Fall of the Mughal Empire v3.c34.s9: § 13. Visaji Krishna and Tukoji Holkar quarrel with the Emperor. Delhi forces attack the Jats. Rene Madec joins the Emperor
Fall of the Mughal Empire v3.c34.s9
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§ 13. Visaji Krishna and Tukoji Holkar quarrel with the Emperor. Delhi forces attack the Jats. Rene Madec joins the Emperor
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On the arrival of winter a storm burst over the Emperor and his city. The Pathargarh expedition had ended in a rupture between the Emperor and the Marathas. The Ruhela chief had been utterly defeated, but the fruits of the victory had disappointed the two allies; the financial distress of neither was relieved by the spoils of war. The Emperor was convinced that the Marathas would neither give him armed help in recovering his lost dominions, nor provide him with a more liberal revenue than Najib-ud-daulah had done. On the other hand, the Marathas legitimately demanded the fulfilment of the terms of his treaty with them (22 March 1771) which they had fully carried out by restoring him to his capital. The 30 lakhs promised to them in that treaty still remained unpaid, and the bankrupt Puna Government was constantly urging its North Indian agents to realise this money. The Emperor having refused to invade Oudh for exacting tribute from its viceroy or to make an incursion into Bihar for its long-outstanding revenue, the Maratha chiefs pointed out that in these circumstances the only person who could produce money in the Emperor's need was Zābita Khan, the inheritor of Najib's immense hoards, and that Zābita could be placated only by pardoning him for his past contumacy and appointing him to his father's office of Mir Bakhshi, with all the family jagirs. As the price of this Maratha intercession and armed pressure for enabling him to gain these objects, Zābita agreed to pay the Peshwa ten and a half lakhs of Rupees. Tukoji Holkar, as the hereditary ally of Zābita, converted Visāji Krishna to this policy; but Mahadji Sindhia refused to promote the interests of the house of Najib-ud-daulah or to take part in the proposed demonstration against the Emperor in support of them.
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The late Ruhela campaign had suddenly raised Mīrzā Najaf Khan to the highest credit at Court and the greatest influence over the Emperor's mind, who now ordered him to raise troops and form a new army worthy of the Crown. For this purpose, the revenue of several districts north and west of Delhi was assigned to him and he sent his collectors there,—Najaf Quli to Hansi-Hisar, Niyāz Beg (Turāni Mughal) to Saharanpur, Muhammad Beg Hamadāni to Jalalabad-Luhari (i.e., Ghausgarh in north Muzaffarnagar), Afrāsiyāb Khan to Sonepat and Pānipat. The former disbanded veterans of the imperial army as well as youths aspiring to the profession of arms, came to Delhi in crowds as the news spread that a new army was to be raised under the Emperor's banner. Very soon an excellent force of about seven thousand men was enlisted, besides a contingent of foreign Muslim cavalry (called Mughalia, i.e., Persians and Turks) who belonged to Najaf Khan's personal following. Miskin describes the recruits as "strong and handsome youths, well mounted and of the Hindustani breed, wonderful to look at,"—but, as the result showed, they proved too raw and undependable in their first battle (in December next.)
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The rise of Najaf Khan excited the jealousy of Hisām-ud-din, and that worthless favourite plotted with Tukoji Holkar and Visāji to get Zābita pardoned by the Emperor and appointed as Mir Bakhshi under Maratha patronage and thus set him up as a counterpoise to Najaf Khan in the official headship of the army of the Empire. Shah Alam rejected this demand, and his refusal brought down a Maratha attack upon Delhi at the end of the year.
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As usual in India, the rainy season enforced inactivity on all parties. At its close the imperial forces invaded the Jat territory stretching south of Delhi and took a number of small mud forts. But the Jat Rajah made peace with the Marathas by agreeing to a money contribution, and being thus relieved of one enemy, sent his forces to oppose the imperialists. His vanguard was led by René Madec with a newly equipped well-armed force of 3,000 men and eight field guns, besides Jat cavalry. At Madec’s approach the imperialists fell back and all these Jat posts were recovered without a blow. The Emperor then promptly concluded his long drawn negotiations for seducing Madec. The French partisan leader was promised Rs. 40,000 per month with power to add to his contingent of 3,000 men up to any number he might consider necessary; and a patent for the title of Nawab Shams-ud-daulah Bahadur Qaim Jang, six-hazari (both zāt and sawār) was sent to him. Madec assures us that in this act of desertion his object was purely patriotic. In leaving the Jat service abruptly he was sacrificing much of his property lodged in his house in Bharatpur as well as the sum of two lakhs of Rupees, being the arrears of his pay due from Nawal Singh; but he was at this heavy cost carrying out the instructions of M. Chevalier, the French Chief of the Chandernagar factory, for establishing a French force and French influence at Delhi as a set-off to the British conquest of Bengal.
