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Later Mughals v1.c8: Chapter III. Jahandar Shah

Later Mughals v1.c8

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Chapter III. Jahandar Shah

Sec. 1.—New Appointments.

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All his rivals having been removed, Jahandar Shah proceeded at once to carry out his formal enthronement and proclamation as sovereign of Hindustan. Tents were erected on the battle-field outside Lahor, and on the 21st Safar 1124 H. (29th March, 1712), the day after the defeat of Rafi-ush-shan, the usual ceremonies were observed. Jahandar Shah was at the time fifty-two (lunar) years of age. His titles were Abul-fath, Muhammad Muizz-ud-din, Jahandar Shah. [Nur. 66.]

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The usual re-distribution of the great offices of the State followed the coronation. Asad Khan remained, as during the reign of Bahadur Shah, *Wakil-i-mutlaq* or Vice-gerent. His son, Zulfiqar Khan, Nusrat Jang, became chief minister, with the rank of 8,000 *zat* and a gift of a large sum of money. Ali Murad Kokaltash Khan, who had been long in Jahandar Shah's service, was given the title of Khan Jahan, and appointed to be first *Bakhshi*. The office of *diwan* of the *Tan*, or assigned land revenue, was conferred on Ikhlas Khan in addition to his former office of *darogha* of the *arz mukarrar*; while Sabha Chand, secretary to Zulfiqar Khan was made a Rajah and entrusted with the post of *diwan* of the public revenues or *Khalsa-i-sharifa*. Hidayatullah Khan (known as Wazarat Khan in the last year of Bahadur Shah) was created Sadullah Khan and made *Khan-saman* or Lord High Steward. Sayyid Raji Muhammad Khan, a Gardezi of Manikpur, subah Allahabad, who had acquired great credit by blowing up Jahan Shah's powder magazines, became *Mir Atash*, or commander of artillery. Khwaja Husain, who had married the sister of Kokaltash Khan's wife, was made Khan Dauran, and 2nd *Bakhshi*; while Muhammad Mah Zafar Khan, brother of the said Kokaltash Khan, became Azam Khan with the governorship of Agra. Lutfullah Khan Sadiq Panipati, who had been one of Jahan Shah's chief advisers, but early deserted him and obtained pardon by a large bribe (said to have been thirty lakhs of Rupees), was now made diwan to the new Emperor's eldest son, Azz-ud-din. Inayatullah Khan Kashmiri was sent off to the subah of Kashmir, which he already held, and Zabardast Khan (with the new title of Ali Mardan Khan) was appointed to Lahor.*

Sec. 2.—Executions and Imprisonments.

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The troops of the deceased Princes, on being refused further employment, dispersed in all directions, some thousands of them marching eastwards to Bihar and Bengal under Mir Ishaq,† (son of Amir Khan deceased), Khwaja Muzaffar, Khwaja Fakhr-ud-din, Khwaja Lutfullah and others. But all of the defeated party were not so lucky as to be thought beneath notice. Mahabat Khan, son of Munim Khan, the late Wazir, Hamid-ud-din Khan Alamgiri, Sarafraz Khan Bahadur-Shahi, Rahman Yar Khan, Ihtimam Khan, Amin-ud-din Khan Sambhali, and some others, were sent to Dihli as prisoners and their property confiscated.

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† Mir Ishaq is the man afterwards famous as Amir Khan, Umdat-ul-mulk, assassinated the 23rd Zul Hijja 1159 H. (5th January, 1747), Masir-ul-umara, ii. 839.

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Some of the prisoners did not even escape with their lives. Rustam Dil Khan, Mukhlis Khan, and Jani Khan, who had been prominent among the followers of Jahan Shah, were ordered out for execution. Jani Khan was spared on the intercession of Prince Azz-ud-din. It seems that when that Prince was a prisoner in the hands of the above-named men, as already related, word came to them that Jahan Shah was dead. Rustam Dil Khan exclaimed 'What was fated to be has happened; and what is to be will without fail come to pass! Let us slay Azz-ud-din and avenge the blood of Jahan Shah'. Jani Khan objected that such an act would be useless, and it would be better for them to take steps for their own safety. Accordingly the Prince was released, and he now repaid the kindness then done to him. On the other hand, Rustam Dil Khan's offences were many. He had urged Jahan Shah to seize and kill Zulfiqar Khan; he had used abusive language to Jahandar Shah in the battle-field and made every effort to take his life; worst of all, when retreating from the field, he had overtaken Lal Kunwar, then fleeing for safety to Lahor, and had swept her and her retinue roughly out of his path. If Zabardast Khan had not come to her aid, there is no knowing to what indignities Lal Kunwar might not have been exposed, for Rustam Dil Khan was about to undo the tassel of pearls hanging from the sash (izar-band) of her trousers, when she was rescued from his hands.

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∗ Warid, 79; Mhd. Qasim Lahori, 63; Kamwar Khan, 117; and B. M. No. 1690.

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What crime Mukhlis Khan had committed is not so clear. Some say that he was an object of dislike to Kokaltash Khan, and it is possible that Zulfiqar Khan may have borne him a grudge for the advice given to Jahan Khan to seize that noble. The traitor Lutfullah Khan Mughal, who deserted Rafi-ush-shan in the battle-field, is also supposed to have persuaded Jahandar Shah that his brothers would never have resisted him, if it had not been for the urgency of Rustam Dil Khan and Mukhlis Khan. The Dutch diary, which is coloured by a desire to favour Jahandar Shah, accuses both men of having entered the late Emperor's harem, where they plundered and violated some of the women.*

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Rustam Dil Khan bore to the last his character for reckless bravery. When he was brought before Zulfiqar Khan, the Wazir smiled and said to him; 'In spite of all your cleverness, what dirt have you not ended in eating!' Rustam Dil Khan laughed and retorted: 'You and I ate the same dirt out of the same tray, it agreed with you and not with me.' Zulfiqar Khan had no answer to give, but hung down his head. As the executioner cut off one limb after another, Rustam Dil Khan continued to comment freely on Jahandar Shah, Zulfiqar Khan and Kokaltash Khan, and even to the end he never flinched. As soon as breath had left the body, his mangled limbs and the headless trunk of Mukhlis Khan were hung to the wayside trees. The confiscated property of Rustam Dil Khan, said to have amounted in value to twelve lakhs of Rupees, was granted to Abdus-samad Khan. [Warid 85, Nur. 71.]

