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Fall of the Mughal Empire v2: Volume 2

Fall of the Mughal Empire v2

Language
English

Contents

Volume 2

Front matter

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The Drinched Book

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The first of these, the *Gospel of the Hebrews*, was used by the Jewish Christians of Palestine, and was probably a version of the Gospel of Matthew, though it contained some traditions not found in our canonical books. The *Gospel of the Egyptians* was used by the ascetic sects of Egypt, and was marked by a strong tendency towards mysticism and asceticism. The *Gospel of Peter* was used by the Docetists, and taught that Christ did not really suffer, but only appeared to do so.

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These gospels, and others like them, were not accepted by the Church as a whole, and were gradually lost or suppressed. The Church, however, felt the need for a standard collection of writings that would serve as a guide for faith and practice. This led to the formation of the New Testament canon, a process that took several centuries to complete.

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The first step in this process was the collection of the letters of Paul, which were widely circulated among the churches. Then came the four Gospels, which were accepted as the authoritative accounts of the life and teachings of Jesus. The Acts of the Apostles and the other epistles were gradually added, and finally the Book of Revelation.

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By the end of the second century, the core of the New Testament was generally accepted by the Church. The process of canonization was not a formal act of a council, but rather a gradual recognition by the churches of the writings that were most valuable for their life and worship. It was only in the fourth century that the canon was formally closed by the councils of the Church.

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The formation of the New Testament canon was a crucial event in the history of the Church. It provided a standard of faith and practice that helped to unify the Church and to protect it from the influence of heretical sects. It also ensured that the teachings of Jesus and the apostles would be preserved for future generations.

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This book should be returned on or before the date last marked below.

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The first of these, the *Gospel of the Hebrews*, was used by the Jewish Christians of Palestine, and was probably a version of the Gospel of Matthew, though it contained some traditions not found in our canonical books. The *Gospel of the Egyptians* was used by the ascetic sects of Egypt, and was marked by a strong tendency towards mysticism and asceticism. The *Gospel of Peter* was used by the Docetists, and taught that Christ did not really suffer, but only appeared to do so.

v2.c17.9

These gospels, and others like them, were not accepted by the Church as a whole, and were gradually lost or suppressed. The Church, however, felt the need for a standard collection of writings that would serve as a guide for faith and practice. This led to the formation of the New Testament canon, a process that took several centuries to complete.

v2.c17.10

The first step in this process was the collection of the letters of Paul, which were widely circulated among the churches. Then came the four Gospels, which were accepted as the authoritative accounts of the life and teachings of Jesus. The Acts of the Apostles and the other epistles were gradually added, and finally the Book of Revelation.

v2.c17.11

By the end of the second century, the core of the New Testament was generally accepted by the Church. The process of canonization was not a formal act of a council, but rather a gradual recognition by the churches of the writings that were most valuable for their life and worship. It was only in the fourth century that the canon was formally closed by the councils of the Church.

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The formation of the New Testament canon was a crucial event in the history of the Church. It provided a standard of faith and practice that helped to unify the Church and to protect it from the influence of heretical sects. It also ensured that the teachings of Jesus and the apostles would be preserved for future generations.

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SIR JADUNATH SARKAR, Kt., C. I. E., *Honorary Member, Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain.*

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VOLUME II 1754—1771

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M. C. SARKAR & SONS, LD. C A L C U T T A

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Rs. As.

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1. *History of Aurangzib* Vols. 1 & 2 together, 2nd ed., ... 5 0 Vol. 3, 3rd ed., ... ... 3 8 Vol. 4, 2nd ed. (rewritten), ... 4 0 Vol. 5 ... ... ... 4 0
2. *Shivaji and his Times*, 3rd ed., (rewritten) ... 5 0
3. *A Short History of Aurangzib*, 511 pages ... 5 0
4. *Mughal Administration*, 2nd ed., (greatly enlarged) 3 0
5. *Studies in Aurangzib's Reign*, 18 essays ... 2 8
6. *Anecdotes of Aurangzib* (Eng. tr.), 2nd ed., ... 1 8
7. *Ahkam-i-Alamgiri*, (Persian text of 6), 2nd ed., 1 0
8. *India Through the Ages*, six lectures ... 1 8
9. *Fall of the Mughal Empire* Vol. 1 (1739-1754), 560 pp. ... ... 5 0 Vol. 2 (1754-1771), 572 pp. ... ... 5 0
10. *Chaitanya : his Life and Teachings*, 3rd ed., 2 0
11. *Economics of British India*, 5th ed., (in prep.)
12. *Studies in Maratha History : House of Shivaji*
13. *India of Aurangzib : Statistics, Topography and Roads* (out of print)
14. *Studies in Mughal India (excluding Aurangzib)*

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CALCUTTA : M. C. SARKAR & SONS, LD. LONDON : LUZAC & CO.

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Taraporevala (Bombay.) Natesan (Madras.)

Preface to the Second Volume

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This volume covers eighteen eventful years in the history of India of which the dominating theme is the great Afghan-Maratha contest for the lordship of Delhi, followed by the abrupt rise and still more abrupt fall of the Jat kingdom of Bharatpur within the space of a decade only. This period witnessed the deposition and blinding of one Emperor, the murder of another, the twelve years' banishment from capital and power of a third, and the ten months' reign of yet another crowned puppet in Delhi. Horror is piled upon horror almost throughout the epoch; but at its end the worst is over and we begin to emerge into light. The Sikhs have now established their rule over much of the Panjab and given to the people of that province internal security and the promotion of agriculture in a degree unknown for sixty years past. At the opposite corner of India,—in Bengal, Bihar and Oudh up to Allahabad, British peace has been established, and trade, industry and tillage are on the threshold of an unprecedented revival after the unbroken anarchy of one full generation and appalling natural calamities. Soon the indigenous culture which had been quenched in blood in the capital cities of the empire was to revive and Indo-Persian historical literature to take a new birth under alien patronage at Allahabad and Benares, Patna and Calcutta. When Shah Alam II first rode into the capital of his fathers on the 6th of January 1772,—the point at which this volume ends,—we are within three months of the beginning of the governorship of Warren Hastings, the creator of British India.

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The many dark corners in the history of this period have been lighted up by the profusion of Marathi records and several contemporary Persian works here used for the first time. Material in the European languages, English and French, the work of actual actors in the Indian scene, here grows increasingly important, and just after the close of this volume takes the first place among our sources of information, while the recently printed Marathi records come up close behind. The problems of the Delhi empire now (1772) change their character and the historian stands at the dawn, a misty dawn, I admit,—of a new age of which the noontide splendour was to be seen in the 19th century.

