Later Mughals v2.c13.s21: Sec. 23.—End of Abdullah Khan.
Later Mughals v2.c13.s21
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Sec. 23.—End of Abdullah Khan.
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Muhammad Shah announced the victory to his adherent, Nizam-ul-mulk, in the following terms: "After the death of Husain Ali Khan we marched towards the capital, as soon as we had heard that Abdullah Khan had raised Prince Ibrahim to the throne and was planning resistance. Nor would he listen to our remonstrances. On the 12th Muharram of our second year we pitched our tents twenty *kos* from Dihli. Next day the battle began and lasted from morn to night. On the following day the imperial troops charged the rebels, Abdullah Khan was captured, and Ibrahim, who had fled from the field, was brought back a prisoner." [Majma-ul-insha, 86.]
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Inayat-ullah Khan and the officers of the Escheat Department (*buyutat*) were now sent with all despatch to confiscate the late Wazir's property together with that of all his relatives and dependants. Sayyid Ghulam Ali Khan, who had been left in charge of Dihli as the Sayyid's deputy, directly he heard of the great disaster, collected all the gold and jewels he could lay hands upon, and in the confusion got clear away, thanks to the disguise he had adopted. Sayyid Najabat Ali Khan, nephew and adopted son of the defeated Wazir, and then a boy of thirteen or fourteen years, was seized and sent to share his uncle's prison. [K. K. 934.]
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After this seizure, there was at this time no further pursuit of the fugitive Sayyids; their home villages were not confiscated nor their houses plundered. This forbearance is attributed to the intercession of Sayyid Nusrat Yar Khan, a native of the Barha village of Kaithora,* who had taken the side of the Turanis. Muhammad Amin Khan, however, did not approve of this clemency, and gave orders to his *amil* or manager, Abdul-latif Beg, then present with five thousand horsemen in the new Wazir's fiefs of Budaon and Sambhal, to cross the Ganges into the Duaba and lay waste the Barha country. Nothing came of this attempt. The Sayyids collected the Gujars and other tribes dwelling on their estates, and "broke the covetous teeth of the Mughals"; and as that "old dodger," Muhammad Amin Khan, died soon after, they were left for the time in peace. [Qasim 384.]
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∗ Kaithora or Kathora, one of the principal of the thirty-two villages occupied by the Chatbanuri branch of the Barha Sayyids, see Sayyid Roshan Ali's MS., *Sayyid-ut-tawarikh* (composed in 1864 A.D.).
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Meanwhile Sayyid Abdullah Khan remained a prisoner in the citadel of Dihli under the charge of Haidar Quli Khan, who, after the death of Muhammad Amin Khan, was high in the imperial favour. The Sayyid was treated with respect, receiving delicate food to eat and fine clothes to wear. But so long as he survived the Mughals remained uneasy, not knowing what sudden change of fortune might happen. Thus they never ceased their efforts to alarm Muhammad Shah. At one time, according to them, Rajah Ajit Singh, of Jodhpur, intended to make his own submission and loyalty conditional on the release of the Sayyid. From time to time other rumours were put into circulation. At last Abdullah Khan was removed from Haidar Quli Khan's care to a place near the imperial apartments, where he continued to be well treated. Two years elapsed, but the Mughals never ceased in their plotting, until at length they obtained the Emperor's consent to the administration of poison.* Sayyid Qutb-ul-mulk, Abdullah Khan, died of poison given in his food on the 1st Muharram 1135 H. (October 11, 1722), being then about fifty-seven (lunar) years of age. He left no children. In accordance with his dying wishes he was buried at the side of his favourite mistress, a singing woman called Kesar Mahi, in a walled garden outside the Pumba gate of Old Dihli. This garden was situated on the high road to the shrine of the saint Nizam-ud-din Auliya; it had been presented to Qutb-ul-mulk by Rajah Bakht Mal, diwan of the Khalsa.†
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† Jauhar-i-samsam of Muhsin Sadiqi, son of Hanif, B.M. Oriental MS. No. 1898. I quote from A. R. Fuller's translation, B.M. Addl. MS. No.