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∗ Warid, 83; Mhd. Qasim Lahori, 62; Yahya Khan, 118b (as to Jani Khan); Siyar-ul-mutakherin, i. 33; Briggs, 42; Valentyn, iv. 294. Anon. Fragment B. M. Or. 3613, fol. 16a.

Sec. 3.—Abdus-Samad Khan, Sketch of His Career.

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The history of Abdus-samad Khan, who in the reign of Farrukh-siyar assumed a more leading position, is a striking instance of the vicissitudes to which such soldiers of fortune were subject. He was a native of Samarqand, descended from the Naqshbandi saint Abdullah Ahrar,* and had served long in the Dakhin during Alamgir's reign without attracting any great notice. In Bahadur Shah's reign he came more to the front and strengthened his position by forming a marriage connection with the powerful Mughal family represented by Muhammad Amin Khan Chin. One day, towards the end of Bahadur Shah's reign, Abdus-samad Khan pressed his claims on Prince Azim-ush-shan, who was then all-powerful. The Prince disliked the man and gave an evasive answer. Abdus-samad Khan lost his temper and used disrespectful language. On a complaint to Bahadur Shah, Abdus-samad Khan was ejected from the imperial camp and ordered to start on a pilgrimage to Mecca. Reduced to the one horse he himself rode, he left the camp with his wife and family and halted at a little distance, hoping to negotiate a loan to pay his travelling expenses. These efforts had met with little success, when suddenly Bahadur Shah passed away and the contest for the throne began. Zulfiqar Khan knew that Abdus-samad Khan was a brave soldier, and his recent quarrel with Azim-ush-shan made him a still more fitting instrument for the coming struggle. He was therefore sent for and given the rank of 7,000 and placed in command of Jahandar Shah's vanguard. From this time his fortunes were made. [Warid, 124a.]

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∗ Khwaja Nasir-ud-din Abdullah, son of Mahmud, son of Shahab-ud-din Ahrar, a descendant of Khwaja Muhammad Baqi of Baghdad. At first he lived in Shash (now Tashkand). His mother was a descendant of Shaikh Umar of Baghistan, which is a village belonging to Tashkand. Shaikh Umar is descended in the 16th generation from Abdullah, son of Umar, son of Alkhitab Khalifa Sani. Ahrar left Tashkand for Samarqand and Bukhara, and dying on the 29th Rabi I. 895 H. (20th Feb. 1490), aged 89, was buried at Samarqand. Khazinat-ul-asfiya, i. 582-585, Beale, 5 (Abdullah) and 275, where he spells Ubidullah, and gives the date as Rabi II. 896 H. (Feb. 1491).

Sec. 4.—Death of Prince Muhammad Karim.

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The hiding place of Muhammad Karim, eldest son of Azim-ush-shan, was soon discovered. After a short time, his resources being exhausted, he was forced to make over a valuable jewel to the poor weaver in whose house he was hidden, with orders to pawn it and buy food. The value of the jewel led to the man being questioned, and in the end he disclosed the secret. The news reached Hidayat Kesh, a converted Hindu who was waqia-nigar-i-kul, or head of the central news-office. This man made Muhammad Karim a prisoner and produced him before Jahandar Shah, by whom he was transferred to Zulfiqar Khan. He was executed two days afterwards at that noble's quarters. They say that the wretched Prince asked with tears for a little bread and water, having been three days without food. No attention was paid to his request. After his head had been severed from his body, the corpse was buried at the mausoleum of the Emperor Jahangir, which is on the further or right bank of the Ravi.*

Sec. 5.—The Court Moves to Dihli—Despatch of Azz-ud-din to Agra.

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The Court now started from Lahor on its return to Dihli. Jahandar Shah left the banks of the Ravi on the 25th Rabi I. 1124 H. (May 1st, 1712); he entered Dihli on the 18th Jamadi I. (June 22nd, 1712).† During the march a rumour was heard that Farrukh-siyar, the second son of the late Azim-ush-shan, had left Bengal and arrived at Patna with the intention of contesting the new Emperor's right to the throne. Jahandar Shah treated the idea as ridiculous, saying that any one of the faujdars would be sufficient to defeat such a feeble foe. Still, as a precaution, the eldest Prince, Azz-ud-din, was placed at the head of some troops and sent to Agra, there to watch the course of events. A large sum of money, said to be nine krors of Rupees, was disbursed to him on the 15th Jamadi II. (19th July, 1712), for this purpose. His force is estimated by Khafi Khan at 50,000 men. As he was young and inexperienced, and had shown not only signs of discontent at his father's conduct, but also dislike of Lal Kunwar, he was not trusted with the real command. He was placed under the tutelage of two men (1) Khwaja Husain Khan Dauran, brother-in-law of Kokaltash Khan,* and (2) Lutfullah Khan Sadiq, the Prince's own diwan. These appointments were made in opposition to the advice of Zulfiqar Khan, Kokaltash Khan taking the whole responsibility. Neither of the men had any experience of war, Khan Dauran had never been in a battle, and as the event proved, no more incompetent leaders could have been selected. As has been wisely said, Jahandar Shah forgot the maxim, 'Place no man at the head of an army, unless he has been in many a battle.'†

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∗ Mhd. Qasim, 52, 62; Warid, 63, 64; Kamwar Khan, 114; Khafi Khan, ii. 688. The Dutch account, Valentyn, iv. 294, here as elsewhere favourable to Jahandar Shah, asserts that the young Prince was at first pardoned, but soon afterwards executed on the complaint of Kokaltash Khan 'to whom he had addressed foul language, and on account of his other debaucheries.' Valentyn gives a portrait of him.

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† Valentyn, 297, says the march began on the 10th May, which corresponds with the 4th Rabi, II. B. M. No. 1690 fol. 160a, states that they left Lahor city on the 26th Rabi, I. Khafi Khan, ii. 718, and B. M. 1690, fol. 160a, say the entry into Dihli took place on the 17th Jamadi I.

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It was while the Court was at Sarai Dauraha, between Lahor and Sarhind, on its progress towards Dihli, that Mirza Rafi Sarbuland Khan, brother-in-law of the late Azim-ush-shan, presented himself with five or six thousand men. Azim-ush-shan had procured for him the appointment of faujdar at Karra Manikpur in the Allahabad province. But forgetting all his obligations, as soon as he heard the result of the late struggle, instead of waiting to assist his patron's son, Farrukh-siyar, he collected all the revenue that he could, some ten to twelve lakhs of Rupees, and started for the camp of Jahandar Shah.

