Fall of the Mughal Empire v2.c28.s11: § 11. Expansion of Suraj Mal's power, 1761-62, relations with Najib
Fall of the Mughal Empire v2.c28.s11
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§ 11. Expansion of Suraj Mal's power, 1761-62, relations with Najib
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Three months after Panipat, Suraj Mal found himself delivered from the Marathas and the Durranis at the same time, and set himself to extending his possessions. He seized many Maratha jagirs in the Doab, recovered his own earlier annexations in the Aligarh and Bulandshahar districts which Abdali had seized in March 1760, and made fresh conquests at the expense of the Rajput and other zamindars within his reach. He crushed the Bhadauria Rajputs of Agra district and the Porach Rajput taluqdar of Mendu (in Aligarh), and did not spare even independent Jats like the zamindar of Mursan. "On this side of the Jamuna, from the gates of Delhi to the Chambal, there was no other government but his; and towards the Ganges it was almost the same... The reduction of Agra fort assured to Suraj Mal the tranquil possession of most part of that subah, because in fear of the imperial force posted in it he had so long confined himself to the region south of that city. But now he spread his dominion northwards up to Sarai Khwajah Basant, 20 miles from Delhi. West of the capital he engaged in creating a small separate State for his son Jawahir Singh," covering Mewat and the Baluch lordships near Rewari. Here Jhajhar and other small places fell to him, but Farrukhnagar held out till December 1763.
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∗ The promises made to the qiladar and his troops were broken and those men were languishing in poverty, when Wendel wrote in 1768, the reason being that the Jat Rajah called upon the qiladar to render full accounts of the enormous imperial property hitherto kept in his custody and accused him of defalcation. [Wendel, p. 86.] Chahar Gulzar, 454b, says that the qiladar Fāzil Kh. remained faithful to his charge, but Musa Beg, the keeper of the gates, opened them for 3 lakhs to the Jats, who punished his treachery by imprisonment, (? confounded with the surrender of Farrukhnagar by Musavi Khan Baluch in Dec. 1763.)
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Najib tried to come to terms with Suraj Mal. On 7th October 1761, Rajah Diler Singh from Delhi, accompanied by the Jat agents Rupram Kothari and Mohan Singh, went to Suraj Mal at Dankaur, and after five days' discussion it was agreed that Suraj Mal would be formally confirmed in his recent gains (Jhajhar and other places), subject to the payment of a tribute to the Emperor, for which Nāgar Mal stood security. Then two envoys from Najib visited the Jat Rajah, with a Quran on which Najib had sworn solemnly to safe-guard Suraj Mal, and arranged for an interview between the two chiefs near Delhi. On 19th October Abdali’s courier brought his letters from Kabul to Delhi calling upon the Indian chiefs to pay the promised tribute, and to report who was loyal to the Emperor and who not. A Durrani army was announced to be about to visit India soon, and the Shah himself behind it. On the 24th, Nagar Mal went to Suraj Mal to arrange for paying Abdali and also to persuade him to visit Najib near Delhi in order to settle terms, after which Najib, accompanied by Suraj Mal’s son, was to go to Shah Alam and conduct him to the imperial capital, with the support of all the Indian princes.
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A few weeks later this interview took place. “The armies of these two chiefs alighted on the opposite banks of the Jamuna at Dankaur-ghat. Najib went towards Suraj Mal, seated in a small boat, with only a few servants, leaving all his troops on the other side of the river . . . Suraj Mal behaved towards him with great purity of heart.” [Nur. 56. DC.] But no lasting settlement was made. Ahmad Shah passed the whole of 1762 in the Panjab, and Suraj Mal seems to have held his hand back during that year. *
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∗ Najib and Suraj Mal in 1761-62,—DC, SPD. xxi. 89, 90.
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§ 12. Suraj Mal captures Farrukhnagar ; rupture with Najib, 1763.
