Fall of the Mughal Empire v1.c10.s3: § 4. Law and order enforced by Abdus Samad Khan
Fall of the Mughal Empire v1.c10.s3
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§ 4. Law and order enforced by Abdus Samad Khan
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Abdus Samad Khān, a Turki immigrant from Samarqand (Ahrār) and a near kinsman of Nizām-ul-mulk and Itimād-ud-daula I., was created a *5-hazāri*, with the title of Dilir Jang and appointed *subahdār* of Lāhor in 1713. His first great achievement was the crushing of the Sikh rising under Banda in 1714, for which he was rewarded by promotion to the rank of a *7-hazāri* and the title of Saif-ud-daulah. Next, in 1718, he destroyed, after a severe contest, Isā Khān, a petty landowner of the Ranghar tribe, who had raised himself to almost princely power and dignity by successful highway robbery. This man's grandfather had laid the foundation of power and wealth by collecting and leading a robber-band. Isā Khān himself, on the strength of this heritage, was courted as a man of consequence. Joining Prince Muizz-ud-din before the battle of Jājau, he was enrolled as a *mansabdār*. Then, in the contest fought out between the four brothers at Lāhor in 1712 he was on the winning side and vastly enriched himself by seizing the treasure-laden carts of the other princes. His patron, on gaining the throne, made him a 5-*hazāri* and the *faujdār* of Lakhi jungle. On the fall of Jahāndār Shāh in 1713, he fought for his own hand, plundered and occupied the neighbouring district, defeating the local *faujdārs*, robbed the trade caravans between Delhi and Lāhor, and thus amassed a vast hoard of wealth and jewels. At the same time he was cunning enough to bribe the Emperor's favourite Samsām-ud-daulah (Khān-i-Daurān) and make him his patron at Court. Emboldened by this high protection, "he looted the people worse than before. The imperial officers who had been assigned *jāgirs* in this region, could not get a penny from their villages as the rents were forcibly collected by Isā Khān. He dominated the country from the bank of the Biās,—where he had built a fort named Darisā--to the village of Thāra on the bank of the Satlaj, in the Sarhind district, and through fear of him* the tiger used to draw its claws back.” (*Māsir-ul-umārā*, ii. 825-828, following Khāfi Khān, ii. 767-768.)
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Abdus Samad Khān, in 1718, sent his subordinate Shāhdād Khān Kheshgi, to root the rebel out. The decisive battle took place near the village of Thāra, the seat of Isā Khān, who fought bravely at the head of 3,000 horse, slew many of the imperialists, and even forced Shāhdād to turn his back. But just then, Isā Khān’s father having been shot dead, he was maddened by rage, and drove his elephant with blind impetuosity on that of Shāhdād, with the result that he was killed and his victory turned into a rout. His son took to a peaceful life and was left to enjoy his zamindari. Shortly after this campaign, the *subahdār* fought and slew another turbulent rebel, Husain Khān Kheshgi of Qasur.
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§ 5. *Zakariyā Khān, governor of the Panjāb.*
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Saifuddaulah I was a patron of the immigrants from Trans-oxiana and settled many of these Turks in the Panjāb by granting them lands and posts in the provincial army. In 1726 he was replaced by his son Zakariyā Khān, created Azuddaulah I Hizbar Jang. In 1739 the latter’s charge was enlarged by the addition of Multān, and he was, on Nādir Shāh’s recommendation, promoted to be a 8-hazāri with the title of Saif-ud-daulah II. He had married a daughter of the wazir Itimād-ud-daulah I., while his eldest son Yahiyā Khān was married to a daughter of that wazir’s son Itimād-ud-daulah II. Zakariyā Khān was a very strong and just ruler, vigilant in supervising the administration and protecting the people from oppression,—for which his fame spread throughout the land and he was idolised by his subjects in a degree unequalled in that age. He continued his father’s good work of putting down the brigand chiefs who used to disturb the country, such as Panāh Bhātti, the terror of the tract from Hasan Abdāl to the bank of the Rāvi, and Mir Mār, whose hunting ground was the doāb between the Rāvi and the Satlaj.
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Zakariyā Khān’s crowning act of nobleness was done for the relief of humble sufferers who had none else to befriend them and who could not do him any benefit in return. Nādir Shāh greatly loved him, and when passing by Lāhor on his withdrawal from India he pressed Zakariyā Khān to ask for a personal favour, but the only boon that he asked of the world-conqueror was the liberation of the artisans and other people of Delhi whom Nādir was dragging away with him to Persia. Nādir agreed, and thousands of Indian homes, far away from the Panjāb were rendered happy by this nobleman's unselfish generosity. [M. U. ii. 106.]
