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of that noble after his death. Farrukhsiyar declared it to be a forgery; he knew nothing about it. Husain 'Ali Khan next demanded further concessions. I'tiqad Khan and several others must be excluded from court, and all the offices round His Majesty's person must be made over permanently to the Sayyads and their nominees.1

One of the first questions to cross Farrukhsiyar's lips was: "Where is your prisoner, the son of Prince Akbar ?" "He is here," replied" Husain 'Ali Khan, "but the Dakhanis object to produce him before they have received Sahu's mother and brother." Accordingly Bandhu, who for over thirty years had been prisoner, was brought out and made over to the Mahrattas. Husain 'Ali Khan then promised to bring the prince to audience on the following day, and deliver him over publicly, so that no future doubts as to his fate might arise. The Emperor and the Bakhshi now pledged themselves anew to each other. Farrukhsiyar took off his turban and placed it on the head of Husain 'Ali Khan, adding a gift of all the jewels that he was then wearing. Husain 'Ali Khan accepted only a part of the gifts offered to him. The interview was prolonged until three hours after nightfall, and when the Sayyad had left, all men believed that the strife had been allayed and ill-will converted into friendliness. The courtiers began to extol the boldiness of His Majesty and praise the loyalty and good faith of the honourable Sayyads.8

On the 5th and 6th Rabi' II (24th and 25th February, 1719) Farrukhsiyar sat as usual in the Diwan-i-khās; and all seemed likely to go on as before. The 8th Rabi' II was one of the days fixed in each week for hunting expeditions. Believing that the storm had blown over, the Emperor issued orders to prepare his retinue for that day, intending to go out of the city as usual. Suspicion arose in the Sayyads' minds that this was a mere pretext for flight to Jai Singh's camp, which was not then very far off. Qutb-ul-mulk at once wrote to the Emperor that on that day, the 8th, Husain 'Alí Khan craved an audience, for the purpose of delivering the captive prince brought from

1 Mirzā Muḥammad, 450; Kāmwār Khān, 190; Khāfi Khān, II, 806; Muḥammad Qāsim, 232.

2 Shiu Dās, 24b, but Warid, 157b, places this conversation on the last two days of the reign. Khushḥāl Cand (B.M. 3288, fo.: 316b), following the Ma,asir-i-‘Ālamgīrī (p. 333), calls the younger brothers of Sahū, Madan Singh and Udhū Singh. Kāmwar, 199, (1st Jamādī I, 1131 H.) speaks of one only, Madan Singh; and his release is placed on the 1st Jamādī I, 1131, (21st March, 1719). Grant Duff, p. 184, 1. 17, calls Madan the illegitimate son of Shambū Jī.

3 Khāfi Khan, II, 807.

The days fixed were two a week, Saturday and Wednesday, Shiū Dās, 3a. I make the 8th to be a Monday or a Tuesday.

the Dakhin, and of taking his own leave before returning to that province. Overjoyed at the prospect of at last obtaining possession of this dreaded rival, Farrukhsiyar countermanded his expedition or, as another contemporary writer maintains, the hunting expedition had been a mere pretext. By this second account, it had been decided that directly the Emperor left the palace he should fall upou the Nawab, whose suspicions, as they thought, would have been lulled by the negociations, and thus catching him unawares, he would be easily destroyed. A message was sent postponing the audience; but before it reached him, Ḥusain ‘Ali Khan had been warned by a woman in the harem. In his answer, he announced that as the next day had been pronounced exceedingly auspicious, he could not put off the audience, and prayed that the hunting excursion might be counter manded instead. His troops remained on the alert all night; and three hours before sunrise, Rājah Muḥkam Singh occupied the Lahori gate of the palace, where he awaited Qutb-ul-mulk.1

SECTION 37.-THE SAYYADS TAKE POSSESSION OF THE PALACE.

On the 8th Rabi' II, 1131 H., (27th February, 1719), early in the morning, Qutb-ul-mulk entered the palace with his own relations and dependants, Najm-ud-din ‘Ali Khān, Ghairat Khān and others, followed by Rajah Ajit Singh, Mahārāo Bhim Singh, Hāḍā, and Rājah Gaj Singh, Narwari. The imperial artillerymen and the matchlockmen on guard were removed from the bastions and battlements, and evacuated the palace. Not a single soul was left in attendance on the Emperor, except I'tiqad Khan, Zafar Khan and two or three eunuchs. The Wazir took up his position in the house known as the Peshkhanah of the late Ja'far Khan, which had been lately vacated by Şamşam-ud-daulah; while the three Rajahs were sent to occupy the office-rooms of the Revenue (dīwānī) and of the chamberlain's (khānṣāmān) departments. The keys of the Privy Council chamber (Dīvān-i-khāṣ), of the sleeping room, and of the Hall of Justice were sent for; and the doors of the palace and the gates of the fort were confided to men trusted by the Sayyads; troops were hidden in the antechambers (jilau-khanah) and the palace was guarded on all sides.3

