Fall of the Mughal Empire v3.c38.s1.3

v3.c38.s1.3

Not one of these captains was of such outstanding eminence and prestige as to exact the unquestioning obedience of the other three. To avert a return to feudal anarchy, the Gosāin Himmat Bahadur very wisely urged Shah Alam to become his own commander-in-chief, go forth at the head of the assembled troops, and win back his lost provinces. The master's own leadership would suppress the mutual jealousies of the subordinate generals and cow the rebels and revenue defaulters into obedience without any need of fighting. But Shah Alam II was not cast in the heroic mould of his ancestors; he fell in with the timid counsels of his sycophants and refused to leave the security and pleasures of his palace for the hardships and dangers of a life of campaigning. [Ibrat. ii. 31-32.] A successor to Najaf Khan as army chief and regent of the empire had, therefore, to be sought out.