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Darjiling, September, 1934

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Jadunath Sarkar

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BIBLIOGRAPHY ... ... ... xii-xv

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CHAPTER XIII. REIGN OF ALAMGIR II —A GENERAL SURVEY ... ... 1-49

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Character of Alamgir II, 1—wazir Imād-ul-mulk, 5—Imād's policy and movements till 1758, 9—in 1758 and 1759, 12—Raghunath Dada near Delhi (1754), 14—in the Doab, 18—Marathas levy tribute (1754), 20—exactions from Delhi people, 23—lawlessness in capital, 26—sufferings of people (1754), 31—bankruptcy of State, 33—humiliation and sufferings of royal family, 36—rebels and usurpers, their location, 37—Intizām conciliated by Imād, 41—Mian Qutb Shah rebel, 42—Turki soldiers mob wazir at Panipat (1755), 45—events of 1755-56, 47.

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CH. XIV. THE PANJAB, 1753-59 ... ... 50-81

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Mughlani Begam regent, her character, 50—rebellions of her chiefs, 52—Khj. Mirza usurps Lahor Government, 54—Khj. Abdullah subahdar of Lahor, 56—Imad seizes Mughlani, Sayyid Jamil-ud-din made governor, 59—Abdali conquers Panjab (1756, 62—how Abdali treated Mughlani Begam, 64—Timur Shah, the Durrani subahdar of Panjab, 66—his administration breaks down, 68—Raghunath Dada conquers Sarhind, 71—and Lahor (1758), 73—Adina Beg, Maratha subahdar, dies, 77,—Sindhias hold Panjab, 78—Abdali finally conquers Panjab (1759), 79.

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CH. XV. THE AFGHAN INVASION OF 1757 ... 82-109

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Ahmad Abdali invades, 82—hesitation and negligence of Delhi wazir, 83—panic in Delhi, fruitless peace efforts, 86—Durranis enter Gangetic Doab, 89—Imād submits to Abdali, 92—Durranis occupy Delhi, fate of Alamgir II, 94—Ahmad Abdali in Delhi, 97—oppression and extortion, 98 & 105—agony of Delhi under Afghan terror, 101—massacres, 106—Ali Quli Kh., poet, his daughter Gannā Begam, 108.

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CH. XVI. ABDALI'S CAMPAIGN SOUTH OF DELHI, 1757 ... 110-136

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Antiji Mānakeshwar's skirmishes with invader, 111—is crushed at Faridabad, 113—Suraj Mal's dealings with Abdali, 114—Abdali captures Ballabhgarh, 116—Jat stand at Chaumuha, 117—Afghans massacre and sack Mathura, 118—attack on Gokul, 121—plunder of Agra, 122—atrocities of Afghan troops, 124—cholera in Abdali's army, 125—Ahmad Shah retreats, 126—marries Hazrat Begam, 127—his booty and prisoners, 129—two Delhi princes' campaign in Doab, 132—fails, 134.

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CH. XVII. RAGHUNATH RAO'S NORTHERN EXPEDITION, 1757-1758 ... 137-170

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Marathas recover Gangetic Doab, 137—disturbed condition of the country, 139—party formed against Najib, 141—Marathas reach Rewari and Agra, 142—Najib's defence of Delhi, 144—Raghunath attacks Delhi, 146—Najib evacuates Delhi, 151—sufferings of Delhi people in 1757, 153—movements of Raghunath and Malhar Holkar (1757-58), 155—results of Raghunath's expedition, 158—criticized, 159—Ali Gauhar's campaign in Rohtak, 161—Imād plots against him, 164—attacks him in Delhi, 165—Ali Gauhar's wanderings, 166—Imād and Emperor's campaign in west of Delhi (1758), 168.

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CH. XVIII. RAJPUTANA, 1751-1760 ... 171-198

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Rajput-Maratha relations during 1751-53, 171—Jayapa Sindhia invades Marwar, 175—how he thwarts Peshwa's policy, 177—Maratha successes in Marwar, 178—murder of Jayapa, 180—Dattaji Sindhia restores Maratha supremacy, 182—defeats a Jaipur army near Didwana, 185—Jaipur and Marwar Rajahs submit, peace terms, 188—Raghunath's invasion of Rajputana in 1757, his failure, 189—Dattaji and Jankoji Sindhia in Rajputana (1758), 194—Malhar Holkar's campaign (1759), captures Barwada, 196.

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CH. XIX. DATTAJI SINDHIA'S CAMPAIGNS IN THE NORTH, 1759-1760 ... 199-234

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Dattaji's policy towards wazir Imād, 199—Marathas loot Delhi suburbs, 200—rupture with Najib, 204—Najib's entrenchment at Shukartal described, 205—Dattaji's siege of Shukartal, 207—Govind Bundele's raid on Najibabad fails, 208—Abdali reconquers Panjab and expels Sabaji Sindhia, 211—Alamgir II murdered, 213—Dattaji raises siege of Shukartal, 215—battle of Thaneshwar, 218—Dattaji's retreat to Delhi and defence plan, 220—battle of Barāri-ghāt, death of Dattaji, 222—flight of Sindhia contingent, Malhar joins Jankoji, 224—Abdali against Suraj Mal, 226—Malhar Holkar routed by Jahan Khan, 228. Peshwa's North Indian policy in 1759, orders to Dattaji, 231—Malhar not responsible for Dattaji's death, 233.

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CH. XX. SADASHIV BHAU'S DELHI EXPEDITION, 1760 ... 235-297

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*Apogee* of Maratha greatness in 1760, 235—Peshwa sends army to Hindustan under Sadashiv Bhau, 237—Bhau's forces and equipment, 239—his march from Sindhkhed to the Chambal, 241—Maratha position in Gangetic Doab, 245—Bhau consults Malhar, 248—forms plan of campaign, 249—condition of Delhi, 249—Bhau captures Delhi, 252—Suraj Mal abandons Bhau, 255—Bhau's character and policy criticized, 258—his financial distress, 261—his income and expenditure correctly estimated, 263—Bhau's doings in Delhi, 265—captures Kunjpura, 267—reaches Panipat, 271—Abdali encamps in the Doab, his policy, 272—Shuja induced to join Abdali, 274—Abdali's distress, Najib's help, 279—Abdali crosses Jamuna at Baghpat, 282.

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Relative strength of the two armies at Panipat, 285—organization of Maratha and Durrani armies contrasted, 290 and 372—their discipline, 295 and 371.

