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ed on the fortified city of Patna, into which Daud, distrustful of meeting the Mughals in the field, had thrown himself. Such was the situation very shortly after the return of Akbar from Gujarat. Desirous of directing the campaign himself, Akbar despatched orders to his lieutenant to suspend operations till he should arrive, then, making the hurried visit to Ajmere of which I have spoken, he hastened with a body of troops by water to Allahabad. Not halting there, he continued his journey, likewise by water, to Benares, stayed there three days, then, taking to boat again, reached the point where the Gumti flows into the Ganges. Thence, pending the receipt of news from his lieutenant, he resolved to ascend the Gumti to Jaunpur. On his way thither, however, he received a despatch from his lieutenant, urging him to advance with all speed. Directing the boatmen to continue their course with the young princes and the ladies to Jaunpur, Akbar at once turned back, reached the point where he had left his troops, and directing that they should march along the banks in sight of the boats, descended to Chausa, the place memorable, the reader may recollect, for the defeat of his {119} father by Sher Khan. Here a despatch reached him to the effect that the enemy had made a sortie from Patna, which had caused much damage to the besiegers. Akbar pushed on therefore, still by water, and reached the besieging army on the seventh day. The next day he called a council of war. At this he expressed his opinion that before assaulting the fort it was advisable that the besiegers should occupy Hajipur, a town at the confluence of the Gandak and the Ganges, opposite to Patna. This course was adopted, and the next day Hajipur fell. Daud was so terrified by this success, and by the evident strength of the besieging army, that he evacuated Patna the same night, and fled across the Punpun, near its junction with the Ganges at Fatwa. Akbar entered the city in triumph the next morning, but, anxious to capture Daud, remained there but four hours; then, leaving his lieutenant in command of the army, followed with a well-mounted detachment in pursuit of the enemy. Swimming the Punpun on horseback he speedily came up with Daud's followers, and captured elephant after elephant, until on reaching Daryapur, he counted two hundred and sixty-five of those animals. Halting at Daryapur, he directed two of his trusted officers to continue the pursuit. These
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