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flatterers continued to attend their audiences. But soon it became known that the Emperor had made up his mind to destroy them, and had transferred the office of wazir to another. By slow degrees the daily crowd of suppliants grew less and less. Nay, some of the very Barhah Sayyads absented themselves, and the two brothers and their adherents fell into great perplexity. If things had gone on like this for three or four days longer, they would have been much reduced in strength: in another week or ten days, the Emperor's end would have been gained. But it was not long before the truth leaked out, as to the differences among his advisers, the want of heart in his troops, and the state of alarm into which he had himself fallen. Once more the Sayyads' mart resumed its former briskness, and the throng at their doors became greater than before.

The Emperor ordered Islam Khan, Mashhadi, formerly head of the artillery, to point some cannon at Husain 'Ali Khan's mansion, and kill him if possible. This order was not obeyed; and on Mir Jumlah's complaint, Islam Khan was sent for. That officer excused himself on the plea of the risk to innocent neighbours, and asked what fault the Sayyad had committed. Farrukhsiyar began to complain of them. Islam Khan then offered his services as intermediary. Having visited them and expressed to them the Emperor's grievances, Husain 'Ali Khan began with a denial of having thwarted the Emperor in the least. He continued: "The words of the truthful, though somewhat bitter, yield " pleasant fruit. As S'adi of Shiraz says:

'Each good deed has its reward, each fault its penalty.1 "If they were in fault, let the Emperor himself say so; why should a " multitude suffer for the crimes of two men; their heads were there, "ready for His Majesty's sword. By God Most High! since they " were real Sayyads, no word of reproach would escape their lips :

We turn not our heads from the sword of the enemy,
Whatever falls on our head is our Destiny."

This talk frightened Islam Khan so much that he soon asked for leave to go. He hurried back to Farrukhsiyar, and worked on the Emperor's mind till his views were changed. Islam Khan then suggested: "Why not send for them"? and he offered to bring them. Farrukhsiyar said: "Good, I also wish it." Islam Khan reported to the Sayyads that the Emperor had turned round and would like to see them. Husain 'Ali Khan met this by the objection that though they

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were loyal, they could not go to Court while Mir Jumlah was there; but they were willing to go on active service. Why should they remain at Court when there was no real but only apparent friendship. "Ser"vice and submission are from the heart, not from the tongue."

Farrukhsiyar, who was much cast down at the refusal of his friends to act, followed up this negotiation with further attempts to conciliate the Sayyads and offers of doing their will, swearing many oaths that he would never attempt to injure them again. Khwajah Ja'far, the holy man, an elder brother of Khan Dauran, Sayyad Husain Khan, Barhah, Sayyad Shuja'at Khan and others, went to and fro repeatedly. At these interviews the Sayyads expatiated, as usual, on their good services and the devotion they had shown, diversified by loud complaints of the Emperor's ingratitude. At length they said that they were convinced that the flames of illwill had been set alight by the efforts of Mir Jumlah and Khan Daurān. So long as those two gentlemen were left at Court they did not feel justified in presenting themselves there, for they would still be afraid of renewed attack. But Khwajah Ja'far succeeded in overcoming their objection to Khan Daurān. He entered into a solemn covenant on his brother's behalf, that he would never again act towards the Sayyads contrary to the rules of true friendship. Should the Emperor entertain any such project, he would hinder its execution to the best of his ability. If unsuccessful, he would at once warn the Sayyads. On these terms Khan Daurān was forgiven. Mir Jumlah was thus left to meet the brunt of their displeasure, and they insisted on his dismissal from Court. It was about this time that two of the Sayyads' uncles, Sayyad Khan Jahan and Asadullah Khan, counselled them to retire from Court. Qutb-ulMulk objected that they were unfit for a saintly, recluse life. Khān Jahān explained that he did not counsel retirement from the world, but retirement from Court. "Say to the Emperor that you do not wish "to remain at Court, that soldiers such as you are cannot manage the "duties of a wazir or a bakhshi; let him send one of you to Bengal, the "other to the Dakhin." The brothers thought the proposal a good one, but feared that it would be misrepresented by their enemies. Sayyad Khan Jahan asked, "How so"? They replied that they would be accused of meditating independence. Then another idea was brought forward. Why should they not, in order to obtain the removal of Mir Jumlah, propose that one of the two brothers leave Court at the same time as Mir Jumlah. All present approved, and a request to this effect was sent to the Emperor through I'tibar Khan, a eunuch. Strangely enough Farrukhsiyar had conceived a similar plan, and therefore the offer was at once accepted.

