Fall of the Mughal Empire v2.c25.s4.17

v2.c25.s4.17

Backed by Abdālī, Qutb Shāh the right-hand man of Najib had expelled the Marathas, early in 1757, from the Saharanpur district and taken possession of it. But in May, the wazir’s partisans Kāmgār and Bahādur Khan Baluch defeated Qutb in the Gohānā pargana and drove him wounded and with broken forces east of the Jamunā to Kairānā. After the Dasaharā celebration (22 October) Raghunāth and Malhar marched into the Doab, crossing the Jamunā at Khizirabad and withdrawing their outposts from the environs of Delhi and Shāhganj. “Some sort of composure came to the city.” On 26th November they crossed the Hindan and encamped on its eastern bank. From this place, six days later Raghunath himself marched to Garh Mukteshwar to bathe in the Ganges, plundering all places on his route as during his first pilgrimage of January 1755; none of Najib’s local officers ventured to oppose him. Similarly levying ransom and plundering villages all along, Malhar with his own division advanced north through the Doab, by way of Luni, Bāghpat (Rs. 20,000 levied), Barāut (Rs. 17,000 ransom), and the Saharanpur district. Najib retreated before the flood of invaders, sending his family camp and baggage from Saharanpur to the eastern side of the Ganges. The whole of the Saharanpur district, villages and towns, was mercilessly sacked as being Najib’s jagir. At the plundering of Jhunjhānā many men were slain. [*TALS.* 120a, 147-150b.]