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CH. XXI. THE BATTLE OF PANIPAT, 1761 ... 298-372

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First intentions of the rival armies, 298—early skirmishes and minor battles (1760), 301—battle of 7 Dec., fall of Mehendele, 304—Maratha supplies cut off, 307—condition of Panipat city, 309—Govind Ballal Bundele's Doab raid, he is slain, 310—Barve's raid into Oudh fails, 313—Maratha treasure convoy from Delhi cut off, 314—Bhau's despair, 315—his peace proposal rejected, 316—Maratha army's outbreak, 318—

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Bhau marches to battle, 319—Abdali’s battle arrangements, 321—Durrani military superiority explained, 322—Bhau’s plan of battle, 324—soldiers of Holkar and Sindhia demoralized, 326—battle begins, 327—Gardi charge on par-Ruhelas, 328—it fails, 332—Bhau charges Durrani centre, 333—Abdali reinforces his centre, 336—Bhau’s desperate fighting, Durrani encircling tactics, 337—death of Vishwas Rao, 341—Bhau’s last charge and death, 342—Maratha right wing, flight of Holkar and Sindhia, 343 and 372—pursuit, 345—massacre after battle, 347—spoils taken, 348—Maratha casualties, 349—Bhau’s conduct criticized, 351—sufferings of fugitives, 353—consequences of Maratha defeat at Panipat, 354—Rājwādé refuted—death of Peshwa Balaji, 359.

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Peshwa’s responsibility for defeat at Panipat, 361—Holkar’s conduct in battle examined, 365—historical sources on Panipat, 367—military notes, 371.

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*Plans of the battle*, 331 and 339.

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CH. XXII. NAJIB-UD-DAULAH, DICTATOR OF DELHI, 1761-1770 @H 373-416

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Abdali in Delhi after Panipat, 373—he leaves India, 376—how Najib got possession of Delhi, 377—peace congress at Mathura, foiled by Marathas and Suraj Mal, 379—survey of Najib’s career, 382—visits Shah Alam, 388—defeats Jawahir, zenith of his career, 390—sack of Buānā, 391—of Bhiwani, 393—lifelong contest with Sikh raiders, 394—his manner of warfare illustrated, 398—his movements, 1765-67, 401—Najib’s breakdown, resigns charge of Delhi, 403—transfers his government and army to Zabita Khan, 404—Najib placates the returned Marathas (1770), 406—conflict of policy among Maratha sardars, 408—Mahadji Sindhia’s vindictiveness towards Najib, 409 and 411—Marathas re-enter Doab, Najib joins them, 410—Najib’s double-dealing, rupture with Marathas, 412—Najib’s haughty tone, 413 and 414n—death, 415—character, 415.

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CH. XXIII. THE JATS, DOWN TO 1768 ... 417-480

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Local distribution of Jat race, 417—Jat character, comparison with Sikhs and Marathas, 419—Bharatpur Jats, problems of their rulers, 422—early history of Bharatpur royal family, 425—Badan Singh’s initial difficulties, no State, no tribal union, no recognized authority, 426—his policy and stages of successful growth, 428—gains of plunder, 430—Badan Singh’s harem and children, 432—Suraj Mal’s birth and early career, 433—his wars, 434—patronized by Delhi wazir, 435—sack of Ghasira, 436—defence of Kumbher, peace with Marathas, 437—treaty with Emperor (1755), 438—rebellion of Jawahir Singh, 439—Suraj Mal’s conduct from 1757 to 1760, 441—captures Agra fort, 443—makes fresh conquests, 445—relations with Najib Khan, 445—Mewati brigands harboured by Baluch chiefs, 447—Suraj Mal captures Farrukhnagar (1763), 449—rupture with Najib, 449—battle on the Hindan, death of Suraj Mal, 451—his character and achievements, 453—his revenue and army, 455—Jawahir Singh's accession, 457—prepares for a war of revenge on Najib, 458—Jawahir marches on Delhi (1764), 460—battle of 15 Nov., 461—battle of 16 Nov. on east bank, 461—bombards Delhi, 463—Sikh allies arrive, Jawahir insulted, 464—Jawahir forced to make peace with Najib, 467—he crushes all rich Jat nobles, 469—captures Vaer fort, 470—Nāhar Singh joins Malhar, 471—Jawahir defeats Malhar's detachment, 472—he assists Rana of Gohad against Raghunath Dada, 473—crushes his disloyal Gosain generals, 474—conquers Kalpi district (1767), 475—marches to Pushkar, 477—fights Kachhwa army at Māonda, 478—his last days and death, 480.

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CH. XXIV. THE PANJAB AND RAJPUTANA, 1761-1771 ... 481-524

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Sikhs disturb Abdali's officers (1760), 481—Abdali and Ala S. of Patiala, 483 & 487—Charat S. defeats Abid Kh., 483—Sikhs besiege Niranjanis at Jandiala, 484—massacre of Sikhs (Ghallu-ghara), 486—Abdali demolishes Amritsar, 487—conquers Kashmir from diwan Sukhjivan, 488—Sikhs attack Zain Kh., 490—Zain Kh.'s misgovernment, 491—Sarhind sacked, 492—Sikhs first raid Gangetic Doab (1764), 493—capture Lahor, 494—proclaim independence, 495—Ahmad Abdali's last invasion (1767), 496—Jahan Kh. defeats Sikhs in Doab, 499—Repercussion of Panipat on Rajputs, 502—anti-Maratha risings, 504—Malhar captures Gagroni, 505—defeats Kachhwas at Mangrol, 507—Madho S.'s terror, 508—Marathas absent (1762-64), 510—Jawahir's Sikhs raid Jaipur, 512—Mewar, internal quarrels, 515—Maratha tribute, detailed figures, 516—Ari S. vs Ratan S., Mahadji Sindhia besieges Udaipur (1769), 518—quarrels with Tukoji Holkar, 519—tribute settled, 520—Marwar, Bijay S.'s weak character, 521—dealings with Marathas, 522—reflections on Rajput decadence, 523.

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CH. XXV. SHAH ALAM'S WANDERINGS, 1758-1771 ... 525-555

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Shah Alam's character, 516—causes of his failure, 527—Imād's character, 529—Shuja-ud-daulah's character, 531—Shah Alam's movements after leaving Delhi in 1758, 533—first invasion of Bihar (1759), 534—second invasion of Bihar (1760), crowns himself, 537—raid on Bengal fails, 541—third invasion (1761), 542—joined by Shuja, invades Bundelkhand (1762), 544—marches to Sikandrabad (1763), meets Najib and other Afghans, 544—fourth invasion of Bihar (1764) and alliance with the English, 545—grants Diwani of Bengal (1765); terms, 547—why he was eager to go to Delhi, 548—alliance with Marathas, (1771), terms, 552—his march to Delhi, 554.

Bibliography

Persian

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*TALS.*—*Tārikh-i-Alamgir Sāni*, Br. Museum Persian MS. Or. 1749, Sir H. M. Elliot’s MS. (Elliot and Dowson, viii. 140).

