Fall of the Mughal Empire v2.c25.s6: § 16. Ali Gauhar's wanderings after escape from Delhi
Fall of the Mughal Empire v2.c25.s6
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§ 16. Ali Gauhar's wanderings after escape from Delhi
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From the northern suburbs of Delhi the prince, still accompanied by Vital Shivdev, marched again to the Baluch country in the south-west. At Farrukhnagar he fought (30 May) Mirzā Khan and other relatives of the zamindar Musā Khan Baluch and routed them.
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∗ TALS. 175-192a. DC. Siyar, iii. 60-61. Ghulam Ali 47-53, 59-66. SPD. ii. 95.
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Then, taking a promise of Rs. 2,60,000 from the defeated party, he went to Pataudi, where he received many gifts and provisions sent by Suraj Mal Jāt in charge of his son Ratan Singh.* During the first half of June 1758 Shah Alam with Vital’s help continued roving in that region,—Farrukhnagar, Rewari, Nāhra, Dādri,—plundering the villages and levying contribution wherever he could. On 16th June Vital parted company with him at Dādri, under strict orders of recall from his chief Raghunath, who had been won over by Imād to oppose Shah Alam’s interests.
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Vital had received orders to bring the prince away with himself; but he left him with a small escort under his own son and told him to go wherever he pleased. “Shah Alam, after bidding farewell to Vital Rao, marched beyond Dādri on 16th June, turned his face to the path of the wilderness in sole reliance on God, and told his followers that they were free to accompany him or not as they liked. Most of them left him.” By way of Churkhi he went to Hisār, where he found the Bikānir Rajah’s reply refusing to give him an asylum in his kingdom, a refusal softened by a purse of Rs. 10,000. At Hisār he gathered many military adventurers and some money, and resuming his march on 25th July reached Kunjpurā on the 31st. Then crossing the Jamunā, he reached Muzaffarnagar and was conducted by Najib's brother and eldest son with all honours to Jansath and lodged there. Here many Bārha Sayyids joined him. Najib himself welcomed the prince at Miranpur (c. 20 August) and gave daily subsistence to his troops, but he refused to go to war with the wazir and the Marathas for the sake of his master's son. Unable to effect his purpose here, the prince, after making an addition to his harem, marched from Miranpur across Ruhelkhand to Oudh, where Shujā-ud-daulah received him with full ceremony on 2nd January 1759. Shah Alam's adventures in concert with this ally will form a separate chapter, because they did not affect the history of Delhi or of the imperial Court, but concerned only an outlying and lost province.
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∗ The wazir sent Nāgar Mal to the Jāt camp at Palwal to induce Suraj Mal not to side with Shah Alam (3 June.)
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§ 17. Imad's campaign in the west of Delhi, 1758.
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We may complete this episode of Delhi history by briefly describing the wazir's activities during the period.[*] When Shah Alam, abandoned by Vital Shivdev, entered the Hisār district, Imād decided to oppose him by arms. But his Maratha allies having left for the Deccan, the wazir was compelled to fight the prince out with his own resources. He dragged the Emperor along with himself in order to give validity to his acts and also to prevent the capture of the Emperor's person by his enemies during his absence. A long time was lost in making a start from Delhi, as nothing was ready for a campaign for want of money. At the end of July 1758, the Emperor reached Kot Kalān (4 miles from Jhajhar) and the wazir Bahādurgarh. But by that time their prey was already beyond the Jamunā. So, the wazir set himself to exacting tribute from the villages and fighting them in case of default. From 10th August his troops began to range through Jhajhar, Dādri, Kaliānā and other places on the Rohtak—Gurgaon border, and collected over two lakhs of Rupees, till they reached Hisār on 22nd September. In this region the sturdy villagers from behind their mud walls, frequently offered stout resistance, and fought the wazir; they could be subdued only by turning artillery upon them. On 19th September, when the Emperor and wazir were separated during their march by following two different routes, the people of Bhiwāni, matchlock in hand, shut their sovereign out of their village, while the local robber population carried off many of the carts laden with baggage from both divisions of the imperial army.
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∗ TALS. 182a-188a.
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The wazir next attacked Bhatner, the seat of Muhammad Amin Khan Bhatti. But Amin Khan, strong in the strength of his fortress, the river Ghaghar, dense jungles, and abundance of soldiers,—continued to defy him. Every day the Khan's men sallied forth from their fort and plundered all people who had occasion to leave the wazir's camp. Thus the invaders suffered from great dearth of food and drinking water.
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Then Ālā Jāt came, waited on the wazir, and supplied provisions. The Bhattis even made a night attack on the Delhi camp, slaying and wounding many men and carrying away much property. The sufferings of the miserable imperialists were aggravated by a great storm of hail and rain which burst upon their camp at 3 P. M. on 30th October and continued far into the night. The Emperor's residential tent fell down from the weight and he was buried under it. No servant was present to erect it; so he cut the canvas with his dagger and crawled out, crying out to his still buried sons, who shouted back to indicate exactly where they were. At last all the camp gathered round the tent, the Emperor and his sons were rescued and took shelter in a large waggon (rath), but, horrible to relate, men and women were mingled together! Then the wazir patched up some sort of peace and returned towards Delhi. At Bhawāna, the Emperor's tent caught fire, but he at last reached his capital on 22nd November 1758.