The Cambridge History of India, Vol. IV: The Mughul Period v4.c20.302

v4.c20.302

Among the advisers of Shāh Nawāz Khān was one Ādīna Beg Khān, "a devil in human form", who seems to have gone about deliberately to ruin him. He reminded him that his elder brother, whom he had ousted, was the minister's son-in-law as well as nephew, and advised him, therefore, to come to terms with the Abdālī. Shāh Nawāz Khān followed this advice and his unexpected advances were welcomed by Ahmad Shāh, who accepted his offers and concluded an alliance. Ādīna Beg Khān then informed the minister Qamar-ud-dīn Khān of this treasonable correspondence. The crafty minister misled his nephew by suggesting that the emperor wished him to conquer the provinces of Kābul, Kashmīr, Sind and Multān, and to confer the government of these provinces, as well as that of the Punjab, on him. Shāh Nawāz Khān now regretted his precipitancy and, acting still on the advice of Ādīna Beg Khān, resolved to repudiate his agreement. Ahmad Shāh advanced to Peshāwar and called on Shāh Nawāz Khān to permit him to pass freely through the Punjab and to join him with his troops. Receiving a flat refusal Ahmad Shāh crossed the Indus with 30,000 horse and invaded the Punjab. Shāh Nawāz Khān entrenched himself before Lahore. Superstitious faith in the warning of a *darvīsh* kept him inactive and his troops lost spirit. An indecisive movement from his tent towards the city, which he was persuaded might be a better defensive position than his entrenched camp, was construed as an attempt at flight. Soon the whole army was on its way to Delhi and Shāh Nawāz Khān had no choice but to accompany it. The Afghān and Qizilbāsh troops entered and sacked the undefended city.