Fall of the Mughal Empire v3.c38.s9.8

v3.c38.s9.8

But the fate of Afrāsiyāb Khan was not to be decided by battle*. In the pride of undivided power he had given Mirzā Najaf's family and old servants the greatest provocation imaginable by demanding the hand of that chief's maiden daughter. As she had been betrothed to Shafi shortly before that general's assassination, this proposal from her father's slave was resented as a burning insult by Shafi's brother Zain-ul-abidin Khan. Emboldened by the nearness of the formidable Maratha army, Zain matured his plan of revenge on the insolent upstart more successfully than in his first attempt of April before.