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After promoting the peace and prosperity of the province entrusted to his care, Zakariyā Khān died on 1st July 1745. "There was so much grief for him among all people, especially in the city of Lāhor, that for three nights in succession no lamp was lighted in any house. Thousands on thousands followed his bier through the streets, lamenting aloud, beating their breasts, and heaping up flowers on his bier, till at last not a handful of flowers was left in the city." (Anandrām, 139.) Zakariyā Khān had scattered plenty over a smiling land and read his history in a grateful nation's eyes. There cannot be a nobler monument to a governor than this.
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With him ended the happiness of the Panjāb. Zakariyā Khān I left behind him three sons: Yahiyā Khan (surnamed Az-ud-daulah II), Hayātullah Khān (surnamed Hizbar Jang II and Shāh-nawāz Khān), and Mir Bāqi. Yahiyā was a weak effeminate youth, while Hayātullah, a particular favourite of Nādir Shāh, seems to have derived from his dread patron a bloodthirsty oppressive and grasping character. [Ashub, ii. 452.] Soon after their father's death, the two elder brothers returned from Delhi to Lāhor, when Hayātullah demanded a partition of their patrimony. A settlement was delayed and the armed retainers on the two sides came to blows with each other. At last terms were arranged and Hayātullah,, on receiving a certain amount in cash and jewels by way of payment, withdrew to his faujdāri in the Jālandar doāb.
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But this did not bring peace to the Panjāb. The Emperor foolishly put off appointing a governor for that province. He rejected the wazir’s suggestion of giving Zakariyā Khān’s two provinces of Lāhor and Multān to his two sons, as likely to create a hereditary Turāni dominion there. Many emigrants from Central Asia had settled in and around Lāhor under the patronage of the last two viceroys and had built there houses, tombs and gardens, so that “the place had become a home of Mughals like Balkh and Bukhārā.” At last the wazir tried to save these fellow-tribesmen by begging the subahdāri of the province for himself. No more unwise arrangement could have been devised for the most important frontier province of India than an absentee and vicarious governorship. As the wazir’s deputy, however, Mir Mumin Khān, who had been Zakariyā Khan’s ‘man of business’, was appointed, which was an excellent selection. The wazir himself could not pay a single visit to his province.
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All these circumstances conspired "to destroy the peace and prosperity which the just rule of Zakariyā Khān had given to the Panjāb. . . . Disorder broke out. Everywhere lawless men, plunderers and adventurers, who had so long kept themselves in hiding, now came out of their holes and began to desolate the realm. . . . On one side the Rājah of Jammu rebelled, and on the other the Sikhs began to cause tumult and trouble." (Anandrām, 289.) The first deputy governor, Mir Mumin, had not the means of suppressing these disorders. At last, after long persuasion, the Emperor in 1746 agreed to appoint Yahiyā Khān as deputy governor, while the wazir continued as the titular subahdar.
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§ 6. Civil War between Zakariyā's sons.
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Yahiyā retained Mir Mumin as his chief officer, but his own soft character made it impossible for him to govern such a turbulent province. To add to his difficulties, his younger brother Hayātullah came to Lāhor on 21st November 1746, entered his mansion outside the city and called upon Yahiyā to make a complete division of their father's property. The discussion was prolonged, no settlement was made, and the soldiers of the two brothers often fought in the streets, while each of them stood behind his entrenchments in his own quarter of the city. At last Hayātullah’s patience was worn out; his soldiers clamoured for the arrears of their salary which he had no means of satisfying. So, on 17th March 1747, at about 3 o’clock in the afternoon he ordered his lieutenant Adina Beg Khān to reconnoitre his brother’s trenches. This move drew Mir Mumin out in force and a light and indecisive skirmish ensued, after which each side retired to its shelter. Next day, Hayātullah in person delivered a sudden assault; the portable artillery which he carried in front quickly scattered his enemies, and Mir Mumin was captured wounded. Lāhor could not hold out against the victor, because Yahiyā’s fugitive soldiers flocked into the city and mutinied for their pay, which was four or five months overdue. Hayātullah entered Lāhor unopposed (21st March) and seized the property of Yahiyā, who took refuge in the house of his widowed aunt. [Anandrām, 289-292, 304.]
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After thus usurping the government of Lāhor, Hayātullah assured his position by removing from their posts all the old captains “who had grown grey haired in the service of his father and grandfather” and confiscating their houses and property. He then sent his steward to the Emperor with some presents, begging pardon for his acts and requesting that he might be appointed deputy governor of the province under the wazir’s seal! The envoy arrived at Delhi with this strange letter on 3rd September and opened negotiations which the Emperor’s advisers considered it politic to draw out. [Anandrām, 293-295, 300.]
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In the meantime the political horizon of India was overcast and a great danger arose to threaten the throne of Delhi. Nādir Shāh had been murdered on 9th June 1747 and much of his wealth and soldiery had passed into the hands of Ahmad Khān Abdālī, his favourite general. Abdālī had crowned himself king on his way from Nādir’s camp to Qandahār (about 12th June) and laid claim to the heritage of Nādir. His immediate aim was to equip himself with the necessary funds by squeezing that wellknown milch-cow India. And for this a fine opportunity presented itself immediately.
