Fall of the Mughal Empire v1.c7.s7.2

v1.c7.s7.2

In Rohilkhand proper, Ali Muhammad's usurped authority had been abolished by the terms of the Emperor's pardon to him in May 1745. The jāgirs seized by him were ordered to be put in the possession of their rightful owners. This, however, was more easily said than done. True, Ali Muhammad was now removed from the scene of his mischievous activity, detained at Delhi for some months, and finally sent off to Sarhind as its faujdār, while his two grown-up sons were held at Court as hostages for his good conduct. But it merely spread anarchy throughout Rohilkhand in the place of one strong usurper's rule. As the author of Siyar-ul-mutākhkharin, who was personally present in Barily at this time, noted, "Thousands of Afghāns were living there, and having struck their roots, had become owners of the land and made it impossible for anybody else to govern that tract." (iii. 20.)