Fall of the Mughal Empire v2.c21.s2.6

v2.c21.s2.6

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.