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*DC.*—*Delhi Chronicle*, the name given by me to an anonymous Persian MS. containing a detailed chronology of Delhi events and reports received, from 1738 to 1798. Described by me in the *Proceedings* of the Indian Historical Records Commission, vol. ii (1921.)

v2.c19.s1.3

*Miskin*—Memoirs of Tahmāsp Khan (pen-name *Miskin*), titles Muhkam-ud-daulah Itiqād Jang, wr. 1780. (E. and D. 100), Br. Mus. Pers. 8807.

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*Husain Shahi*.—*Tārikh-i-Husain Shāhi* by Sayyid Imam-ud-din Husaini, wr. 1798.

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*Nur.*—Sayyid Nur-ud-din Hasan’s *Life of Najib-ud-daulah* (Br. Mus. Pers. MS. 24,410), fully translated by me in *I. H. Q.* and *Islamic Culture* (1933), wr. c. 1773.

v2.c19.s1.6

*Ch. Gulzar.*—*Chahār Gulzār-i-Shujāi*, by Har-charandas, completed in 1784. (E. & D. 204.)

v2.c19.s1.7

*Siyar.*—*Siyar-ul-mutākhkharin*, by Sayyid Ghulām Husain Tabātabāi, completed 1782. (E. & D. 194.) Calcutta ed. of 1833 cited.

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*Muz.*—*Tārikh-i-Muzaffari*, by Md. Ali Kh. Ansāri of Panipat, wr. 1800. (E. & D. 316.)

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*Shikir.*—*Tazkira* of Shikir Kh., son of Lutfullah Kh. B. Sādiq of Pānipat. (Br. Mus. Addl. MS. 6585.)

v2.c19.s1.10

*Mujmil.*—*Mujmil-ut-tawārikh ba’d Nādiriya*, by Ibn. Md. Amin Abul Hasan Gulistāni, ed. O. Mann (Leyden, 1896), wr. 1782.

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*Manāzil.*—*Manāzil-ul-fatuh*, by Md. Ja’far Shāmlu, (Br. Mus. Persian MS. Or. 1895.) (E. & D. 144.)

v2.c19.s1.12

*Kāshiraj*—Persian account of the battle of Pānipat and the events leading to it, wr. in 1780. I have used a MS. copied in 1785 (prob. for Col. Browne) and not Browne’s unreliable translation, reprinted (from *Asiatic Researches* 1799) by Ox. Univ. Press in 1926. My new translation printed in *I. H. Q.* 1934.

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Samin.—Shaikh Ghulām Hasan (pen-name *Sāmin*)’s narrative, tr. by W. Irvine in *Indian Antiquary*, 1907.

v2.c19.s1.14

*G-I-R.*—*Gulistan-i-Rahmat*, by Mustajab Kh., wr. 1792. (E. & D. 301.) Eng. tr. Elliot cited (Dates often incorrect.)

v2.c19.s1.15

*Imād.*—*Imād-us-sādat*, by Sayyid Ghulām Ali Naqvi, wr. 1807. (E & D. 394.) Lucknow litho ed.

v2.c19.s1.16

Ghulam Ali.—*Shah-Alam-namah*, by Ghulām Ali Kh., son of Bihkari Kh. and quite a different person from the author of *Imād-us-sālat*. First volume (to 1761) printed in *Bibliotheca Indica* [marginal dates and notes in English mostly incorrect.] Second and third volumes from I. O. L. MS. (E. & D. 393.)

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Muna Lal.—*Tarikh-i-Shah-Alam*. (E. & D. 393), wr. 1811, O. P. L. MS.

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*Ibratnamah* by Faqir Khair-ud-din Md. of Allahabad, wr. 1806 (E. & D. 237). O. P. L. MS.

v2.c19.s1.19

*Tarikh-i-Lāhor*, by Rāi Bahādur Kanhaiyā Lāl (in Urdu, litho), very useful for topography, but the early history is merely traditional.

v2.c19.s1.20

*Marathi.*

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Number of letter is cited, unless *page* is definitely mentioned.)

v2.c19.s1.22

*Raj.*—*Marāthānchyā Itihāsāchin Sādhanen*, ed. by V. K. Rājwādé and others, 21 vols.

v2.c19.s1.23

*SPD.*—*Selections from the Peshwas’ Daftar*, ed. by G. S. Sardesai, 45 vols.

v2.c19.s1.24

V. V. Kharé—*Aitihāsik Lekh Sangraha*, vol. i (1897.)

v2.c19.s1.25

Purandaré Daftar, ed. by K. V. Purandare, vol. i.

v2.c19.s1.26

Chandrachud Daftar, ed. by D. V. Apte, vol. i.

v2.c19.s1.27

*Vad.*—*Selections from the Satara Rajas’ and Peshwas’ Diaries*, ed. by G. C. Vad and others.

v2.c19.s1.28

*Aiti. Patr.*—*Aitihāsik Patren Yādi wagaire Lekh*, 2nd. ed., by G. S. Sardesai and others, 1930.

v2.c19.s1.29

*Holkarānchi Kaifiyat*, ed. by K. N. Sané, (1886), and *Bhāu Sāhebānchi Bakhar*, ed. by same (3rd ed. 1900), mostly traditional, (see pp. 367-368 ante.)

v2.c19.s1.30

*Hindi &c.*

v2.c19.s1.31

*Sujān Charitra*, or life of Suraj Mal Jāt, by Sudan, (only 7 episodes, 1745-1753), 2nd. ed. (Benares, Nāgri Prach.)

v2.c19.s1.32

*Vamsha Bhāskar*, by Suraj Mal Mishran, 8 vols. wr. 1841.

v2.c19.s1.33

G. H. Ojha—*Rājputānē Kā Itihās*, Pt. iii. (1929.)

v2.c19.s1.34

*European Languages.*

v2.c19.s1.35

Jean Law, *Mémoire sur l’Empire Mogol*, ed. A. Martineau (1913.)

v2.c19.s1.36

Emile Barbe—*Le Nabab René Madec*. (1894)

v2.c19.s1.37

J-B-J. Gentil—*Mémoires sur l’Indoustan*. (1822.)

v2.c19.s1.38

F. X. Wendel—MS. account of the Jat kingdom of Bharatpur, wr. 1768, (India Office, Orme MSS. O. V. 216.)

v2.c19.s1.39

*CPC.*—*Calendar of Persian Correspondence of the English East India Company, in Calcutta*, 5 vols. covering 1759-1780. (Calcutta, 1911-1930.)

v2.c19.s1.40

George Forster—*Journey from Bengal to England* (in 1783), 2 vols. (1798.)

