Fall of the Mughal Empire v2.c30.s3.39

v2.c30.s3.39

Now began for Shah Alam a long period of settled and comfortable residence (1765-1771) at Allahabad. He was a sovereign without a capital or any hand in the administration no doubt, but he was also saved from starvation and guarded from attack, thanks to the English. Of this uneventful period in his life a detailed account would be out of place in our history. But it was impossible for him to cease hankering for a return to Delhi, as a visible symbol of his full sovereignty. This natural desire had been recognised by the English who had promised as early as 26 May 1761 to escort him to Delhi with their forces. This promise had been repeated year after year, and even by Lord Clive in 1765; it still stood at the end of 1767; but it was never fulfilled; at one time the war with Haidar Ali absorbed all the English forces, in other years the pledge was to be honoured "after the rains."* At last Shah Alam became convinced that these rains would never end, for the English persisted in advising him, through their devoted instrument at his Court, Munir-ud-daulah, that it would be a danger and loss to him to leave the security of Allahabad and venture on to Delhi. Munir-ud-daulah's success in keeping his English patrons pleased and securing the regular payment of the Emperor's pension enabled his policy to triumph in the council of the royal exile. The pro-Delhi party, led by Hisam-ud-daulah, would probably never have gained the upper hand there but for the utter break-down of Najib's health and spirits, which forced him to resign the guardianship of the Delhi palace and the royal family within it, when faced with the irrepressible and ever-increasing Sikh forces. As early as October 1765, Najib had asked the Emperor to come personally to Delhi, and now in February 1768 he definitely tendered his resignation. This development threw Shah Alam into the greatest perplexity: who would guard his mother and Heir in that city after the withdrawal of Najib? And, if he recalled all his family from Delhi, the Sikhs, who were now officially masters of Sarhind and practically supreme over Hariana and the upper Doab, would take unopposed possession of the capital, and it would be impossible for Shah Alam to recover it from their strong hands. The holder of the capital was naturally in the position of a king-maker. What was there to prevent the Sikh lords of Delhi from crowning a puppet from among the swarm of beggarly vagrant Shahzadas, and under cover of his legal authority conquering the empire for themselves?*