The Cambridge History of India, Vol. III: Turks and Afghans v3.c21.16

v3.c21.16

Mubārak, beside whose weakness that of his father assumes the appearance of strength, found it no longer necessary to feign vassalage to any of the rulers who now governed the fragments of Tīmūr's vast empire, and freely used the royal title of Shāh, which his father had never assumed. On his coinage he was styled Mu'izz-ud-dīn Mubārak Shāh, and another unmistakable claim to complete independence was exhibited in his profession of allegiance to the puppet Caliph alone. He confirmed most of the nobles in the fiefs and appointments which they had held during the late reign, but, conscious of his own weakness, pursued the fatuous policy of perpetually transferring them from one fief to another. He perhaps attained his object of preventing any one noble from acquiring a dangerous local influence in any district of the kingdom, but it was attained at the cost of efficient administration, and the discontent of the nobles, harassed by these vexatious transfers, led finally to his downfall. In pursuance of this policy Malik Rajab Nādira, son of the late Sadhū Nādira, was transferred from Fīrūzābād and Hānsī to Dīpālpūr, to make room for the king's nephew, Malik Bada, who eventually succeeded him as Muhammad Shāh.