Page:History of India Vol 5.djvu/248

206 TIMUB'S ACCOUNT OF HIS INVASION and other musical instruments to be sounded. The princes and amirs armed themselves completely, and marched with their respective forces in regular order, while I mounted my horse and rode forth to marshal my array. When I had arranged my right and left wings, I placed the right wing under the command of Prince Pir Mohammad Jahangir, Amir Yadgar Birlas, and other high officers; the left wing I put under the command of Prince Sultan Husain, Prince Khalil Sul- tan, Amir Jahan Shah, and their colleagues; and the advance-guard I placed under such generals as Prince Rustam and Amir Shaikh Nur-ad-din. I took my own place with the centre. When all the forces were arrayed, I ordered the vanguard to go forward and obtain some knowledge of the enemy. One of the advance-guard captured a man belonging to the enemy's van and brought him in to me. When I asked this prisoner about the position of the enemy, he told me that Sultan Mahmud had drawn up his army with the intention of fighting. His right wing was commanded by Mu'in-ad-din, Malik Hadi, and other officers; his left wing was under Taghi Khan, Mir Ali, and others, and the Sultan had taken up his own position with the centre, and had appointed a body of troops to act as rear-guard. His whole force amounted to ten thousand veteran horse and forty thousand warlike infantry, in addition to 125 elephants covered with armour, most of them carrying howdahs in which were men to hurl grenades, fireworks, and rockets. Thus they came up to battle.