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SEPTEMBER, 1886.)
THE LAST YEARS OF SHAH SHUJAA.
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some grain, if he had any, whereon the General, perceiving the impending danger, rushed between having obtained some flour and corn, brought the two forces, and surrounding those of Capit with an artillery waggon, a battalion of the tain Bellew, cut most of them to pieces. When Forty-fourth Royal English Regiment and the Brigadier Shelton became aware of what was whole of the Sixth Regiment of Shah Shuja'a- taking place, the fire of his zeal blazed, and he u'l-Mulk to the sangar. When he arrived at fell with his men upon the Afghans, who repelled the Cantonment the soldiers became frightened, them twice, and at the same time continued because he said that the English troops would to fire upon the troops of Lieutenant Bird, be unable to encounter and to fight the furious which they had surrounded. In the third attack Afghans; more especially now, as the winter the Afghans incited each other and, becoming was setting in and the scarcity of food would more furious, reached the enemy, committing become such that not one man of the English such slaughter that all of them were killed, army would be able to return alive, wherefore except Lieutenant Bird and one of his valiant the opportunity of leaving Kabul, and march soldiers. It is moreover said that these two men ing to Jallalabad, ought to be at once embraced. fought so bravely, that they caused thirty But Macnaghten and the officers of the army Afgháns to attain the dignity of martyrdom." replied that, in the opinion of intelligent men, Of the English two hundred men were killed, but such a proposal smacked of madness itself; be- in this give-and-take, the forts of Rika Bashi" cause they had taken infinite trouble in the and Žu'lfiqar and another, fell into the possession construction of the sangar for their own safety of the English, together with some grain they To abandon it therefore and to lift up the contained. One-half of this they succeeded in banner of retreat in another direction full of transferring to the vangar by the evening : but enemies, would be tantamount to feeding a when the sháhansháh with the golden diadem, fire with more wocd, or to throwing one's goods namely the sun, had thrown the veil of obscurity
o a rushing torrent; and for this reason the over his face, ("By night when it covereth all best thing to do was to remain in their strong- things with darkness, ")" the brave Afghans hold till the commencement of the spring blew up the walls of the two forts by mines, When the soldiers heard the depressing words and thus wreaked their vengeance, which and contradictory proposals of their officers, greatly augmented the dismay of the English. they became sore afraid in their hearts, prefer- Another contest took place at the Pattah-Biring death to life; and the more so, as they ma-rú, originally called Pattah-i-Bibi-máh-ru." knew that the provisions in the Cantonment on the twenty-fourth of the blessed month would not last longer than two days more. . Ramazan in the same year [8th November]" the
Now the Afghans stormed and took the fort English cavalry rode about the vicinity of the of Rika Basht, situated at the distance of an Cantonment, whereon the Afghan sawars rushed arrow shot from the Cantonment, on which they upon them and occupied the top of the hill fired a rain of bullets. The plenipotentiary wasir
which dominated their Cantonment, whence a [Sir W. Macnaghten) having ordered the fort
risdlah of regulars was immediately sent to of Rikâ Bashi to be stormed, Colonel Mackrell dislodge them, and the Afghans, unable to cope went with the 44th Regiment, in company of with them, retreated. Afterwards some of the Lieutenant Bird with the 6th Regiment, and Kôhistâni Infantry preparing for another fight, & number of other European as well as Indian constructed a sangaron the top of the Bimari hill, soldiers, and made their attack from one side, and when next day a crowd of ghúsis ascended whilst Captain Bellew started with still more it, with the intention of fighting, the English numerous troops and the same intention from troops likewise marched out from the Cantonanother; whereon the victory-craving Afghans, ment and stood ready for battle, whilst a risdlah _* But it was only on the urgent representation of the been shot down by the gallant three."-Kaye, Vol. II. Envoy, that an expedition against the RikA BÅsht fort p. 53. was undertaken at laat.-Kaye, Vol. II. p. 50.
17 Fort RikA Baht was taken on the 10th of November. * " Lieutenant Bird, with two sepoys of the 37th N. I.
16 Quran, Ch. xcii. v. 1. sought refuge in # stable, which they barricaded and
- Meaning the Hill of the Moon-faced Lady. defended with resolution that deserved and secured
o « On the 13th November the enemy occupied in great & Crown of success. When the fort was carried by the strength the Bl-md-rd hills. They had planted two gens British troope, they were found with exhausted ammoni.
in commanding position, and were cannonading the tion, but alive and uninjured. Thirty of the onemy had | British Cantonment."-Kayo, Vol. II. p 59.
