History of India . zirin 1759, and the heir. Shah Alam, had fled to the pro-tection of the British in Bengal in dread of sharingthe same fate. Among all the bold adventurers whoplayed the king in India at this time, none was moreremarkable than Ghazi-ad-din, the youthful grand-nephew of Asaf Jah, who dominated the political situ-ation from 1752 to 1759 by sheer audacity and brilliantrecklessness. The murder of the emperor, however,was a stroke that overreached itself, and when the Af-ghan Shah moved down upon the capital, the unscrup-ulous young assassin fled for his life. Ahmad Shahfound the
History of India . zirin 1759, and the heir. Shah Alam, had fled to the pro-tection of the British in Bengal in dread of sharingthe same fate. Among all the bold adventurers whoplayed the king in India at this time, none was moreremarkable than Ghazi-ad-din, the youthful grand-nephew of Asaf Jah, who dominated the political situ-ation from 1752 to 1759 by sheer audacity and brilliantrecklessness. The murder of the emperor, however,was a stroke that overreached itself, and when the Af-ghan Shah moved down upon the capital, the unscrup-ulous young assassin fled for his life. Ahmad Shahfound the throne empty, and proceeded, as master ofthe situation, to take steps for the maintenance ofthe Mohammedan power in India. The decisive moment came on January 6, 1761. TheMarathas were intrenched at Panipat with a force of70,000 cavalry and 15,000 infantry, nine thousand ofwhom were thoroughly disciplined under a Moham-medan who had served in the French army in Indiaunder Bussy. The commander-in-chief was the pesh-. PANIPAT AGAIN A BATTLE-FIELD 18T was cousin, Sadasheo Bhao, and Holkar and Sindhiawere with him. The Afghans and Moghuls numberedabout 53,000 horse, Afghan, Persian, and Indian, andless than 40,000 infantry, partly Rohillas under Najib;but their field-pieces were very inferior to the Mara-thas gtms. Too weak to attack, the Moslem army in-trenched itself over against the Hindus, and for twomonths the opposing forces that were contending for thecrown of India watched each other narrowly. Faminesoon began to make itseK felt, but Ahmad Shah re-fused to force an action. He knew that the Deccanwolves were suffering even more than his Patansand were even opening negotiations for peace withthe nawab-vizir, although the Afghan king, stronglyurged by Najib, refused all compromise. At last the Bhao declared that the cup was full tothe brim and coidd not hold another drop; the timefor negotiation was past, and the starved Hindus,smeared with turmeric, rushed upon the Afghan arm
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