The Cambridge History of India, Vol. III: Turks and Afghans v3.c25.145

v3.c25.145

The domination of ‘Ālam Khān was even less tolerable than that of Daryā Khān. The latter had, at least, observed some moderation in the pomp with which he surrounded himself, but the former encroached, in this respect, on the royal prerogative. A minister whose power was absolute might well have avoided this indiscretion and should have understood that a king deprived of his power will cling all the more jealously to its outward symbols. Nor was this his greatest error. The assassination of the recently ennobled fowler wounded the king’s affections as well as his honour, and in crushing one presumptuous minister he had learned how to deal with another. By a private appeal to the loyalty of some, who, though nominally ‘Ālam Khān’s followers were no less disgusted than the king with his arrogance and presumption, he succeeded in ridding himself of his new master. On a night when Mujāhid Khān was on duty at the palace the king persuaded him to assemble his troops, and at break of day rode forth with the royal umbrella above his head and proclaimed by a crier that ‘Ālam Khān’s palace might be sacked. The mob broke in, and ‘Ālam Khān, roused from a drunken slumber, fled in confusion and made the best of his way to Māndū, where he joined his former enemy, Daryā Khān.