It is quite certain that he would have been destroyed, together with his entire army, had not Sumro Begum hastened to the rescue, with her admirably disciplined troops, officered by Europeans.
On hearing of the emperor's danger the heroic Begum summoned her body-guard—hardly one hundred men—entered her palanquin, and hastened, with the battery under my command, toward the thickest of the fight.
When she saw that the enemy from the fortress was taking part in the massacre of the half-sober imperial troops, she called to me:
"Follow my example!"
Then, she sprang from her palanquin, mounted a horse, and at the head of her body-guard, charged upon the enemy.
I knew very well what was expected of me! I placed my battery in such a position that the guns would clear a way for the Begum.
In a very short time the valiant enemy, who had sallied forth from the fortress to take a hand in slaughtering their beleaguerers, were in a wild retreat toward it. Sumro Begum met them at the draw-bridge, took the commander prisoner, and, with him in chains at her side, entered the fort, of which she took possession in the name of the emperor. She left all but ten of her men to guard the fort, and returned to the assistance of the emperor, whose troops, taking courage from the example of the brave Begum, plucked up heart, turned upon their butchers, and after a severe struggle gained the mastery.
The rising sun witnessed the annihilation of the enemy.
The fort was again in the possession of the emperor, who, in face of his entire army, embraced Sumro Begum, and called her his "dear daughter." He did not hesitate to declare, in the presence of his commanding officers, that he owed his life, the lives of six imperial princes, his empire, and the rescue of his army, to the brave woman.
To this the Begum, with a modest blush, made reply: "Not to me alone is due all this praise, your imperial highness. The greater portion belongs to my commander of artillery. This is he"—she drew me forward and presented me to the emperor. "To him must be given a fitting reward for the great service he has done your imperial highness."