Fall of the Mughal Empire v1.c12.s2.15

v1.c12.s2.15

"Ishwari Singh and high and low alike in the city of Jaipur were grieved at his death. Nay, all Hindustan mourned for him," as a Maratha agent reported. [S. P. D., ii. 1.] His son Keshav-das succeeded him as minister but, on a false charge of holding treasonable correspondence which was fabricated by his rival Hara-govind Nātāni, he was poisoned by command of his senseless master (c. August 1750.) The other elder statesman, Vidyādhar, was now a bed-ridden invalid. The old chief of artillery, Shivnāth Bhāyā, was thrown into prison with his entire family, wives and children. Ishwari Singh's only counsellors and confidants now were a barber and an elephant-driver! No wonder we find a Marātha observer reporting in November that the whole country of Jaipur had been convulsed. [S. P. D., ii. 15.]