Later Mughals v1.c8.s12: Sec. 12.—Prince Azz-ud-din's Advance to Khajwa, His Defeat and Flight to Agra.
Later Mughals v1.c8.s12
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Sec. 12.—Prince Azz-ud-din's Advance to Khajwa, His Defeat and Flight to Agra.
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When Jahandar Shah heard of the defeat of Abdul-ghaffar, the defection of Abdullah Khan, and the march westwards of Farrukh-siyar, he sent urgent orders to his son Azz-ud-din to move onwards from Agra, in the neighbourhood of which he had lingered. The Prince was not well pleased at his supercession in the supreme command, and furthermore was far from friendly to his father's favourite, Lal Kunwar. These causes may have led him to conduct the enterprize in the half-hearted way which was so soon to result in disaster. Nor could much reliance be placed on the leaders of his troops, some of whom were found, so early as the 1st Rajab (3rd August 1712) to be in traitrous communication with the enemy. From intercepted letters it was found that seven artillery officers had offered to go over to Farrukh-siyar followed by many other officers and twenty thousand men. The ringleaders were seized and thrown into prison; but disaffection pervaded the entire army, their pay being much in arrear. This force, numbering some 50,000 horsemen,* accompanied by powerful artillery, now set out on the march towards Allahabad. On the day that they reached the Etawa boundary, the faujdar of that place, the Ali Asghar Khan already referred to, appeared, and to gain time entered into negotiations. The imperial leaders demanded from him the revenue of the current year, which owing to the contested succession, had not been collected. They also called for the accounts of previous years. These demands, which in Azz-ud-din's own interests were very inopportune, were evaded by the faujdar with excuses founded on the revenue rules and by pleas about his accounts. This dispute continued from stage to stage until on the 2nd Shawwal 1124 H. (1st November 1712) they arrived near Kora.†
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∗ Sayyid Sadar-ul-haq, surnamed Taqi-ud-din Muhammad, Abul-Akbar, son of Shaban-ul-millat, was born at Jhusi in 720 H. (1320-1) and died there on the 7th Zul Hijja 785 H. (31st January 1384).—Mamba-ul-ansab, B.M. Or. 2014, fols. 70-72.
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† Khafi Khan, ii. 715; Ijad, 70b; Valentyn, iv., 299.
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At Kora they were met by Mahta Chabela Ram, faujdar of Chakla Karra Manikpur,‡ and as already noted, a protégé of Farrukh-siyar's house. Pressure was put upon Chabela Ram, but he refused Azz-ud-din's overtures. He was tempted with
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‡ Or, as Ijad says, of Kora.
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plate 44 of Constable's Hand Atlas is a corruption of this name. It lies one mile west of the Khusru Bagh and just south of the E. I. Railway.
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∗ Yahya Khan, 120a, asserts that Azz-ud-din's force was really no larger than one sent as an escort.
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an offer of a *mansab* of 3,000 *zat*, 2,000 horse, the title of Rajah, robes of honour, a standard and kettle-drums (the last three having been brought with the Prince from Dihli). After this offer was refused, they demanded all the treasure which had come from Bengal and all the money in the imperial chest. Chabela Ram prevaricated and ceased his visits. Much disconcerted at this failure, Azz-ud-din continued his route. The faujdars followed with their own troops, march by march, but pitched their camps two miles or more from the main army. It was now quite obvious to the Prince's advisers that Chabela Ram would seize the earliest opportunity to make his escape. Accordingly, when they were at Khajwa, Lutfullah Khan (then known as Sarfaraz Khan) was sent at the head of their best troops with a request that Chabela Ram would move his camp close to theirs, or that, in compliance with a written order from Jahandar Shah, then first produced, he should march into Oudh, to which Government he was thereby appointed. Chabela Ram accepted the second alternative. Next day, giving out that he wished to bathe in the Ganges, and would thence continue his road to Oudh, he moved to the river bank at the Khamsara ferry, some five miles from Khajwa. He was still trying to find out the easiest road to Allahabad, when spies brought word that Farrukh-siyar's camp was not further off than two or three marches, and the news was to him "as a rain cloud to a thirsty man in a desert." At early dawn he made a forced march and soon joined Frrukh-siyar.[*] Chabela Ram and his nephew, Mahta Girdhar Lal, were received with honour, their offerings accepted, and gifts conferred on them. Ali Asghar Khan, too, who had been watching for a chance of escaping, joined Farrukh-siyar at Kunwarpur a few days after Chabela Ram, and shortly afterwards, on payment of five lakhs of Rupees, was made Khan Zaman.
