Fall of the Mughal Empire v1.c15.s10.5

v1.c15.s10.5

Events moved apace with the commencement of May. On the first of that month, Suraj Mal, now free from the bloody capture of Ghasera fort (belonging to Bahadur Singh Bar-gujar) on 23rd April, came to the wazir's camp at his pressing call with 15,000 horse and advised a vigorous offensive. Three days later, Salābat Khan, when out on a pretended pilgrimage to Shāh Mardān's shrine with his family, was collusively seized by a detachment from Safdar Jang's army and taken to the wazir's camp, where he was cordially welcomed and installed as the chief adviser and most honoured friend of Safdar Jang. Salābat, with a heart sore against his ungrateful young master and his new counsellors who despised the elder peers, taunted Safdar Jang with cowardice for having been turned out of power by "boys", when he had a splendid army that could have easily crushed the Court minions and re-established his own supremacy in Delhi. To Safdar's profession of loyalty and readiness to obey his master, Salābat replied, "What you say would be true if the Emperor were his own master and acted according to his own judgment. But he is constantly sunk in wine and pleasure, and has degraded the elder peers by giving authority to youthful upstarts. You ought to make an attempt to reform the administration, so that we may not be insulted by boys." [Ch. Gul. 409a; TAh. 52b; Muz. 71.]