Fall of the Mughal Empire v4.c55.s3.5

v4.c55.s3.5

Nizām-ud-din's peculation of his sovereign's dues was made more unpalatable by his harshness of speech. In pontifical pride, heightened by his consciousness of power as the confidant of the Emperor's regent, this Cowrie Faqir addressed Shah Alam and his sons with a roughness of tongue which moved the helpless Emperor to tears and the young princes to ill-suppressed rage. The Marātha despatches from Delhi again and again describe Shāhji as sakht-go or harsh of speech, and the Persian news-letters repeatedly mention his chiding of the royal family.