Qhandö8ran, on receiving this letter, was inclined to abstain from quarrels nnd dissensions, especially as at present a war with the Gentoo Prince seemed to be a work of great difficulty, there being so little money in the treasury; but as Adjmir was a province that adjoined to the territory of the capital, and it contained a vast number of tombs and monuments of ancient and holy personages, it was thought indecent to commit it to any but a Mussulman attached to the Emperor, and more expedient to surrender the G8djerat to the Gentoo Prince. However, the Emperor himself, with all the Grandees of his court, and especially Haïder-c8ly-qhan, were more inclined to fight the Radja and to chastise him for his presumption, than to submit to his terms. Nor was this so easy; for after a deal of examination, none of the Grandees shewed any willingness to accept that task, and Haïder-c8ly-qhan himself proposed to send for Saadet-qhan from Ecber-abad for that purpose. This General who was a man of valour and resolution, immediately obeyed the Imperial command, and he hastened to court with so much expedition, that he seemed to have come in post. He had left orders to his cavalry and troops to follow as fast as they could with his infantry, equipage and artillery. Arrived at court, he amongst other matters, mentioned the propriety of furnishing him with the necessaries requisite for his intended expedition; when it soon appeared that some Grandees, disinclined from attending him in that service, made it a point to traverse his views. Intelligence arrived at the same time that Muzafer-aaly-qhan, incapable to satisfy the claims of his troops upon him, had suffered them to plunder two or three towns of the dependence of Adjmir for their subsistence, and that the mutineers, not satisfied with that, had surrounded and besieged their General, and forced him to part with whatever he was possessed of, in discharge of their arrears, not excepting the horses and the elephants he used; so that finding himself reduced to such a situation, and fearing even for his life, he fled to Amber, and took shelter under the protection of Radja Djehi-sing’s Deputy, from whence he sent back to court both his Qhylaat of his investiture, and his patent of Governor. But his disgrace was not yet at an end; for Adjet-sing’s two sons having put themselves at the head of a great body of troops, penetrated into his government, and sacked and plundered four or five villages of the Imperial territory. Meanwhile a number of banditties and Zemindars joined together, and availing themselves of the turbulence of the times and of Adjet-sing’s countenance, they fell upon the town of Narnol. Bayazid-qhan, the Fodjdar of the place, who had come out to make his round, thinking himself overmatched by their multitude, fled with all his might, and was with the utmost risk and difficulty joined by his nephew who was actually within the town. The principal men of that unfortunate place, finding themselves forsaken by their rulers, resolved to sell their lives, as dear as possible, in defence of their properties, and of the honour of their families; and having fought bravely as long as they could, they closed with the Indian custom or point of honour, that is, after having made away with their families, which they put to the sword with their own hands, they laid violent hands on themselves. The wretched oppressors having at last mastered the town, plundered it so mercilessly as to leave not a rag upon either man or woman, and they carried multitudes into captivity. This piece of intelligence coming to court, Qhandö8ran resolved to march himself and to chastise Adjet-sing, and he sent his equipage or Pish-qhana* out of town; but as there was an enmity of long standing between him and the Moghuls of the court, and he was aware how unprovided the public treasury was for such an expedition, he did not go farther, but amused the public with a variety of pretexts and excuses. Haïder-c8ly-qhan, who had hitherto harboured some discontent against him, now offered his services, and he bound himself by the most solemn oaths, to follow his fortunes, whether good or bad. He now submitted himself to his command, and, after having offered to lead the van against the enemy, he ordered his Pish-qhana out of town. That nobleman become hearty in the undertaking, was urging and reproaching him, but to no purpose; for Qhandö8ran being little inclined to prosecute that expedition, was representing secretly to the Emperor: “That should the Radja gain an advantage over the Imperial army, it would be difficult to remedy the disorder with an army, ill paid, an empty treasury, and a court full of factions and dissensions; but that even admitting