At last Emir-djemlah, and the Emperor with some others who expected great things from him, contrived, or at least thought they had contrived, a scheme for parting the two brothers, whose union and presence had become formidable. It was proposed to Hossëin-aaly-khan, the youngest, to undertake an expedition against Radja Adjet-sing-rhator, a powerful Hindoo Prince, who since the demise of the Emperor Aoreng-zib, had Scheme for parting the two Sëids. assumed great airs of independence, and had been guilty of some unwarrantable actions, such as, demolishing Mosques, in order to raise idol-temples on their ruins; and all that in the very middle of Oodeïpoor, his capital. Such excesses had necessarily passed unnoticed during the whole reign of Bahadyr-shah, who being eternally involved in civil wars, or busy in destroying the Syks, had no attention to spare for so inferior an object; for the Syks, from a fraternity of mendicants, had in his time become a whole army of banditties, which ruined and desolated the whole province of Lahor. Hossëin-aaly-khan, who was fond of glory and military achievements, soon closed with the proposal, and he set out at the head of a numerous well appointed army, Hossein-aaly-khan, under­takes an expe­dition against a Gentoo Prince. followed by a train of artillery, well served.* Being arrived in the Radja’s country, he found him gone into a difficult moun­tainous tract, where he had concealed his family, treasures, and even troops, having never thought himself a match for so power­ful an army; but what is singular, and strongly characterises the genius of the Court, the Hindoo prince was actually receiving letters from the capital, in which the Emperor exhorted him to stand upon his defence, and to crush his invader by every means in his power. The Hindoo Prince, unmoved by these impotent exhortations, thought it much more expedient to come to terms, and to obtain a pardon; nor would he have obtained it easily, if at all, had not Hossëin-aaly-khan, at this very time, received intelligence, that the jealous and envious of his family had laid hold of the opportunity afforded by his absence to spread a snare for entrapping and seizing his elder brother, Abdollah-khan. The latter, who had no certain intelligence, but who suspected mischief, sent letter after letter to request his brother’s immediate attendance. These letters having rendered Hossëin-aaly-khan exceedingly anxious, he thought it better to listen to the Radjah’s supplications, and to grant him some terms. And these were, that he should send his son to humble himself, in his father’s name, before the Imperial General, and also forward his daughter to the Imperial Seraglio, with a large sum of money, and a suit­able set of presents.

Hossein-aaly-khan having put an end to this expedition, returned An end put to the expedi­tion. to the capital, where his presence could not fail of raising a fresh ferment. For as the two brothers, in consequence of their enjoying the two highest offices of the Empire, possessed an unbounded influence in every affair, civil, and military; and Emir-djemlah, on his side, who wanted to render them odious, and to conciliate the favour of the public, was making it a point to use quickness and dispatch in whatever application was made to him. For (besides his being Keeper of the Emperor’s Private Signet)* he had so far engrossed his master’s affection, that the latter had declared more than once, in full Durbar, or, in full Court, that, “Emir-djemlah’s Tongue and Manual Sign, were Feroh-syur’s Tongue and Manual Sign.” A Emir-djemlah, I say, found so much his account in forwarding the people’s busi­ness, he was therefore an eye-sore to the Vezir, Abdollah-khan, or, rather, to his minister, Rotan-chund, who, so soon as he could discover Emir-djemlah’s finger in any thing, or his signet in any patent, was sure of setting it aside without ever letting it pass the seals; whereas, whoever made a suitable present to himself, and another to his master, was certain of carrying his point, and that too with dispatch. Such a conduct could not fail to set daggers in the Emperor’s heart; and it must be acknowledged, that this man had conceived such high notions of Fatal jealousies between the Emperor’s favourite and his two min­isters. himself, both on account of his immense wealth, and the unbounded influence of his master’s, that he had become of an insolence intolerable, which rendered him a general topic for obloquy and resentment; the more so, as by representing Emir-djemlah’s dis­patch and accessibleness, as full of design and craft, he had ren­dered it odious to both brothers.

