Fall of the Mughal Empire v3.c35.s5: § 7. Najaf Khan captures Agra fort
Fall of the Mughal Empire v3.c35.s5
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§ 7. Najaf Khan captures Agra fort
v3.c35.s5.1
Thereafter the Mughal generalissimo gave up the plan of pursuing Nawal Singh and wasting months in the siege of his impregnable forts. He made a sharp turn to the east and arrived before Agra on 11th December. The city gave him peaceful possession as his firmness saved its people from plunder and molestation. He owed several months' pay to his army, but he nobly rejected the proposal of his lieutenant to wipe off his heavy debt by giving his soldiers licence to sack the city. The fort of Agra,* however, held out under its Jat commandant, a brother of Dān Shāh. But even this great fortress of Akbar could make no prolonged defence, thanks to Najaf Khan's good fortune. This needs explanation.
v3.c35.s5.2
By the treaty of Benares (7th Sept. 1773) Shujāuddaulah had secured from Warren Hastings an assurance of British armed aid in the defence of his own territory and in his projected annexation of Rohilkhand. The news of the murder of the Peshwa Narayan Rao whetted his appetite for extending his own dominions in the Doab by seizing the now defenceless Maratha possessions there. [CPC. iv. 584 & 626.] No interference was to be feared from the Deccanis, now entangled in their homeland for years to come. The Jat Rajah, left half dead by the Maratha expedition of 1770, was going to be crushed by Mirza Najaf Khan from Delhi. As the imperial attack developed, Nawal Singh made frantic appeals to Shujā—as he did to Zābita and every other enemy of Najaf—to save him. But the loyal service of Suraj Mal to Safdar Jang was forgotten; Shujā’s one aim was to fish in these troubled waters and embark on a career of annexation, now that he was secure about his own realm. The Jat Rajah even offered to cede the fort of Agra to Shujā as the price of his aid in saving the rest of his kingdom from Najaf Khan. So, Shujā marched into the Doab with a large army and began to approach towards Agra, after wresting Etawa from its weak Maratha garrison (circa 15 Dec.) by a siege of four days.
v3.c35.s5.3
∗ Najaf's siege of Agra.—DC. Muna Lal 152. G. Ali. iii. 45-51. *Ibrat*. i. 245-249. *Ch. Gulzar* 493b. CPC. iv. 904. 907 (11) Etawa.—CPC. iv. 731, 736. SPD. xxix. 263.
v3.c35.s5.4
But Najaf Khan’s rapid and decisive success against the Jats foiled the Oudh Nawab's plans. His siege of Agra at first made no progress owing to his want of breaching guns, and he called on Shujā for help in the name of their common master and religion. In response, Shujā detached a large force with many sepoy battalions and heavy artillery in charge of Major Polier (a Swiss engineer of high capacity) and the eunuch Basant Ali Khan, from the Doab. Taking over the siege trenches opposite the Shāh-burj, Polier heavily bombarded the fort. By the 8th of February 1774, five thousand balls had been fired on the walls. "The wall of the Bangala-burj was soon cracked and the stones began to roll down like tulip petals during a strong wind." The garrison lost heart, though they had already inflicted a loss of 300 men on the Mughal side. On 13th February the Jat commandant came out and interviewed Mirzā Najaf. Terms were quickly arranged and he agreed to vacate the fort in return for safety to life and property. He took back with himself a guard from Razā Beg's battalion, who set up the Emperor's flag and outpost at the fort gate. Safety was proclaimed to the inmates. In five days the fort was completely evacuated and Mirzā Najaf entered it, on 18th February. Shujā was baulked of his prey just in time.
v3.c35.s5.5
At Shujā's request to the Emperor to join him in the expedition against the Pār Ruhelas and divide the conquest equally with him, the Emperor sent Najaf Khan to the Nawab of Oudh for settling the terms and removing a certain misunderstanding created between Najaf and the Nawab by mischief-makers. The Mirzā met Shujā at Etawa on 27th Feb. and received a royal welcome, with gifts worth a lakh of Rupees and the offer of the deputy wazirship at the royal Court on his behalf. He was pressed to induce the Emperor to join the Rohilkhand expedition in person and thus give the royal sanction to this war of aggression. Najaf hurried back to Delhi in the company of Shujā's agent Elich Khan (28 March.) The Emperor set out from his palace on 5th April, and proceeded as far as Ghāziabad when his own weak health and the severe illness of his favourite son Akbar Shah made him give up the journey and return (16 April.) Najaf Khan, however, was given congee for the Oudh Nawab's camp and actually set out from Shāhdara on the 22nd. But he was too late to be of any use to Shujā, who had crushed the Ruhelas at Mirān Katra on the 23rd of this very month. Najaf, after interviewing Shujā, came back to Delhi with empty hands (12 June.) The Emperor had done nothing for Shujā and could expect nothing from the spoils of Rohilkhand, though the imperial band in Delhi palace played joyous notes for this victory of his wazir over rebels to his throne!
v3.c35.s5.6
We may here note other Jat losses at this time. The fort of Ballabhgarh was captured from the Jat Rajah's garrison on 20th April 1774, and Farrukhnagar on 6th May. Worst of all, Sombre deserted the Jat service with his trained battalions and well-equipped artillery and came over to the Emperor on 20th May. He was sent to bring the Panipat district back to obedience. Next month René Madec joined Najaf Khan. [CPC. iv. 1184.]