‘Give the necessary orders.’
‘Don’t forget, Highness, while we make our own preparations,’ said a voice from the back, ‘we should keep watch for any massing or movement of troops by our enemy or for signs of attempts to outflank us.’
Another wise comment, thought Nicholas. In war as in chess it was not enough to plan your own moves well, you had to watch out for your enemy’s and be flexible in responding to them.
‘Yes, of course. We should advance more pickets and send out scouts to warn us of any manoeuvres on our enemy’s part or of any reinforcements riding to join them. However, it seems to me that, being outnumbered, my brothers are prepared to sit on the defensive. I am not. Let us lose no more time. Make the necessary arrangements for the attack, Jai Singh. I am indebted to you all, my loyal and wise counsellors, and so too will be my father, our rightful emperor. Good luck and may God bless us with victory. The council is dismissed.’
Again Nicholas wondered whether, although Dara had been gracious in his final remarks, he might not have done better to allow a little more time for his officers to ask questions and make suggestions about his simple strategy, as well as to enthuse them more thoroughly with the reasons why victory was important for the empire and of course for them. Having known Dara for over thirty years he was well aware of his warmth, charm and abilities, so clearly displayed in his family and personal life and his relationship with close allies. He just wished he would be less distant and aloof in public discussion with the wider circle of his supporters. Still, with the superior forces at Dara’s disposal, his battle plan should succeed and, God willing, by evening he and his men should be riding victorious for Agra.
An hour and a half later Nicholas, mounted on his chestnut horse, was again on the top of the hillock behind Dara’s command tent. He was now fully dressed for war, sweating beneath steel back- and breastplates, his long sword at his right side and his two bulbous-handled pistols primed and stuck into his blue sash. He watched as drums began to beat and Dara’s troops started to advance along the whole one and a half miles of their front line from Raja Ram Singh Rathor’s Rajputs on the right to Khalilullah Khan’s Uzbeks on the left, moving into the white smoke drifting across the plain between the two armies from the previous exchanges of cannon fire. Despite the amount of powder and shot expended by both sides in the previous eighty minutes, neither seemed to have suffered great damage — the most obvious casualties were three of Aurangzeb and Murad’s elephants, hit as they strained to haul some of their cannon into a more advanced position and now slumped within a few feet of each other like great grey rocks.
More and more of Dara’s men began to move forward. Soon Dara’s own massive war elephant started to advance and as it did so he waved from its jewel-encrusted tower-like howdah to the surrounding troops. The size of his elephant and the construction of the howdah allowed him to see and be seen by many more of his troops than he could have been in any other way.
In obedience to his own orders, which were still to stay where he was with his men till he saw how the battle developed, Nicholas sat tight on the hillock as Dara’s army pushed forward. Sometimes drifting smoke obscured his view, making it difficult for him to judge the progress of the fighting. On the right flank, Raja Ram Singh Rathor’s orange and saffron-clad horsemen were outdistancing the rest of the army, swerving as they did so to attack the enemy’s centre. Through another gap in the smoke Nicholas was able to guess why. Two great elephants with howdahs were moving along the enemy lines, surrounded by a squadron of banner-bearing horsemen. Aurangzeb and Murad were encouraging their own troops to stand firm and Raja Ram Singh Rathor must have determined to win glory for himself and his Rajputs while avenging the defeat of his cousin Jaswant Singh at Dharmat by killing or capturing the two rebellious brothers. His men were clearly suffering casualties as the price for their daring with many falling, brought down by musket balls or fire from the cannon batteries at the centre of the enemy lines.
Raja Ram Singh Rathor, distinguishable by his pure white stallion and the two standard-bearers riding beside him, both still also miraculously unscathed, was the first to smash into the horsemen surrounding the rebellious brothers’ elephants, his much diminished force close behind him.
It was difficult at the distance for Nicholas to make out the details of the action but he saw a Rajput horseman attack one of the two elephants, urging his mount, specially trained and equipped with a face plate as some cavalry horses were, to rear on its hind legs to allow him to strike at the elephants’ mahouts. A bodyguard in the howdah stood and thrust twice with his long lance. Both horse and rider dropped from view.
One of Raja Ram Singh Rathor’s banner-bearers had fallen but the other remained close by his leader’s side as he battered his way towards the other imperial elephant, opponents swerving away from him or faltering beneath his attack. Suddenly, the remaining Rajput banner-bearer pitched forward out of his saddle and became entangled in his orange banner as he hit the ground. Next, the raja’s own white horse reared up. Was he too preparing to attack the elephant’s mahouts? But in a moment the horse toppled backwards, clearly wounded, and the raja, still identifiable by his lemon turban and flowing orange and white robes, slipped from the saddle and ran, drawn sword in hand and almost bent double, towards the elephant. Bravely he tried to duck beneath its belly, perhaps attempting to cut the girths holding the howdah in place. Whatever was his aim he did not succeed in it but fell wounded, and as he tried to rise he was trampled beneath the elephant’s feet.
Undaunted, his men fought on. Through the increasing smoke Nicholas saw they were being joined by the leading horsemen from Dara’s centre, battle-hardened warriors from Oudh, Kashmir and elsewhere. Aurangzeb’s and Murad’s elephants had already turned and with their cavalry escort were heading back through their own lines seeking greater protection. Dara’s cavalry were trying to follow them, slashing and cutting. Although they were making some progress the fighting was clearly hard and hand to hand. Nicholas could see Dara’s towering howdah getting closer to the action. Even though Dara had only begun his main advance less than half an hour ago, to Nicholas the climax of the battle was fast approaching. He and his men must join the conflict, but where? As he scanned the battlefield again, he noticed that on the left Khalilullah Khan and his Uzbeks seemed to be lagging behind and as a consequence a gap was opening between them and the regiment advancing next to them.
Nicholas couldn’t understand why this was happening. Khalilullah Khan had never hung back in the battles in the north. As Nicholas continued to watch the gap began to grow. To his horror Khalilullah Khan and his men were turning away from the battlefield, deserting Dara’s cause. This must have been pre-planned. Khalilullah Khan had been close to Aurangzeb during the campaign against Samarkand and Nicholas had been a little surprised to find him among Dara’s forces. When they had talked briefly Khalilullah Khan had said simply that he owed his loyalty to the crowned emperor whatever his past regard for Aurangzeb’s abilities. He had clearly been dissimulating, biding his time until his defection could be most lethal.
As if to underline that Khalilullah Khan’s desertion was prearranged, Nicholas saw a division of rebel horsemen charge immediately for the gap in Dara’s advance, sweeping along the flank of Khalilullah Khan’s departing forces, clearly aware that they need take no precautions against them. Dara must have seen Khalilullah Khan’s defection because his elephant was turning in that direction, followed by his bodyguard. Nicholas gestured to his men to mount and to move out. He knew now what their duty was — to rally to Dara and help him to plug the breach in his lines.