Fall of the Mughal Empire v3.c33.s5.18

v3.c33.s5.18

After the death of Najib-ud-daulah the quarrel between Sindhia and Holkar broke out afresh over the question of the attitude to be adopted by the Marathas towards Zābita Khan. Visāji Krishna (with the support of Sindhia) demanded from him a fee of 25 lakhs of Rupees for succession to his late father's post of Mir Bakhshi, as Najib was known to have been the richest noble in India after the Jat Rajah, while the Marathas were starving and overwhelmed with debt as the result of their futile Doab campaign. Holkar backed Zābita and pledged himself to get the Ruhela acknowledged by the Emperor as Mir Bakhshi without his having to pay anything to the Peshwa. Zābita, therefore, scornfully rejected Visāji's demand. Then Visāji and his party sent an ultimatum to Tukoji to expel Zābita from his camp. [CPC. iii. 571, 605, 614.]