Fall of the Mughal Empire v3.c34.s5.2

v3.c34.s5.2

Najaf Khan, on the other hand, possessed some social advantages which birth had denied to Najib-ud-daulah. That Ruhela had started life in India as a poor uninfluential man, entering service in the humble capacity of a foot soldier. From this small beginning he had risen by sheer merit and unfailing opportunism to the virtual headship of the Empire. But Najaf Khan was a Mīrzā, boasting of the royal blood of Persia and closely connected with the house of the Oudh Nawābs by marriage. All this, however, counted for nothing in practical effect as steps to his rise to greatness. He had no racial backing in India; even the Persian Shujā, his kinsman and brother of the faith, was his personal enemy, while Najaf Khan’s creed made him utterly friendless at the Court of Delhi, where the Shia faction created by Amir Khan and Muhammad Ishāq Khan had been crushed after the failure of Safdar Jang’s rising against his master in 1753.