Fall of the Mughal Empire v3.c37.s2.14

v3.c37.s2.14

But the attempt to exact the Jaipur tribute by coercion through Mahbub Ali failed. The Rajah held out within his impregnable fortress, and the invader soon exhausted the resources of the open country, and as he could not pay his troops they began to leave him rather than die of famine in that desert land. To add to Mahbub Ali's disgrace, the negotiations for the Jaipur tribute were taken out of his hands and entrusted to Himmat Bahadur once again. Najaf Khan had been disappointed with Mahbub for his failure to secure any payment in spite of his success in the field. Jaipur agents met Himmat Bahadur, then sulking in his jagir at Vrindavan, bribed him heavily to save their Rajah and sent him off to Delhi where the Gosain gave a fee of Rs. 25,000 to Shivarām Kashmiri, the guiding angel of Najaf Khan, and through him secured an order on Mahbub to make peace with the Rajah of Jaipur, in return for a promise of 21 lakhs of Rupees. The Jaipur envoys offered two lakhs down and the balance by monthly instalments of Rs. 75,000 in future, on condition that the armies under Mahbub Ali and Murtaza Khan should be recalled and all the Jaipur territory seized by them should be relinquished. Najaf agreed except for Narnaul and Hindaun which he wanted to annex.