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178 the north, and with preparing his army for the great event to which he looked forward. Having done all that was possible in this respect, he set out for Púna, determined, after repressing Holkar, and unseating Náná Farnawis, to obtain the chief power himself, and, wielding it, to make one supreme effort to drive the British from Hindostan.

Mádhají left de Boigne and the greater part of his corps d'armée behind. He took with him as escort only two battalions, commanded by Hessing and Filoze. He arrived at Púna the 11th June, 1793.

Scarcely, however, had Mádhají crossed the borders of his own territories than his enemies began to raise their heads. First, the widow of Najíf Khan, a former prime minister at the Imperial Court of Dehli, refused to surrender the fort of Kanúnd to Sindia's officers. De Boigne sent one of his brigades, under the orders of M. Perron, to compel her. The often-defeated Ishmail Beg raised troops to support her. He encountered Perron under the walls of Kanúnd, and though beaten, yet succeeded in penetrating into the fort with a considerable body of men. The defence was prolonged in consequence, but, the widow having been killed, Ishmail Beg, distrusting the garrison, surrendered himself and the fort to the French leader.

But this was not all. Taking advantage of the absence of Mádhají, Túkají Holkar, the minister of the famous Ahalya Bae, suddenly crossed the river Chambal in great force, and marched towards Rújpútáná,