“But disease and famine are raging in different quarters, and the enraged populace threaten my life.”
“I will go and appease them. There has been scarcely yet time for an answer to your embassy. I will persuade them to wait with patience another day or two, within which interval I have no doubt an answer will be returned. If favourable, we can have no cause for apprehension; if adverse, it will be then time enough to adopt desperate measures.”
Sheikh Mahomed went into the bazaar and harangued the inhabitants. He was revered by them as a prophet, and they listened to his voice as to a revelation from Heaven. They yielded to his entreaties, they hushed their cries, and consented to abide the issue of their governors message to the Mogul potentate.
That very night the watchword was heard at the gate; the messenger was admitted, and with him a party bearing a supply of provisions. They had evaded the enemy’s picket by a secret path unknown to the Hindoos. Twelve camels loaded with rice entered the fort amid the shouts of the starving garrison, and the welcome information came that an army was on its way to relieve them, and might be expected within twenty-four hours. This intelligence so gladdened the hearts of the despairing inhabitants, that instead of the wailings of despair, shouts of rejoicing were heard from every part of the fortress. The enemy knew not how to account for this sudden change. They had been made acquainted with the sufferings of the besieged, and were every moment expecting that the latter would capitulate without proposing terms, which the Hindoo general had determined to refuse. The conclusion they came to was, that it was a feint to throw them off their guard; but they treated with contempt the idea of a few starving soldiers attempting anything against a numerous army, provided with everything necessary, and commanded by a leader of reputation. They derided therefore the rejoicings of the besieged, and slumbered that night in perfect security.
On that very night, however, at the suggestion of Sheikh Mahomed, Tartar Chan determined upon making a sortie at the head of a chosen body of his bravest soldiers, now elated to the highest pitch of enthusiasm at so near a prospect of relief. Their enemies never for an instant imagined that such a measure would be resorted to, knowing how greatly the garrison was reduced by famine, and supposing, therefore, that the soldiers could not be in a condition to hazard a personal encounter with a vigorous and numerous body of troops. The night was dark, the wind gusty, which was rather favourable for such an enterprise as Tartar Chan contemplated, since the approach of his detachment to the hostile camp would be less likely to be detected before they should reach their destination. An hour past midnight was the period fixed, when it was imagined the Hindoo army would be the least apprehensive of an attack from a weakened and starving garrison.
The soldiers selected for the enterprise were assembled shortly after midnight, quitted the gates in silence, and marched stealthily towards the camp. As they approached they were hailed by the sentinel, who was instantly shot dead with an arrow. Proceeding noiselessly onward, the hail of a second sentinel was answered in a similar manner. No alarm was yet given. They were within a hundred yards of the enemy’s lines, when their approach was observed, and a shout raised. The Hindoo soldiers, starting from their sleep, issued from their tents, many of them unarmed, and others with only a dagger or a short sabre. The besieged rushed forward to the tents of the besiegers, creating a dreadful panic. They had divided into small bodies, and were known to each other by a long white floating streamer which each wore attached to the left side of his turban, and which there was sufficient light to distinguish.
The Hindoos soon assembled in such numbers that they incommoded each other, and thus the greatest confusion prevailed. They could not perceive their foes, who made a dreadful slaughter among them during the panic by which they were overcome. Seeing not whence the stroke of death came, they frequently mistook one another for enemies, and inflicted mutual destruction. The groans of the dying mingled with the shouts of the assailants in every part of the camp. The carnage was appalling. Several elephants, picketed within the lines, were let loose by the garrison, who pricked them with their spears until they became infuriated, and plunged among the tents, adding to the general consternation. Hundreds of persons were trodden to death by these affrighted creatures, which rushed onward with an impetuosity that nothing could resist. Morning dawned before the work of carnage had ceased, when Tartar Chan and his bold followers, satisfied at their success, returned to the fortress with the loss of only fifteen men.
On the following day shouts of triumph were heard from the walls of Gualior. A great number of oxen and sheep had been driven into the fort during the struggle of the preceding night, and a large quantity of rice secured. The inhabitants were now as much elated as they had before been depressed. The prospect of speedy relief from the Mogul army, and the present unlooked-for supply of provisions, stilled their murmurs; and the governor’s success in his late enterprise reconciled them to his former breach of faith with a generous ally. Those houses in which famine had already begun to deposit her prey, were cleared of their dead, fumigated, and the enlivening hopes produced by such a sudden reverse of fortune, so neutralised the effects of disease, that many who were sick arose from their beds and were restored to comparative health within a few hours.
Tartar Chan already began to repent that he had sought the assistance of the Moguls. Seeing how easily he had made an impression upon the hostile forces, he was disposed to think that by judicious night attacks he might with his own forces oblige them to raise the siege; but he did not calculate the difference between an enemy prepared and an enemy off their guard. Another such an enterprise must have failed. Tartar Chan, though a brave, was a vain and stubborn man, full of ambition and without integrity. He could not bear to think of giving up the fortress to his allies, and holding it in fealty under a prince who was not in the habit of allowing his vassals or feudatories the privilege of independence. He had been relieved from present embarrassment, and his pretensions rose in proportion. It was a hard thing to relinquish authority which he had struggled so hard to maintain, or at least to have it abridged by the influence of greater.
There was one difficulty: he knew it to be the prevailing feeling of the garrison, that in case the enemy were obliged to raise the siege by the Mogul army, the fortress should be put into the immediate possession of their general. Babur’s government was popular, and he was dreaded by all the neighbouring potentates. His renown as a warrior filled the nations with awe. His alliance was a blessing—his hostility a bane. The governor of Gwalior sought Sheikh Mahomed, as usual, in his difficulties.