CHAP. V.] RETURNS TO BALKH. 105 garden. Thence he marched towards Faizabad on the Balkháb river.* On the 7th the situation grew worse. The Grand battle with the Uzbaks. Bukhara army put forth a supreme effort. It was now in full strength. Its highest com- manders, Abdul Aziz the king, Subhan Quli his brother, and Beg Ughli the Uzbak chieftain, were all present, and directed the attack on three points of the Imperial army. But again musketry and superior discipline gave the Mughals the victory. The retreat continued till the 9th with the usual ineffective molestation from an enemy that lacked fire arms, and whose arrows were powerless except in a close en- counter. At last in the evening of the 9th the Bukhara king demanded a parley and sent a friendly message. The Mughals were not molest- ed during the next two days, and they reached Balkh in peace on 11th June.† This march Hardships of the Mughals. towards Aqcha and retreat to Balkh had taken up ten days, during which the Mughal army had been a stranger to repose.
- Abdul Hamid, ii. 694-697.
† Abdul Hamid, ii. 697-701. The following points in Aurangzib's retreat from Pashai are named in the Persian history: Aliabad-digression to Shaikhabad-Faizabad on the Balkhab River-Yanki Ariq-Bridge of Dost Beg (on the Balkhab?)-Naharab or canal-Yandarak-Balkh city. Digitized by Microsoft Ⓡ
