Fall of the Mughal Empire v1.c12.s2.19

v1.c12.s2.19

The Jaipur wakil in alarm reported to his master that Malhar was coming to avenge the murder of Keshav-das. The old discarded ministers, Haragovind Nātāni and Vidyādhar, went to Ishwari Singh and advised him to assemble his troops and fight Holkar either in the open or from within the walled city. The Rajah disliked this counsel; he called his new favourites, the barber and the elephant-driver, and ordered them to go to the Maratha camp, appease the wrath of Holkar by paying four or five lakhs, and turn him back from the way. They flatly refused to go, saying that they would be killed by Holkar in retaliation for Keshav-das's death, and that their master might slay them there if he wished but should not send them to face the Maratha's fury. The Rajah remained silent and brooded over his fate.