Memoirs of Hyder and Tippoo: Rulers of Seringapatam, Written in the Mahratta Language

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Page 50 - Baird, took from off his right arm the talisman, which contained, sewed up in pieces of fine flowered silk, an amulet of a brittle metallic substance of the colour of silver, and some manuscripts in magic Arabic and Persian characters, the purport of which, had there been any doubt, would have sufficiently ascertained the identity of the sultaun's body.
Page 49 - ... the north ramparts. These he defended, one after another, with the bravest of his men and officers ; and, assisted by the fire of his people on the inner wall, he several times obliged the front of our troops, who were pushing on with their usual ardour, to make a stand. The loss here would have been much greater on our part had not the Light Infantry and part of the battalion companies of the...
Page 49 - ... of his chiefs, till he met a number of his troops flying before the van of the Europeans, who he perceived had already mounted and gained the ramparts. Here he exerted himself to rally the fugitives, and uniting them with his own guard, encouraged them by his voice and example to make a determined stand. He repeatedly fired on our troops himself; .and one of his servants asserts, that he saw him bring down several Europeans near the top of the breach.
Page 49 - Sultan continued to dispute the ground, until he approached the passage across the ditch to the gate of the inner fort. Here he complained of pain and weakness in one of his legs, in which he had received a bad wound when very young; and, ordering his horse to be brought, he mounted: but seeing the Europeans still advancing on both the ramparts, he made for the gate, followed by his palankeen, and a number of officers, troops, and servants.
Page 50 - Sultaun, who still held his sword in his hand, made a cut at the soldier with all his remaining strength, and wounded him about the knee, on which he put his piece to his shoulder and shot the Sultaun through the temple, when he instantly expired.
Page 50 - ... body. It was placed on his own palankeen, and, by General Baird's orders, conveyed to the court of the palace, where it remained during the night, furnishing a remarkable instance to those who are given to reflection, of the uncertainty of human affairs. He who had left his palace in the morning a powerful imperious...
Page 49 - Sultan stood, he found himself almost entirely deserted, and was forced to retire to the traverses of the north ramparts. These he defended, one after another, with the bravest of his men and officers; and, assisted by the fire of his people on the inner wall, he several times obliged the...
Page 50 - He who had left his palace in the morning a powerful imperious sultaun, full of vast ambitious projects, was brought back a lump of clay ; his kingdom overthrown, his capital taken, and his palace occupied by the very man (Major-General Baird), who, about fifteen years before, had been, with other victims of...
Page 50 - ... the gate, in order to attack the small body of our troops which had got into the inner fort, and, if successful in driving them out, to have attempted to maintain it against us, or to endeavour to make his way to the palace, and there make his last stand; but as he was crossing to the gate, by the communication from the outer rampart, he received a...
Page 50 - ... in the right side, nearly as high as the breast : he, however, still pressed on, till he was stopped about half way through the arch of the gateway, by the fire of the 12th light infantry from within, when he received a second ball close to the other. The horse he rode on, being also wounded, sunk under him ; and his turban fell to the ground. Many of his people fell at the same time, on every side, by musketry, both from within and without the gate. The fallen...

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