Fall of the Mughal Empire v2.c24.s4.18

v2.c24.s4.18

The Emperor was requested to send to Ahmad Shah's camp near Mathurā two of his sons, after formally appointing them subahdars of Oudh (cum Allahabad) and Bengal (cum Bihar.) On 14th March he gave leave of departure to his son Hedāyet Bakhsh and his nephew and son-in-law Mirzā Bābā with letters-patent for the governorships of Bengal and Oudh respectively, but nothing else. They reached Abdali's camp on the 19th with a poorer retinue and escort than even the lowest nobles of former times. They had no money for raising an army, and Abdali could not spare any large detachment of his own troops to support this adventure. He therefore planned that the princes should first go to the Doab (the Bulandshahar district), join Ahmad Bangash the Nawab of Farrukhabad, drive out the Maratha posts there, establish their own revenue collection, and with the resources thus gained enlist more men, advance further east, oust Shujā from his provinces, and then proceed to the golden land of Bengal. To them Imād-ul-mulk was attached as guardian and diplomat, and Jangbāz Khān as commander of the escort with a miscellaneous force of 3,000 men stiffened by 600 Durrāni soldiers, and Najib's brother Sultān Khan and son Zābita Khan.