Later Mughals v1.c9.s36: Section 38.—The Last Day of the Reign.
Later Mughals v1.c9.s36
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Section 38.—The Last Day of the Reign.
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At last the fateful morning dawned of the 9th Rabi II. 1131 H. (28th February, 1719). Only an hour or an hour-anda-half after daybreak, a great disturbance arose in the city. Muhammad Amin Khan Chin Bahadur, and Zakariya Khan (son of Abdus-samad Khan), at the desire apparently of Husain Ali Khan, were on their way at the head of their Mughals to attend the Sayyid's darbar.* As the crowd of Mahrattas in the streets and lanes near the fort impeded their progress, the Mughals began to push them forcibly on one side, and open a route for the two Nawabs and their retinue. Having in the Dakhin felt for many a year the weight of their right arm, the Mahrattas as soon as they saw their Mughals' faces, fled like a flock of sheep before a pack of wolves. So overcome with fear were they, that with no man pursuing, they allowed the bazar idlers—butchers, washermen, and scavengers—to relieve them of their horses and spears. Things came to such a pass that the Bhatiyarins, or women attendants belonging to the public sarai in Mughalpura, seized each the bridle reins of some five of these Rawat† horsemen, and by hitting them with sticks or throwing bricks at them, unhorsed them in spite of their lances, stripped them, and killed them. In their panic the men lifted neither hand nor foot to defend themselves, but crept like mice into any doorway or passage that they could find. They were killed as if they were dogs or cats. It was enough for a shopkeeper to stand up, and with a sign or a frown to demand the surrender of their arms. Calling out, *Are bap! Are bap!* and throwing away their straight Dakhini swords [Dhup] and their shields, they stood on one leg with a straw between their lips, and besought mercy, saying *Nako! Nako!* ‡ Two or three leaders of repute lost their lives, among them the chief Santa, who commanded some five or six thousand horsemen. From the gate of the fort to the entrance of the hunting preserve, and the market (*mandavi*) and the Takiya of Majnun Shah, a distance of three or four *kos*, bodies were to be seen in every direction. The slain included many men who, from the darkness of their complexion, had been mistaken for Mahrattas. All the *aftabgir*, a kind of standard which the Mahrattas carry as a mark of honour, one to every fifteen or twenty horsemen, had disappeared.* The lining of their saddles was ripped open, the plundered gold and jewels hidden there were taken, and the bags of coin collected from villages in Rajah Jai Singh's country, were extracted from their waistcloths. It was estimated that 1,500 to 2,000 Mahrattas lost their lives on that day.† This, the first armed Mahratta appearance at Dihli, where in forty years' time they were to be lords and masters, was not of happy augury. They were not accustomed to street fighting and were, no doubt, overtaken by irresistible panic.‡ Khafi Khan draws the moral that this disgraceful rout was a special interposition of Providence. For, if it had not happened, would they not, for ages to come, have boasted that they had gone to Dihli, the imperial capital, and there deposed and imprisoned the Emperor of Hindustan? If Khafi Khan, poor man, had lived a little longer, he would have seen events that turned such a boast into no more than the sober truth!
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∗ Kamwar Khan, 192, who got his facts from Zafar Khan Turra-i-baz, who was present himself. Shiu Das, 25a; Khush-hal Chand, 413b; Muhammad Qasim, 248.
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∗ Kamraj, 66, Zakariya Khan was approaching the palace from the direction of Bazar Khanam.
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† Rawat (hero, chief), is used here by the Muhammadan historian as a synonym for inferior Hindus, mere rustics, or in other words "beggars on horseback."
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‡ Muhammad Qasim, 244. The custom known as *Dant-tinka*, or "straw between teeth," expressive of abject submission, Elliot, Supp. Gloss. 252; *Are bap* = "O father!" an exclamation of sudden terror; "Nako, Nako" = Dakhini for "Do not, do not," Kamraj, 66, and J. Shakespear, 2078.
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† Grant Duff 199, and Briggs 178, say 1,500; Warid, 158a, 2,000. Khafi Khan, ii. 811, says he himself was present as a spectator, and gives the number as 1,500; Mirza Muhammad has 3,000 to 4,000; Kamraj, 66, four hundred.
