Fall of the Mughal Empire v1.c16.s1.2

v1.c16.s1.2

This civil war had left a legacy of debt which it was beyond any man’s power to liquidate. The new imperial levies and allies, numbering 80,000 fighting men, cost* at the lowest estimate 24 lakhs of Rupees a month and they had been embodied for seven months, so that the total charge under this head amounted to one kror and 68 lakhs. In addition to this, the existing old army had been in arrears of salary for over two years at the outbreak of the civil war. And this happened at a time when the Emperor could hardly raise two lakhs by selling his plate and jewellery, the bankers were refusing to advance money on the strength of an order on the revenue of any province, and even the Delhi agent of the chief banker of Bengal (called Nagar-seth in TAh. but better known as Jagat-seth) had been drained dry in the lean years before the war. Therefore, the last six months of Ahmad Shah’s reign were continually disturbed by the tumults of the starving unpaid soldiery in an even more aggravated form than during Jāvid Khan’s regime. The officials and menials of the palace were unpaid for 32 months (1753.) The Court accused Imād and his right hand man Aqibat Mahmud of putting the soldiers up to make these demonstrations against the Government, in order to increase its helplessness. The Emperor gave the blank reply that he had placed all his treasure and territory in charge of Imād and had nothing with him now to give to anybody. As he told Imād on 28th December, 1753, "Pay the musketeers of the Top-khānah from the 15 lakhs I have entrusted to you. Pay the salaries of the other regiments, especially the Sin-dāgh risāla out of the revenue of Ballamgarh and the subah of Allahabad which I have conferred upon you. I leave you full power, but do not practise oppression." [TAh. 103b.]