Shuja, unable to believe the sudden change of fortune, held his ground, determined to rally his troops. ‘He imagined himself already holding the lovely figure of Victory in his embrace, and suddenly he saw himself, as if in a mirror, choking in the arms of that incubus, Defeat. He remained rooted to the spot, staring disbelievingly at this horrid and sudden transformation.’ As the Mughal lines dissolved around him, it was the Naga chieftain Anupgiri, though himself badly wounded in the thigh, who persuaded Shuja ud-Daula to escape: ‘This is not the moment for an unprofitable death!’ he said.
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