ush-
32 shan’s troops, who were, however, overpowered and compelled to fall back.
33 Two Hindu rajas, Muhkan Chand, Khaért and Raj Sing, Jat, were killed on
34 the side of the defeated army, after performing deeds of great valour, At
35 that very moment Suleman Khan, Pent, came with a fresh body of horse to
36 support Azim-ush-shan’s forces; but the gallant leader fell killed by a
37 musket ball. His body, out of respect for his courage, was sent to the city
38 by the victors. Out of a body of sixty or seventy thousand troops in Azim-
39 ush-shan’s army, there only remained now ten or twelve thousand, and these,
40 towards evening, retired to the city of Lahore in great confusion.
41 Next morning, the number of Azim-ush-shan’s troops was reduced to
42 The effeminate
43 character of Moz-ud-
44 din,
45 Tho civil war at 2
46 Lahore, 1712,
47 Two Hindu rajis
48 killed,
49 two or three thousand only, the rest having all deserted or fled. Undis-
50 mayed by this circumstance, the prince resolved to advance, and sent for the
51 elephant on which he usually rode; but the animal refused to kneel, in
52 spite of the driver’s attempt to compel him. ‘The prince sent for another ;
53 but by this time the number of his troops was still further reduced. He
54 was soon joined by Rajé Jay Singh with little more than a thousand cavalry ;
55 but hardly had the action commenced when,a violent storm of wind sprung
56 up and put in motion all the sands of the Ravi. Clouds of dust arose, and
57 this, added to the smoke of the powder discharged by the guns of the confede-
58 rate armies, spread consternation in the enemy’s lines. A cannon-ball struck
59 Azim-ush-shan’s elephant on the root of the proboscis and made him
60 furious. The prince himself, after receiving many wounds from arrows and
61 ‘ musket-balls, sank down fainting in his seat. The animal turned about in
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