Fall of the Mughal Empire v3.c37.s1.7

v3.c37.s1.7

To any one who has followed Najaf Khan's campaigns against the Jats or Ruhclas, it would be incredible, but for the most authentic contemporary evidence in our possession, that this great general could now indulge in freaks of insane frivolity worthy of imbecile voluptuaries like Abdullah Qutb Shah of Golkonda or Wājid Ali Shah of Lucknow, as the following incident illustrates:—"On 4th and 5th June 1781, the Amir-ul-umara taking his entire harem with himself, in the company of Latāfat Ali Khan made an excursion to Wazirabad [i.e., Wazirpur, north of Delhi fort.] At four gharis of the night he ordered the women of his zanāna to loot the melon-beds on the bank of the river near which his tents were pitched. Then he attended dancing till midnight; also next morning till one quarter of the day. The baskets filled with these melons were ordered to be sent to his mansion in Delhi." [Or. 25,020, f. 312.]