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Chabela Ram's arrival was most opportune, and from the money in his possession, he now began to advance fifteen thousand Rupees a day. Farrukh-siyar also borrowed from some merchants of Bengal and Patna, who joined the camp and travelled with it, the terms being sawai, or a return of the principal and 25 per cent., plus promises of titles and rank. The Prince's troops had been in great distress on the march. His leaders, nay he himself, only received every now and then a little khichri, (a poor man's dish, made of pulse and spices), and the day that they got this food was counted as a festival (Id). The common soldiers lived on what they could pick up in the fields, such as green leaves (saq), pumpkins (kaddu) and the like. The horses got little or no grass or grain.*
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∗ B. M. 1690, *fol.* 160*b*, says he joined at Bindki. According to Ijad, 80*a*, the camp was there on the 24th Shawwal (23rd Nov. 1712).
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Towards the end of Shawwal (29th-28th November 1712), while Farrukh-siyar was still at a distance of thirteen or fourteen kos, Azz-ud-din proceeded to throw up entrenchments at Khajwa. Being the site of Alamgir's victory over Shuja in January, 1659, this place was looked on as one of good omen. The ditch that they dug round their position was some fifteen feet wide and ten feet deep, but without water. The earth dug out was thrown up in the inner side, forming a protection of about the height of a man. On this earthwork guns were placed and one large mortar. The approaches were so defended, that they believed it quite impossible for any enemy to reach those inside. Their intention was to keep within cover, and if an attack were made, to reply by artillery fire alone.†
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† Ijad, 77a; Khafi Khan, ii. 698, 716; Elphinstone, 530.
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During this time Farrukh-siyar continued his advance from Allahabad. His force is variously estimated: some putting it at 25,000 horse, some at 50,000 horse and 70,000 foot. He reached Sarai Choli on the 19th Shawwal (18th November 1712), was at Hathganw on the 20th, Amratu on the 21st, Sarai Manda on the 22nd, Cheda Abunagar on the 23rd, Kunwarpur on the 24th, and Roshanabad on the 25th. Here he learnt that the enemy were entrenched at Khajwa, at a distance of about five miles. Next day they advanced to Aqilabad. Here a new adherent appeared in the person of Muhammad Khan Bangash, at the head of 4,000 or 5,000 horsemen, chiefly Afghans. For some years this man, a native of Mau on the Ganges, in pargana Shamsabad of the Agra subah, had lived as a soldier of fortune in Bundelkhand, hiring out himself and his men, first to one and then to another of the large zamindars, between whom there raged interminable quarrels about their lands and their boundaries. Muhammad Khan changed sides as often as he thought it of advantage to himself. Lately he had presented himself in Prince Azz-ud-din's camp, in the hope of employment and reward. Disgusted with what he saw there, he felt it more prudent to transfer his services, and now joined Farrukh-siyar. He was presented through Sayyid Abdullah Khan and taken into the Prince's service.*
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∗ Ijad, 71a; Khafi Khan, ii. 716; Khush-hal Chand, 391b; Yahya Khan 120a. The straits for money in which Farrukh-siyar was can be seen from his short private notes to Chabela Ram in Ajaib-ul-afak (B. M., Or. 1776) fol. 19b, 29b, etc.
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From Roshanabad, on the 25th Shawwal 1124 H. (24th November 1712), Abdullah Khan and Husain Ali Khan were sent on in advance to reconnoitre. If they found a convenient point they were to deliver an assault. The entrenchment was to be surrounded on all sides and a heavy fire of artillery directed on it. Farrukh-siyar was in favour of an immediate attack, Abdullah Khan counselled prudence while, as yet, the respective strength of the two sides had not been tested. The two Sayyids rode on, intending to take note of the position, until they were close to the ditch. No sally was made; they were not even fired upon; and they examined the position at leisure. During the night a disposition of the attacking force was made under the orders of Sayyid Abdullah Khan, Sayyid Husain Ali Khan, Amir Khan, Fath Ali Khan and Bahadur Khan (Zain-ud-din). Their cannon were placed in readiness behind the shelter of the mud walls in the neighbouring villages. On the left of Farrukh-siyar's army, positions were allotted to Ashraf Khan (Khwaja Asim), Mahta Chabela Ram, Afrasyab Khan, and other leaders of the Wala-shahi (or household) troops. Four hundred camels belonging to the other side were captured at the outposts and brought in.†
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∗ Khafi Khan, ii. 715; Ijad, 776; Khush-hal Chand, 392a. Hathganw is about 19 m., Sarai Manda about 11½ m. east of Fathpur; Cheda Abunagar I identify (thanks to my friend Mr. C. Rustomjee, c. s.) as a suburb of Fathpur itself. The other places are not traced.
