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658
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HINDUSTAN
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(««. News ofthe Afghans.)
{March 25th (?) and 26th) Having heard there were many elephants in the Chunar jungles, I had left (Thursday's) ground thinking to hunt them, but Taj Khan bringing the news {Friday 15th (?)) that Mahmud Khan {Liidi) was near the Son-water, I summoned the begs and took counsel as to whether to fall upon him suddenly. In the end it was settled to march on continuously, fast1 and far.
{March 27th) Marching on {Sunday 17th), we did 9 kurohs (18m.), and dismounted at the Bilwah-ferry.2
{March 28th) On Monday night 3 the 18th of the month, Tahir was started for Agra from this camp (Bilwah-ferry), taking money-drafts for the customary gifts of allowance and lodging4 to those on their way from Kabul.
Before dawn next morning (Monday) I went on by boat. When we came to where the GuI-water (Gumtl) which is the water of Junpur, meets the Gang-water (Ganges), I went a little way up it and back. NarrowerS though it is, it has no ford; the army-folk crossed it (last year) by boat, by raft, or by swimming their horses.
To look at our ground of a year ago,6 from which we had started for Junpur,7 I went to about a ktiroh lower than the mouth of the JOnpur-water (Gumtl). A favourable wind getting up behind, our larger boat was tied to a smaller Bengali one which, spreading its sail, made very quick going. Two garls of day remained (5.15 p.m.) when we had reached that ground (Sayyidpur?), we went on without waiting there, and by the Bed-time Prayer had got to camp, which was a kuroh above Madan-Benares,8 long before the boats following us. Mughfll Beg had been ordered to
1 afiziin aiizagh, many miles and many hours ? ■ Bulloa? (I.S.Map).
3 Anglice, Sunday after 6 p. m
4 'aliffa u qunal (f. 359^).
s than the Ganges perhaps ; or narrowish compared with other rivers, e.g. Ganges. Ghogra, and Jun.
6 yil-turgi yurt, by which is meam, I think, close to the same day a year back, and not an indefinite reference to some time in the past year.
7 Maps make the starting-place likely to be Sayyidpur.
8 re-named Zamania, after Akbar's officer 'Ali-qull Khan Khan-i-zaman, and now the head-quarters of the Zamania pargana of Ghazipur. Madan-Benares was in Akbar's sarkar of GhazirSiir. (It was not identified by E. or byde C.) Cf. D.G. of Ghazipur.
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