Fall of the Mughal Empire v2.c30.s3.27

v2.c30.s3.27

At the end of the rainy season, Shah Alam invaded Bihār for the third time, accompanied by Jean Law and his Frenchmen. But his army was now without money, discipline, heavy guns, or even an adequate munition supply. In spite of this heart-breaking handicap, Law served him truly to the last. The end came on 15th January 1761, when at the village of Suān (6 miles west of Bihār city) Col. Carnac defeated the imperialists and captured Law and his French officers. All his hopes of independence crushed, and in utter penury and lack of supporters, the sovereign of the Delhi empire now sued for the mercy of the English. They, on their part, were eager to placate him and remove the taint of illegality from their late measures against him. On 6th February Shah Alam visited Carnac at Gayā and was highly honoured by him and escorted to Pātna, where he lodged in the fort and began to hold Court. Here the new Bengal Nawab Qāsim Ali Khan waited on him (12 March), paid his tribute and humbly sought imperial confirmation of the high office to which he had been lately called (20 October 1760) by the grace of the English. Kāmgār Khan was defeated by Captain Champion, and the Emperor under pressure from the English dismissed him from his service. The English settled upon the puppet sovereign an allowance of Rs. 1,800 a day, in return for confirming their political arrangements in Bengal and Bihār.