The Cambridge History of India, Vol. III: Turks and Afghans v3.c26.21

v3.c26.21

He was a confirmed drunkard, and left the administration almost entirely in the hands of Mughīs and Mahmūd Khān, but displayed a malignant activity in putting to death his three brothers and blinding his nephew and son-in-law, Nizām Khān, and his three young sons. This barbarity alienated Mahmūd Khān, who began to scheme to depose the tyrant and to seize the throne for himself. His design was revealed to the king, who made arrangements to have him assassinated, but Mahmūd discovered the preparations and to protect himself took precautions so marked that they could not pass unnoticed, and the king took him into his harem and in the presence of his wife, who was Mahmūd's sister, conjured him to be faithful to him. Mahmūd swore that he harboured no designs against him and begged the king to slay him if he suspected him. The king excused himself for his suspicions, and outward harmony was restored, but mutual distrust remained and increased, and Mahmūd, shortly after the interview in the harem, caused his master's death by a dose of poison administered in his wine.