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† Ijad, 78b, 79a; Khafi Khan, 699, 716.
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On the 26th Shawwal (25th November 1712), Farrukh-siyar's main camp moved on half a mile to Aqilabad. During the day the position of Azz-ud-din was assailed by matchlock and rocket-fire, to which his cannon replied. On the 27th another short move was made and the same distant fight was maintained. Again on the 28th (27th Nov.) there was a march to Bindki, and on this date one Haiya Khan, grandson of Hamid Khan Qureshi, deserted from the other side, and was rewarded with his great-grandfather's title of Daud Khan.*
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During the 28th Shawwal the distant attack was kept up and even rendered more severe. Early the next morning, the 29th, was fixed for the final assault. But during the night between the 28th and the 29th Shawwal (28th Nov. 1712), Khwaja Husain Khan Dauran, and Lutfullah Khan took counsel together, and to their timid minds no other idea presented itself except flight. That seemed to them the only way out of the difficulty. The Prince refused to move, and remonstrated in these terms: 'O Nawab! thou art like an uncle to me, and yet givest me advice to flee! How strange this is; for I have never heard until now that any one of Taimur's House has fled without a battle. We are in sight of the enemy: we ought not to retreat without a fight.' Khan Dauran, finding that his proposal was rejected, prepared forged letters, bearing the seals of Imtiyaz Mahal (i.e., Lal Kunwar) and Kokaltash Khan, to the effect that the Emperor was dead, that they had kept the body and allowed no one to know the truth; thus, if the Prince came quickly, he would secure the throne. This device had the desired effect.
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A little after midnight, one or two caskets having been filled with the most valuable jewels and some gold coins collected, Azz-ud-din, his wife Sayyid Begam, daughter of Bidar Bakht, and her women, were brought out and placed on elephants in covered canopies. A few special adherents joined them. No baggage was taken with them; even the treasure chests were left behind.† With all the signs of intense fright, they took their way back to Agra, which they reached in about a week. All their camp equipage and other wealth was left behind to be plundered. When morning dawned, consternation fell upon the abandoned soldiers, flight was their only thought, and many did not even take time to saddle their horses or gather up the most necessary articles.*
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∗ Ijad, 80a. For Daud Khan Qureshi, see M. U. ii. 32, and for Hamid Khan, his son, ibid ii. 37.
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† Kamwar Khan, 122, asserts that even the women were left behind.
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When word was brought to Farrukh-siyar's camp, his men streamed out like so many hungry hawks, to plunder and take possession. Men who had not known how to provide for one day's food, became suddenly masters of great wealth. The women's clothes left behind were so many, it is said, as to weary out those who were sent to count them. Farrukh-siyar's camp was now moved close to Khajwa. A pursuit was proposed, but countermanded by Farrukh-siyar. Of the property of the fugitives each man was told to keep what he had been able to seize. Eleven elephants were set aside to be afterwards given as presents. During a two days' halt at Khajwa some more men of note from the opposite side arrived to tender their submission, among them Sayyid Muzaffar Khan, maternal uncle of Abdullah Khan, Sayyid Hasan Khan (son of Sayyid Husain Khan) and Sayyid Mustafa Husain (grandson of Sayyid Qutb Nagori). Lutfullah Khan also seems to have taken advantage of the first opportunity to abandon Azz-ud-din and make his peace with Farrukh-siyar.†
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† Khafi Khan, 699, 717; Kamwar Khan, 122; Khush-hal Chand, 392a. Muzaffar Khan afterwards Sayyid Khan Jahan, Barha, d. 1131 H. (1719).