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Next year, the Jat attempt to enforce law and order in that immemorial robbers’ den known as Mewat and guard the roads leading out of their kingdom, brought about an open war between Suraj Mal and Najib, the patron of the harbourers of these robbers. Musavi Khan, the son and successor of Kamgar Khan, was the strongest of the numerous petty Baluch chiefs in the Gurgaon-Rohtak district west of Delhi. He led a contingent of over 2,000 of his clansmen, with whom he had joined Najib soon after the latter’s entry into Delhi as regent. During the Panipat campaign he had aided the Afghan cause by closing the roads west of Delhi to the Marathas and cutting off their stragglers convoys and couriers. His seat was Farrukhnagar, (30 miles south-west of Delhi), a very well-fortified place.
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The Mewati race used in all ages to live by robbing the country round. For some years past the Jat Rajah had been engaged in conquering that district and establishing his own administration there. He had taken the imperial fort of Alwar, which dominated the district (March 1756), and had built another fort at Kishangarh, 20 miles northwards. This country was intended to be the appanage of Jawahir Singh, while the main Jat kingdom was to descend to his younger
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xxix. 23. Wendel, 83-88. Nur. 56. N.W.P. Gaz. vii. 618-664. ii. 429-489.
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brother Nāhar Singh.* In the course of his gradual occupation of Mewat, whenever Jawahir heard of any Mewatis practising highway robbery, he used to track them by their footmarks and sternly put them to death. But a most notorious culprit of the place defied him. A Meo named Sānulbā, with his gang of ten mounted brigands, used to make long night marches from his lair, and loot caravans near the fort of Dig or between Hodal and Barsana. "The people were helpless against his oppression. He fixed his residence in the fort of Tauru, the seat of Asadullah Khan Baluch, with whom he used to share his booty, (as the price of his protection.)" Jawahir found that Sānulbā would not be expelled from his refuge unless his protectors were attacked. Suraj Mal at first called upon the Baluch chiefs to drive Sānulbā out. They refused to lose such a profitable agent in crime, and Jawahir led an expedition against them. All the Baluches under Musavi Khan of Farrukhnagar, the head of their clan, opposed him, and the expedition had to return unsuccessful. This repulse only served to rouse Jawahir's spirits. A second and stronger expedition was sent. Najib Khan wrote to Suraj Mal asking him not to touch the Baluches who were his protegees. Suraj Mal replied by pointing out that those who harboured highway robbers deserved punishment.
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∗ Jat capture of Farrukhnagar, Nur. 60a-66a. Wendel, 88-89. Ghulam Ali, ii. 194.
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Jawahir Singh advanced upon Farrukhnagar, wasting the villages on the way. Suraj Mal came up with reinforcements and a train of big guns, and in less than two months the fort was taken, (c. 12 December 1763.) Musavi Khan issued with his family on a promise of safety, but was arrested and confined in the fort of Bharatpur. Meantime, on receiving an urgent appeal for relief from the Baluches, Najib had written again to the Jat Rajah to withdraw from the Baluch estates, which were dependent on him and on the border of his own dominions. He himself was lying very ill at Najibabad, but set out for the scene of war, and reached Delhi on 14th December. But Farrukhnagar had fallen two days before, and all that Najib could do now was to write to Suraj Mal protesting against his unfriendly act in attacking the Ruhela chieftain’s dependent, and adding, “Let what is past be past. You may keep the fort that you have captured. But it is not proper to hold Musavi Khan and his family in captivity. You ought to release them out of regard for my friendship with you.”
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Suraj Mal wrote back, “These men are my enemies. Between you and me there is agreement and friendship. How was it consistent with that friendship for you to march from Najibabad to Delhi (during my siege of Farrukhnagar)? It became publicly known that you were leading your army against me. If I had not in the meantime taken the fort, you would have joined Musavi Khan against me. The idea was in your mind. You have thus already broken the alliance between you and me by acting with breach of faith.” Even after this Najib tried to avert a war with Suraj Mal, whose immense resources in men and money he dreaded; “his own treasury was empty and his estates required time to recover from his recent war against the Marathas, and he was suffering from a dangerous malady.” But Suraj Mal had been thoroughly exasperated; he decided on crushing this thorn in his path once for all. Najib’s peace-messenger Yaqub Ali Khan, sent from Delhi on 19th December, returned baffled on the 23rd, with the Jat Rajah’s reply, “Najib has acted contrary to my expectations. Clearing of our hearts is impossible now. He has come from Najibabad solely in pride of his troop of clansmen. It is necessary for me to look at his army once.”
