Fall of the Mughal Empire v1.c15.s10.1

v1.c15.s10.1

Safdar Jang had been roving aimlessly in the suburbs of Delhi, passing from the north by the west to the south of the city. Neither party at first deemed it wise to force a clash of arms, and hence they carried on negotiations for a settlement, while using the respite to raise fresh troops for the contest that they knew to be inevitable. One contemporary [*Bayān*, 277] says that Safdar Jang shrank from assaulting the city at the outset when his military superiority was at its height and his enemies unprepared, because he wished to spare the citizens all the horrors of a sack, and was confident that the mere terror of his arms would compel the Court party to sue for peace. But every day that passed in inaction only lessened the difference in strength between the two parties and exhausted his finances. The feeding of Safdar Jang’s vast army and horde of camp followers soon became a serious problem, which could end only in disorder and conflict. On 22nd April he ordered Rājendra-giri to go to the eastern side of the Jamuna and bring in provisions from the villages there (all of which belonged to the Crownlands or the estates of nobles), by any means he could, which meant plunder. This act of violence stopped the grain supply of Delhi and sharply raised food-prices in the capital. The Emperor wrote to protest, but the wazir refused to recall his men and replied, “My enemies are Intizām and Imād, and my business is with *them*. They have turned the Emperor against me. Tell them to come out and fight me.” He gave a similar message (29th April) to Imād’s chief officer, Aqibat Mahmud, abusing the Turāni leaders and challenging them to “come forth and fight if they were men.” To the Emperor he sent the reply, “I shall slay the Turānis in any way I can.” [*TAh. 51b.*]