1 TAKEN BY AHMAD. 119
2 into India. It is stated that Sher Shah brought
3 people from various parts who were‘acquainted
4 with such constructions, and followed in some
5 measure the plan of the fort of the same name
6 in the province of Behar, which he had taken
7 by stratagem. It took twelve years and one
8 month in building, and, including the pay of
9 the soldiery stationed in it, is said to have cost
10 11,107,975. 6. 3. It was calculated to hold a
11 garrison of three thousand cavalry and fifty
12 thousand infantry, and to mount a hundred
13 guns. It contains one tank, three wells, and
14 two Baolis. One of the wells is about ninety
15 cubits (a hundred and thirty-five feet) : and one
16 of the Baolis are about eighty cubits.
17 Ahmed Shah took ‘the place ; and towards
18 the end of his reign, Baland Khan, who had
19 been governor of Multan, held it on the part
20 of the Afghans with a garrison of three thou-
21 sand men, but no- guns. Seventy-one years
22 ago (1768) Charat’ Singh, with five hundred
23 Sowars of his confederacy, Gujar Singh, with
24 about four hundred Sowars, two thousand in-
25 fantry, and a thousand people of the country,
26 with a few guns, laid siege to it.