When Alla-ood-Deen recovered of his wounds,
he continued his march to Runtunbhore, where
he was joined by his brother, Alugh Khan, and
began again to besiege the place. But the Hin-
The King caused them to be deprived of sight, in the first instance, but subsequently put them to death, as an example to others. Notwithstanding this severity, one of the most extraordinary conspiracies recorded in history was undertaken by one Hajy Mowla, * the son of a slave of the celebrated Fukhr-ood-Deen, kotwal of Dehly, who died in the former reign. This ambitious youth, finding the King so long engaged in the siege of Runtunbhore, formed a scheme for creating a revolution in the empire. He was, perhaps, moved to this by the murmuring of the citizens against the present kotwal's deputy (Toormoozy Khan), who, in his master's absence in camp, had oppressed the people severely. The first act of Hajy Mowla was, to collect in the heat of the day, when most people were gone to rest, a mob of citizens, by a forged order from the King. With these he hastened to the house of Toormoozy Khan, and sent word to tell him that a messenger had arrived with an order from the King. Toormoozy Khan, out of respect to the royal order, hastened to the door, when the young impostor, showing him the paper in one hand, cut him down with the other, and killed him. He then read aloud the forged mandate authorizing the act.
The mob now increasing, Hajy Mowla sent parties to secure the city gates, and despatched a person to Alla-ood-Deen Ayaz, kotwal of the new city, to come and examine the King's order. This magistrate, however, having heard of the disturbance, paid no regard to the message, but shut his own gates. Hajy Mowla, in the mean time, with his mob, entered the ruby palace, released the state prisoners, and taking out all the arms, treasure, and valuable effects, divided them among his followers. He then by force seated Alvy, styled also Shah Nunny, (one of the prisoners, a lineal descendant of Shums-ood-Deen Altmish,) upon the throne, and commanded the principal men of the city to pay him obeisance. The King received advice of these transactions, but did not allow it to effect his prosecution of the siege, which he carried on with apparently renewed vigour. He, however, wrote to Mullik Humeed, his foster-brother, on the subject, who, having raised a party in the city, seized the Budaoon gate, on the seventh day after the usurpation, and took the field, where he was joined by a party of troops who happened to be marching to Dehly from Amroha to be mustered. With these troops Mullik Humeed re-entered the city at the Ghizny gate by surprise, but being opposed at the second gate, called Bhind, by Hajy Mowla and his associates, a sharp conflict ensued. Mullik Humeed, being dismounted, ran up to Hajy Mowla (who was leading on his party with great bravery), and dragging him from his horse, threw him down in the street and slew him, having himself, in the mean time, received several wounds. The faction of Hajy Mowla, dispirited by the death of their chief, gave ground, and dispersed throughout the city. Mullik Humeed, then proceeding to the ruby palace, deposed and slew Shah Nunny Alvy, causing his head to be exhibited on the point of a spear, and thus put an end to the rebellion. Aluf Khan, the King's brother, was directed to proceed to Dehly, in order to punish all who were supposed to have had any share in the late insurrection. The sons and the survivors of the family of the late Fukhr-ood-Deen, kotwal, were put to death, merely on suspicion, for no other cause than that the rebel had been one of their dependants.
Runtunbhore had now been closely besieged
for a whole year, and Alla-ood-Deen, after trying
all other means, adopted the following expedient
to reduce it. Having collected a multitude of
people, and provided each with a bag filled with
sand, they began, at some distance from the fort,
to form an ascent to the top of the walls,
*
by
which means the troops eventually obtained possession
of the place. The Raja Humbur Dew, his
family, and the garrison, were put to the sword.
This fort is esteemed the strongest in Hindoostan.