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∗ The printed text of Khafi Khan, ii. 697, calls him the nabirah (grandson), of Kokaltash Khan, probably a misprint for yaznah, (brother-in-law.) † Sipah ra ma-kun pesh-ru juz kase, Kih dar jangha budah bashad base. Masir-ul-umara, ii. 93; Ijad, 15; Mirza Mhd. 141; Khafi Khan, ii. 697, 700, 712, 715; Valentyn, iv. 299.

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There, through the intervention of Niamat Khan, a brother of Lal Kunwar, and that of Khan Jahan Kokaltash Khan, he received the governorship of Ahmadabad Gujarat, without the Wazir, Zulfiqar Khan, having been consulted. [K. K. 715, Ijad 49 a.]

Sec. 6.—Jahandar Shah's Life at Dihli.

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The next five months from July to December, until the Emperor marched from Dihli towards Agra, were given up to dissipation. As the proverb says ‘Mad already, he has now taken to eating hemp.’ [M. U. ii. 93.] Dihli for a time fell under the dominion of the Lord of Misrule. Grand illuminations took place three times in every month. In consequence of the extensive illuminations, so much oil was used that it rose to be half a sir weight to the Rupee; then, all the oil being expended, they had recourse to clarified butter until it, too, ceased to be procurable. Grain also grew very dear; not more than seven or eight sirs weight being procurable for a Rupee. One day some porters came from the other side of the Jamuna with head loads of grain. Lal Kunwar, who was looking out of the latticed window in the Saman Burj (or bastion) of the palace, sent for one of these men and asked him ‘What have you given for this grain?’ He replied ‘Five or six Rupees.’ She exclaimed, ‘Praise be to God! things are still so cheap! Please the Lord Most High, I will bring the rate to five or six sirs for that amount of money.’ From this may be judged what ideas prevailed in other State affairs. Another day Jahandar Shah and Lal Kunwar were on the roof of the palace, watching what was going on upon the river. A boat full of men crossed over. The favourite said ‘I have never seen a boat-load of men go down.’ A hint was enough. Boatmen were ordered out with a boat-load of passengers, and the favourite's wish to see the wretched drowning people struggling in the water was at once gratified.*

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∗ Khush-hal Chand, 390b. As to the drowning, Kamraj, Ibratnama, 46b, says that Zulfiqar Khan forbade it. The same story is told of Fazl Ali Khan, amil of Ghazipur, Oldham, i. 93.

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During these months the fiddlers and drummers, who were Lal Kunwar's brothers and relations, swaggered through the streets, committing every sort of outrage. Lal Kunwar was dignified with the title of *Imtiyaz Mahal*, Chosen of the Palace, and immense treasures, the spoils from Azim-ush-shan's and Jahan Shah's camps, were made over to her. Her whole family was ennobled, father, brothers, and brothers-in-law. Her middle brother was the most oppressive of all to the people. All the brothers were granted the *naubat*, or the right to play music at stated intervals, and the use of kettle-drums when on the march. Their titles were Niamat Khan, Namdar Khan, and Khanazad Khan. Some of the finest confiscated mansions in the city were given to them, and as Kamwar Khan says, 'the owl dwelt in the eagle's nest, and the crow took the place of the nightingale.' [Kamwar 119, Yahya 119 a.]

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To this period belongs the story of Niamat Khan Kala-want's* appointment to the *subah* of Multan. The Emperor signified his pleasure to the Wazir, but there was an unaccountable delay in the issue of the usual patent. The nominee at length presented himself to Zulfiqar Khan and made enquiry. The Wazir replied, with all gravity, that it was a well-known rule of every public office to issue no patent without a fee in cash. As he wished to be obliging, he would not ask for cash, but since he had need of them, would take instead one thousand guitars.† The stupid fellow, not seeing the ironical nature of this reply, worked his hardest and in a week sent as many as two hundred guitars to Zulfiqar Khan. The Wazir insisted upon delivery of the full number. Niamat Khan complained to His Majesty of the excessive bribe demanded from him. Jahandar Shah, when next he saw the Wazir, asked him the reason of collecting so many guitars. The answer was that when musicians were sent to govern provinces, nobles must discard their weapons and learn to play on the guitar.

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∗ *Kalawant*—These are the male members of the professional singer class; the women sing and dance, the men play the accompaniments.

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† *Tanbur*, a long-necked guitar, see figure on plate opposite p. 114 of *Ghunchah-i-rag*, (Nawal Kishor Press, Lakhnau, 1863).

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This remonstrance induced Jahandar Shah to cancel the appointment.*

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Among other wild freaks, an order was given to cut down all the lofty trees from the palace to the hunting preserve called Jahan-numa. Khush-hal Chand, a rare instance of an Indian taking notice of the beauty of natural objects, laments over the wanton destruction of the ‘spreading trees, with heads reaching the sky, the refuge and solace of the weary, foot-sore, traveller, the abode of far-flying and sweet-singing birds. Throughout Dihli and its environs it was for the trees like the coming of Judgment Day; and the trees on the two banks of the Faiz canal, planted by Emperors of high emprize, ceasing to raise their heads to Heaven, received wounds in the garment of their existence, and fell into the dust of degradation and disgrace.’ [Khush-hal, 389 b.]

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Gifts were showered upon Lal Kunwar and her friends. It is said that an annual allowance of two krors of Rupees (about £2,000,000 sterling) was made for her household expenses, exclusive of clothes and jewels. She was allowed to display the imperial umbrella and to march, with drums beating, as if she had been the Emperor in person. One writer says the days of Nur Jahan Begam were revived for her; that coins were issued in her name as they had been in that of Jahangir's favourite wife. Such coins of Lal Kunwar, if ever issued, have not come down to us. Low persons, such as Zuhara, a woman who kept a vegetable stall, were promoted to high rank and received valuable jagirs. There are many stories of the insolent conduct of these low-born favourites. One day Chin Qilich Khan (afterwards Nizam-ul-mulk), then living at Dihli without employment, was passing in his palki through a narrow street, when he was met by Zuhara on an elephant, followed by a long train of servants. The Khan's small retinue was hustled out of the way by the woman's followers, and as she passed she cried out, ‘Is that the blind man's son?’† By the Khan's orders his men pulled her rudely from her elephant. Complaint was made to the Emperor through Lal Kunwar, and Zulfiqar Khan received orders to punish the Nawab. Zulfiqar Khan, who had been previously spoken to by Chin Qilich Khan, objected to the order as likely to cause wide-spread disaffection among the nobles. The matter then dropped. [Scott, ii. Pt. iv. 81, Siyar 48.]

