To everyone’s surprise, Abdali won over the support of Shuja, the Shiite noble who controlled Awadh. In contrast, the Marathas failed to enlist the support either of Rajasthan’s chiefs or of the Hindu Jats around Delhi, although for a few days one Sikh leader, Ala Singh, like most Sikh chiefs a Jat, procured food and fodder for the Marathas. But that was an exception. Abdali’s logistical stranglehold was such that, in the climactic battle of 14 January, Maratha soldiers and horses struggled on empty stomachs.