Ameer Mahomed Shah, the Mogul general, who
had taken refuge in Runtunbhore, after the mutiny
at Jalwur, having lost most of his men in defence
of the fort, was himself lying ill of his wounds,
when Alla-ood-Deen entered the place. Alla-ood-
The King then commanded that Runmul, the Raja's minister, who had come over to the King with a strong party during the siege, should, with all his followers, be put to death, saying, “Those “who have betrayed their natural sovereign will “never be true to another.” After which, bestowing the government of Runtunbhore, with all the booty taken in it, on his brother, Aluf Khan, the King returned to Dehly. But Aluf Khan, falling sick about six months after, died on his way to the capital.
Alla-ood-Deen after the late occurrences, becoming apprehensive of conspiracies against his person, summoned his nobles, and commanded them to give their opinion, without reserve, what should be done to avert these evils. At the same time, he called on them to state what they considered were the real causes of these disorders. They replied, that there were many sources out of which revolutions, dangerous and fatal in their consequences, might proceed. Among others, they hinted at the King's total inattention to business, and the consequent absence of all redress to his subjects. The excessive use of wine appeared to them also a source of many disorders, for when men form themselves into societies for the purpose of drinking, they unbosom their secret thoughts to each other, and are frequently excited to undertake desperate projects. The close connections formed among the nobles of the court they deemed also of danger to the state. Their numerous intermarriages, and the patronage in the hands of a few, gave them a degree of power, which enabled them, by coalition, to create revolutions whenever so disposed. The last and not the least cause, they thought, arose from the unequal division of property: they considered that the wealth of a rich empire, if confined to a few persons, only rendered them, as governors of provinces, more like independent princes than subjects of the state.
Alla-ood-Deen, approved of many of the remarks
of his counsellors, and immediately began
to carry into execution the plan which they laid
before him. He first applied himself to a strict
enquiry into the administration of justice, to redress
grievances, and to examine narrowly into
the private as well as public characters of all men
in office. He procured intelligence of the most
secret discourses of families of note in the city,
as well as of every transaction of moment in the
most distant provinces, and executed justice with
such rigour, that robbery and theft, formerly so
common, were not heard of in the land. The
traveller slept secure on the highway, and the
merchant carried his commodities in safety from
the sea of Bengal to the mountains of Kabul, and
from Tulingana to Kashmeer. He published, also,
an edict, prohibiting the use of wine and strong
liquors on pain of death. He himself set the
example, by emptying his cellars into the streets.
In this he was followed by all ranks of people, so
that, for some days, the common sewers flowed
with wine. He issued orders that marriage, among
the nobility, should not be ratified without a license
from the crown; and that no private meetings or political
discussions should be held among the nobles
of his court, which proved a severe check on the
pleasures of society. This latter order was carried
into effect so rigorously, that no man durst entertain
his friends without a written permission from
the Vizier. At length the King became so rapacious,
that he seized the private property, and
confiscated the estates both of Mussulmen and
Hindoos, without distinction, and by this means
accumulated immense treasures. Men, in short,
were almost reduced to a level over all the empire.
All emoluments were cut off from the different
offices, which were now filled with men whose
indigence rendered them the servile instruments of
his government. He ordered a tax, equal to half
the gross annual produce of the lands, to be levied
throughout the kingdom,
*
and to be regularly
transmitted to the exchequer. He appointed officers
to superintend the revenue collectors, whose
office it was to take care that the zemindars should
demand no more from the cultivators than the estimate
which the zemindars themselves had made;
and in case of disobedience or neglect, the superintendents
were obliged to refund the amount,
and to pay a fine. The farmers were restricted to
the occupation of a certain quantity of land, and
to a limited number of servants and cattle. No
grazier was allowed to have above a certain
number of cows, sheep, and goats, and a tax was
paid for keeping even that number, so that many
of the village registrars abandoned their offices;
and the mokuddums, or heads of villages, who
formerly possessed large farms, and maintained
expensive establishments, were obliged to dismiss
them, and to cause many of the menial offices of
their families to be performed by their own wives
and children. Neither were they permitted to
resign their employments, till they found others
as capable as themselves to execute their duties.
It was a common saying of the King, “That reli-