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∗ Warid, 80; Khush-hal Chand, 389b. Valentyn, 299, places the event on the 25th July (= 19th Jamadi II.) and his details differ slightly.

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† His father, Ghazi-ud-din Khan Firuz Jang, although in active military employ was blind during the last twenty-three years of his life (*Masir-ul-umara* ii. 875).

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Lal Kunwar herself was the cause of an estrangement between the Emperor and his aunt, Zinat-un-nissa Begam, daughter of Alamgir. This Princess had refused to visit or acknowledge the new favourite, who in her rage loaded the royal lady with the most opprobrious epithets. At his mistress' instigation the Emperor ceased to visit his aunt, and refused her invitation to an entertainment, because Lal Kunwar had not been asked to it. Again, as she did not like the Emperor's two younger sons, Azz-ud-daulah and Muizz-ud-daulah, their father refused to see them and sent them to prison. [Scott, 83; Yahya, 119 a.]

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Jahandar Shah and his concubine, in defiance of etiquette, often visited the markets together, seated in a bullock carriage, making at the shops such purchases as took their fancy. One night after a day spent in debauchery and in visits to various gardens round the city, they entered the house of a spirit-seller, a friend of Lal Kunwar. There they drank till they were intoxicated. On their leaving, the woman owning the shop was rewarded with a sum of money and a grant of the revenue of a village. During the journey home they both fell asleep, and, on reaching the palace, Lal Kunwar was taken out by her women and carried to her room. The driver of the *rath*,* who had also shared in the carouse, made no inspection of it and left it at the stable. The Emperor's absence began to cause alarm to the officers of the palace. He was not to be found in Lal Kunwar's apartments, and on her direction the *rath* was examined. There the Emperor was found fast asleep, nearly two miles from the palace. Khush-hal Chand quotes, as applying to Jahandar Shah when he woke and knew not where he was, the lines :—A drunk man is so happy that at the Resurrection he asks ‘Who am I, who are you, and what place is this?’

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∗ *Rath*, a four-wheeled carriage, with canopy, drawn by two oxen, and much used in Upper India.

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Another instance of utter abandonment of decorum was the fact that acting on the popular belief, Jahandar Shah bathed every Sunday in company with Lal Kunwar, both naked as they were born, in the tank at the shrine of Shaikh Nasir-ud-din Oudhi, commonly called the Chiragh-i-Dihli (or Lamp of Dihli), in the hope that his saintly intercession might bless them with offspring. It is necessary for attaining this object to bathe at this place naked every Sunday for forty weeks.* We are also told of what he did once on a visit to the shrine of Qutb-ud-din. Near it is an eminence ending in a rock, with smooth, slippery face, sloping down to the plain ; and here the street boys of Dihli amused themselves by climbing the rock and rolling over and over down the polished surface to the ground. Seeing them at this game, Jahandar Shah must needs do the same! It should be remembered that he was at this time, not a youth, but a man over fifty years of age.†

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† Khush-hal Chand, 390a; Iradat Khan in J. Scott, ii. part iv, 82,83. Also as to the bathing see Kamwar Khan, 120, and Kamraj Ibratnama, 46b. Muhammad Qasim Aurangabadi, in Ahval-ul-khawaqin, fol. 46b, has another version of the Qutb story, where a rocking stone near the shrine is rocked.

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Nightly the low musicians gathered at the palace to drink in the Emperor’s company. When these men became drunk they would kick and cuff Jahandar Shah and shout in a drunken way. Jahandar Shah, in spite of his long experience of the world, and all the training he had received from his grandfather and father, bore with these insults for fear of offending Lal Kunwar.‡ As for things forbidden by the Law, there was no longer any restraint; and the habits of the Court becoming known, all respect for, or fear of, the sovereign ceased. When the Emperor went abroad to hunt or for recreation, not a single noble attended, nor was he followed by any armed force. [Kamwar, 120.]

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∗ Shaikh Nasir-ud-din Mahmud Oudhi, Chiragh-i-Dihli, (a Chishti), grandson of Abdul-latif Yazdi. His father Yahya, a Husaini Sayyid, was born at Lahor. The Shaikh was born in Oudh, and died 18th Ramzan 757 H. (14th Sept. 1359), though some say the 13th (9th Sept.) is correct. Another authority has 752 H. (1351-2). The shrine lies about 7 miles south of new Dihli (Shahjahanabad), Khazinat-ul-asfiya, i. 353.

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‡ This story is also in the Dutch diary, where it is assigned to the 17th July 1712, Valentyn, iv. 298.

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Zulfiqar Khan, the Wazir, imitated his master's example and devolved his duties on a favourite Hindu subordinate, Sabha Chand, a Khatri, lately made a Rajah, a man whose harshness and bad temper were notorious. Zulfiqar Khan's former liberality was changed into niggardliness, he hindered men in their promotion instead of helping them, and the falsity of his promises and assurances became a bye-word. Partisans as well as opponents were dissatisfied with him. In short, as the Eastern saying runs, 'As the king, so the Wazir,' or as we English say, 'Like master, like man.'

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To add to the other sources of weakness and disorder, a feud arose between Zulfiqar Khan, the chief minister, and Ali Murad Khan Jahan Kokaltash Khan, foster-brother of the Emperor and now Amir-ul-umara, or second minister. For forty years, ever since they were children together, Jahandar Shah had been promising Ali Murad that when he succeeded to the throne he, his foster-brother, should be his Wazir. Khan Jahan, and more especially his female relations, resented his supersession by Zulfiqar Khan, although under the circumstances of the case, such supersession was obviously unavoidable. In their jealousy of each other, whatever was proposed by the one was opposed by the other. Contrary to the Wazir's advice, Khan Dauran, Khan Jahan's brother-in-law, was sent in command of the troops against Farrukh-siyar. In the same way, Sarbuland Khan was presented through Khan Jahan and appointed to a governorship, acts which lay solely within the competence of the chief minister. It was while the central Government at Dihli was in this disorganized condition that a claimant to the throne appeared in the person of Muhammad Farrukh-siyar, the second but eldest surviving son of the late Azim-ush-shan, and to his story we must now turn our attention.[*]

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∗ Yahya Khan, 119a, says the news of Farrukh-siyar's advance was

Sec. 7.—Muhammad Farrukh-siyar, His Early History, and Arrival at Patna.

