The Afghán force, which remained concealed in the jungles, now and then sallied forth against the wazír's troops, and, having made successful attacks, returned to their place of shelter. The wazír's men were quite on the alert to attack in their turn; but they could not by any means get the enemy out of the woods into the open. They then tried to blockade the forest, and cut off all supplies of grain; but as they received their supplies from the Rája of Ḳumáun in the rear, the Afghán army was not in the least inconvenienced. Many a time the wazír sent word to the Rája, to seize on all their supplies; but his message had no effect. Although the wazír had intrenched himself, was watching patiently his opportunity, and had spent large sums of money in this undertaking, yet the Emperor of Dehlí gave himself not the slightest concern about what was going on. He was employed constantly in pleasure and sport; and the Nawáb, who was entrusted with the whole management of the Empire, was busy peculating in the public money. ^{* *}

When the Amíru-l umará (Sa'ádat Khán) returned from Ajmír, and paid his respects at the Court at Dehlí, he found the Emperor's condition changed entirely. The Nawáb (Jáwed), in the absence of Ahmad Afghán, and of Mír Bakhshí (Sa'ádat Khán), who had gone towards Ajmír to settle the affairs of the Rájpúts, had acquired such an accession of power that it was almost impossible for him to have more—to such a degree, in fact, that when the Bakhshí wished that he might receive some jágír and money pension in return for his services and the fortune which he had expended in the war, he was unable to obtain the gratification of his wish, but, on the contrary, his rank and power became somewhat diminished. Although he petitioned the Emperor, his petitions were made over to the Nawáb. The Bakhshí, who was a man of good birth, and had never been accustomed to make his requests through the medium of any third party, became greatly distressed and annoyed at this, and relaxed in his visits to the royal presence. His servants pressed him for their pay; but the Amír explained to them his abject condition, and showed it to the world, till at last he fortified his house with rockets and other firearms, and then shut himself up. And it was commonly reported that he said (whether true or false) to his friends, “There is no Emperor here. Why should we go to the darbár of a eunuch, to be insulted, and have our dignity lessened? To whom shall I state my case that I may be heard? It is better to give up such service.” He then concerted a plot with I'timádu-d daula, and they both wished to bring the other nobles, who were anything but satisfied with the Nawáb, and found their dignity much lessened by him, to join with them and create an insurrection.

The Nawáb heard of this plot, and frightened the Emperor by the intelligence, and advised him at once to depose Zú-l fikár Jang (Sa'ádat Khán) from his rank and title. ^{* *} Gházíu-d dín was given the title of Nizámu-l Mulk and Amíru-l umará, and received the office of Mír Bakhshí and the Súbadárí of Ágra. I'timádu-d daula obtained the Súbadárí of Ajmír and Faujdárí of Nárnaul in the room of Sa'ádat Khán deposed, with the titles of Imámu-l Mulk Khán-khánán, besides all his former titles and rank. The jágírs of Sa'ádat Khán, which he had received in the present reign, and which partly had been bestowed in the time of the old Emperor, were resumed. Sa'ádat Khán waited a few days more, to see if he should be restored to his former dignity; but when he found that it would not be so, he sold all his jewels and silver, paid up and discharged all his soldiers, and requesting of the Emperor permission to go on a pilgrimage to Mecca, he prepared everything for his journey thither. The Nawáb per­suaded the Emperor to place guns near Sa'ádat Khán's house, to prevent his coming out, and no one was allowed to go from without to visit him. ^{* *}

On hearing the news (of the approach of Ahmad Abdálí), the Emperor wrote a letter to the wazír, telling him of the impend­ing war, and requesting him quickly to finish the war with the Rohillas and Ahmad, and then return to him. The wazír (Safdar Jang), before this letter had arrived, and as soon as he had heard what was going on in the Panjáb, opened negociations with the enemy, and on the arrival of the Emperor's letter, he received some presents from Sa'du-llah Khán Rohilla, and took from him written promises to pay more in the future, on which condi­tions he allowed him to retain his lands. Ahmad Khán, too, was permitted to keep his ancestral property, and leave was granted him to give over all the other lands which had been seized to any one he chose. Having made peace in this manner, he retired. Mahmúd Khán, son of Ahmad Khán, and the brother of Sa'du-llah Khán Rohilla, came into the wazír's camp, paid their respects, and then departed again. The wazír marched from thence towards Lucknow, and settled that province. ^{* *}

The news of Ahmad Abdálí's rebellion daily increased, and the newsmongers from Láhore brought word that Mu'ínu-l Mulk had sent his mother and family to Jammu, where they would be safe out of reach of all pursuit. All the inhabitants of the city, seeing their ruler take flight in this manner, sent off their families to Dehlí and other parts to the south-east. When much negocia-tion had been carried on, and Mu'ínu-l Mulk heard that Ahmad had reached the banks of the Indus, and was intending to cross, he sent him nine lacs of rupees.

As the pay of the chief officers and others in the Emperor's service was very great, and it had been allowed to run on for twenty-two months, on the 14th Rabí'u-s sání, the khwájas and peons of the harem, having left their posts, assembled at the large gate, which is called the Názir's gate, and, sitting down there, stopped the way for passengers and the supplies of water, grain, etc., which were being brought in and out. A disturbance threatened, and the Názir, Roz-afzún Khán, had that day sent in his resignation to the Emperor, because there were no receipts, and the expenditure from the treasury was enormous. ^{* *}

Ahmad Abdálí, leaving his encampment on the other side of the Ráví, crossed over with his troops, and pitched his tents near Láhore. Mu'ínu-l Mulk also crossed over, and encamped in the rear of the city, and preparations were made for battle. On the 1st of Jumáda-l awwal, Ahmad made a movement in advance with all his army, and a general battle took place. Rája Kora Mal was killed. Mu'ínu-l Mulk, on hearing this sad news, gave up the battle, and began to reflect that Kora Mal, who had been the great opponent of peace, was gone, and as the Abdálís were fond of money, it would be far best to give them anything they wished, and make peace. He therefore sent a message to this effect. Ahmad, seeing that Mu'ínu-l Mulk's force was all scattered, considered this a favourable opportunity. He sent a message to Mu'ínu-l Mulk: “My business was with Kora Mal: now that he is dead, go you into the fort, and remain there. I have nothing to do with you or the city. The money which I have demanded from you, do you give me, either collected from the peasants, or from your own resources; then I will depart.” Mu'ínu-l Mulk, being defeated, could not but consent to everything Ahmad proposed, and Ahmad's men took possession of the city, which they plundered. ^{* *} After a time, Ahmad, having made presents to Mu'ínu-l Mulk, retired to Kábul.