1 AIIMAD SHAH. 225
2 fell upon them and defeated them. He was, however, careful’to desist from
3 wholly extirpating them, as he thought their utter annihilation would,
4 toa great degree, strip him of his own importance as the manager ‘of a
5 turbulent province. He, therefore, came to an understanding with them
6 that their exactions should be moderate, while their payments to the State
7 should not be excessive. He also entertained many of them who hada
8 Jove for arms, in his service, thus checking their mischief, and at the same
9 time making good use of them. One of these mercenaries was Jassa
10 Singh, a carpenter, who subsequently became a leader of considerable im-
11 portance. Thus did the shrewd governor of the Jalandar Dodb put a check
12 for a time upon the depredations of this restless and ambitious sect.
13 At Delhi, Ghazi-ud-din, the grandson of Chin Kilich Khan, became
14 Amftr-ul-Omerah, or captain-general, but, dying in October 1752, he was suc-
15 ceeded in the office by his son, Shahéb-ud-din, under the same title as that
16 borne by his father. Safdar Jang, the titular wazir, being jealous of the
17 growing influence of the eunuch, Jawed, at the Court, and of the favours shown
18 him by the emperor and his mother, procured his assassination in a banquet
19 to which he had invited him. This outrage exasperated the emperor, who
20 took the office of wazfr from Safdar Jang, and conferred it on Khan-i-Khd-
21 nén Intizam-ud-doula, son of the late Kamr-ud-din Khan. This event took
22 place in 1753. Safdar Jang, not being disposed to submit, raised the
23 standard of insurrection, and was resisted by Ghazi-ud-din the younger. Mir
24 Moin-ul-Mulk, the governor of the Panjab at this critical moment, sent a party
25 of veteran Afghans to aid his kinsmen of the Durrani faction at the capital,
26 and the result was a civil war which lasted for a period of six months.
27 Ghazi-ud-din called in the Mahrattas to his aid, and expelled Safdar Jang,
28 who retired to his possessions of Allahabdd and Oudh. The irresolute
29 emperor was now more disgusted with Ghazi-ud-din for his arrogance, than
30 he had ever been-with Safdar Jang. He marched out of his capital with
31 as strong a force as he could collect, to give battle to Ghazi-ud-din, and to
32 shake off his tyrannical yoke by force of arms. Ghazi-ud-din sent his
33 Mahratta confederate against the emperor, and his troops, falling unex-
34 pectedly on the imperialists at Sikandra, seized the camp. The~pusillani-
35 mous king, leaving the ladies of his harem to be stripped of their orna-
36 ments by the enemy, fled--precipitately to Delhi; Where he took refuge in
37 the palace. His ladies were sent to Delhi in country carts. Ghazi-ud-din
38 repaired to Delhi, and, having invested himself with the official robes of
39 wazir, deposed the king, and put out his eyes, as well as those of his mother.
40 This occurred on 5th June, 1754. Intizam-ud-doula was stripped of his
41 wealth and dignity, and subsequently put to death. .Safdar Jang died soon
42 afterwards, and was succeeded in his provinces by his son, Jalal-ud-din Hyder,
43 surnamed Shuja-ud-doula Bahadur. The unhappy Ahmad Shah was moles-
44 ted no further; but remained a State prisoner in Salemgarh, and died a
45 natural death in 1775, after reigning six years.
46 CHAPTER XXIV.
47 AZ-UD-DIN ALAMGIR II.
48 AFTER the battle of Sikandra, Nawab Malkai Zamdni (Queen-dowager), Nazir
49 Rozafziin Khan and other Omerahs of the court, voted for the installation
50 Sri Satguru J agjit Singh Ji eLibrary
51 Who, nevertheless,
52 from motives of his
53 own, refrains from
54 reducing them to :
55 insignificance.
56 Jassa Singh, the
57 carpenter,
58 Affairs at the Court
59 of Delhi.
60 Discontent of the
61 wazir Safdar Jang.
62 He assassinates the
63 emperor's favourite,
64 Jawed.
65 Ghazi-ud-din the
66 younger,
67 He calls in the
68 Mahrattas and expels
69 Safdar Jang.
70 The emperor is dis-
71 sted with Ghazi-ud.
72 fn, and makes war
73 on him,
74 But is defeated,
75 rae and deposed
76 (OSs
77 Death of Ahmad
78 Shah, 1775.
79 NamdhariEtibrary@ gmail.com