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Muhammad Farrukh-siyar, the second son of Azim-ush-shan, was born at Aurangabad in the Dakhin, on the 9th Ramzan 1094 H. (11th Sept. 1683); and was now in his thirty-first (lunar) year. In his infancy he was sent to Dihli, but brought back to the Dakhin in 1105 H. (Sept. 1693—August, 1694), in his tenth year; and after three years spent with his great-grandfather, Alamgir, he accompanied his father, Azim-ush-shan first to Agra and thence to Bengal. In the last year of his reign, Alamgir recalled his grandson, Azim-ush-shan, from Bengal, giving him orders to leave his eldest son, Muhammad Karim, in charge of Bihar and his second son, Farrukh-siyar, in Bengal. The young Prince passed some years at Dacca, then the capital of the Bengal province; but in the reign of Bahadur Shah (1707-1712), he moved to Murshidabad, where he occupied the palace in Lal Bagh. He subsequently moved to Raj Mahal, higher up and on the other side of the Ganges. Azim-ush-shan, anticipating a struggle for the throne at an early date, called on Farrukh-siyar to return to Court. Bengal had been made over to Izz-ud-daulah, Khan Alam (son of Khan Jahan Kokaltash Alamgiri). Farrukh-siyar was on the march and not far from Azimabad Patna, when on the 7th Safar 1124 H. (15th March 1712) he heard of Bahadur Shah's death, and on the 13th (21st March), without waiting for further information, he proclaimed his father's accession and caused coin to be stamped and the public prayer or khutba to be read in his name. He decided to march no further. Some say that astrologers, on whom he placed great reliance, had prophesied his accession to the throne at Patna and advised him not to leave it until that happy event had occurred. On the 29th Safar (6th April 1712) he heard of his father's defeat and death. For a little time the Prince contemplated suicide, but his friends dissuaded him, some counselling a retreat upon Bengal, others an advance into the Dakhin. One rumour which reached Dihli was that

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received in Shawwal (31st Octr.—28th Novr. 1712). Other accounts say 'about the end of the rainy season', i.e. 1st—15th October.

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Farrukh-siyar intended to leave Bengal and take refuge in flight by way of the sea. In the end his mother intervened and incited him to try the issue of a contest in the field.* Thereupon, with such state as he could command, he performed the ceremonies of enthronement in the bagh or garden known as Afzal Khan's, and proclaimed his succession to the Empire, issuing coin and causing the *khutba* to be read in his own name.†

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† Ijad, 14a; 39b, 40a; Stewart, History of Bengal, 382; Gladwin, Transactions, 94; Khafi Khan, ii. 707, 708; Kamwar Khan, entry of 27th Rabi I. 1123 H.; Warid, 139b; Yahya Khan, 119a. I have heard of a curious Hindi poem, on Farrukh-siyar's advance from Patna and victory over Jahandar Shah, by Sri Dhar (alias Murli Dhar), kabi, of Allahabad.

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No rasher enterprize was ever entered upon. Farrukh-siyar had been no favourite with his father and grandfather, and had been without authority or wealth during their life-time. It was only with reluctance that he had decided to obey his father's order to come to Court. He arrived at Patna with no more than four hundred followers, and there pitched his camp near the garden of Jafar Khan at the eastern extremity of the city. At first, when he came forward to claim the throne, none of the many nobles on whom Azim-ush-shan had heaped so many favours would espouse his cause. Most of them declared themselves on the side of Jahandar Shah. Murshid Quli Khan, diwan of Bengal, refused to move; nor was this so much to be wondered at, for great jealousy had existed between him and Azim-ush-shan from the first appointment of the latter to Bengal. At attempt was made by Farrukh-siyar to supersede Murshid Quli Khan by the despatch from Patna of a new subahdar, Rashid Khan, whose fate will be recounted when we come to the history of the provinces in Farrukh-siyar's reign.‡

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‡ Khafi Khan, ii. 707, 708; Ijad, 47b, 51a; Stewart, 384; Gladwin, Transactions, 33. 97,98.

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We have already mentioned the defection of Sarbuland Khan. He had risen to position through his connection by marriage with Azim-ush-shan. On his falling under Bahadur Shah's displeasure, Azim-ush-shan gave him refuge and made over to him Sahenda (in Bundelkhand) and other parganas of the Prince's jagir, as a means of support. The understanding between them was that if any great crisis arose, he should march at the head of three or four thousand men with a large amount of treasure that had been confided to his care. Sarbuland Khan acted in direct opposition to all his promises.* Another noble who was under equal obligations to the late Azim-ush-shan was Khan Jahan Bahadur (otherwise Izz-ud-daulah Khan Alam), son of Khan Jahan Kokaltash Alamgiri.† He was a man of the most insufferable pride, who made enemies wherever he went. In the early part of Bahadur Shah's reign he lived at Dihli without employment. When that Emperor was passing near Dihli on his return from the Dakhin, Khan Jahan was sent for to Court. Neither the Emperor nor the Princes were well disposed towards him. Wherever he turned, no smile greeted him, no brow smoothed its wrinkles. The Emperor refused even to read his petitions, owing to the disrespectful language in which they were couched. At length, Azim-ush-shan had pity on him, and after some exertion, the subah of Orissa was granted to him, with the office of deputy under the Prince in Bengal. This man was received in audience by Farrukh-siyar at the town of Surajgarh, in sarkar Farrukhabad (or Munger) of subah Bihar.‡ All honour was done to him. The Prince's chief man, Ahmad Beg (afterwards Ghazi-ud-din Khan Ghalib Jang), was sent to escort him, a rich khilat was conferred on him, his sons, and his chief companions. At the time of his leaving, Khan Jahan made loud promises that he would help. But he took no steps in that direction. Then one Muhammad Raza, who had been deputy-governor in Orissa, before the appointment of Khan Jahan, went off to Akbarnagar (Rajmahal) to visit that noble on the pretence of further negotiation. In the end, on one pretext or another, neither one nor the other appeared again.* Ali Asghar Khan,† son of Kar Talab Khan Ansari, who had been made faujdar of Etawa (subah Agra), and Chabela Ram Nagar, then faujdar of Karra Manikpur, subah Allahabad,‡ showed no eagerness to take up the Prince's cause. There remained only the two brothers, Hasan Ali Khan (Abdullah Khan) and Husain Ali Khan, Sayyids of Barha, who owed to Azim-ush-shan the Governments of Allahabad and Bihar, which they then held. [Ijad, 59b—60a; K. K. 715.]

