Tarikh-i saʿadat-i jawid 10: Nawab Asafu-d daula and the Rohillas.

10

Faizu-llah Khan Rohilla, whom Nawab Shuja'u-d daula, at the conquest of Bareilly, had placed in possession of the districts of Rampur and other mahals yielding a revenue of thirteen lacs of rupees, maintained as long as he lived great dignity and pomp, and having taken great pains to improve his country, he realized double the amount of revenue from it.
Muhammad 'Ali Khan, his eldest son, sat upon the masnad with the sanction of Nawab Asafu-d daula. But Najju Khan, 'Umar Khan, and his son Sarbuland Khan, together with other Rohilla chiefs, attempted to remove Muhammad 'Ali Khan and instigated his younger brother, Ghulam Muhammad Khan, to usurp the masnad. Muhammad 'Ali Khan was an intimate friend of Nawab Asafu-d daula, and had received from him much kindness, so the Nawab wrote to Ghulam Muhammad Khan to the effect that it was of no great consequence that he had usurped the masnad, but that, as he had taken Muhammad 'Ali Khan prisoner, he should send him to Lucknow, where some employment might be given to him, which would induce him to abstain from annoying the usurper. Ghulam Muhammad Khan, apprehensive that Muhammad 'Ali Khan's departure would occasion some disturbance, with the advice of Najju Khan and 'Umar Khan, put him to death in prison.
The Nawab, thirsting for the blood of Ghulam Muhammad Khan, marched from Lucknow with a powerful army of his own, aided by his English allies. Ghulam Muhammad, having collected eighty thousand Rohillas and Afghans, raised the standard of revolt, and advanced from Rampur with the intention of plundering the city of Bareilly, which belonged to the Nawab. In those days Rai Gurdas Singh had charge of Bareilly in conjunction with Sambhu Nath. Depending upon the good fortune of the Nawab, he prepared to defend the city, and the Afghans were not able to plunder it. Before the arrival of the Nawab, the army of the English had reached Bareilly, and Ghulam Muhammad, who had encamped at five kos from the city, made a vigorous attack on the English battalions, and fought most desperately. But the English, who in battle are very Rustams and Isfandiyars, made a good stand, and having confounded the Afghans with the shot of their guns, gave them a complete defeat. Najju Khan and Sarbuland Khan were slain, and Ghulam Muhammad Khán fled towards the forests under the Kuradun hills. The compiler of this book was with his father in this battle. The victorious army encamped for two months near the forest to chastise the Rohillas, and Ghulam Muhammad was obliged to surrender. With the advice of the English he was sent prisoner to Calcutta. It is said that he obtained leave to go to Mecca; but where he went to afterwards is not known. In short, Nawab Ásafu-d daula, proceeding through Rámpur, entered the city of Bareilly in triumph. He gave some maháls of the district of Rampur, the revenue of which amounted to about ten lacs of rupees, as jágírs to the other sons and descendants of Faizu-llah Khan; the rest of the territory he confiscated, and then returned to Lucknow.
At the present time Bareilly and other places have been ceded to the English, and although the jágírs of the descendants of Faizu-llah Khán are still maintained, yet the English keep their eyes upon this tribe of Afghans, and in their wisdom deal with them with great circumspection and prudence, as is essential in politics.