Fall of the Moghul Empire of Hindustan Part 8
Meanwhile, such was the distress in the Moghul-Mahratta camp, isolated, at it was, in an enemy's country, that wheat was selling at four seers the Rupee, and there was every prospect of the scarcity increasing; while the countless camp-followers of the Rajputs were engaged in nightly depredations, stealing the elephants and horses from the midst of the sentries. Under these circ.u.mstances, the Patel broke up his quarters the next evening, and fell back upon Alwar, whence Ismail Beg marched off without leave towards Agra, taking with him 1,000 horse, four battalions, and six guns. Sindhia, justly regarding this as an open act of defection, instantly made terms with Ranjit Singh, the leader of the Jats, and pushed on all his forces to the pursuit, at the same time throwing a strong reinforcement into the fort of Agra, the garrison of which was placed under the command of Lakwa Dada, one of his best officers.
The following version of the affair appears in the Calcutta Gazette: -
"Reports are various respecting the particulars of an engagement between Scindia and the Rajahs of Joynaghur and Jeypore; it is certain a very b.l.o.o.d.y battle was fought near Joynaghur about the end of last month, in which, though the enemy were repulsed in their attack on his advanced body by Scindia's troops, with much gallantry, they were ultimately in a great measure victorious, as Scindia lost a part of his artillery during the engagement, which was long and obstinate, and in which upwards of 2,000 men were killed on either side. Both armies, however, still kept the field. Among the chiefs of note who fell on the part of Scindia, is Ajeet Roy. On that of the Joynaghur Rajah, is Mohamed Beg Humdanee, a very celebrated commander, much regretted by that party, and, but for whose loss, it is said that the Mahrattas would have been totally defeated. Several of Scindia's battalions, with a considerable corps of artillery, went over to the enemy on the 1st instant, but the intelligence we have yet received does not enable us to account for this revolt."
Francklin says, in general terms, that Mohamad Beg went over at the commencement of the action, and that it was Partab Singh who conferred the command of the Moghuls upon Ismail Beg. But Partab Singh would have no voice in such a matter, and Francklin inconsistently adds that the trained battalions of the late Afrasyab's force went over later in the day. Where no authorities are given, it is inevitable that we should judge for ourselves.
And, after all, the point is not of much importance. It is, however, pretty clear that the Moghul n.o.bles were grievously discontented; that their discontents were known to the Rajputs before they provoked a collision; and that the latter were joined by them as soon as a likelihood appeared of Sindhia's being defeated.
General de Boigne used to relate that this was the hour of Sindhia's moral greatness. He made vast efforts to conciliate the Jats, appealing to the Thakur's rustic vanity by costly presents, while he propitiated the feeling of the Bhartpur army, and the patriotism of the country at large, by restoring to the Jats the fortress of Dig, which had been held for the Emperor ever since its conquest by Najaf Khan. He likewise placed his siege-train in the charge of his new allies, who stored it in their chief fort of Bhartpur. At the same time he wrote letters to Poona, earnestly urging a general combination for the good cause.
Ismail Beg, on his part was not idle. His first effort was to procure the co-operation of the Rajputs, and had they not been too proud or too indolent to combine actively with him, it is possible that Mahratta influence might have been again overthrown, and the comparatively glorious days of Mirza Najaf Khan renewed in the Empire of Hindostan. A fresh a.s.sociate, too, in these designs are now to appear upon the scene, which, for a brief but terrible period, he was soon after to fill. This was Gholam Kadir, who hastened from Ghausgarh to join in the resuscitation of Mohamadan interests, and to share in the gains.
The Emperor, moreover, was known to be in private correspondence with the Rajput chiefs, who shortly after this inflicted another defeat on the Mahrattas under Ambaji.
Unable to resist this combination, Sindhia fell back upon Gwalior, and Ismail Beg hotly pressed the siege of Agra.