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§ 13. Last campaign and death of Suraj Mal.
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Having thus thrown down the gauntlet, Suraj Mal left a strong garrison in Farrukhnagar and Jawahir Singh in its neighbourhood, and marched with the rest of his army rapidly to the Doab.* Encamping on the west bank of the Hindan, he sent detachments across it, who plundered all the villages around Ghaziabad and set fire to them, only the fort remaining safe. After this the Jat army returned to the south of Delhi. Najib issued from the city with his troops and stood near the garden of Khizirabad for some time, but returned without giving battle. Suraj Mal, after sending a haughty challenge to Najib, again crossed the Jamuna in light kit and halted some miles south of Ghaziabad. Najib with all his troops (below 10,000 men) forded the Jamuna two hours before dawn and took post on the west bank of the Hindan. It was the 25th of December. The Jat army came up opposite and an exchange of artillery fire began which lasted till about 3 P. M. Then Suraj Mal, keeping the bulk of his troops and all his guns and elephants stationed facing the Ruhela army, marched away with 5,000 horse under his own command, crossed the Hindan four miles upstream, and tried to penetrate into Najib’s rear. A furious battle raged for some time, with charges and counter-charges, and nearly a thousand men fell down on the two sides taken together. Suraj himself with his small personal staff, then rode forward to rally his shrinking men. But in crossing a nala left behind by the river, he fell into an Afghan ambuscade and was shot down with most of his companions by the
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∗ Last battle and death of Suraj Mal,—Nur. 66a—70b (best and fullest.) Wendel, 89-90 and DC. (support, briefly.) Bayan 305. Ghulam Ali, ii. 194-205 (detailed but vague.) Muna Lal 78-85, Siyar, iii. 82, Chahar Gulzar 453 (meagre.) This battle seems to have taken place, east of Sarai Sadar and north of Bhagel, about 10 miles south-east of Delhi, where a straight line
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drawn from Delhi to Sikandrabad crosses the Hindan. From the field Najib marched to Surajpur, which is 15 m. w. of Sikandrabad. (DC.)
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Ruhela musketeers lying concealed among the *jhau* bushes. The rest of that squadron broke and fled into the jungle, abandoning their horses to plunder. The triumphant Ruhelas rushed forward from their ambush. One of them, Sayyid Muhammad Khan, popularly called Sayyidu, recognized Suraj Mal, and "thirsting for vengeance, dismounted, and plunged his dagger twice or thrice into the Rajah's stomach. Two or three of his light horsemen also struck at the body with their swords. He then ordered the head to be cut off. Five or six men plied their swords at the head and it was hacked to pieces, and one sword too was broken. Then Sayyidu came away from the place."
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"The Jat force facing Najib kept up their fire, the flag on their elephant still stood erect, and their kettledrums continued to be beaten. When Sayyidu came up and boasted that he had slain Suraj Mal, none would credit it, as the entire Jat army was holding its ground as firmly as before. Three hours after sunset both armies fell back to their encampment. Next day, at dawn spies brought the report that no trace of the Jat army could be found for 30 miles. Najib asked for proof of Suraj Mal's death. Sayyidu cut off an arm from the corpse of Suraj Mal and showed it to Najib. The Ruhela chief's envoys, Sāgar Mal Khatri and Shaikh Karamullah, who had visited Suraj Mal only a day before the battle, at once identified the body by the design of the chintz cloth of his tunic and the mark of the amulet that the Jat Rajah was known to have worn for years. Thus, all became convinced that Suraj Mal had been slain.”
Cites (2)
- Bayān-i wāqiʿ — Khwāja ʿAbd al-Karīm Kashmīrī 1780, Persian
- Selections from the Peshwa Daftar — Marathi