Fall of the Mughal Empire v2.c22.s6: § 2. Afghan invaders approach Delhi. Fruitless peace efforts. Panic and flight from Delhi
Fall of the Mughal Empire v2.c22.s6
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§ 2. Afghan invaders approach Delhi. Fruitless peace efforts. Panic and flight from Delhi
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The month of November 1756 wore out in holding such futile talks and the putting off of any decision, as is the facile habit of men without strength of will. With December came alarming news. On the 9th of that month the capital learnt that Abdali had crossed the Indus 13 days before. There could now be no mistaking his intentions, "it became known that he wanted to come to Delhi."* Ten days later came reports of the nearer approach of the danger; Abdālī's troops had penetrated plundering up to Batālā and Adinanagar. That day "the wazir sent off letters summoning the Marathas, the Jat Rajah, and Shujā-ud-daulah. The great men of the capital made preparations for flight" [DC.] Next day (20 Dec.) Aghā Razā Khan was sent off with gifts worth two lakhs of Rupees to placate Abdali and turn him back from coming to Delhi. But this very day it was learnt at Delhi that the invaders had occupied all the country up to the western bank of the Satlaj, that Adina Beg had abandoned the Jalandar doab without a blow and fled away none knew where, and that "from Lahor to Sarhind not a place was left tenanted, all men, high and low, having fled away. A great distraction fell on Delhi also, the upper classes sent their families to Mathura and Agra in the jurisdiction of Suraj Mal, or to other places. The wazir, who wielded the empire without a sharer in his power, took no step to meet the danger ; he refused to go to Sarhind to oppose the invasion, but consulted darvishes how to overcome the enemy through their prayers without fighting. He would not spend money for raising an army. He only wrote letters summoning the Marathas, but they too demanded money. Najib Khan, in spite of the measureless favours shown to him by the wazir, planned to go away, crossing the Jamuna, to Saharanpur." [TALS. 85b-86a.]
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∗ Ahmad Shah Abdali in Delhi, 1757 : the most detailed and authentic sources are *DC.* (invaluable) and *TALS.* 80-102, with graphic touches in the narrative of Shaikh Ghulam Hasan Samin, tr. by W. Irvine in *Indian Antiquary*, 1907, (which has many inaccuracies of date due to its having been written 25 years after the event.) The Maratha letters, so valuable and accurate at other times, fail us during this period, as Antāji Mānakeshwar fled away from Delhi on 19th January and Bāpu M. Hingané on 7th Feb., and what they wrote afterwards was distant hearsay; so also were the private newsletters received at Jhansi or Aurangabad and communicated to the Peshwa. Antaji's gasconade and reviling of Bāpu must be taken with a grain (or rather an ounce) of salt. The two 18th century histories of Abdali, *viz.*, *Mujmil* and *Tarikh-i-Husain Shahi*, are meagre about this period and the latter work is often confused and inaccurate. *Tarikh-i-Muzaffari* and Shakir's *Memoirs* are very brief, and *Siyar-ul-mutakhkharin* is only a secondary and very distant compilation of a quarter century later. Miskin only tells us of Mughlāni Begam's doings and his own sufferings (129-139.) Nur-ud-din is short but useful.
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Feeble minds find their easiest refuge in consultation. The wazir held a council of the chief men in Delhi on 25 December. They all advised him to march against the invaders taking the Emperor at their head. But the only effective force in Delhi was that of Najib, who was known to be an enemy partisan. On the 29th, the wazir brought to the Emperor's audience Yaqub Ali Khan (a cousin of Abdali's wazir Shah Wali Khan, but long resident in India.) This man was created a 6-hazari mansabdar and sent in company with Shāh Fanā, a faqir greatly honoured by Abdali, to go to the Afghan king and induce him not to invade the Delhi region. [TALS. 86b ; Raj. i. p. 437.]
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Further advance of the invaders was soon reported. Their vanguard (under Hasan Khan) had occupied the deserted city of Sarhind. "At this news great alarm prevailed in the capital, and an exodus began; the families of Khushhālchand, Lachhmi Nārāyan, Nāgar Mal and Diwāli Singh migrated to seek refuge in Mathurā." Even Muhammadans did not feel safe. The wazir himself sent his family away to Rajputana. Antaji Manakeshwar, at the head of 3000 horse, hitherto paid by the wazir, came from Gwalior at his call and halted on the eastern bank of the Jamuna opposite Delhi (30 December.) The wazir now ordered him to stop the flight of the panic-stricken citizens. He barred thei path south of Delhi; "at this the fugitives wanted to return to Delhi, but the Marathas would not let them unless they gave up all their money and belongings for paying the soldiers who would in future be appointed tto guard them. The people paid more or less, and came back to Delhi. The imperial Lord Chamberlain Ziā-ud-daulah's family was similarly obstructed, during their flight, in the Old Fort, but the wazir secured their release on 5th January 1757. Antaji’s men acquired much money and jewellery. Passage out of Delhi was entirely stopped. The people who had emigrated before, mostly took up residence in Mathurā, because during Nādir Shāh’s invasion they had found safety there through the friendliness of the Jāts. But this time, on the contrary, the Jāts took money from the fugitives at every outpost from Badarpur to Mathurā. Mathurā itself was so crowded that few could obtain any residence. Theft became very prevalent.” [TALS. 87a-88a.]
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On 9 January came the news of the main Afghan army’s arrival at Sarhind and of their dread lord marching close behind them. Next day another council of State was held, but the wazir would not agree to offer battle, as a muster taken showed only 3,000 men actually present and only six bullock-carts for transport! So, at midnight Imād by abject entreaty induced Mughlāni Begam to start for Abdali’s camp, for disarming his anger, and making terms which would avert his coming to Delhi. Next day (11th Jan.) the wazir found his mansion blockaded by his own troops (under Shāhdil Khan Afghan) clamouring for their arrears of pay! Such was the state to which the defence of the empire had been reduced under Imād-ul-mulk’s ministry.
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On the 14th, the baffled envoy Āghā Razā returned from Abdali’s camp with the doleful message that the Afghan invader had demanded two *krores* of Rupees in cash, the hand of the Emperor's daughter, and all the territory from Sarhind westwards, as the condition of his going back, and that he had severely censured the Delhi Government for provoking his invasion when they could not fight but were bent on making terms. "On hearing these words, the people of the city became very much alarmed; so that, on that very day the family of Rajah Jugalkishor set out for Mathurā. Nearly 500 carts loaded with the people of the city, consisting of the Bhātiwāl and other classes, accompanied them." "The Emperor and wazir, powerless to fight, powerless to raise this ransom, sent Āghā Razā again (15th) with piteous entreaties to the Afghan king." [DC. TALS. 90b.]