Unattended therefore by this, his best and nearest friend, the poor old Emperor began his march to the westward. On the way it appeared well to take the opportunity of reducing Najaf Kuli, who, confident in his stronghold of Gokalgarh, would make no submission unless he were appointed premier. As we know that the Controller Manzur Ali, who was at present all-powerful, was in favour of the claims of Gholam Kadir, we may suppose that these terms were rejected with scorn, and the trenches were accordingly opened and the fort invested. The Emperor's army on this occasion consisted, according to Francklin, of some battalions of half-drilled infantry (called Najibs), the body guard, called the "Red Battalion," a very considerable body of Moghul horse, and three disciplined regiments which had been raised and drilled by the deceased Sumroo, and now with a detail of artillery and about two hundred European gunners, served under the well-known Begam; with these forces Shah Alam sate down before Gokalgarh. On the 5th April, 1788, the besieged made a vigorous sally, and charged close up to the tents of the Emperor. Such was the unprepared state of the royal camp, that the whole family were in imminent danger of being killed or captured; the imperial army was already in commotion, when, at this moment, three battalions of the Begam's Sepoys and a field piece dashed up, under the command of her chief officer Mr. Thomas. The infantry deployed with the gun in the centre, and threw in a brisk fire of musketry and grape, which checked the sortie, and gave the Imperialists time to form. The Moghul horse lost their leader: on the other side the Chela (adopted son) of the chief was shot dead; Himmat Bahadur, at the head of his Gosains (a kind of fighting friars who were then beginning to be found useful as mercenaries), delivered a frantic charge, in which they lost 200 men; and Najaf Kuli was finally driven in with the loss of his field-guns. He soon after opened negotiations through the inevitable Manzur Ali; and, the Begam Sumroo joining in his favour, he was admitted to the presence and fully pardoned. In the same Darbar, the Begam was publicly thanked for her services, and proclaimed the Emperor's daughter, under the title of Zeb-un-Nissa "Ornament of her sex."
The expedition, however, exhausted itself in this small triumph. Whether from mistrust of the Rajputs, or from fear of Sindhia, who was just then hovering about Bhartpur, the Emperor was induced to turn back on the 15th April, and reached the capital by a forced march of twenty-four hours, accompanied by Himmat Bahadur. The Begam retired to Sirdhana, and Gholam Kadir and Ismail Beg parted, as we have already seen, after the indecisive action of Chaksana, a few days later. Though disappointed in their hopes of aid from Dehli, the Rajput chiefs fought on, and the tide of Sindhia's fortunes seemed to ebb apace. After the last-named fight he had fallen back upon Alwar, but only, to be encountered by Partab Singh, the Kachwaha prince, of Jaipur, who drove him back once more upon Agra. Here Ismail Beg met him again and chased him across the Chambal. Meanwhile Ambaji Inglia was prevented from rendering aid to his master by the persistence of the Rathors of Jodhpur, who put him to flight after an obstinate engagement. Thus cut off, Sindhia remained under the friendly protection of the Chambal until the month of June, when Rana Khan joined him with a fresh body of troops that he had received from the Deccan. Thus reinforced Sindhia once more marched to the relief of his gallant follower Lakwa Dada, who still held out in the Fort of Agra. The attack was made on this occasion from the eastward, near the famous ruins of Fatihpur-Sikri, and was met by Ismail Beg with one of his furious cavalry charges. De Boigne's infantry and artillery however repulsed him, before Gholam Kadir, who was returning to the Moghul's aid, had been able to cross his forces over the Jamna, or effect a junction. Ismail Beg, who was severely wounded, did not hesitate to plunge his horse into the stream, swollen and widened as it was by the melting of the Himalayan snows. The Mahrattas, satisfied with having raised the siege, did not pursue him, and the two Mohammadan chiefs once more united their forces at Firozabad. Francklin (who very seldom gives a date) says that this final battle took place on the 22nd August. He also states that Gholam Kadir had already joined Ismail Beg, but drew off on the approach of the Mahratta army. The former statement is easily seen to be erroneous, as both the noblemen in question were in a very different scene in August of that year. The latter is possible, but the weight of authorities, Mahratta and Musalman, is in favour of the account given above. Francklin carelessly adds: "Agra surrendered," the fact being that the gallant governor Lakwa Dada was a brother officer of Rana Khan's, and his relief had been the object of the battle. About this time de Boigne retired from Sindhia's employ and went to Lucknow, where he entered into a business partnership with the famous Claude Martine, or Martin. Whether this step was caused by weariness, by doubts of ultimate success, or by hopes of more material advantage, is not known. But the immediate consequence that followed was, that the Patel went into cantonments at Mathra, and remained there watching events throughout the whole of that eventful autumn.
