Fall of the Mughal Empire v1.c14.s1.1

v1.c14.s1.1

We have seen in Chapter II how Ali Muhammad Ruhela had swiftly recovered possession of Rohilkhand in March-April 1748. But he lived to enjoy his triumph for less than six months. He was stricken down by cancer in the back and died on the 15th September of the same year. Of his six sons, the two eldest, Faizullah and Abdullah, were held captives in Qandahar, whither Abdali had sent them after his capture of Sarhind, and the other four were still very young. "Summoning, therefore, his chiefs around him, he made his will before them . . . . His third son Sadullah, was to be his successor until, if ever, his elder sons returned. Rahmat Khān was to be regent (*hāfiz*) and Dundi Khān commander-in-chief . . . . Fatti Khan was to be steward (*khān-i-sāmān*) with the special care of his three younger sons, while Sardār Khan was appointed paymaster of the troops. These chiefs were enjoined to consult together when any common danger required their concerted action." (Bareilly Gazetteer, 661; G-i-R. 28) Thus the administration of the vast heritage of Ali Muhammad Ruhela was entrusted to an oligarchy of chiefs and the territory practically partitioned among them. The exile of some and the minority of others of the heirs made this inevitable, if the Afghāns were to save themselves from conquest and expulsion by their hostile and powerful neighbours. "Hāfiz Rahmat, Dundī Khan and others were each the father-in-law of a son of Ali Muhammad and in the names of their sons-in-law divided these conquests of Ali Muhammad among themselves and brought the lands into their own hands. Giving a few villages for sustenance to their sons-in-law, they themselves enjoyed the rest in royal pomp." (Siyar, iii. 27. The actual partition as made in 1751 is described in G-i-R. 45.) "Sadullah was of so dissipated a character that the whole charge of the revenue and the management of the troops still devolved on Hāfiz." The parganahs of Sambal, Morādābād, Thākurdwārā and Kāshipur were given to Dundi Khan for the support of himself and his contingent of 12,000 horse and foot. Pilibhit was the centre of Hāfiz's own jagir. Similar grants were made to the other Ruhela sardārs. (G-i-R. 45.)