The Cambridge History of India, Vol. IV: The Mughul Period v4.c21.42

v4.c21.42

Shāh Nawāz Khān was versed in many branches of knowledge, particularly in history (in which his enduring monument is his *Maāsir-ul-umarā*, or biographical dictionary of the Mughul peers, in three large volumes). High-minded, sympathetic to all, habitually charitable, a lover of justice, dealing directly with suitors in an open court without allowing intermediaries, an expert in financial management and diplomacy alike, “he wrought a magical change during his four years of Chancellorship by his wisdom and administrative genius, converted the insolvency of the State—when household goods had to be sold for feeding the Nizām—into a balanced budget at the end of the fourth year” (*Hadīqat*), and kept the Marāthās within their own limits. If he failed, in the end, to reform the government, [Figure: INDIA IN 1761 Approximate Boundaries – · – · British … Hindu … Muhammadan …]