Fall of the Mughal Empire v1.c15.s1: § 1. Muin-ul-mulk subahdar of the Panjab; his enemies at home
Fall of the Mughal Empire v1.c15.s1
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§ 1. Muin-ul-mulk subahdar of the Panjab; his enemies at home
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When the Emperor Muhammad Shah learnt of the defeat of the Afghan invader and the death of his wazir Qamruddin at Mānupur (11th March, 1748), he appointed the wazir's son Muin-ul-mulk subahdār of Lāhor. This was quite natural, as the late wazir had held the subahdāri of Lāhor in addition to the Chancellorship of the Empire and Muin had greatly distinguished himself in the battle that ended in Abdali's defeat. Muin's orders were to chase the Afghan king out of India and recover possession of the Panjāb.
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This was no easy task, as the civil war between Zakariyā Khan's sons for the governorship of Lāhor and the subsequent Afghan invasion had completely disintegrated the provincial administration, swept away the imperial authority, and introduced anarchy. After the battle of Mānupur, Prince Ahmad and Muin marched towards Lāhor, and arriving on the Satlaj near Ludhiāna halted for 22 days, at the end of which they heard that the Abdali had crossed the Indus at Attock and gone away towards Qandahār, vacating the province. But at the same place came (9th Apr.) a letter of recall from the Emperor and the prince set out (12th April) with the imperial army for return to Delhi, sending Muin as *subahdār* to Lahor under orders of the Emperor. This step left Muin with no resources except his personal contingent,—the remnant that had survived the Afghān onslaught at Mānupur—to support him in controlling the unruly province of Lāhor. In the camp on the Satlaj he went to the tents of the old captains and comrades of his father and begged them to accompany him. But love of family and the attraction of the easy life of the capital prevailed over ambition and gratitude; they refused and returned to Delhi with the heir apparent.
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Muin had no help but to start for his new seat of government with less than 2000 cavalry and a small number of other troops who were personally attached to him. In a few days he reached Lāhor and was welcomed outside it by the former officials and leading citizens of the place. He took up his residence in Fidāi Khan’s mansion beyond the city walls and set about raising troops. The recruits were naturally men of his own race, namely Turks of Central Asia (popularly called Mughlai),* many of whom were roving about in search of employment after the disruption of Nadir Shah’s army. [Miskin. TAh. 10b.]
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The new viceroy was an intelligent and just but lordly and easy-going ruler. He was confronted with enemies within the empire and outside it, but the former were the more formidable of the two. The new imperial wazir, Safdar Jang, was the malignant star in the Delhi firmament. Devoid of far-sighted statesmanship, patriotism or devotion to the throne, he was destined to ruin the Mughal Empire by pursuing a policy of blind self-aggrandisement. His one thought was how to ensure himself in the Delhi Government by raising around himself a ring of dependable clients at Court and in the provinces. The Persian party among the nobles, with Shia recruits of other races, was to be installed in office everywhere. Above all, the dynasty of Muhammad Amin Khan Ahrāri, which had held the wazirship for thirty years, ever since the fall of the Sayyid brothers, must be prevented from making that office its hereditary property with the support of other nobles of the Turki party, such as the Nizām. The late wazir’s son, crowned with the laurels of Mānupur, would prove a formidable rival for the wazirate and the rallying centre of the Turki party, if he could firmly establish himself in the Panjāb and use that martial province as a recruiting ground for the best fighters in India, so as to make his claim to his father’s office irresistible.
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∗ Among these newly enlisted mercenaries were two captains (jamadārs) Sabātuddin and Nāzir Muhammad Beg, who gave to Muin, as presents on the day of their first audience, three Turki boys aged eight years, including Tahmāsp. This Tahmāsp lived to become a Delhi peer and to dictate (in 1780, under the pen-name of Miskin) a most valuable and original account of the occurrences in the Panjāb during the next ten years and in the Delhi Empire for a generation later (Br. Mus. Pers. 8807.)
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The first instrument of this malicious design was Nāsir Khan, ex-governor of Kābul, who was recently living in Delhi in unemployment and official neglect. On removing to Lāhor in search of bread, he was received very kindly by Muin who appointed him *faujdār* of the "four Mahals,"—Siālkot, Pasrur, Gujrat and Aurangabad,—gave him some money, and promised to support him in an attempt to recover Kābul from Abdāli after Nāsir had established his power and prestige in his new charge. The ungrateful wretch, after about a year of service, felt himself grown strong enough to turn against his benefactor. He listened to Safdar Jang’s seductive messages urging him to increase his army, fight Muin, and wrest from his grasp the subahdāri of Lāhor, which would then be formally conferred upon him by a letter patent from the Court through the wazir’s influence! Nāsir by offers of higher pay seduced a thousand Uzbak horsemen of Muin to desert to his side. The plot now leaked out. Muin with great promptitude equipped a force, marched to Siālkot, and after a four hours’ battle drove Nāsir Khan in utter rout to Delhi, “covered with public disgrace” (c. July 1749.) [Miskin 5-6, Muz. 9, 26, TAh. 24b.]
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At the same time Safdar Jang had planted another thorn in the sides of Muin. He had found a useful tool for this purpose in Shahnawaz Khan (Hizbar Jang, the second son of Zakariya Khan), who, though a Turk by birth, had become a Shia like Safdar Jang and sought his patronage. The wazir told him, “The subahdāri of Lahor is your rightful heritage. Prepare yourself to win it by all means. Go to Multan, there increase your army, and expel Muin from Lāhor by force.” The wazir sent Shahnawaz to Multan (c. May 1749), with an imperial letter of appointment as subahdar of that province and some money and equipment of his own. This noble, on arrival at Multan, began to increase his army by seducing Muin’s soldiers with offers of higher pay, and in this way gathered 15,000 men, horse and foot, round his banners with some pieces of artillery.
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Then he wrote to Muin asking for a passport to visit his father’s tomb at Lahor! The trick was too transparent. Muin took prompt action. He sent an army under his Bakhshi Asmat Khan and his diwan Rajah Kuramal to Multan, where Shahnawaz was defeated, his army was dissolved, and Kuramal was installed as governor on behalf of Muin (c. Sep. or Oct. 1749.) [Miskin 7-8, Muz. 26, TAh. 25a.]