Fall of the Mughal Empire v1.c13.s5.15

v1.c13.s5.15

Ever since the beginning of Abdali’s attack on Lahor, the Emperor had been sending appeals to his wazir to patch up a treaty with the Ruhelas and hasten back to the defence of Delhi, lest the horrors of Nādir’s conquest should be repeated by the new invader from Afghanistan. But Safdar Jang after concluding the Ruhela campaign, dismissed his Maratha allies, and went to his own province of Oudh to restore its administration which had been completely upset by the death of its governor Naval Rai and the long absence of the subahdar himself in Rohilkhand. While the absentee first minister of the realm was thus neglecting his duty to the State and only looking after his private interests in the eastern provinces, Lahor fell to the Afghan on 6th March and the news of it reached Delhi on the 13th, causing the greatest consternation there. Most people sent their women outside the capital, chiefly to Mathura, which was then in the strong hands of the Jāt Rājah; and for some days no grain reached Delhi from the villages. The Emperor wrote a most peremptory order of recall to Safdar Jang, urging him to bring a strong Maratha force with him at any price. This letter reached Safdar Jang on the 17th, but he took a week's time to start, and sent off messengers for stopping the Maratha army which had by this time reached the bank of the Ganges on its return to Malwa. Overtaking it, he arranged for a defensive subsidiary treaty with the Peshwa on the following terms:—