that he should be beaten and driven from the field, the man would betake to the difficult mountains and deep valleys of his hereditary dominions, where none would have either patience or courage to follow him. In fact, it would have been improper to pursue such an expedition, whilst there was at home so great a want of zeal for the common cause, and such a turn of mind for disunion and misintelligence, as effectually damped every one’s good will.” This representation affected none but Camer-eddin-qhan. On Qhandö8ran’s shewing so much backwardness, he undertook the expedition, but he supplicated that the two prisoners, Abdollah-qhan and Nejm-eddin-aly-qhan, should be set at liberty and made over to him, as he intended to make use of their services in the future campaign. He likewise made some other proposals that did not please the Emperor, and as the setting Abdollah-qhan at liberty was very unwelcome to most of the Grandees, Camer-eddin-qhan’s expedition was nipped in the bud. Some words having been on that occasion exchanged between Camer-eddin-qhan and Qhandö8ran, the latter kept his house for some days, and abstained from going to court; but the Emperor finding it improper that a scission should arise between the two principal Ministers of the Empire, found means to reconcile them, and to put an end to discontent and coldness. Meanwhile between these broils and these reconciliations, the expedition against Adjet-sing came to be totally dropped. It must be acknowledged that repeated letters had passed between that Radja and Qhandö8ran. This Minister, who was endeavouring to sooth his mind, and to reclaim him from his mischievous intentions, had desired him to reflect on the consequences of his revolt, and, in fact, he The troubles in Adjmir put an end to. was reclaimed. At the same time, news arrived at court, that Nizam-el-mulk was coming to the presence. That Viceroy, after having put in order the affairs of the Carnatick, returned to his capital, Aoreng-abad,* where he arrived in the first day of Zilhidj, from whence he set out the seventeenth, with intention to repair to the Imperial presence. Being arrived at B8rhanp8r, he sent for Dianet-qhan, a nobleman, sometime ago proposed by the Emperor to the office of Divan of Decan, presented him with a Qhylaat and an elephant, and gave him possession of his office. That Viceroy’s approach being now certain, all further deliberation and councils for the affairs of state were suspended, until he should be arrived.
News came also by the Gazette of Cab8l and Pishavur, that Qhané-zad-qhan, who had been sent by Ser-b8lend-qhan, his father, to quell some disturbances that had risen in Cab8l, had been in his return from thence, stopped at the same place where Mahmed-aamin-qhan, son to Emir-djemlah, had once been plundered. Qhané-zad-qhan now underwent the same fate, being surrounded by such multitudes of mountaineer Afghans as equalled the myriads of ants and the hosts of locusts. The young man having put himself upon his defence, there ensued a very brisk engagement, in which Sheh-mudjahed, an officer of character, who commanded his body of battle, was wounded, and taken with the loss of about eight hundred of his bravest men. Qhané-zad-qhan, after having exerted himself to the utmost, had two horses killed under him, and was himself wounded with a musquet-ball. So that finding it in vain to contend any more, he had quitted the field, and saved his life with a small number of men; but the whole baggage with the tents, elephants, and artillery, fell into the enemy’s hands. The Gazette mentioned likewise that Troubles in Cashmir quelled. Abdol-semed-qhan, Governor of Lahor, whose son, Zekeriah-qhan, had been appointed Governor of Cashmir, hearing of the troubles in that country, and of the turbulence of Eshref-eddin, son to the late Muhtevi-qhan, who had surrounded and besieged his Deputy, he had resolved to punish that insolent. Putting himself at the head of three or four thousand Moghul horse,* he marched with so much expedition that he arrived unexpectedly in that country. Eshref-eddin, not daring to stand his ground before such a General, at first kept himself out of the way, and then thinking it safer to submit humbly without dispute and without bloodshed, he surrendered; and the troubles having at once subsided, the country had recovered its tranquillity. But as there were in Cashmir numbers of people that enjoyed pensions from the Imperial treasury, as a charity, and many others that had Djaghir lands or appanages out of the same principle, every one of whom the General thought to have been involved in the late troubles, he ordered all their pensions to be struck off, and their Djaghir lands to be confiscated.