Fall of the Mughal Empire v1.c15.s1.4

v1.c15.s1.4

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.