Later Mughals v1.c8.s5: Sec. 5.—The Court Moves to Dihli—Despatch of Azz-ud-din to Agra.
Later Mughals v1.c8.s5
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Sec. 5.—The Court Moves to Dihli—Despatch of Azz-ud-din to Agra.
v1.c8.s5.1
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.'†
v1.c8.s5.2
∗ 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.
v1.c8.s5.3
† 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.
v1.c8.s5.4
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.
v1.c8.s5.6
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.]