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A. Broome—*History of the Bengal Army*, vol. I. (1850.)

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G. R. C. Williams—*The Sikhs in the Upper Doab*, in *Calcutta Review*, vol. 60 (1875), pp. 21-36 and vol. 61, pp. 39-55. (Hijera years sometimes wrong.)

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E. M. Lloyd—*Review of the History of Infantry* (1908).

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J. D. Cunningham—*History of the Sikhs*, 2nd ed. (1853).

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Atkinson’s N. W. P. *Gazetteer*, Panjab District Gazetteers, *Gazetteer of the Province of Oudh*, 3 vols. (1877),—all original editions.

Corrections and Additions to Vol. I

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P. viii, l. 4, for I tell it read I tell it, it. ” ix, add D.C. or a Persian MS. chronology of Delhi from 1738 to 1798 (my MS.), and Tarikh-i-Mahabat Jang, Br. Mus. MS. add. 27, 316. ” l. 18, for Abu...Husain read Imam-ud-din. ” 18, last line, ” is Persia ” in Persia. 96, l. 19, ” tappa...division ” 12 m. n. of Nya Dumka. 130, l. 17 ” thus ” this. 189, last line } ” Azuddaulah ” Azd-ud laulah. 191, l. 22 } 208, f.n., Read thus—Hazrat Ishan, a saint honoured by Jahangir, lies buried close on the west of Pegampura, 2 m. from Lahor city, north of the Shahbagh Road. 214, l. 19, for such a Panipat read such as Panipat. 225, l. 3, ” Nadir army ” Nadir’s army. 240, l. 4, ” headship ” headship of. 245, l. 22, The dates of the two battles require further study. 256, l. 15, for 1734 read 1735. 262, add to f. n., Baji Rao visited the Water Palace on 4 Feb. [Rozkird.] 267, l. 14 to 19, omit At the close &c. to operations. 269, l. 13 & 16, for Pilaji read the Maratha general. 283, f. n., ” about 1835 read in 1841 290, l. 25, ” his diwan ” Sindhia’s diwan. 295, add to f. n., except Rajwadé vi. pp. 291-2 and 648-9, and Purand Daft., i. 185 and 196. 296, l. 12, for 1747 read 1748. 309, l. 14, omit his local agent. 319, l. 9, for 1754 read Oct. 1753. 368, l. 17, add Purand Daft., i. 228. 381, l. 18 for resisting read resting 401, l. 21 ” paying &c. ” promising 7 lakhs. 424, l. 22-23, ” to bring...restore ” for bringing...restoring 425, l. 9, ” bread grow ” beard grow. 440, l. 18-19 ” If we &c. to ” All evidence agrees murdered. in pointing out that. 446, l. 23, ” June 1737 ” Feb. 1736 [Ashub, i. 364.] 542, l. 26, ” of the head ” of the dead.

Chapter XIII. Reign of Alamgir II—A General Survey

§ 1. Character of Emperor Alamgir II

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The successor of Ahmad Shah on the throne of Delhi was an old man of fifty-five. He was the youngest son of the Emperor Muiz-ud-din Jahandar Shah, and therefore a grandson of Shah Alam I. Born at Multan on June 6, 1699, he had lost his father at the age of fourteen, in the civil war which gave the crown to Farrukhsiyar. Since then he had passed his days in poverty and neglect, mewed up in the rooms of the "Emperors' grandsons" (*deorhi-i-salatin*) within the Delhi fort. He had been denied any opportunity for learning war or administration, or acquiring practical experience of the open outer world, but had wisely guarded himself from vice by devoting his time to study and meditation. He had chosen for his ideal the Emperor Aurangzib (Alamgir I), whose title he adopted on ascending the throne. Like Aurangzib he loved to read books on history and shunned the usual diversions of royalty, such as dance and song. Like Aurangzib, too, he made it a point to say his five daily prayers in the outer palace mosque and the Friday afternoon prayer in full congregation in the Jāma‘ Masjid of the capital. He knew by rote the administrative rules and practice of the great Aurangzib, and his aim was to follow these to the letter. Condemning the slack and undignified conduct of his two immediate predecessors,—who used to sit in an open sedan chair held up on men’s shoulders when granting audiences,—Alamgir II laid it down that he would hold only regular *darbars* seated on the imperial throne in the Hall of Audience. Imitating the strenuous life of Aurangzib, he used to read all petitions, and even passports, and sign the orders on them. [*TALS.* 4b-5a, *Mux.* 98.]

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A renewal of the first Alamgir’s policy of temple destruction and levy of poll-tax on ‘the infidels’ was rendered impossible by the Maratha grip* on the throat of his namesake, but the Islamic ‘heretics’ did not escape so easily. The Shias form a very small minority among the Indian Muhammadans and they had now no protector at Court. Their former leader Safdar Jang had been the mortal enemy of the all-powerful new wazir Imād-ul-mulk. It was by beating the big drum of Sunni orthodoxy that Imād had been able to rally the Ruhelas and Badakhshis to his standard and overthrow the Shia influence which had dominated the imperial Court since 1743. He now took his revenge on the defeated sect by reviving Aurangzib’s regulation against Shia processions in Muharram. The news of Safdar Jang’s death reached Delhi on 11th October, 1754, and nine days later (on the 3rd of Muharram) this decree of prohibition was issued. “Since the reign of Farrukhsiyar, by reason of the rise of Shia *umara*, the practice of making tombs of the Imāms, which had been forbidden by the former Sunni Emperors, was revived, till it reached the extreme point of display. In every lane and market-place countless stages were built and kettle-drums beaten. The Emperor Alamgir II forbade the making of the tombs of the Imāms and stages. But the practice had been going on for 40 years and could not be stopped.” [*TALS. 25b-26a.*]

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∗ On 25 Oct. 1754, the Emperor issued orders abolishing the taxes on Hindu pilgrims at Gaya and Kurukshetra. [*DC.*] He transferred them to the Peshwa, who appointed his Delhi agent Dāmodar M. Hingané as his tax-collector there, 9 Feb. 1755. [*Rajwade*, vi. 328.] But Benares and Allahabad were under the control of the subahdar of Oudh, who clung to his levy at these holy places.

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But unlike Aurangzib, his great-grandson had no contact with the soldiery, no love for outdoor exercises, such as marching, reviewing troops, or even hunting. His age and the sedentary habits of 55 years made it impossible for him to take to a strenuous life of activity all of a sudden, and he remained a bookworm immured in his closet or harem. The second Alamgir fell short of his illustrious namesake in another signal respect. Alamgir I had been very abstemious in the matter of women and had never indulged himself even to the extent of the Prophet's allowance of four consorts at a time. The second Alamgir, in spite of his being a grandfather and an invalid old man at the time of his accession, turned his belated elevation to sovereignty into an opportunity for making rapid and numerous additions to his harem.

