The Cambridge History of India, Vol. IV: The Mughul Period v4.c20.229

v4.c20.229

Muhammad Khān Bangash, a stout Afghān soldier of fortune who had established himself in the reign of Farrukh-siyar in the central Dūāb where he had built for himself a stronghold named after his master, Farrukhābād, had distinguished himself. Rude and illiterate, but faithful to a party which he had adopted, he might, had fortune smiled, have established a state like Oudh or the Deccan, and he narrowly missed success. In 1725 when appointed governor of Allāhābād he found a powerful confederacy of Bundelās with a force of 20,000 horse and more than 100,000 foot occupying the whole of Baghelkhand and other districts. The Bundelās, unlike most of the Rājputs, were suspected, with good reason, of sympathy with the Marāthās. Muhammad Khān undertook the task with little sympathy and less support from Delhi. Throughout 1727 and 1728 he was engaged in incessant hostilities. An enumeration of his battles and sieges would be tedious and, without full details, uninstructive.¹ Muhammad Khān had considerable successes against the Bundelās, but early in 1729 the Marāthā troops of Bājī Rāo Peshwā invaded Baghelkhand and Bundelkhand, and in May, 1729, Muhammad Khān was compelled to take refuge in the fort of Jaitpur, where he was besieged for three months. Finally, in August, 1729, he was relieved by his son Qāim Khān, but he was still at the mercy of his enemies who extorted from him a promise that he would never again enter Bundelkhand. This failure was followed by his dismissal from his government.