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86 should partake, and give him security without any dangerous increase of power.' The bringing of the Wazír's frontiers nearer to the Maráthás would certainly 'render him more dependent on us, and cement the union more firmly between us .'

The moment chosen by the Wazír for entering on the conquest of Rohilkhand was opportune. No great Maráthá force was present in the Gangetic Doáb to hinder his preliminary movements across the Ganges in the last weeks of 1773. Sháh Alám had confirmed the grant of Allahábád and Kora to the Wazír, and even ordered a body of his Mughal troops to aid that prince in his campaign against the Rohillás. In March, 1774, Colonel Champion's brigade crossed the Karamnása at Shujá's request, and in April the allied forces entered Rohilkhand. In accordance with the Treaty of Benares, Hastings had already deputed Middleton as political agent to Lucknow. On the 23rd April, 40,000 Rohillás were routed near Katra with heavy slaughter by Champion's disciplined troops. Charge after charge was broken by the fire from his well-served guns, and the enemy turned in swift flight before the bayonets of his advancing infantry, most of whom were Sepoys. Ráhmat Khán himself was among the slain. When the fight was fairly over, Shujá, who had been looking on from a safe distance, let his own soldiers loose for the work of pillage, which they achieved in a style that provoked loud murmurs from their disgusted allies. 'We have the