1 Ahwāl-i khawāgīn, 88a to 916. 2 Mirza Muhammad, 198.

J. 1. 8

As Farrukhsiyar was by this time in a great fright and held it of the first importance to come to some settlement, he now consented gladly to all their demands. On the 22nd Zü,l Qa'dah 1126 H. (28th November, 1714), the Emperor's mother visited the house of Qutb-ulMulk and on her son's behalf renewed his promises, binding herself by oaths in the most solemn form. On the next day Qutb-ul-Mulk with all his retinue repaired to the palace. Mir Jumlah and Khan Daurān advanced as far as the door of the Public Audience Hall to receive him. The Nawab reproached them to their faces in the severest language. But the two cowards swallowed the bitter draught as if it had been composed of sugar and honey. Not a word of answer issued from their lips. The Emperor was seated at the window in the Hall of Justice, when Qutb-ul-Mulk came in, followed by forty to fifty of his most trusty veterans. His Majesty embraced him affectionately and entered into many excuses for his own doings, the tears standing in his eyes the while. Qutb-ul-Mulk also wept, and recounted at length his own and his brother's many acts of loyalty and self-sacrifice, ending with asservations of their unalterable devotion. Then, in accordance with the demands of the Sayyads, it was agreed that Mir Jumlah should be despatched to Sübah Bahar; while Lutfullah Khan, Sadiq, who furnished all the brains that Mir Jumlah had, and was believed by the brothers to be at the root of all the mischief, was deprived of his rank. His mansion and gardens were confiscated, but on the request of Qutb-ulMulk, the rest of his property was left to him. On the 5th Zü,l Hijjah 1126 H. (11th December, 1714), Mir Jumlah was conducted to Lahor in the charge of two mace-bearers.2

On the day appointed for their attendance, just before the Sayyads were received in audience, Lutfullah Khan Sadiq, with effusive signs of joy, had met them in the middle of the great court in front of the public audience chamber, and began to sound their praises like a hired flatterer. "During their absence the Court, even at noon-tide, had been "plunged in the darkness of a long winter night, it seemed as if with "them the sun and moon had disappeared" and more in the same strain. Qutb-ul-Mulk retorted roughly: "What is the use of all this "fulsome talk; if you meant it in your heart, why did you not show it "in acts and try to heal the breach"? Lutfullah Khan then informed them that he had noticed a change in the Emperor's purpose, and believed that mischief was intended, for this reason only had he now

1 Ahwāl-i-khawāqīn, 93b.

2 Mirza Muhammad, 199, Kamwar Khan, 151, has 23rd-Warid, 151a.

troubled them. Having planted the seeds of distrust in their hearts, he hurried back to the Emperor and said that from what he had seen, he expected the Sayyads would use force. Farrukhsiyar broke out into anger: "The better I treat these men, the worse they oppose me." Additional guards were posted at the doors. After the usual ceremonies, Qutb-ul-Mulk stepped forward and protested their loyalty, and prayed that tale-bearers might no longer be listened to. For instance, a person trusted by His Majesty had just met them in the open court of the Audience Hall, and professing to be their friend, had told them that His Majesty meant to treat them harshly. If His Majesty thought them worthy of punishment, let him execute them with his own hand; and they would be happy to become a sacrifice. Farrukhsiyar retorted that a man had just told him the Sayyads intended to use force. The Sayyads rejoined that till one of these men was punished, things would never resume their proper course. The Emperor demanded the same. Explanations followed; this double treachery was brought home to the culprit, and the incident was the principal cause of Lutfullah Khan's sudden disgrace.1