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In February 1756, when Hazrat Begam, the daughter of Muhammad Shah, reached her 16th year, she excited the passion of Alamgir II. The old goat, now verging on sixty, shamelessly demanded her hand for himself and threatened her guardian, the ex-Empress Malika-i-zamani, saying, "Either consent to give her to me in marriage, or I shall take her by force." The girl replied, "I prefer death to [such a] marriage... I regard you as my father, and you too should look upon me in the same light as your three daughters. If you use force, I shall kill myself." The baffled suitor wreaked his vengeance by ordering the gates of the princess's quarters to be closed, so as to force her into isolation from the rest of the palace. Still later, on 1 September 1758, he married Zinat-afroz Begam, when his own health was so broken that he had fainting fits and was unable to move in the midst of a march with his wazir. [TALS. 67, 185-186.]

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The new Emperor was intelligent, sober and decorous in life, but utterly wanting in strength of character and capacity for leadership. He used openly to declare himself a puppet in the hands of his wazir, without any power to guide the government. The crown could give him in the winter of his life only the wealth and pleasure which fate had so long denied to him. He was encumbered with a large family,—five sons and one daughter of his own and six sons of his late brother whom he loved like his own offspring, one grandson and one grand-nephew, fourteen princes in all, who had hitherto shared his palace-prison of poverty and seclusion. These had now to be provided for in a style worthy of Emperor’s children, out of the treasury. But the treasury was empty and the mansab of 30,000 horse or so which was conferred on each of them remained mere orders on paper, without any chance of their being assigned lands yielding the pay of these grades. His queens eagerly snatched at the only sure source of revenue still left in the empire, namely, the salt-marts and grain-markets near the capital, which yielded a regular income from their tolls and import duties. [DC.]

§ 2. Wazir Imad-ul-mulk's incapacity

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The life and activity of such a State, therefore, depended on its wazir, but though Imād-ul-mulk was to all outer seeming a king-maker and his master's master, he was in effect no less impotent for good than his creature the Emperor. He could not govern the State with the power and success of earlier king-makers like the Sayyid Brothers. It was not the case that he had no army or treasure. His own Badakhshi brigade (over 12,000 in number) were the best fighting force in the empire in that age, if only they could be punctually paid and worthily led; and he had, in addition, the Maratha myriads at his beck and call. His parsimonious father's hoarded treasure was worth a *kror* or more, and by enforcing order and good government in the provinces round the capital, the new wazir could in a few years have ensured the regular and full flow of revenue from them to the central exchequer for meeting the daily expenses of the State. But Imād had neither the capacity nor the character required in the regenerator of a fallen State, and during his five-and-a-half years' dictatorship the Delhi empire drifted on to ruin beyond hope of recovery. He was personally incapable, and his pride and selfishness would not allow others to restore the monarchy.

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There has never been a wazir of Delhi whose rule was so barren of good result and so full of misery to himself and to the empire, to his friends and foes alike, as Imād-ul-mulk's. His nominal master Alamgir II was a mere shadow, never daring to assert his own will or express his own judgment, but leaving everything to his wazir's discretion even more absolutely than Farrukhsiyar or Muhammad Shah had done to the Sayyid Brothers. But Imād's whole reign—for that is the correct description of his chancellorship—was marked by utter futility, public misfortune and administrative breakdown. His violent seizure of the wazir's office brought him no glory, strength, or even security. He was subjected to the grossest humiliation ever borne by any wazir, having been dragged through the streets of Panipat by his own soldiers (May, 1755) and seen the women of his harem outraged and exposed to the public gaze by the brutal Ruhelas (August 1757.)

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The highest officer of the empire, he ever lived on a bed of thorns. After his accession to office, his first fear sprang from his deposed predecessor. Intizām-ud-daulah had been robbed of the wazirate, but had not been crushed. He continued to live in the Delhi mansion of his father and grandfather (each the premier peer of the realm in his time), defending it like a castle with a garrison of 600 soldiers within; and whenever the two wazirs, past and present, rode out into the streets in the same hour, their armed retainers scowled at each other like the Montagues and Capulets in the streets of Verona, and a clash between the two parties seemed imminent. Such an ever-present enemy might overthrow Imād any day by joining some powerful ally and securing the Emperor's blessing on his enterprise. The Maratha alliance had been bought by Imād at a ruinous price, but he could not, by reason of his frequent default of payment, count upon their support, and he was on two occasions so unwise as to embark on a futile anti-Maratha policy. The other elements of power in the State were Suraj Mal, Shujā-ud-daulah and Najib Khan. The first of these Imād had antagonized by trying to wreak vengeance on him for his support of Safdar Jang in the civil war of 1753. Shujā hankered after his late father’s wazirate with no less intensity of desire and far greater strength of resources than Intizām, and he had a hereditary friend in Suraj Mal. Najib had been Imād’s retainer since the war with Safdar Jang, but the upstart Ruhela had insulted and bullied the wazir and publicly flouted his authority even before 1757, when Abdali made this Indo-Afghan chief his supreme agent at Delhi. Najib also usurped the wazir’s jagirs and the Emperor’s Crownlands in Saharanpur and Mirat in defiance of the Delhi Government. After Abdali’s retreat in April 1757, Najib became the foremost Muslim potentate in Northern India and used to overshadow the official wazir in the Delhi Government. He subjected Imād to a humiliation which the meanest Indian would resent to the end of his days, by violating his seraglio during his absence.

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The tragedy of Imād’s wazirship in the midst of hostile forces beyond his control, was deepened by his want of political foresight and absence of a wise diplomatic policy. He had originally (i.e., since June, 1754) clung like a helpless infant to the breast of the Marathas, but Deccani armed aid was a very costly thing, 13 lakhs a year being payable for every 5,000 soldiers posted in Delhi,—while Imād’s administrative incapacity and military impotence prevented the regular payment of the cash nexus on which alone Maratha friendship depended. His changes of alliance were equally ill-judged and ill-timed, and in their result left him weaker than before. Through weakness of will or error of judgment he agreed to Abdali's project of ousting the Marathas from the Doab and Shujā from his two subahs (April-June, 1757.) This drew Shujā, Suraj Mal and the Marathas together, and left Imād utterly friendless during the absence of Abdali from India. Worst of all, he offended the dread master of the Durrāni legions more than once.

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§ 3. Imad's policy and movements till 1758.