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‡ Warid, 158a; Muhammad Qasim, 244; Khafi Khan, ii. 811, 814; Mirza Muhammad, 453; Kamwar Khan, 193.
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During this outbreak reports spread that, on learning the intention to seize Farrukh-siyar, Maharajah Ajit Singh, unable to restrain himself any longer, had plunged a dagger into Qutb-ul-mulk several times, and had despatched him. Although everybody knew that, except the Sayyids' partisans, there was no one in the fort, and therefore no one likely to do such an act, people were ready, in the confusion and uproar, to believe that anything was possible. It was confidently asserted that Nizam-ul-mulk had come out to rescue his sovereign, but he was far too prudent to make any such attempt. He stood with his Mughals in the enclosure of the fruit market until he heard that Farrukh-siyar had been seized, and thereupon withdrew to his house. Other nobles who still clung to Farrukh-siyar's cause, appeared in the streets and turned towards the palace, prepared to fight their way to it. These were Itiqad Khan, Mir Mushrif,* Islam Khan, Mukhlis Khan, Munim Khan, Sayyid Salabat Khan and Saif-ullah Khan Bakhshi, with some of the Wala-shahi; Samsam-ud-daulah did not appear in person, but sent his men. Manohar, captain of artillery, with two or three thousand of the Emperor's artillery, also took the field. This group advanced as far as the Dihli Gate of the fort and the square of the late Sadullah Khan, just south of that gate. Aghar Khan with his Mughals also appeared on the west side of the fort, in front of the Lahori Gate, and wished to take part in the resistance to the Sayyids. But the gates were shut in his face and he was obliged to beat a retreat. In another direction, that of the Chandni Chauk, appeared Ghazi-ud-din Khan (Ahmad Beg) and Sadat Khan, the Emperor's father-in-law.
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∗ See Blochmann, *Ain*, i. 50. It was a sort of large fan of oval shape at the end of a long handle.
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The Sayyids advanced their artillery from its position near the imperial stables, and threw several shot from rahkalas and dhamkas in the direction of their assailants, and more than once the cannon over the Dihli Gate were discharged against the men debouching from the Faiz Bazar; while Sayyid Dilawar Ali Khan, the Sayyids' Bakhshi held the Dihli Gate.† The fight went on for forty minutes. Sadat Khan had pushed on as far as the chabutra or police office in the Chandni Chauk, where he received gunshot and sword wounds which forced him to retire.* His son, a youth, was made a prisoner and taken to Husain Ali Khan. Ghazi-ud-din Khan (Ahmad Beg) fought his best, but he had no disciplined troops, and the few followers that he led, after interchanging a blow or two with the other side, took to their heels. He, too, not being reinforced by other nobles, was forced in the end to beat a retreat to his house, fighting as he went.
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∗ Mir Mushrif, once darogha of artillery in Husain Ali Khan's service, had been lately taken into the Emperor's employ (Khafi Khan, ii. 812). Having quarrelled with Husain Ali Khan, he left the Dakhin, and arrived at Dihli on the 26th Rabi II. 1130 H. (28th March, 1718).
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† For Faiz Bazar, Dihli Gate of fort, Chauk Sadullah Khan, see Carr Stephens, 244, 245, 246, 247. Sadullah Khan, Wazir of Shah Jahan, died 2nd Jamadi II. 1066 H. (17th April, 1656), M. U. ii. 448.
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About midday the news spread that Farrukh-siyar was a prisoner, and that another Prince had been raised to the throne. Then the drums beat within the palace to announce the new reign. In spite of this, the opposing nobles stood their ground and resisted until the afternoon. When at last they saw that there was no further hope of success, and as the saying is, "to beat cold iron is profitless," they dispersed full of apprehension to their homes. The disturbance now ceased. From the square (*chauk*) of Sadullah Khan to the Dihli Gate the houses were plundered; while the imperial stables which surrounded the palace were set on fire, and some of the horses were burned. With these exceptions the city did not suffer.†
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† Mirza Muhammad 455; Khafi Khan, ii. 809, 812, 813; Ahwal-ul-khawaqin, 144b, 145a; Muhammad Qasim, 245; Kamwar Khan, 194; Kamraj, 66b, 67a; Shiu Das, 26a.