The Fall of the Moghul Empire of Hindustan

by H. G. Keene

But the danger was now too close and too vast to allow of further weakness. The Emperor's eyes seem to have been first opened by his army's evident confusion, as it returned to Dehli, and by the prevaricating reports and explanations which he received from its commander. If Mirza Jawan Bakht was the prince who had accompanied the ill-stared expedition, we know enough of his prudence and loyalty to be sure that he would have done all in his power to make his father see the matter in its true light; and what was wanting to his firm but dutiful remonstrances, would be supplied by the cries of fugitive villagers and the smoke of plundered towns.

Najaf Khan was urgently summoned from Agra, and obeyed the call with an alacrity inspired by his loyal heart, and perhaps also by a dignified desire for redress. As he approached the capita], he was met by the Prince and the baffled Kashmirian. To the former he was respectful, but the latter he instantly placed under arrest, and sent back under a strong guard. The fallen Minister was confined, but in his own house; and the Mirza, on reaching Dehli, confiscated, on behalf of the Imperial treasury, his wealth, stated to have amounted to the large sum (for those days) of twenty lakhs, reserving nothing for himself but some books and a medicine chest. This was the second time he had triumphed over an unworthy rival, and signalized his own noble temper by so blending mercy with justice as has seldom been done by persons situated as he was. Abdul Ahid Khan or Majad-ud-daulah was a fop, very delicate in his habits, and a curiosity-seeker in the way of food and physic. It is said by the natives that he always had his table-rice from Kashmir, and knew by the taste whether it was from the right field or not.

Fully restored to the Imperial favour, the Mirza lost no time in obeying the pressing behests of his Sovereign, and sending an adequate force under his nephew, Mirza Shafi, to check the invaders. Their army, which had been collected to meet the Imperialists, drew up and gave battle near Meerut, within forty miles of the metropolis; but their unskilled energy proved no match for the resolution of the Moghul veterans, and for the disciplined valour of the Europeanized battalions. The Sikhs were defeated with the loss of their leader and 5,000 men, and at once evacuated the country.

1780. It cannot have escaped notice we have been here reviewing the career of one whose talents and virtues merited a nobler arena than that on which they were displayed, and who would have indeed distinguished himself in any age and country. Profiting by experience, the successful Minister did not repeat the former blunder of retiring to Agra, where, moreover, his presence was no longer required; but continued for the brief remainder of his life to reside in the metropolis, and enjoy the fruit of his laborious career in the administration of the Empire, to which he had restored something of its old importance. Mirza Shafi commanded the army in the field; while Mohammad Beg, of Hamadan, was Governor of the Fort and District of Agra. Najaf Khan himself was appointed Amir-ul-Umra (Premier Noble); his title, as it had long been, was Zulfikar-ud-daulah "Sword of State."

I have not thought it necessary to interrupt the narrative of the Mirza's successes by stopping to notice the death of Sumroo. This event occurred at Agra on the 4th of May, 1778, as appears from the Portuguese inscription upon his tombstone there. He appears to have been a man without one redeeming quality "stern and bloody-minded, in no degree remarkable for fidelity or devotion to his employers" the one essential virtue of a free lance. This character is cited from the memoirs of Skinner, where it is also added that he cannot have been devoid of those qualities which attach the soldiery to their officer. But even this becomes doubtful, when we find the late Sir W. Sleeman (who was in the habit of moving about among the natives, and is an excellent authority on matters of tradition), asserting that he was constantly under arrest, threatened, tortured, and in danger at the hands of his men.

The force was maintained by his widow, and she was accordingly put in charge of the lands which he had held for the same purpose.

This remarkable woman was the daughter (by a concubine) of a Mohamadan of Arab descent, settled in the town of Kotana, a small place about thirty miles north-west of Meerut, and born about 1753. On the death of her father, she and her mother became subject to ill-treatment from her half-brother the legitimate heir; and they consequently removed to Dehli about 1760. It is not certain when she first entered the family of Sumroo, but she did not become his wife till some time afterwards. It has even been doubted if any formal marriage-ceremony ever took place, for Sumroo had a wife living, though insane; and the fact was probably sufficiently notorious to prevent any Catholic clergyman in that part of the country from celebrating a bigamous alliance with the rites of the Church.

