The inconsiderate and disgraceful insults that had been offered to so meritorious a man as Ser-b8lend-qhan, and the ungrateful and impolitical behaviour of the Ministers in general, put Nizam-el-mulk upon his own guard. He took warning and resolved to give them full occupation henceforward by engaging the Marhattas to invade Hindostan. He applied to Badjiräo, the principal man of the court of Saho Radja,* who was a General of a high character in those parts, and of a high pedigree, as drawing his origin from the Radjas Simbha and Seväi, the founders of that Empire. He proposed to him to conquer the Malva from the The Marhatas, excited by Nizam-el-mulk, invade the Malva. hands of Radja Gurd-hur, the actual Governor of that fine province, and to recover the G8djerat from the hands of Radja Abi-sing-rathor; or at least to ruin and desolate those two countries, so as to render them of no use to his enemies. Nothing being more welcome at all times to the Marhattasthan such proposals, Badjiräo and the other Marhatta rulers assembled a mighty army, with which they invaded both the Malva and the G8djerat at one and the same time. In the latter they gained several advantages over Abi-sing’s Lieutenants and plundered a great extent of country; but this was not the case in Malva. Radja Gurd-hur, who commanded in that country with a small body of troops, could not bear to see his country ravaged; and being a man of valour and even of temerity, he engaged several times Badjiräo, after having in vain requested assistance from the capital. His repeated supplications to the throne, and his representations to the Ministers, produced nothing; and that brave man, having consumed his small Which is vigorously defended by its Governor. force in that war of endless skirmishes, at last fell himself, and was stripped of the garment of existence. He was succeeded in his command by Radja Dïa-bahadyr, a relation of his, and son to the brave Chébiléram, who pursuing Gurd-hur’s plan, did not cease to harass the Marhattas, giving them no rest, and taking none himself; and he wrote to the principal Ministers: “That so long as he lived, he would prove like a wall in the passage of the enemy towards Hindostan; but that after his death the Ministry might depend upon their spreading like an inundation all over the Empire.” None of these representations produccd anything, and that brave man was at last slain in an engagement, in which he departed the confines of this fragile world. It was in the year 1143 of the Hedjra. The Minister little affected by this death, appointed Mahmed-qhan-bangash to succeed him, with full powers to manage the affairs of Malva, and the latter advanced as far as Oodjëin; but as the country was ravaged on all directions by the Marhattas, he could not take root in it, and the court dissatisfied with his lukewarmness, gave his government to Radja Djehi-sing-seväi. It was in the year 1145, and this was also done by Qhandö8ran’s advice. The new Governor, who inclined to the Marhattas, by principle of religion, proved full as lukewarm in his administration, and did nothing worth notice. However his advice prevailed; for three years after, the court, whether out of weariness, or out of some new principle in politics, thought proper to confer the government of that country on Badjiräo himself; and in that manner the Malva passed under the Marhatta dominion. Nor did the G8djerat meet with a better fate. The Marhattas availing themselves of Abi-sing’s incapacity and neglect, made The Marhattas conquer both the Malva and the G8djerat. themselves masters of the whole country; and this conquest, which occasioned an infinity of losses to the inhabitants, served only to exhibit in glaring colours, all the incapacity of the Minister, and all the weakness of the administration. To remedy such disorders required the strong hand of valour, and the curbing grasp of zeal and prowess; but this was more than could be expected from a set of men destitute of personal courage, and lost to all sense of honour. And, indeed, what figure can the fox cut in the lion’s den; and what can be expected from a wooden sword opposed to a keen steely blade? Qhandö8ran having fancied to himself that the evils that were undermining the Empire of Hindostan could be remedied by dint of policy, and lost countries recovered by art and cunning, expected to bring every thing into order again by a knack at negociation, and by tricks of legerdemain. He even had the folly to think that such powerful enemies as Nizam-el-mulk and the Marhattas, might be reduced to order by keen raillery, and overawed by a battery of bon mots playing in proper time. This was just lighting a fire upon the surface of a piece of water. But in general this Minister was exceedingly unlucky. Every scheme which he projected, turned out to the detriment and dishonour of the Empire; so that the factious Grandees, sensible of the debility of administration, were confirmed in their schemes of independence and revolt. The field of dissension grew wider and wider; and the materials of a revolution becoming daily more abundant, seemed now to be assembled in heaps. Such a state of things required quite another man than Qhandö8ran, and to lop off that towering tree of insubordination and independence which was perpetually shooting forth new branches on all sides, required the sinewy arm of some active valorous Prince, who after having felled it down with repeated blows of his battle-axe, should find sagacity enough in himself to dig out all its roots, and to tear them one by one. Nothing less could answer the necessities of the State than the exertions of such vigorous Ministers, as a Zulficar-qhan and a Hossëin-aly-qhan, two men, who with a strong arm, would have bent the necks of refractoriness within the string of their bows, and strangled it at once.