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The civil war between Yahiyā and Hayātullah rent the government of the Panjāb into two, and made that province too weak to resist a foreign invader. In addition to this, Hayātullah who knew that he had hopelessly broken with his Delhi master by ousting the Emperor’s lawful representative and the wazir's son-in-law, looked round for an ally outside India and sent a letter inviting Ahmad Abdāli to come and take the sovereignty of the land. He also embraced the Shia religion, replacing the names of the Timurid Emperors on his official seal by the names of the twelve Imāms. He thus hoped to find allies among the Shia soldiery of Persia. [Ashub, ii. 453, Bayān, 221.]
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§ 7. Last years and death of Nadir Shah.
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After his conquest of Delhi, Nādir Shāh annexed the *subah* of Kābul and all the portions of the Panjāb and Sindh lying west of the Indus river down to the sea, as well as the province of Tatta or lower Sindh and the ports situated in it. In addition, he received in perpetual assignment the revenue of the four cis-Indus *mahals* of Sialkot, Gujrāt, Aurangābād, and Pasrur, which had hitherto been reserved for feeding the Mughal administration of the perpetually deficit province of Afghanistan. (Anandrām, 80-81, *Siyar*, iii. 30 and ii. 97.) The Emperor's governor of Lāhor signed an agreement to send Nādir twenty *lakhs* of Rupees every year on account of these four *mahals*.
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Thereafter the Court of Delhi enjoyed peace and protection from the side of Persia. Nādir was a great admirer of Timur; he used to carry Timur's autobiography with himself on his campaigns, and he had not the heart to ruin Timur's lineal descendant in India. During the remainder of his life the great Persian conqueror kept up friendly relations with Muhammad Shāh. In the midst of his busy life and arduous campaigns in many a distant land, he did not forget to send presents to the Emperor of Delhi. Thus, 110 mule-loads of melons, grapes and apples were received in December 1740, and 81 Iraqi horses for the Emperor with several others for the leading nobles of his Court arrived at Delhi in May 1746. Muhammad Shāh, in return, sent Nādir 25 *lakhs* of Rupees in December 1740, and 51 healthy young elephants in June 1746. (Anandram, 121 and 168, 115 and 170.)
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The conquest of Delhi was followed by incessant campaigns which shook almost every country of western and central Asia. In the course of these, Nādir's character underwent a rapid decline. He became a fierce tyrant, revelling in wanton bloodshed and cruelty, giving vent to frequent outbursts of fury and insane suspiciousness. A deep melancholy and loss of confidence in his people and officers settled on him, which made him harsh in his attitude towards them. The failure of his Dāghestān campaigns (1742 and 1744) broke the spell of his invincibility. Rebellions henceforth broke out in many parts of his empire; everywhere the rebels set up pretenders to the local thrones and killed the loyal officers of Nādir.
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His treasury having been exhausted by his ceaseless warfare, Nādir now resorted to the cruellest extortion to fill his coffers. Many of his revenue collectors perished under torture to make them yield more and more money. All wealthy subjects lived in dread of their lives. "These rebellions only increased the violence of his temper, and his acts became even more wild", as his secretary admits. People were put to death, mutilated or blinded on the merest suspicion. On the plain outside Isfahān, he burnt alive some Hindus Muslims and Armenians. When in January 1747 he set out from his capital for Khurāsān, in every province that he passed through he built towers of human heads after killing local nobles and commons. Each rebellion was suppressed with ferocious cruelty, but a new one soon broke out in another quarter. In short, "the last years of Nādir Shāh's reign were years of unspeakable misery for his subjects". [Mujmil, 10-40; Sykes.]
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The most influential element in the population of Persia were the Qizilbāshes (literally *Red Heads*, from their red Turkish caps.) These were the descendants of some Turkish tribes long settled in Persia and they formed the best soldiers in the East, often acting as king-makers. Nādir now began to brood over plans for destroying all the Qizilbāshes of note and influence with the aid of his Uzbak and Afghān captains, who had latterly displaced the Qizilbāshes in his trust and favour. He arranged with these foreign mercenaries to summon all the Qizilbāsh chiefs and captains to his presence next day and there massacre them, and then by a sudden attack annihilate their leaderless soldiery, giving up their property to plunder by the Uzbaks and Afghāns.
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The plot, however, leaked out. The Qizilbāsh chiefs, under the leadership of the captain of the palace-guard and Muhammad Khān Qāchār, took prompt action. At midnight before the day appointed for their massacre, they started, in a body of seventy, for Nādir’s tent to forestall the blow. But the terror of the great king paralysed the feet of 57 of the conspirators and they dropped off on the way. Thirteen only entered Nadir’s tents and slew him. [*Mujmil*, 15-20; *Jahankusha*, 461.]