Fall of the Mughal Empire v2.c28.s1.17

v2.c28.s1.17

Yaqub Ali Khan, by Abdali's order, left Delhi on 9th April with the robe and jewelled pen-case appertaining to the office of imperial wazir, for delivering them to Imad at Mathura. On the 19th the envoy was presented to Suraj Mal. Long consultations were held by these three, as well as Tatya Gangadhar (Holkar's diwān) and Bāpu M. Hinganē (the Peshwā's resident wakil at Delhi), for settling a peace between the Shah and the Peshwā and restoring the normal administration of the country. Envoys of the trans-Ganges Ruhelas and of Ahmad Bangash and Shujā-ud-daulah too arrived to join in this peace congress. But nothing came of it, partly because with a dying Peshwa on the throne the Maratha State was headless, but mainly because Suraj Mal and Imad were bent upon setting Najib aside and asserting their own authority over the imperial dominions without a partner. A lasting peace with Abdali and Najib was the last thing that they desired. Imad and Tatya Gangadhar prevented Yaqub Ali from going to the Peshwa and settling the peace terms and the boundary question by direct negotiation with him, and asked the envoy to conclude the discussion at Mathura. The envoy protested that the Shah's order was for him to go to Puna, placate the Peshwa by offering condolences for the slaughter at Pānipat, ascertain his demands and make terms then and there. But in view of Balaji Rao’s mental derangement and imminent death, he was detained at Mathura and the congress broke up after two months of futile talk.