2

1 Kām Rāj, 'Ibratnāmah, 15b, Kāmwar Khan, 190, 191, Mirza Muḥammad, 452. • Khushḥāl Cand, 413b, states that Qutb-ul-mulk went to the Haiyat Bagh. This is more usually called the Haiyat Bakhsh. It was a garden occupying the north-west corner of the Lal Qila'h or palace, (see Carr Stephens, p. 216, plan)· The Ja'far Khan here referred to is, no doubt, the man who died in 1080 H. (16691670). He was the son-in-law of Aṣaf Khan, see M-ul-U. I., 151, 531, II., 729. • Khāfi Khān, II, 807; Kamwar Khan, 192; Mirzā Muḥammad, 452.

About midday, leaving Saif-ud-din ‘Ali Khān in charge of his baggage, Husain 'Ali Khan entered the city at the head of 30,000 or 40,000 horsemen and a well equipped artillery, bringing with him the supposed prince, seated on an elephant in a canopied howdah, and heralds running before him proclaiming his titles. Husain 'Ali Khan proceeded to the mansion known as the Bārahdari of the late Amir-ul-umarā, Shāistah Khān,1 which had been granted to him early in Farrukhsiyar's reign. The Mahratta horsemen drew up at the gates of the palace and in the adjoining lanes of the city. Outside the palace, during the whole of that day, not a soul had the remotest suspicion of any hostile movements. The first inkling of any fresh disagreement was obtained between sunset and evening prayer-time. I'tiqad Khan was seen to come out of the Dīwān-i-khāṣ, his limbs trembling from fright, scramble into the first palanquin he could find, and make off to his house. Soon afterwards, Karm Cand, an agent employed at the court, wrote to those outside that all the Sayyads' demands had been complied with, including the degradation of I'tiqād Khan to the rank that he had held in 'Alamgir's reign. This news at once spread agitation and anxiety throughout the city. All night long Qutb-ul-mulk and Mabārājah Ajit Singh remained in the palace, and Husain 'Ali Khan in his own mansion.*

What had happened within the palace must now be told. After much discussion Qutb-ul-mulk, at a time between midday and afternoon prayer, presented himself before the Emperor. Qutb-ul-mulk at once repudiated Farrukhsiyar's proferred compromise, by which I'tiqād Khan and his other friends were to act as the deputies of the Sayyads and their nominees. From the first, Qutb-ul-mulk had objected to the appointment as Nazir of the harem of anyone not a eunuch. I'tiqad Khān was removed from that office, which was made over to a eunuch, Maḥaldār Khan. Next, the wazir expatiated on the base return given for his and his brother's services, bringing up again the secret instructions to Dāūd Khān, and similar letters sent to Rājah Sāhū, Mahratta, and others, all of which the Sayyads had in their possession. The Emperor's repeated appeals: "Why does not my brother, the Amir-ul-umarā, bring to me the suppositious prince," passed entirely unheeded. In the course of this conversation Farrukhsiyar lost his temper and was overcome with anger; both sides were thus led to the use of abusive 1 Shaistah Khan, maternal uncle of 'Alamgir Aurangzeb, died at Agrah in the middle of 1105 H. (1695), (M-ul-U. II, 709 and T-i-Muḥammadi.) His house stood on the edge of the Shah-nahr or canal, opposite the Lahor gate of the palace, (Muḥammad Qāsim, 236).

? Khāfi Khār, II., 807. Kām Rāj, ‘Ibratnāmah, 662. Shiū Dās, 25a.

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language and harsh expressions, things being said which had better been left unsaid. In his rage Farrukhsiyar shouted: "If I am a true son of "Azim-ush-shan and a real descendant of the Lord of the Conjunctions '(i.e. Taimur), I will impose retribution for these uncalled-for deeds "and this unmeasured audacity. I will have the lands of the Bārhah "ploughed by asses, and mice thrust into the trousers of their women."1 Qutb-ul-mulk grew furious, and venting his wrath in disrespectful words, left the Diwan-i-khāṣ for the guard-room (peshkhānah) of the Dīwān-i-‘alā, and turned out seven hundred of I'tiqād Khān's horsemen who were still on guard at the Khizri, or water-gate of the palace, and the rest of Ajit Singh's men. He saw now that if they were to save themselves, extremities must be resorted to, for as Sa'di has said: "When a snake touches the foot of the villager, he withdraws it and "breaks the suake's head with a stone."2 As soon as the minister had left his presence, Farrukhsiyar turned upon I'tiqad Khan and poured out on him angry abuse and reproach. We are told that I'tiqād Khān had ventured to object to delivering the keys of the gate to the Sayyads. This aroused Farrukhsiyar's anger, and turning to him he exclaimed: "O wretched man! all this calamity has come on me by reason of you. This moment, when I am a prisoner in their hands, you choose as the time for giving contrary advice." The Emperor ordered him to be turned out of the palace. I'tiqad Khan, seeing that things had assumed for him a different complexion, hurried away to his own dwelling, as already stated.3

