Fall of the Mughal Empire v2.c22.s6.1

v2.c22.s6.1

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.]