Fall of the Mughal Empire v3.c37.s2.1

v3.c37.s2.1

The new regent's one engrossing need was that of money. In order to overawe the opposition of Abdul Ahad's party, he had enlisted an army of 30,000 men. The backbone of this force was a well-found artillery and battalions of trained sepoys who could not fend for themselves by loot like the indigenous troopers and rabble infantry, but had to be paid regularly and in cash. And now in the hour of his final triumph he found his treasure-chest empty. The Emperor was starving; the recent ill-fated Patiala expedition of the Kashmiri favourite had emptied the public treasury of what little money there was in it. Najaf had secured the supreme post in the Government by swearing to the Emperor and sealing the oath with his own seal on a copy of the Quran which he handed to Shah Alam, that he would pay the subsistence money of the Emperor and his household move punctually than Abdul Ahad had done. Whence was he to get this money, nearly 1½ lakhs of Rupees a month, besides the pay of the imperial army now entirely in Najaf’s charge—amounting to over three lakhs more? His late victories in many regions,—Jaipur and Macheri, the Jat-land and the Doab,—had gained for him promises of tribute instead of cash, and these promises could be fulfilled only by the pressure of arms.