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Madec left the Jat service without giving notice, and had therefore to fight his way through strong opposition up to the gates of Delhi. His march was conducted with remarkable skill, courage and tenacity, and at its end he entered Delhi on 15th November 1772, and was welcomed by the Emperor with ceremonies and honours which entirely turned the head* of the ex-sailor and rough adventurer. Madec's arrival happened to be timed to a crisis in the affairs of Shah Alam; only a month after the French captain's entrance into Delhi, "the fortunes of the Empire came to be decided under the walls of the capital", as he justly observes in his memoirs.
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∗ Madec writes in his Mémoire: "The third day [17th Nov. 1772] I went to the Emperor's audience...in the same order in which I had made my entry into the city,---(described before as, "I can say without ostentation that my entry into Delhi had the air of a triumph and that I entered there more like a monarch than a private person.")...The Emperor invested me with a robe of very rich cloth of gold with all the ornaments, namely a girdle, a turban and an aigrette set with precious stones...In cosidering the state of grandeur in which I found myself...I could hardly believe that it was not a dream."
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§ 14. Maratha attack on Delhi.
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Visāji Krishna and Tukoji, after their recommendation to the Emperor in favour of Zābita Khan and the Jat Rajah had been rejected,* assembled their forces in the Doab and made a move towards Delhi at the end of the monsoons, arriving within eight miles of the capital on 21st November. The Emperor held a consultation with all his nobles. Fazl Ali Khan was detached with the two battalions of sepoys supplied by the English, to go and entrench the eastern bank of the Jamuna near Shahdara. But the Marathas approached the capital from the south. They crossed over to Khizirabad, a village on the Jamuna west bank, some ten miles south-east of the Turkmān gate of Delhi.
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Najaf Khan from the outset counselled a bold resistance. But the Emperor's cause was ruined by his personal cowardice and weakness of character which made him a puppet in the hands
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* When the Maratha chiefs demanded the subsidy promised in 1771, the Emperor replied, "During the recent (Ruhela) campaign you have seized all the spoils and looted all the country. What have I gained except hardship and a debt of lakhs of Rupees? What has been my gain from your adhesion? Even Mirza Najaf has spent on his own troops the 80,000 Rupees that was realised at Amroha." [Ibrat i. 215.] To the Maratha demand in favour of Zābita Khan and the Jat Rajah, his reply was, "I know my rights. I am the Sovereign and the Jats and Ruhelas are rebels who have usurped territories under obedience to me." [Madec.]
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of his ministers and these ministers were moved solely by mutual jealousy and selfishness. Hisām-ud-din had recently supplanted Saifuddin Muhammad Khan as the Emperor's chief adviser and confidant, which was a poor requital for Saifuddin's services in 1771 in securing the Maratha alliance, wresting Delhi fort from Zābita's men, and conducting the Emperor to his capital. Hisām was mortally jealous of Najaf, the man of the sword and the darling of the army. The ministers moved at cross purposes to each other, while their master wavered between them. As the French captain noted with surprise, "The Emperor assembled such troops as he had; but he did not do what he ought to have done on the occasion,—he did not appear at the head of his army." Najaf's counsel prevailed for the time and war was decided upon. The Marathas from the gate of Delhi repeated their demand on behalf of Zābita Khan, but it was again rejected by the Court.
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On 7th December Mirzā Najaf went in force towards Bārapula to fight the Maratha army; he stood ready till midday, but neither side advanced to the encounter, and so Najaf returned to the city in the afternoon. The imperialists used to issue daily from the walls, march two miles south into the Old Fort (Purāna Qila) and stand in battle order; a little skirmishing sometimes took place, and at last the two armies retired to their respective camps. The sandy bank (reti) of the Jamuna below the Old Fort was entrenched and held by the imperialists, but this position was really untenable against the myriads of Maratha light horse. After skirmishes of a more extensive kind on the 10th, 12th and 16th, the decisive engagement came off on Friday the 17th of December.[*]