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∗ If he launched his boat on stormy waters it would, if God were gracious, reach the bank in safety. After all, what was life but a matter of a few days? Why not run the risk? (Her speech.)

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∗ His biography is in M. U. iii.

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⁸⁰¹ He was born c. 1085 H. (1674), and died 1154 H. (19th Jan., 1742), T-i-Mhdi. In the Hadiqat-ul-aqalim, 131, we are told that Shaikh Allahyar, the author's father, tried to persuade Sarbuland Khan that gratitude required him to join Farrukh-siyar. The author mentions a village, Bani, or Topi, in Kora, as the jagir of Azim-ush-shan, which was then in S. B. K's charge. He had been sent as naib to Bengal in the 2nd year of B. Shah. There he quarrelled with Zia-ullah Khan (son of Inayatullah Khan Kashmiri), the diwan, and was recalled. Then in the 3rd year of B. S. he was sent to the charge of Kora, where Azim-ush-shan had his jagir (B. M. Or. No. 1690).

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† His biography is in M. U. iii. 949, under his former title of Sipahdar Khan. His name was Mhd. Muhsin. B. c. 1064 H. (1653-4) d. 1130 H. (Oct. Nov. 1718).

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‡ Surajgarh, a mahal in sarkar Munger (Ain, ii. 155), on the right bank of the Ganges 20 m.w. of Munger (Thornton, 929).

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† See M. U. i. 829-832, under his subsequent title of Khan Zaman B., born c. 1085 H. (1674-5), d. 4th Zul Hijja 1155 H. (29th Jan., 1743), T-i-Mhdi.

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‡ For C. R. see M. U. ii.

Sec. 8.—Account of the Barha Sayyids.

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The Sayyids of Barha claim to be descended from Abul-farah, of Wasit in Mesopotamia. Several hundred years ago, at a date which cannot be fixed exactly, Abul-farah and his twelve sons came from Wasit to India, settling at first in four villages near Patiala, in the sarkar of Sarhind and subah of Dihli. From these villages the four branches, into which they are divided, derive their names.§ Then crossing the Jamuna, they formed a settlement on the eastern side of the upper Duaba, half way between Mirat and Saharanpur, in a sandy, unproductive piece of country, possibly at that time very sparsely inhabited. The etymology of the name Barha is disputed; perhaps it is from the word bara (twelve), with some allusion to the number of their villages.* From the time of Akbar, the men of this clan of Sayyids were famous as military leaders, and by their bravery had acquired a traditional right to lead the vanguard of the imperial troops. Until the reign of Farrukh-siyar they seem to have been little distinguished outside the profession of arms, and judging from what we know of their descendants in the present age, they probably had little love of learning. Brave, proud, lavish, they always were; and in our day, when their swords have been perforce beaten into pruning hooks, they have succumbed only too completely before the wily money-lender. In Muzaffarnagar many is the story current of the ‘Sayyid Sahib’s’ reckless improvidence and ignorance of the commonest rule of business. In the 18th century a Barha ka ahmaq, or ‘Barha blockhead’, was a common saying, and there was a rhyme to the effect that all the asses there were Bahadurs, and all the Bahadurs, asses. [S. M. iii. 441.]

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∗ At Dihli on the 27th September 1712 (26th Shaban 1124 H.), it was reported that Khan Jahan Bahadur and Murshid Quli Khan were marching to Patna to reinforce Azz-ud-din against Farrukh-siyar, (Valentyn, iv. 301). This report was quite unfounded.

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³²⁸ Daya Bahadur was killed on Azim-ush-shan's side at Lahor in Safar 1124 H. (March 1712).

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§ Chat-Banur is still a large town. Kundli has a few huts, Tihanpur is a petty hamlet, Jagner uninhabited, (Alan Cadell, Proc. As., Soc. Bengal, 1871, p. 261). I find Chat and Banur, two separate places in the n. e. of the Patiala territory, on sheet No. 47 of the Indian Atlas, the former about 16 m. n. and the latter 12 m.n.n.w. of Ambala city.

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The two Sayyid brothers, who now come into such prominence, were not the mere upstarts, men of yesterday, that it was too often the fashion to make them out to be.† Besides the prestige of Sayyid lineage, of descent from the famous Barha branch of that race, and the personal renown acquired by their own valour, they were the sons of a man who had held in Alamgir's reign first the subahdari of Bijapur in the Dakhin and then that of Ajmer, appointments given in that reign either to Princes of the blood or to the very foremost men in the State. Their father, Sayyid Abdullah Khan, known as Sayyid Miyan, had risen in the service of Ruhullah Khan, Alamgir's Mir Bakhshi, and finally, on receiving an imperial mansab, attached himself to the eldest Prince Muhammad Muazzam Shah Alam.

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∗ There seems to be no town or village in the Sayyids' country, or connected with them, bearing the name of Barha. Sir H. M. Elliot (Supp. Glossary, 110) speaks of the town of Barha as one plundered by Safdar Jang in 1748. On a subject so peculiarly his own, it is dangerous to contest any of that writer's statements, but unless I am much mistaken, the place so plundered was really Marahra (now in the Etah district), which lay in the course of Safdar Jang's march from Dihli to Farrukhabad, and also contains a well-known colony of Sayyids. Elphinstone (4th ed. p. 650) makes the same mistake. The Siyar-ul-mutakherin, Calcutta printed text, ii. 32; has, however, Marahra plainly enough. The error, no doubt, began with Mustapha, Siyar, iii. 83, who reads "Barr."

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† For instance, see Khafi Khan's remarks, ii. 730.

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Hasan Ali Khan (afterwards Abdullah Khan Qutb-ul-mulk) and Husain Ali Khan, two of the numerous sons of Abdullah Khan Sayyid Miyan were now men of about forty-six and forty-four years of age respectively.* About 1109 H. (1697-8) the elder brother was faujdar of Sultanpur Nazarbar in Baglana, subah Khandesh, after that, of Siuni Hoshangabad also in Khandesh, then again of Nazarbar coupled with Thalner in sarkar Asir of the same subah. Subsequently he obtained charge of Aurangabad. The younger brother Husain Ali Khan, who is admitted by every one to have been a man of much greater energy and resolution than his elder brother, had in Alamgir's reign held charge first of Rantambhor, in subah Ajmer, and then of Hindaun Biana, in subah Agra.