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We shall here trace in outline the devious course of Imād's policy during the reign of Alamgir II. For the first seven months after that monarch's accession, Imād's preoccupation was to raise the fabulous subsidy so heedlessly promised to the Marathas when hiring their arms to place him on the wazirate. An agreement was at last patched up and by February 1755 the Maratha hordes marched away from the Delhi region to their southern homes. The next few months of 1755 saw the wazir making an effort to reconquer the country north of Delhi from rebel usurpers, but the attempt was nipped in the bud by his cowardice and the mutiny and consequent disbandment of his Turki soldiery (May 1755.) On his return to Delhi from this inglorious and barren expedition, Imād was harassed by suspected palace-intrigues for overthrowing him and making Shujā wazir (June), the repeated open defiances of his authority by Najib, and the eternal bankruptcy of the State. His military and financial helplessness kept him quiescent throughout the second half of this year.

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In March 1756 he undertook the ill-judged Panjab adventure which ultimately drew down upon his head the wrath of Abdali in January next. In the second half of the year (July-September 1756), the wazir planned an attack upon the trans-Ganges Afghans of Rohilkhand and Shujā-ud-daulah, but his utter lack of money and the mutiny of his starving soldiery foredoomed the attempt to failure from the outset. In October 1756 came the Durrani conquest of the Panjab and in January 1757 the invader's occupation of Delhi which subjected Imād to dismissal, spoliation and public humiliation at the hands of the Afghan king. But he bought the patronage of the Durrani wazir Shah Wali Khan and was restored to his office. He was, however, too weak to disobey Abdali's order to accompany two Shahzadas of Delhi and march for the conquest of the Maratha possessions in the Doab and the refractory Shujā-ud-daulah's provinces, and if successful in this expedition to conquer Bengal and Bihar afterwards. Vain delusion! This ambitious programme was to be carried out with the aid of Ahmad Khan Bangash of Farrukhabad, a lame invalid who could move about only in a litter and who had not money and clansmen enough to oppose even 5,000 Maratha light horse. When in the middle of June 1757 fresh Maratha hordes poured into the Doab, the wazir’s expedition at once collapsed; his Bangash and trans-Ganges Afghan allies hastened back to their homes, his escort of mercenaries under Jangbāz Khan left him to exact the promised peace contribution from the Oudh ruler, and Imād with his two Shahzada puppets had to beat a hurried retreat towards Delhi (July.)

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There was no help for him but to make it up with the Marathas; he sent *diwan* Nāgar Mal to the Maratha camp to buy their pardon and alliance at any price, and some days later personally visited Raghunath Rao near Delhi (11 August) to cement an alliance for ousting Najib from power. This open reversal of the policy laid down by Abdali and accepted by Imād made the breach between him and Najib complete. The Ruhela at once took ferocious vengeance on Imād’s unoffending wives and daughters who were within his reach in their Delhi mansion, and after this outrage there could never be friendship between Imād and Najib. In September 1757 the Marathas enforced the evacuation of Delhi by Najib and appointed Ahmad Bangash imperial Paymaster General *vice* Najib, but that Ruhela chief retired to his own jagirs in the upper Doab with all his troops and property and remained a potent source of danger ever after. Imād’s new ally, Ahmad Bangash, was more dead than alive, and the empire and the imperial family passed helplessly under Maratha control. From August 1757 to May 1758 large Maratha armies halted in Hindustan and established their nominee at Lahor, but in the middle of June they withdrew from Northern India.

§ 4. Imad turns against Shah Alam and Alamgir II. His downfall

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Meantime, like the abortive expedition of the two Shahzadas into the Doab in the east, two other attempts to restore imperial authority and collect revenue in the Rohtak-Mewat region in the west, under princes Shah Alam (June 1757—June 1758) and Ali Jah (July—August 1757), had ended in total failure. Indeed, Imād’s selfish ambition would not allow any prince the chance of recovering a province and thus acquiring wealth, armed strength, and public prestige; he coerced the tame Emperor into starving and thwarting their enterprises. And his hostility to the eldest and ablest of the Emperor’s sons, Ali Gauhar (Emperor Shah Alam II of the next reign) broke out in an attack on that prince in his Delhi mansion on 19 May 1758. But the latter boldly cut his way out, took shelter with a Maratha general Vithal Shivdev for some time, and when Vithal left him to join Raghunath, Ali Gauhar went into the wilderness in utter destitution and helplessness. By way of the trans-Ganges Ruhela homes he reached Lucknow on 2 January 1759 and with Shujā's help tried to conquer the province of Bihar. But the English defence of the master of Patna and the Emperor's official disavowal of Ali Gauhar's acts (dictated by the wazir) doomed the prince's attempts to utter failure.

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About May 1758, Imad was foolish enough to renew his dream of an anti-Maratha coalition, of which we get the only details in the Marathi State-papers recently published. It ended in nothing. The wazir next (1 August—22 November 1758) led an expedition into the Rewari-Hisar region, dragging the sick Emperor with himself, in order to chase away Ali Gauhar and thereafter to plunder villages and exact revenue. [*TALS.* 182a, 188a.]

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When in January 1759 the Maratha hosts returned to Delhi under Dattaji Sindhia, Imād kept aloof from them and shut the gates of Delhi in their faces, putting the capital in a state of siege. The Marathas established their direct rule over Lahor (April-June), plundered the upper Doab in Najib's hands, and broke with Imād by demanding an impossible ransom for Delhi. So Imād shut himself up within the walls of Delhi throughout this year and gave Dattaji no support in his investment of Najib at Shukartal (July-November.) He even planned to play off Malhar against Dattaji, preferring the polite and accommodating spirit of the former to the brusque and exacting manners of the latter. His administrative failure and daily increasing poverty impotence and humiliation through insolvency, drove him mad, and when he learnt that his sole remaining hope the Marathas had failed to crush Najib after five months of exertion and had also lost the Panjab, and that Abdali was coming again, he in utter desperation murdered his master Alamgir II (29 November 1759.) The reign ended and with it Imād’s office as wazir, though he desperately clung to the name for some years after.

§ 5. Raghunath Rao’s doings in Hindustan, 1754-1755

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We shall next follow the doings of the Marathas during their expedition to the Delhi region at the commencement of this reign.* Raghunath Rao, the Peshwa’s younger brother, had begun his march from the Deccan with a large army in September 1753, and after crossing the Mukandara pass had entered Rajputana at the end of October. Here he moved about for the next two months and a half, collecting promises of tribute from Jaipur, Kota, Bundi and other States. Then from January 16 to May 22, 1754 he was involved in war with the Jat power, especially in futile attacks on Dig and Kumbher. Peace having been at last made with the Jat Rajah, the Maratha army moved on to Mathura (May 23.) From this place their vanguard under Malhar was sent across the river to surprise the Emperor's camp at Sikandrabad (which was effected on May 26.) Raghunath himself with the main army crossed the Jamuna near Mat (10 miles north of Mathura) on May 25 and marched up the east bank of the river to Patparganj, 6 miles s. e. of Delhi, on June 1. Here his presence lent support to Imād-ul-mulk in changing the Emperor and seizing the wazirship. Raghunath next set himself to realize the money promised by Imād.

