Fall of the Mughal Empire v2.c28.s1.1

v2.c28.s1.1

From 10th October 1760, when Sadāshiv Rao Bhāu deposed the wazir's puppet Shah Jahan II and proclaimed Shah Alam II Emperor in Delhi, to the 6th of January 1772, when Shah Alam rode into the capital of his fathers for the first time as sovereign, the imperial city was widowed of her lord. True, throughout this long interval of over eleven years, there always lived in Delhi a recognized vicar of the Emperor in the person of his eldest son Mirzā Jawān Bakht, with the title of Wali Ahad or Heir; but the Emperor himself was sighing out his days in exile at Allahabad or elsewhere in the territory of the Nawab of Oudh, unable to control the administration of the realm from its centre. This eclipse of royalty coincides almost exactly with the noontide splendour of Najib Khan's career as the virtual dictator of Delhi and the supreme regulator of the affairs of what still remained of the Mughal empire. Only fourteen months separate the death of Najib (31 Oct. 1770) from the return of Shah Alam to Delhi. Therefore, the history of the centre of the Mughal empire can be best studied as a part of the life-story of Najib-uddaulah, even though he very seldom resided in the city of Delhi during these ten years.