As Nawab Husain 'Ali Khan would not come to court until Mir Jumlah had left, the latter received his audience of dismissal on the Id-uz-zuha (16th December, 1714). Four days afterwards (20th December, 1714), Husain 'Ali Khan entered the palace with his men, observing the same precautions as in the case of Qutb-ul-Mulk. The Emperor and the Mir Bakhshi exchanged compliments, under which their real sentiments were easily perceived. Some months before this time (12th Ramazan, 1126 H.-20th September, 1714) Husain 'Ali Khan had obtained in his own favour a grant of the Dakhin Şübahs, in super

1 Ahwāl-i-khawāgīn, 72a.

The following pungent chronogram is given by Khushhal Cand (404a), who evidently disliked Lutfullah Khan very much :

Ai! ba-bin 'z ah-i-khalq Lutfullah

Az bulandī 'ftādah dar tah-i-cah;
Sāl-i-tārīkh az Khirad justam :

Guft Hatif kih, "Radd shud badkhwāh" (1126).

"Oh! Behold, through the cries of the people, Lutfullah has fallen from a lofty place into a deep well; 1 sought the date from Wisdom. An angel spoke: "The wisher of evil was cast out."

Lutfullah Khan went to his home at Pānīpat, where Mirza Muhammad paid him a visit on the 9th Safar 1131 H. (28th Dec., 1718), when passing through on his way from Dihli to Rāhun in the Jalandhar duabah (Mirzā Muhammad, 420). Dakhni Khanum, the Emperor's maternal aunt, entered on possession of Lutfullah's

confiscated mansion.

session of Nizam-ul-Mulk. He had then no intention of proceeding there in person, but meant to exercise the government through a deputy, Daud Khan, as had been done by Zü,lfiqar Khan, after fixing the amount of profit to be remitted to him every year. It was now proposed that he should leave Court and take over charge of the Dakhin himself. Owing to fears for his brother's safety and other reasons, he had been very reluctant to leave Dihli. At length, under pressure of circumstances, he consented to take his departure to the South, Khan Daurān Şamsām-ud-daulah being appointed his deputy at Court. One writerl ascribes this change of plan to Husain 'Ali Khan's disgust with recent events. It should rather be looked on as part of the agreement under which Mir Jumlah was sent away.

On the 17th Zü,l Hijjah (3rd December, 1714), after his own troops had taken charge of the palace gates, Husain 'Ali Khan's audience of leave-taking took place; but his first march to Nizam-ud-din Auliya's tomb was postponed till the 29th Safar (5th March), and his actual departure was not reported till the 30th Rabi' I 1127 H. (4th April, 1715), when he set out by way of Ajmer. At this last audience he had made the significant remark that if in his absence, Mir Jumlah were recalled, or his brother were subjected to annoyance, his return to Court might be looked for within twenty days from the occurrence of either event. He took with him power to appoint and remove all officials and exchange the commanders of all forts in the Dakhin. Nay, a common story is that, under compulsion, Farrukhsiyar made over to him the great seal, in order that the warrants of appointment to the forts should not require imperial confirmation. The settlement of these various matters had caused a delay of three or four months, which were spent by Husain 'Ali Khān at Barahpulah. Hardly was Husain 'Ali Khan's back turned before new schemes were contrived, and on the 29th Jumādi I (3rd May, 1715), Dāūd Khan, then Governor at Ahmadābād in Gujarat, was reappointed to Burhanpur, one of the Şübahs under charge of Husain 'Ali Khan. Daud Khan received secret instructions from the Court to resist the Mir Bakhshi to the best of his ability, and if possible to kill him. The reward promised him was succession to the six Subahs of the Dakhin. When we come to relate events in the various provinces during this reign, we shall return to the subject. Suffice it to say here that, much to the chagrin of the Court party, Dāūd Khan was killed in battle near Burhanpur on the 8th Ramazan 1127 H. (6th September, 1715),

1 Mirzā Muhammad, 202.

* Khafi Khan, II, 741.

8 Mirza Muhammad, India Office Library, MS. No. 50, foll. 128b, Khafi Khăn, II, 742.

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