Emir-djemlah on his side, was perpetually dropping in the Emperor’s presence, words and expressions, all which had a tendency to depreciate the two brothers, whom he thought his duty to represent as overbearing, and of such a conduct and deportment, as seemed highly undutiful, and strongly favoured of independence. Moreover, he reflected, now and then, upon their abilities, as wholly inadequate to the high posts they pre­tended to fill. It was upon such and the like insinuations, that the Emperor had become so suspicious and fearful, that he had formed the plan of seizing Abdollah-khan’s person; and it was on that account that he had put himself on the footing of coming often out of the citadel, sometimes under pretence of a hunting, and sometimes under that of taking an airing in those delightful seats that adorn the suburbs, and especially in Mohsen-khan’s garden.* But although he had the cunning to vary his pre­tences and schemes, he was too undecided and two faint hearted to bring any one to bear; nor did all his contrivances produce any other effect than that of heaping aversion upon aversion, and ran­cour upon rancour. But what is singular, and yet is universally reported, the Empress-mother herself, out of regard to the oath she had taken upon the Coran at Azimabad, and out of scruples of conscience, had more than once given the two brothers secret advice of what was actually planning against them.

It was in such circumstances that Hossëin-aaly-khan sup­plicated from the Emperor the Viceroyalty of Decan. Not that he intended to repair himself thither—nothing was further from his thoughts—he expected only that the immense emoluments of so rich a government would enable him to keep his footing Hossëin-aaly-khan obtains the Viceroyalty of Decan. at court; for his intention was only to send thither, as his Lieutenant, the famous Da8d-khan-péni, who was to return him the same contribution, which he used to pay to his late lord, Zulficar-khan. This was the very reverse of what the Emperor and his favourite intended; for they reckoned that he would repair to those rich, but very distant countries, and leave his brother alone. This could not suit Hossein-ally-khan, who thought it very improper to leave his brother alone exposed to all the resentment of the Emperor, and to all the machinations of his ministers. Such a difference in opinion having given vent to a number of peevish expressions, full fraught with haughtiness and reproach, matters at once shoot up to such a height, that the two brothers henceforward abstained from going to court, and also commenced fortifying their quarters, which they filled with troops. The Emperor, on hearing of this, sent for Emir-djemlah, Mahmed-amin-khan, and Qhandö8ran, and some others, with whom he was holding councils every day and every night, without coming to any determination; for he was so irresolute and so faint-hearted, that he could put nothing in execution. Meanwhile, the report of these dissensions being spread far and near, occasioned such a dearth of all kinds of The dissen­sions between the Emperor and the two brothers, occasion a scar­city in the capital. eatables in the capital that, inhabitants as well as travellers found it difficult to support life, although letters and messages were continually passing and repassing on that subject between the Emperor and the two brothers; and God knows, how far the distresses of the poor had been carried, had not the Empress-mother been so affected by what she heard of their miseries, that she came out of the palace, and went to pay a visit to Abdollah-khan, on whose mind she gained enough to engage him to be reconciled to the Emperor, on condition, that the two brothers, on going to pay him their respects, should have full permission to take, for their own safety, such precautions as they should deem sufficient, after which they should attend at court as here­tofore. The treaty having had its full execution, the two brothers appeared before the Emperor, implored his forgiveness for the errors of their past conduct, and bitterly complained of cer­tain suggestions and insinuations that filled his Imperial breast with suspicions, and estranged his Princely mind from them, his zealous and faithful servants. Grown warm with the occasion, they both loosened their sabres from their sides, placed them both at the Emperor’s feet; and the eldest went on with this address: “If we be guilty, here are our two heads, and there Speech of one of them to the Emperor. are two swords; or if a remembrance of our past services should render our execution unwelcome, please to divest us of our offices, and to dismiss us altogether from your service, that we may be at leisure to take a journey to the house of God, in order to heap honours upon our heads by visiting the tomb of the Prince of men (our glorious Ancestor, on whom be peace for ever!) or if your Majesty chooses to draw some further ser­vices from us, and to keep us near your sacred person, vouch­safe, great sire, to dismiss your suspicions, and cease to listen to the suggestions of a set of covetous, envious, designing tale-tellers, that are perpetually aiming at the lives of such faithful servants as we, without once minding how much blood we have spent in the Imperial cause. Be reconciled, great sire, to these your two approved servants, and cease to harbour sentiments equally repugnant to that sense of gratitude, so natural to generous minds, and to the stability of an agreement consecrated by the most tremendous oaths.”