There is reason to believe that Gholam Kadir whether from avarice, from ambition, from a desire to avenge some personal injury, or from a combination of any two or of the whole of these motives had by this time formed a project, vague perhaps at first, of repeating the career of crime with which Ghazi-ud-din had startled Asia nearly thirty years before. Meantime he spoke Ismail fair, seeing in him a chief, worsted indeed for the moment, but a rallying-point for the Moghuls, on account as much of his proved valour as his high birth; one who would be alike useful as a friend, and dangerous as a foe. He accordingly explained, as best he could, his late defection, and persuaded the simple soldier to lose no time in collecting his scattered forces for an attack upon the capital. No sooner had the Beg left for this purpose, than Gholam Kadir also departed, and proceeding to Dehli renewed his hypocritical professions of loyalty through the instrumentality of Manzur Ali Khan.
He asserted that Ismail Beg, who had arrived before him, and who now joined forces with him, was like himself actuated by the sole desire to save the Empire from the usurpations of the Mahratta chief; and, as far as the Beg was concerned, these professions were possibly not without foundation. At present the conduct of both leaders was perfectly respectful. In the meantime a small force was sent to Dehli by Sindhia and entered the palace, upon which the confederates, whose strength was not yet fully recruited, retired to their former encamping ground at Shahdara the scene, it may be remembered, of Surajmal's fall in the days of Najib-ud-daulah. In this situation the confederates began to be straitened for provisions, for it was now the month of July, and the stock of winter crops, exhausted as were the agriculturists by years of suffering and uncertainty, was running low, whilst the lawless character of the young Pathan and his Rohillas was not such as to encourage the presence of many grain-dealers in their camp. Desertions began to take place, and Gholam Kadir prepared for the worst by sending off his heavy baggage to Ghausgarh. He and his companions renewed to the Emperor their messages of encouragement in the project of throwing off the yoke of Sindhia; but the Emperor, situated as he was, naturally returned for answer, "That his inclinations did not lie that way." Shah Alam was sustained in this firm line of conduct by the presence of the Mahratta troops under Himmat Bahadur, and by the ostensible support of Gul Mohammad, Badal Beg Khan, Sulaiman Beg, and other Moghul courtiers whom he believed to be faithful; and it seemed for the moment as if the confederates' cause was lost.
Thus pressed, these desperate men at length dropped all disguise and opened fire on the palace with all their heavy guns. The Emperor on this invited the aid of his Mahratta minister, who was now at Mathra, only a week's hard marching from the capital. It was Madhoji Sindhia's undoubted duty to have hastened to the relief of him whom he professed to serve; but it must be admitted that the instances he had already witnessed of Shah Alam's want of resolution and of good faith may have furnished the minister with some excuse for wishing to read him a severe lesson. He had also had sufficient taste of the fighting powers of the Musalmans to lead him to avoid a general engagement as long as possible, since every day would increase the probability of their quarrelling if left to themselves, while external attacks would only drive them to cohere.
Sindhia accordingly pursued a middle path. He sent to the Begam Sumroo, and urged her to hasten to the Emperor's assistance; but the prudent lady was not willing to undertake a task from which, with his vastly superior resources, she saw him shrink. He likewise sent a confidential Brahmin, who arrived on 10th July, and five days after, appeared a force of 2,000 horse under Rayaji, a relation of Sindhia's. The Ballamgarh Jats likewise contributed a small contingent.
NOTE. The following account of de Boigne's early career is from
Captain Duff, who knew him at Chamberi, about the year 1825:
After describing his adventures as a youthful soldier of fortune, first as an ensign in the French army, and then in the Russian service in the Levant, whence he reached Cairo, and finally got to India by what is now called the Overland Route, the writer proceeds to state that M. de Boigne was appointed an ensign in the 6th Native Battalion under the Presidency of Madras, from whence he, not long after, proceeded to Calcutta, bearing letters of recommendation to Mr. Hastings, the Governor-General. He was then permitted to join Major Browne's Embassy to Dehli (in 1784, vide sup.), when he took the opportunity of visiting Sindhia's camp, on the invitation of Mr. Anderson, the British resident. Gohad being at this time besieged by Sindhia (who had treated de Boigne very scurvily), the latter communicated a plan for its relief to a Mr. Sangster, who commanded 1,000 sepoys and a train of artillery in the service of the Gohad Rana. The scheme broke down, because the Rana could not or would not advance the required sum of money.
De Boigne next made overtures to the Raja of Jaipur, and was commissioned by him to raise two battalions; but Mr. Hastings having meanwhile recalled him to Calcutta, the Raja was induced to alter his intentions. De Boigne finally entered the service of his original enemy, Madhoji Sindhia, on an allowance of Rs. 1,000 a month for himself, and eight all round for each of his men. To the privates he gave five and a half, and paid the officers proportionately from the balance. M. de Boigne gradually got European officers of all nations into his corps. Mr. Sangster, from the service of the Rana of Gohad, joined him, and became superintendent of his cannon foundry.
Some account of the further proceedings of General de Boigne will appear in the succeeding pages: and some notes regarding the close of his life will be found in the Appendix. Though moving in an obscure scene he was one of the great personages of the World's Drama; and much of the small amount of the civil and military organization upon which the British administration in Hindustan was ultimately founded is due to his industry, skill, and valour.