Fall of the Mughal Empire v1.c16.s6.2

v1.c16.s6.2

When the war with Safdar Jang broke out, it was agreed in the presence of the Emperor and his ministers that all the wealth of the realm should be first devoted to the work of crushing the rebel, and that on his downfall the revenue of the Deccan should be paid by Imād (as Nizam-ul-mulk) into the imperial treasury after deducting the dues of the soldiers, old and newly recruited; the wazir (Intizām) agreed to do the same in respect of the revenue of his provinces of the Panjab and Kashmir; the *subahs* under Safdar Jang would be taken away from him and given, Oudh half and half to the new wazir and Bakhshi, and Allahabad for paying the salary of the *Sindāgh* troops. [*TAh.* 96*a*.] But this scheme did not work as it was based upon many calculations which proved futile in practice, and the trouble about money continued to grow worse. On 20th December 1753, Aqibat went to the Emperor to reassure him and counteract the efforts of his master's enemies at Court. Two days later Imād himself waited on the Emperor, who promised him the *subahdāri* of Allahabad if he remained true to his king and paid him the surplus revenue regularly. [97*b*.] At this time Imād used to make troublesome requests in almost every affair out of enmity to the wazir and thus increased the Emperor's difficulty, though Ahmad Shah very tactfully smoothed these conflicts or overlooked Imād's perversity. But Imad gradually grew disloyal and in the pride of power even dreamt of seizing the throne by setting aside such a cowardly imbecile and false sovereign as Ahmad. [102a & b.]