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∗ SPD. xxvii. 79 (important itinerary), 92. TALS. 16b-21a, 30b-35a. DC.

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This was no easy task, and after five months had been wasted in talk, only partial success was achieved. During the interval Raghunath moved round the capital, encamping for a few weeks at different villages in the environs of Delhi, till he had eaten up the available provisions and exhausted the grass trees and even house-timber of each region. His lieutenant was Malhar Holkar, who encamped at some distance from him in order to distribute more widely the pressure on the forage supply. Bapu Mahadev Hingané, the Peshwa's resident envoy at Delhi, who resided near Jai Singh's Observatory in Jaisinghpura (one mile s. w. of the Ajmir gate), was the medium through whom all proposals about the Maratha contribution, all complaints of aggrieved citizens and officials, and all intrigues of nobles like Intizām were conducted. He took the men first to Malhar and then with Malhar to Raghunath for final decision ; this was the procedure.

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The course of the negotiations for the military contribution will be detailed later along with the history of the events inside the capital. We shall here briefly follow the movements of the Maratha army outside. From Patparganj, Raghunath recrossed the Jamuna and by way of the south and west sides of Delhi, removed to the Shalimār garden, some 6 miles north-west of the Lahor gate (June 17.) From this place he sent off (23 June) Jayapa Sindhia with 4,000 Government troops, besides Jayapa’s own contingent, to Marwar for assisting Ram Singh against Bijay Singh. In the northern suburbs of the city Raghunath spent three months, roving from the Shalimar garden to Basai, the Idgah, the hermitage of Majnun faqir, and Wazirabad, till the middle of September, when he removed his camp to the south of the city and lived there from Sep. 17 to December 9, ranging over the country from the Badarpur *nala*, to Tughlaqabad, Kishandas’s tank, Islampur (3 m. w. of Humayun’s tomb), Mehrauli, Parapula and Chaharbagh. When changing camp from the western to the northern suburbs of Delhi (August 31), the unruly Maratha soldiers plundered and molested the villagers on that side. The suffering yeomen-farmers of the Dahiya clan (a branch of the Jats) living in Jalalpur and other villages near Narela, retaliated, often surprised the foraging parties of the Deccanis, and carried off their mares and other property. So, Malhar fought them, and assaulted and sacked three villages,—Jalalpur, Nahra and Nahri—where their leaders dwelt. But many innocent villages shared the same fate, and the booty carried off from them was offered by the Marathas for sale in Delhi. "The aggrieved villagers assembled under the jharoka window of the palace and complained to the Emperor, who sent them to the wazir, but they got no redress."

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On 12 Nov. Malhar took leave of Raghunath near Badarpur and moved with his own troops to the south-west of the city,—Harin-minar, the Jinsi Topkhanah, Palam, and the outlet of the canal. On the 17th he arrived at Tālkatora, where Raghunath joined him in the evening, alighting near the Hauz-i-khas, in the Chahar Bagh garden of Nāzir Fattu, while Malhar encamped near Shah Mardān and Haidarganj. Here Intizām visited them.

§ 6. Raghunath Rao in the Doab. His retreat from the North

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On 9 December Raghunath and Malhar moved from the shrine of Shah Mardān to Jitpur, on the west bank of the Jamuna, two miles east of Badarpur. Their troops forded the river, * plundering the houses and men at the ferry and even the Brahmans who had come to bathe in the sacred river. They robbed every traveller they met with on the way up to Patparganj (8 m. n. of Jitpur) and other villages on the east bank, fought the imperial collector of pargana Luni, and took away four elephants of the wazir which were out grazing near Ghaziabad. Raghunath himself crossed over at Chhalera (4 m. s. of Patparganj and due east of Okhla) and encamped there for a fortnight. "Destruction descended upon both the marts and the surrounding country ; the grain that used to come to Delhi from these places was cut off, and scarcity raged in the capital." Two of the Hingané brothers were sent by the wazir to pacify Raghunath. On 14 December the wazir's captain, Shahdil Khan Afghan, had a severe conflict with the Marathas in withdrawing his outpost from Khurja, the casualties on the two sides together mounting up to 2,500. |TALS. 36a.|

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On 25 December Malhar came back from the east bank to Hauz-i-khas, while Raghunath, who had moved up from Chhalera to Ghaziabad, started on the 27th by way of Dasna for Garh Mukteshwar, where he bathed in the Ganges (30 Dec.-13 Jan. 1755.) While halting here, he settled the contribution of the Ruhelas, whose chief manager Hafiz Rahmat Khan had arrived on the opposite bank for negotiating. Raghunath obtained a sum in cash and written undertakings for the balance, then turned south to Palwara, Basi (on the Ganges) and Ahar (on the Ganges, 23 miles east of Bulandshahar city), and finally struck due west through the Bulandshahar district, by way of Jahangirabad, Ladhané, Utsar (on the Kali Nadi) and Nagalé, to the Motipur ferry on the Jamuna, due east of Faridabad, arriving there on 2 February. "Everywhere his Deccanis plundered as they moved on. Wherever he went, if a man voluntarily paid something, his village was spared, otherwise it was looted. At his near approach, grain in Delhi became dearer still."

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∗ Raghunath " in the Doab and return :-TALS. 35b-41a ; DC. SPD. xxvii. 79, 106.

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At Motipur Raghunath crossed the Jamuna (8 Feb. 1755), and by way of Badarpur and the southern side of Gurgaon city (14 Feb.), marched rapidly through the Jhajjar district, Kanaud, Narnol, Singhana and Sambhar to the Pushkar lake, where he arrived on 3rd March. Meanwhile Malhar Holkar, who with other Deccani generals had received on 21 Dec. robes of farewell from the imperial Court—16 for the men and 6 for the ladies—had come back to Hauz-i-khas (25 Dec.) and thence moved *via* Naraina, s. w. of Delhi (7 January) to the Rewari and Pataudi districts, levying tribute from the Gujar and Baluch landlords throughout the month of January. Early next month, being reassured by Raghunath's safe return from the Doab and the reconciliation of Intizam (a Maratha protégé) with the wazir, Malhar set out for Rajputana, and quickly reached Lohagarh in Shekhawati, whence he began to dun Mādho Singh of Jaipur for the long overdue Maratha tribute. Thus at the end of the first week of February 1755, the Delhi region was freed from the Maratha army of occupation and grain again became cheap in the imperial city.

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