Fall of the Mughal Empire v4.c53.s1.6

v4.c53.s1.6

But at the same time, De Boigne considered it his duty to warn Daulat Rao that the removal of an exceptionally able and experienced governor like Gopāl Bhāu would throw his entire North Indian administration into confusion and De Boigne himself would not be able to maintain order there. Shah Alam also, sent a secret message to the Peshwā, through the Maratha Resident in Delhi, pointing out that Bālobā Pāgnis had been once dismissed by Mahādji as a failure and Abā Chitnis had been solicited by him to resume the premier’s office which he had filled to the Emperor’s entire satisfaction ever since. It was, as Shah Alam argued, a ruinous mistake to replace such a tried minister as Abā by a man of proved incompetence like Bālobā. But all these arguments proved useless when weighed against the threat of Nānā Fadnis’s hidden hand working against Sindhia’s prestige and wealth. [DY. ii. 120, 133, 119, 121. Hingné D. ii. 97.]