The Marhattas, now established in their conquests of Malva
and G8djerat, found their views enlarged; and encouraged by the
stillness and pusillanimity of an administration that seemed
motionless, and gave but faint signs of life, they now commenced
aspiring to some more acquisitions, being continually busy in
providing quarrels with the Imperial Governors, their next neighbours.
Little by little they stretched their feet within the frontiers
of the provinces of Ecber-abad and Ilah-abad, drove the Fodjdars
next to their own conquests, and insensibly extended their
limits to the detriment of the Imperial territory. Whilst the Marhattas
were perpetually encroaching on the Imperial territory,
Mahmed-qhan-bangash, styled the Ghazenfer-djung, or Lion in
War, had assembled a good army from his own clan, i. e., from
the Rohilla Afghans, and a train of artillery from his fortresses,
which he marched into the country of Bundelcund, a dependence
of Ilah-abad, with intention to make a conquest of it, and to drive
away the Radjas Chetersal and Naga, the most powerful Princes
of that region. He advanced into the very heart of the country,
made himself master of all the strongholds, and having seized on
the capital, he resolved to take his rainy-quarters in it, in order to
accustom his new subjects to the yoke. The dispossessed Radjas,
with the other Princes of that tract, sensible of the weakness of
the Empire, and making as little account of the Minister’s resentment,
as of his influence and attention, turned their views towards
the Marhattas of the Great Nagp8r,*
(a city and region that
ought to be reputed a dependence of Aoreng-abad, since it is in
the province of Barar, which is on the back of the Bundelcund) or
possibly they applied to the Generals left by Badjiräo at Oodjëin,
the capital of his new conquest of Malva. Be it as it may, the
dispossessed Radjas, on promising a sum of money and a cession
of part of their territory, obtained an army of Marhattas, with which
they returned into Bundelcund, where Mahmed-qhan-bangash
had thought himself so secure in his conquest, that he dismissed
the greatest part of his Afghans to their homes, retaining
Mahmedqhan-ban-
gash invades
the Bundelcund,
and is
besieged.
only a small body; and as he had been too little time in the country
to be informed of all its inlets and passes, the dispossessed Princes
found means to be upon him, before he had any advice of their
coming. He had hardly time to mount his horse and to march
with what little force he found under his hand; but being soon
overpowered by numbers, and obliged to quit the field, and to
think of some place of shelter, he after wandering two or three
days, found a fort called Djëit-gur, where he had just time to
throw himself with his troops and followers, and where he was
immediately besieged; and the Radjas with their Marhattas were
so intent in their business, that not a blade of straw could find its
way to the fort. As a great multitude of all sexes and ages had
taken shelter in it, a scarcity of provisions was soon felt, and it soon
ended in a complete famine. Cows, horses, and asses came soon
to be eaten; things horrid became food; and a dead beast attracted
a thousand eyes. Nor was it possible to receive any supply without,
or to get out of the fortress. Such a state of distress could not
long remain concealed from Mahmed-qhan’s family. On the first
Heroically
rescued by his
own son, who
saves his
father’s life.
news of the blockade, his consort and children had quitted Feroh-abad,
the place of their residence, and had repaired to the capital,
where with cries and tears they had implored the Minister’s
assistance, and the Emperor’s attention. No man took notice of
them, or minded their desolation, and this forlorn family in despair
applied, as a last resource, to their own tribe and clan, the Afghans
of the Rohil-cund. The mother sent her veil round amongst their
principal men, and Caïm-qhan, the eldest son, addressed them
himself. Such a spectacle produced a full effect. The Afghans
touched with the deep distress of so principal family, resolved to
make an effort in its behalf, and to save their countrymen from
impending destruction; and having put up with the little money
and jewels which the mother and son could afford to distribute
amongst them, they assembled in numbers, and appointed that
son himself to lead them to action, as their General. The Afghans
by incessant marches, arrived in the nick of time, attacked the
besiegers, and getting to the gate of the fortress, they drew out
Mahmed-qhan-bangash and their countrymen, and carried them
safe to Ilah-abad: an action ever memorable, by which this worthy
son immortalised himself, in saving his father’s life. But the
Ministers likewise performed their part from the capital; and as
a punition to Mahmed-qhan-bangash, for his having miscarried
in his expedition, lost a battle, and suffered himself to be blockaded,
they deprived him of his Government of Ilah-abad, which was
trasferred to Ser-b8lend-qhan, whose misdemeanours were now
forgiven. This General accepted the employment, but sent thither
his son, Qhanèzad-qhan, as his deputy, and himself remained in
the capital, but however, without much appearing at court, his
discontent being such that he mostly kept himself in his own
house.