The Cambridge History of India, Vol. IV: The Mughul Period v4.c20.177

v4.c20.177

Nizām-ul-Mulk had done his utmost to restore order in Mālwā and to strengthen himself for a conflict with the Sayyids. He increased their dislike of him by employing Marhamat Khān, who had been dismissed from the post of commandant of Māngū. Marhamat Khān justified the selection by capturing Sironj and Bhīlsa from some Rājput rebels whom the Sayyids had ordered Nizām-ul-Mulk to punish. This success was so distasteful to Husain ‘Alī that his service was unrecognised, and Nizām-ul-Mulk was warned by his cousin that the Sayyids, as soon as they had finished with Nīkū-siyar and Girdhar Bahādur, intended to attack him. He accordingly began to enlist troops in large numbers and Husain ‘Alī abused his agent at court. A protest from Nizām-ul-Mulk led to a decree recalling him from Mālwā on the ground that it was necessary to place Mālwā under the control of the viceroy of the Deccan. The offer of a choice of other provinces failed to allay the suspicion that his destruction was intended, the movements of troops on the borders of his province confirmed this, and private letters from the emperor and his mother complaining of the Sayyids’ usurpation of all authority removed any scruples which may have oppressed him. There was no longer any question of rebellion against the emperor. Action taken against the Sayyids would be an attempt to release him from the hands of gaolers. Nizām-ul-Mulk heard that mace-bearers were on their way from Āgra to compel him to return to court and on 9 May he crossed the Narbadā and invaded Khāndesh, the northernmost province of Husain ‘Alī’s viceroyalty.