The Cambridge History of India, Vol. IV: The Mughul Period v4.c21.68

v4.c21.68

The wretched emperor Farrukh-siyar protested in vain against this base surrender of his rights and territories: Husain ‘Alī Khān, accompanied by Bālājī and 16,000 Marāthā horse under Khande Rāo Dābhāde, marched on Delhi, and after some fierce street-fighting Sayyid ‘Abdullah seized the emperor, blinded him, threw him into a dungeon, and finally (1719) murdered him.⁴ Bālājī remained in Delhi until the new emperor, Muhammad Shāh, was forced to get rid of his unwelcome visitors by issuing three imperial rescripts for the *chauth*, *sardeshmukhī* and *swarājya* respectively.¹ Bālājī returned in triumph to Sātārā, where honours were showered upon him; but he was now nearing sixty, and the hardships of the campaign had proved too great for him. He retired to his country-house at Sāswād near Purandar, where he expired in April, 1720. His lifework had been completed.