The Cambridge History of India, Vol. IV: The Mughul Period v4.c21.s1.43

v4.c21.s1.43

Ahmad Abdālī entered the fort of Delhi on 28 January, 1757, and met 'Ālamgīr II, and on the same day the sack of the city began. The pillage was not accompanied, as during Nādir Shāh's invasion, by massacre, but the people suffered great misery and many of the more respectable killed themselves to escape dishonour. Ahmad stayed in the city for nearly a month, during which time the daughter of prince A'azz-ud-dīn, the emperor's deceased elder brother, was married to prince Tīmūr, eldest son of the invader.¹ After resting his troops in Delhi he sent a force under one of his officers, with Ghāzī-ud-dīn, to punish Sūraj Mal the Jāt for having allied himself with Safdar Jang, and himself followed the troops. Sūraj Mal's forts were not easily reduced and Ghāzī-ud-dīn begged that a force might be sent with him into the Dūāb and Oudh, to collect tribute for the Abdālī, and that two princes of the imperial house should accompany him to provide against any attempt to set up a pretender at Delhi.