Fall of the Mughal Empire v4.c55.s2.6

v4.c55.s2.6

Shāh Nizām-ud-din was Sindhiā’s subahdar of Delhi from August 1789 till June 1796, when he was removed.* But his long tenure of this office had the most unhappy consequences for Sindhiā’s interests. Like a typical darvish, Shāhji professed contempt for riches, while at the same time his greed for all moneys that came within his reach was boundless. As he pretended to have renounced wealth and to have vowed to live on alms of the smallest currency, namely a cowrie or Cyprœan shell, paid by each of his votaries, he was nicknamed the Cowrie Faqir. He laid out a new garden of his own by encroaching on some plots of land belonging to the Emperor and prince Akbar, and said that it was done with Sindhia’s permission!