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After Prince Muizz-ud-din, the eldest of Shah Alam's sons, had been appointed in 1106 H. (1694-5) to the charge of the Multan province, Hasan Ali Khan and his brother followed him there. In an expedition against a refractory Biluch zamindar, the Sayyids were of opinion that the honours of the day were theirs. Muizz-ud-din thought otherwise, and assigned them to his then favourite Isa Khan Main. The Sayyids quitted the service in dudgeon and repaired to Lahor, where they lived in comparative poverty, waiting for employment from Munim Khan, the nazim of that place.†

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∗ If, as Rieu, 783, suggests, two of the portraits in B. M. Add. 18,800 are those of the Sayyid brothers, they were rather short men of a burly build, both with rather large heads and prominent noses, that of H. A. K. being especially beak-like. They have close-cropped beards, that of the elder brother quite white, the other's still a little black at the corners of the mouth.

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† Masir-ul-umara, iii. 130; Khafi Khan, ii. 456; Warid, 90, 91. For Baglana see Ain, ii. 208 and M.U. i.

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⁴¹⁴ Akbar (Ain 1. c.) placed

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When Alamgir died and Shah Alam, Bahadur Shah, reached Lahor on his march to Agra to contest the throne, the Sayyids presented themselves, and their services were gladly accepted. They were (Safar 1119 H. May 1707) promoted to the rank of 3,000 and 2,000 horse, respectively, with a gift of kettle-drums. In the battle of Jajau on the 18th Rabi I. 1119 H. (18th June 1707), they served in the vanguard and fought valiantly on foot, as was the Sayyid habit on an emergency. A third brother, Nur-ud-din Ali Khan, was left dead on the field, and Husain Ali Khan was severely wounded. Though their rank was raised in Zul Qada 1119 H. (Feb. 1708) to 4,000, and the elder brother received his father's title of Abdullah Khan, they were not treated with such favour as their exceptional services seemed to deserve, either by the new Emperor or his Wazir.*

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The two Sayyids managed to quarrel with Khanazad Khan, the Wazir's second son, and though the breach was healed by a visit to them from the Wazir in person, there is little doubt that this difference helped to keep them out of employment. Husain Ali Khan is also said to have offended Muizz-ud-din Jahandar Shah. The morning after the battle of Jajau, the Prince visited their quarters to condole with them on the death of their brother, Nur-ud-din Ali Khan, and in so doing launched out into praises of their valour. Husain Ali Khan met these overtures in an aggressive manner, saying that what they had done was nothing, many had done as much, their valour would be known when their lord was deserted and alone, and the strength of their right arm had seated him on the throne. Muizz-ud-din was vexed by this speech, and refrained from

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Nazarbar in subah Malwa. It was transferred again to the Khandesh subah about 1609, Bom. Gaz. xii. 458, where the name is given Nandurbar. Sultanpur is a town to the n. e. of Nandurbar town, ibid 471. Thalner, an ancient town in Khandesh, situated on the Tapti, 28 m. n. e. of Dhulia, ibid, 473. Siuni and Hoshangabad are two well-known districts in the Central Provinces, C. P. Gaz. 206 and 468. As to Muizz-ud-din's dealings with the Biloch tribes, see Masir-i-Alamgiri, 432 (year 1112 H.), ibid, 470, (year 1114 H.); Khafi Khan, ii. 462,463; Khush-hal Chand, 392a; Warid, pp. 86-88 (my copy, episodical account introduced in reign of Mhd. Shah). Also M. U. i. 825,826, under Khuda Yar Khan Lethi.

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∗ Khafi Khan, ii. 575; Kamwar Khan, 20; M. U. i. 321, iii. 130.

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making any recommendation to his father in their favour. Nay, he did his best to prevent their obtaining lucrative employment, and we read of their being obliged to rely upon the Emperor's bounty for their travelling expenses, which were necessarily great, as they were kept in attendance on the Court while it was constantly on the march.*

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In Shaban 1120 H. (Oct. 1708) Abdullah Khan had been named to the subah of Ajmer, then in a disturbed state owing to the Rajput rising, a condition of things with which Sayyid Shujaat Khan seemed hardly capable of dealing. Sayyid Abdullah Khan had barely more than reached Dihli, in order to raise new troops and make other preparations, when the Emperor, Bahadur Shah, changed his mind and Shujaat Khan was received again into favour and maintained in his Government. At length, by the favour of Prince Azim-ush-shan, Abdullah Khan on the 21st Zul Qada 1122 H. (10th Jan. 1711) became that Prince's deputy in the province of Allahabad. About two years earlier (11th Muharram 1120 H., 1st April 1708), the same patron had nominated the younger brother Husain Ali Khan, to represent him in another of his Governments, that of Bihar, of which the capital was at Azimabad Patna.

Sec. 9.—Husain Ali Khan Espouses Farrukh-siyar's Cause.

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When Farrukh-siyar first arrived at Azimabad, Husain Ali Khan was away on an expedition, apparently the recapture of Ruhtas fort, which about this time had been seized by one Muhammad Raza, Rayat Khan. The Sayyid had felt annoyed on hearing that Farrukh-siyar had issued coin and caused the *khutba* to be read in his father, Azim-ush-shan's, name, without waiting to learn the result of the impending struggle at Lahor. Thus on his return to his head-quarters his first impulse was to decline altogether that Prince's overtures. In truth, no attempt could well look more hopeless than that upon which Farrukh-siyar wished to enter. The Prince's mother now hazarded a private visit to the Sayyid's mother, taking with her her little grand-daughter.* Her arguments rested on the fact that the Sayyid's position was due to the kindness of the Prince's father. That father, two brothers, and two uncles had been killed, and the Prince's own means were insufficient for any enterprize. Let Husain Ali Khan then choose his own course, either let him aid Farrukh-siyar to recover his rights and revenge his father's death, or else let him place the Prince in chains and send him a prisoner to Jahandar Shah. Here the Prince's mother and daughter bared their heads and wept aloud. Overcome by their tears, the Sayyida called her son within the harem. The little girl fell bare-headed at his feet and implored his aid. His mother told him that whatever was the result he would be a gainer : if defeated, his name would stand recorded as a hero till Judgment Day ; if successful, the whole of Hindustan would be at their feet, and above them none but the Emperor. Finally she exclaimed, 'If you adhere to Jahandar Shah, you will have to answer before the Great Judge for disavowing your mother's claim upon you.' At these words Husain Ali Khan took up the women's veils and replaced them on their heads swearing a binding oath that he would espouse the Prince's cause. The next night Farrukh-siyar presented himself at the Khan's house, saying that he had come either to be seized and sent to Jahandar Shah, or to enter into an agreement for the recovery of the throne. The Sayyid bound himself finally to fight on Farrukh-siyar's behalf. He wrote at once to his elder brother, Abdullah Khan, at Allahabad, inviting him to join the same side, and Farrukh-siyar addressed a farman to him making many promises, and authorizing him to expend the Bengal treasure, then at Allahabad, on the enlistment of troops. It is quite clear that at this time, or soon afterwards, the two chief places in the Empire, those of chief minister and of first noble (Amir-ul-umara) were formally promised to the two brothers as their reward in case of success.†

