How the King attacked the city of Rachol.
The King,being as I have said at the siege of the city of Rachol,there came to him sure news that the Ydallcao had arrived at the river on the northern side,and that there he had pitched his camp.The King therefore sent his spies to keep watch over the foe,to see what he was doing and to send word of his every movement.With the coming of this news a tumult broke out in the camp,principally among the common soldiers,in whose minds suspicion was never wanting,and they still suffered under the terror inspired from old time by the Moors.There the Ydallcao halted some days so as to see what the King was doing and whether he would march to attack him there in his camp;for it was thought by him and by his people that as soon as the King should learn of his arrival he would at once march to meet him,and they decided that he could defend himself from the King in the place where he was better than in any other,by help of the river.For there was no other ford than the one close at hand;and this they proposed to guard so well that none should take it,least of all,they thought,men who (in their eyes)were only blacks.
Although the King heard that the enemy was on the opposite bank of the river,he yet made no move,nor did he do anything;and the Ydallcao,seeing that he made no advance,took counsel with his officers,and at this council the advice given greatly differed,as each had his own opinion regarding the non-movement of the King.Many said that this was because the King held his foe to be of little account,and wished to show his people how great was his power;and they said that he was only waiting for them to cross the river to at once fall upon them.The principal person who said this was Amcostam,[549]who was captain of Pomdaa at the time that Dom Guterre was captain of Goa.[550]
Others said no,but that the King was afraid,thinking of times past and the many conquests that the Moors had gained over the Hindus,and that he had brought with him some veteran soldiers that had taken part in those wars.The advice of these was to push forward and pass the river.It was not well (they said)for the Ydallcao to show weakness,and the longer he stayed where he was the less would he benefit himself and harm the enemy;and although they were not so many in number as the Hindus,yet they had the advantage in the remembrance of the former battles that had been fought between them.[551]In the end the Ydallcao ordered that they should muster the forces,and said that after this was ended he would decide what was best to be done.When the muster was made,he found that he had one hundred and twenty thousand men on foot,archers and musqueteers and men with shields and spearmen,and eighteen thousand cavalry,and one hundred and fifty elephants;and when the muster was over and he had seen his forces for himself,seeing also the great strength of artillery that he had,he said that with his artillery he would seek to defeat the Rao of Narsymga.He therefore ordered them to make ready,since he desired to cross the river at once and advance to the attack;for the Ydallcao believed that his best course was to halt on the farther side and thence send his troops to charge the camp of the King,and that in so doing he would not be beaten and would not lose Rachol.[552]
In this greedy resolve he passed the ford and advanced to within three leagues of the King's camp,and he caused his own camp to be strengthened by large trenches,and commanded all his artillery to take post in front,and he arranged the order of his positions and the manner in which they should behave if they were attacked by the enemy.His camp extended along the length of the river for the sake of the water,that he might not be cut off from it by the enemy.
As soon as they brought news to the King that the Ydallcao had passed the river,he commanded all to make ready,but that no movement should take place in his army till he should see how the enemy acted;and when they brought him further news that the enemy had pitched his camp and strengthened his position,he ordered a general advance of all his forces.He divided his army into seven wings.Comarberya[553]begged from him (the command)of the van,he being the king's father-in-law and a great lord;he is King of Serigapatao and lord of a large state;he brought with him thirty grown-up sons.The King bade him pitch his camp a league from the Ydallcao and ordered all to arm themselves at dawn,as he intended then to give battle to the enemy;but the men of the Council said that that day was an unlucky day,and begged him not to attack,as it was a Friday,and they asked him not to attack till Saturday,which they hold for a lucky day.
When the King had left Rachol,those inside opened a gate,and one of the captains who was inside,a eunuch,made a sally with two hundred horse,certain foot-soldiers and elephants;he kept entirely along the river-bank on the King's flank.The object of this no one could guess,each one having his own opinion.As soon as the King halted he also did the same,keeping always his spies in the King's camp to see what passed and (what would be)the end of the battle.Since both armies were so close,each to his foe,they never put aside their weapons but watched all the night through.