1781 . At his death he left a son, baptized as "Aloysius," who was still in his minority; and the Minister, observing the Begum's abilities, saw fit to place her in charge, as has been already said. The ultimate result amply justified his choice. In 1781 under what influence is not recorded she embraced Christianity, and was baptized, according to the ritual of the Latin Church, by the name of Johanna. Her army is stated to have consisted, at this time, of five battalions of Sepoys, about 300 Europeans, officers and gunners, with 40 pieces of cannon, and a body of Moghul horse. She founded a Christian Mission, which grew by degrees into a convent, a cathedral, and a college; and to this day there are some 1,500 native and Anglo-Indian Christians resident at Sardhana.

1782. - On the 26th April died Mirza Najaf Khan, after a residence in India of about forty-two years, so that he must have been aged at least sixty. He appears to have been an even greater and better man than his predecessor, Najib-ud-daulah, over whom he had the advantage in point of blood, being at once a descendant of the Arabian prophet, and a member of the Saffavi house, which had been removed from the throne of Persia by the usurpation of Nadir Shah. Captain Scott who was a good scholar and well acquainted with Native politics, as Persian Secretary to the Governor-General of British India records of the Mirza that no one left his presence dissatisfied. If he could grant a request he would, and that with a grace as if it pleased him; if he could not, he could always convince the petitioner of his sorrow at being obliged to refuse. The faulty side of him appears to have been a love of money, and (towards the last part of his life, at least,) of pleasure. It will be seen in the sequel how soon his gains were dissipated, and his house overthrown. At his death he wielded all the power of the Empire which his energies and virtues had restored. He was Deputy Vazir of the absentee Viceroy of Audh, and Commander-in-Chief of the army. He held the direct civil administration, with receipt of the surplus revenues, agreeably to Eastern usages, of the province of Agra and the Jat territories, together with the district of Alwar to the south-west and those portions of the Upper Doab which he had not alienated in Jaidad. But he died without issue, and the division of his offices and his estates became the subject of speedy contests, which finally overthrew the last fragments of Moghul dominion or independence. The following notice of these transactions is chiefly founded on a Memorial, drawn up and submitted to the British Governor at Lucknow in 1784, by the Shahzada Jawan Bakht, of whom mention has been already made more than once, and who had, for the ten years preceding the Emperor's return to Dehli, in '71, held the Regency under the title of Jahandar Shah. After referring to the fact that Majad-ud-daulah (the title, it may be remembered, of Abdul Ahid Khan) had been and still was in custody, but that an equerry of the Emperor's procured the issue of patents confirming existing appointments, the Prince proceeds, "The morning after the Mirza's death, I saw the attendants on His Majesty were consulting to send some persons to the house of the deceased, in order to calm disturbances; and at last the Wisdom enlightening the world resolved on deputing me to effect that object. [I] having departed with all speed, and given assurances to the afflicted, the friends of the departed had leisure to wash and dress the body, and the clamour began to cease. After necessary preparation, I attended the corpse to the Masjid, and the rites of Islam having been performed, sent it to the place of interment, under the care of Afrasyab Khan, who was the cherished-in-the- bosom" (adopted) "son" of the noble deceased; whose sister also regarded him as her adopted son.

"Afrasyab Khan soon became ambitious of the dignities and possessions of the deceased, and the Begam (deceased's sister) petitioned his Majesty in his favour, with earnest entreaty; but this proved disagreeable to the far-extending sight of the royal Wisdom, as Mirza Shaffi Khan, who had a great army and considerable resources, looked to the succession, and would never agree to be superseded in this manner, so that contentions would necessarily ensue." There can be no doubt of the correctness of Shah Alam's views. Mirza Shaffi was the nearest relative of the deceased, and in actual possession of the command of the army. He was thus not merely the most eligible claimant, but the best able to support his claims. But the Emperor never, as we have seen, a man of much determination was now enfeebled by years and by a habit of giving way to importunity.