Fall of the Mughal Empire v2.c22.s5.4

v2.c22.s5.4

Najib having failed, the next master of a respectable force was Suraj Mal Jat, and to him the imperial chancellor now turned. Through Nāgar Mal he sought to placate Suraj Mal, whom he had been vindictively pursuing since October 1753 for his partisanship of Safdar Jang. At his call Suraj Mal came to Tilpat, south of Delhi, and met the wazir's envoy as well as Najib Khan. But the negotiations broke down on a conflict of policy : the Jat Rajah rightly argued that the best defence of the empire was for the wazir to take a personal lead in the war, combine the Ruhelas, Jats, Rajputs and old Mughal nobility in an anti-Maratha campaign, confine the Deccani spoliators to the south of the Narmada, and after thus ensuring the safety of their homes lead their united forces into the Panjab for expelling the Afghan invader, as had been done in 1748. But the sole prop of Imād's power were the Marathas and he would not cast them off. So Suraj Mal, finding further discussion useless, went back to his forts in disgust, leaving Imād to his fate. [TALS. 82b-84a.]