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Farrukhsiyar now began to cool, and addressing Zafar Khan said: Bring back ‘Abdullah Khan by any means you can; I will do all that "he demands." Zafar Khan replied: "The opportunity has been lost : "the only thing is for your Majesty to go to him in person." Farrukhsiyar refused. Then full of mingled rage and fear, he quitted the window of the Privy Audience Chamber and entered the female apart ments. The queens and the concubines crowded round him, the Turki : and Ḥabshi women were told off to guard the doors, and the night was passed "in supplication and lamentation before the throne of the Eternal." Qutb-ul-mulk had turned Zafar Khan out of the fort, and

1 ‘Ibratnāmah, Kām Rāj, 66a. Yoking donkeys in a plough and driving them over the ruins of a captured fort was a well-known practice. See Elliot Supp. Gloss." under Gadhe ka hal, or Donkey plough. The practice was known to the Tamils in early times, see Dr. G. N. Pope's article in R. A. S. Journal, April, 1899, p. 252 : “Asses are yoked to plough up the soil with spears, while worthless plants

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are sown on the foundations. Thus rages the conquering king.”

2 Az ăn mār bar pãe ra'i zanad, kih tarsad, sar-ash rã ba-kobad ba-sang.

8 Kām Rāj. ‘Ibratnamah, 66a. Khāfi Khan, II, 807, Yaḥya Khan, 124b, Muḥammad Qāsim, 237.

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placed his own sentries to guard the Privy Audience Chamber or Diwankhānah. One of the most curious incidents in this confused drama, was a despairing attempt by Farrukhsiyar to secure the aid of Ajit Singh. He wrote: "The east side of the palace, towards the Jamnah, is not guarded; if you can, despatch there some of your men, so that I may 'get out and make off somewhere or another." He gave this note to a eunuch, who thrust it into his pocket, and succeeding by a thousand wiles in eluding the vigilance of the guards, placed it in the Rājah's hand. The Rājah replied that the proper time had gone by, what could he do now? Some even say that he sent on the original letter to 'Abdullah Khān. The wazir called at once for Curā, Jāţ, to whom was assigned a post on the river bank below the octagonal bastion of the fort1. On every roof sat the Sayyads' men with loaded wall-pieces ready to fire. In short, "such close guarding was carried out and such care taken, that not even the gentle breeze could find a way into or out of the fort." In every lane and street of the city the outcry was heard that the Emperor had been deposed. No food was eaten, no repose taken; the night passed in fear and expectation. The more sanguine believed that in the morning Rajah Jai Singh would march in from Sarãe Sahil in the one direction, and Sarbuland Khan from Sarae Mihr Parwar in the other; and by their united forces would rescue Farrukhsiyar out of his enemies' hands, and replace him on the throne.

SECTION 38.-THE LAST DAY OF THE REIGN.

At last the fateful morning dawned of the 9th Rabi' II, 1131 H. (28th February, 1719). Only an hour or an hour-and-a-half after daybreak, a great disturbance arose in the city. Muḥammad Amin Khân, Cin, Bahadur, and Zakariyā Khan (son of 'Abd-us-samad Khan), at the desire apparently of Ḥusain 'Ali Khan, were on their way at the head of their Mughals to attend the Sayyad's darbār. As the crowd of Mahrattas in the streets and lanes near the fort impeded their progress, the Mughals began to push them forcibly on one side, and open a route for the two Nawabs and their retinue. Having in the Dakhin felt for many a year the weight of the right arm, the Mahrattas as soon as they saw their Mughals' faces, fled like a flock of sheep before a pack of 1 This bastion, the Saman burj, is the central one upon the river front of the fort (see Carr Stephens, p. 216, plan). In places we have muşamman, i.e., octagonal.

2 Kāmwar Khan, 192, who got his facts from Zafar Khan, Turrahbaz, who was present himself. Shiū Dãs, 25a, Khūshḥāl Cand, 413b, Muḥammad Qāsim, 248. 8 Kām Rāj, 66, Zakariyā Khān was approaching the palace from the direction of Bāzār Khānum.

J. I. 44

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