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76
had no artillery; their Indian allies had brought
with them about thirty pieces of cannon of differ-
ent calibres.
Such was the numerical strength and equip-
ment of these two forces that now lay face to
face on the famous battle-field, which had previ-
ously twice decided the fate of India. But the
inadequacy of number and equipment of the
Afghan force was duly compensated by the
generalship of its leader and the bravery of its
soldiers. Ahmad Shah with the small number of
his men did not think it advisable to attack the
enemy in their strong position. He was, therefore,
obliged to adopt similar precautionary measures
and to throw lines of trenches round his camp.
Bhao, who had fine Marhatta cavalry at his
disposal, dispatched raiding parties to harry the
country around in order to prevent supplies from
reaching the Afghan camp. Govind Rao Bodela
with his 12,000 horses, was ordered to carry this
plan out. He harassed the Afghans in the rear of
their camp, intercepting all supplies. Bhao also
employed his light cavalry for this very end. As
a result of this blockade the Afghans began to
Roughly two thirds of characters agree with a modern printed edition of the same text. Much of the disagreement is editorial, not misreading. Treat the transcription as a finding aid and read the page image before quoting. How this was measured.