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∗ *Akhbarat* or news-letters, dated 24th Zul Hijja 1119 H. (16th March 1708); Tod MSS. in Royal Asiatic Society's Library, (Morley, cxxxiii), Warid, 91.

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∗ Probably this is the girl who, when she grew up, became Mhd. Shah's consort and at his death in 1161 H. (1748) showed considerable judgment and resolution in securing the throne for her husband's son, Ahmad Shah.

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† Warid, 136b; Khafi Khan, ii. 708, 710, 711. As to Ruhtas, see Kamwar Khan, entry of 22nd Zul Hijja 1123 H. (30th Jan. 1712.)

Sec. 10. Abdullah Khan, on Being Superseded at Allahabad, Gives in His Adhesion to Farrukh-siyar.

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At first Abdullah Khan's intention was to submit to Jahandar Shah, the *de facto* Emperor, to whom he sent letters professing his loyalty and offering his services. Three months before the death of Bahadur Shah, he had gone out towards Jaunpur to restore order. In this he was not successful and the pay of his soldiers fell into arrears. The men raised a disturbance, and Abdullah Khan's only anxiety was to escape from them and take shelter within the fort of Allahabad. He promised publicly that as soon as he reached the city, all the collections then in the hands of his agents should be made over to the troops. On the return march, word came of Bahadur Shah's death. [Warid, 138b.]

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A few days before his arrival at Allahabad, Shuja-ud-din Khan, son-in-law of Murshid Quli Khan, *diwan* of Bengal, had reached that place with one *kror* of Rupees (about £1,000,000),* the annual remittance from that province to the imperial treasury. Hearing of the late Emperor's death, the envoy halted at Allahabad in some perplexity. Abdullah Khan, at his second interview with Shuja-ud-din Khan, impressed on him the danger of keeping such a large amount of treasure in camp outside a turbulent city; it ought to be removed to a place of safety within the fort, and when the succession was settled, it could be made over to the Prince who gained the day. Shuja-ud-din Khan yielded to this specious advice, and Abdullah Khan, as soon as he was master of the coin, used it to pay the arrears of his soldiers. [Warid 138b, K. K. 711.]

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While Abdullah Khan was still in expectation of a favourable reply to his letter to Jahandar Shah, he was surprised to learn that his Government had been taken from him, and that the deputy of the new governor was on his way to take possession. The province had been granted to a Gardezi Sayyid of Manikpur, subah Allahabad, one Raji Muhammad Khan,* who had risen to notice in the recent fighting at Lahor, and through the reputation thereby acquired had been appointed Mir Atash, or general of artillery. The new governor nominated as his deputy his relation, one Sayyid Abdul-ghaffar (a descendant of Sayyid Sadar Jahan, Sadar-us-sadur, Pihanwi).†

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∗ Khafi Khan, ii. 715, puts the sum at 28 lakhs of Rupees (£280,000). Shuja-ud-daulah, Shuja-ud-din Mhd. Khan, died as subahdar of Bengal on the 17th Muharram 1152 H. (25th April, 1739), aged nearly 80 years (T-i-Mhdi.).

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† Blochmann, Ain i. 208, 468. Pihani, a village near Qanauj or Lakhnau; Sadar Jahan was Akbar's Sadar in the 34th year (about 1589). He died in 1020 H. (1611-12) in Jahangir's reign; he was said to be 120 years of age, Beale, 229; M. U. iii.

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Abdul-ghaffar obtained contingents from one or two zamindars and collected altogether 6,000 to 7,000 men. When he drew near to Karra Manikpur, Abul-hasan Khan, a Sayyid of Bijapur, who was Abdullah Khan's Bakhshi, advanced at the head of 3,000 men to bar his progress. In the end of Jamadi II. 1124 H. (29th = 2nd August, 1712) they met at a little distance from Sarai Alam Chand,‡ and encamping four or five miles from each other, they passed some days in fruitless negotiations. Then Abdul-ghaffar prepared his men and sent forward his artillery. It so happened that the very same day Saif-ud-din Ali Khan, Siraj-ud-din Ali Khan, and Najm-ud-din Ali Khan, younger brothers of Abdullah Khan, and Ratan Chand, his diwan or chief financial agent, arrived with a reinforcement of four hundred horsemen. Although some of the Sayyids rode out to the front, Abdul-ghaffar could not be tempted into attacking them. At length, when the opposing forces were at the distance of a musket shot from each other, Abdul-ghaffar discharged a volley from all his cannon and without an instant's delay ordered his horsemen to charge. Despite their well-known bravery, the Barha Sayyids gave way, many were killed and wounded, the rest fled. Only the three Barha brothers with Abul-hasan Khan and Ratan Chand stood fast at the head of four hundred men. In a short time many of Abdul-ghaffar's soldiers dispersed in search of plunder, but he kept together enough of them to surround the Sayyids. They now came to close quarters: when Siraj-ud-din Ali Khan with many others was cut down and killed. A high wind blew up the dust and it soon became impossible to distinguish officer from soldier, white from black, friend from foe. Suddenly there arose cries that Sayyid Abdul-ghaffar was slain.* The Barha Sayyid's drums and trumpets striking up a joyful march, the other side lost heart and turned for flight. In vain Abdul-ghaffar shouted, 'I am here! I am alive!' No one listened, and the day so nearly won was irremediably lost. Abdul-ghaffar withdrew his shattered force to Shahzadpur, one march to the rear.†

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