Fall of the Mughal Empire v1.c15.s5: § 1. Character of Safdar Jang : his defects
Fall of the Mughal Empire v1.c15.s5
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§ 1. Character of Safdar Jang : his defects
v1.c15.s5.1
It was only in a fit of extreme exasperation, when feeling himself opposed to a blind wall in all his acts, that Safdar Jang was tempted to remove his rival by means of the dagger. But if he hoped for a clear field for his administrative activities from this crime, he was soon to be undeceived. The immediate effect of the murder of Jāvid Khan is thus graphically described by the Court historian : "When the news reached the Emperor, he was greatly perplexed, but durst not do anything. Khwājah Tamkin, the wazir's agent, came to the fort with a large force, secured an audience with the Emperor through the nāzir Roz-āfzun Khan, and offered the wazir's excuses for this audacious act, reassuring His Majesty in every way and professing his readiness to carry out every order of the Emperor. . . . The Emperor and his mother grieved deeply. It is said that Udham Bāi put on white robes and discarded her jewels and ornaments (like a widow.) But the Emperor said not a word to anybody on this subject." [*TAh.* 41.] The Queen-mother raged, though in secret, like a lioness robbed of her mate, and fell completely into the hands of two far more formidable enemies of Safdar Jang than the late eunuch. Jāvid Khan was a lowborn upstart, despised by the nobility and the populace alike, and actuated solely by a vulgar greed of wealth which he sought to gratify by means of his plurality of offices and hold upon the Emperor. He had no administrative or territorial ambition; and indeed this kind of activity was impossible for a eunuch who had constantly to attend the harem at the capital. But Intizām-ud-daulah had the highest social position and family prestige among the Mughal peers, and Imād-ul-mulk possessed the greatest organising power, penetrating intellect and iron will of any man then living; and these two now became the leaders of the Court party.
v1.c15.s5.2
Safdar Jang had not a single friend left to him in the Court circle. Salābat Khan was under confinement, Najmuddaulah was dead, and the two enemies who now had the Emperor's ears could not be mollified by money bribes as Jāvid Khan used to be. Nor could this defect of the wazir's position be made good by his own character. Safdar Jang was neither a good general nor a born leader of men. Personal valour he no doubt possessed, but it was nullified by his rashness and haughty disregard of the counsels of wiser men. He was incapable of forming far-sighted plans, executing combined movements, promptly mastering the changing situation on a battle field, or retrieving a disaster by the force of iron determination and cool personal guidance.
v1.c15.s5.3
He was of so lordly a disposition and so careless of money that he spent on the wedding of his son forty-six lakhs of Rupees, while the marriage of the eldest and favourite son of the most magnificent of the Mughal Emperors, a century earlier, had cost thirty lakhs only. [Imād, 36.] He was, no doubt, well served by Hindu secretaries and business managers who raised large revenues for him from his fertile province; but their efforts were neutralised by his extravagance. Nor had he the true leader's instinct of choosing capable servants and allowing himself to be guided by their counsel. Political foresight and diplomatic sagacity alike he lacked, and he could not build up any strong coalition, without which no one could maintain himself in power at the Court of such a fickle and faithless sovereign. In short, Safdar Jang had neither the sagacity nor the spirit necessary in a wazir called upon to maintain the Delhi empire of that age. A number of talented Shia officers gathered round him and remained devoted to him to the end; but they were mere individuals, attracted to him by the ties of religion or family, and not the successive links in a complete and well-joined chain of administration. Thus, in the end, in spite of his splendid opportunities, the natural wealth of his provinces, and the excellence of his soldiers individually, his career ended in failure. The historian is bound to pronounce that Safdar Jang was far inferior in character and capacity to Ali Mardan and Sadullah, Mir Jumla and Ruhullah and other Persian immigrants who had adorned the reigns of Shah Jahan and Aurangzib, or even to Mirza Shafi Khan of the generation next to his.
v1.c15.s5.4
Intizām-ud-daulah, Khān-i-Khānān,* the eldest son of Muhammad Shah’s wazir Qamruddin, had inherited his father’s ease-loving disposition. A timid unenterprising man, he always shrank from fight and sought safety by burying himself within his mansion, at the least threat of danger. He had neither natural capacity nor taste for a military life and could never handle even a small force in peace or war. As wazir of the Empire for 15 months (March 1753—May 1754), he covered himself with utter disgrace by his incapacity and cowardice. But his widowed mother Sholāpuri Begam (a daughter of Jān Nisār Khan of Aurangzib’s reign), who had ruled her husband’s household, now established her influence over Udham Bāi and became the medium of the palace-plots for overthrowing Safdar Jang. [Siyar, iii. 46; Imād, 22.]
v1.c15.s5.5
∗ His original name was Mir Nizamuddin Khan, and he subsequently got his father’s titles of Qamruddin and Itimadud-daulah, but will be called Intizam throughout this book.