Towards the end of the rainy season of 1787, Gholam Kadir approached Dehli, and encamped on the Shahdara side of the river, his object at this time being, in all probability, a renewal of his father's claims, and attempts to obtain the dignity of Amir-ul-Umra or Premier n.o.ble. He is always understood to have been acting under the direction of Manzur Ali Khan, Controller of the Imperial Household, who thought to secure a valuable support for the cause of Islam by introducing the young Pathan chief into the administration. The Mahratta garrison was commanded by a son-in-law of the Patel, known in Musalman History as the Desmukh - which is interpreted "Collector of Land Revenue," - and by a member of the Imperial Household, on whom, from some unexplained reason, had been bestowed the t.i.tle of the great Aulia Saint Shah Nizam-ud-din, and who had lately been placed in charge of the Home Revenues, as stated above (p. 152.) These officers immediately opened fire from the guns on the riverside of the fort, and the young Rohilla replied from the opposite bank. At the same time, however, he did not fail to employ the usual Eastern application of war's sinews; and the Moghul soldiers of the small force being corrupted, the Mahrattas made but a feeble resistance. Gholam Kadir crossed the river, and the Imperial officers fled to the Jat Fort of Balamgarh, leaving their camp and private effects to the mercy of the victor.
It need hardly be observed that the firing on the palace was an act of gross disrespect, and, unless explained, of rebellion. Nor was the young chief blind to the importance of basing his proceedings on an appearance of regularity. He accordingly entered into a correspondence with the above mentioned Manzur Ali (a nominee, it may be remembered, of the late Mirza Najaf Khan).
By the agency of this official, Gholam Kadir was introduced to the Diwan Khas, where he presented a Nazar of five gold mohurs, and was graciously received. He excused his apparent violence by attributing it to zeal for the service of his Majesty, formally applied for the patent of Amir-ul-Umra, and with professions of implicit obedience withdrew to cultivate the acquaintance of the courtiers, retiring at night to his own camp. Matters remained in this condition for two or three days, when Gholam Kadir, impatient perhaps at the non-occurrence of any circ.u.mstance which might advance his designs, re-entered the Palace with seventy or eighty troopers, and took up his abode in the quarters usually occupied by the Amir-ul-Umra.
Meanwhile, Begam Sumroo, who was with her forces operating against a fresh rising of the Cis-Satlaj Sikhs, hastened from Panipat and presented herself in the palace. Awed by this loyal lady and her European officers, and finding the Moghul courtiers unwilling to enter into any combination against them, the baffled Rohilla retired across the river, and remained for some time quiet in his camp. Francklin, indeed, states that the cannonade was renewed immediately on Gholam Kadir's return to his camp; but it is more probable that, as stated above, this renewal did not occur until the arrival of Najaf Kuli Khan. The Emperor showed on this occasion some sparks of the temper of old time, before misfortune and sensual indulgence had demoralized his nature. He sent Moghul chiefs to keep an eye on the Pathan, while he increased his household troops by a levy of 6,000 horse, for the pay of whom he melted a quant.i.ty of his personal plate. He also despatched messengers to the converted Rathor, Najaf Kuli Khan, who was on his estate at Rewari, urging his immediate attendance in Dehli.
Rewari is in what is now the district of Gurgaon, and lies about fifty miles S.W. of Dehli. It is a country of mixed mountain and valley; the former being a table-land of primitive rocks, the latter the sandy meadow land on the right bank of the river Jamna. Here, in a district wrested by his former patron from the Jats, Najaf Kuli had been employed in endeavours to subjugate the indigenous population of Mewatis, a race professing Islam like himself, but mixing it with many degrading superst.i.tions, and resembling their neighbours the Minas of Rajputana and the Bhattis of Hariana in habits of vagrancy and lawlessness, which above half a century of British administration has even now failed to eradicate.
Najaf Kuli Khan obeyed the Imperial summons, and reached Dehli, where he encamped close to the Begam Sumroo, in front of the main gate of the Palace, on the 17th November, 1787. The general command of the Imperial troops was conferred upon the Emperor's second son, Mirza Akbar, who, since the flight of his elder brother, had been considered as heir apparent, and who now received a khillat of seven pieces. The son of a Hindu official, named Ram Rattan, was appointed the Prince's deputy (although he was by descent nothing but a modi or "chandler"); and a cannonade was opened on the camp of Gholam Kadir, who replied by sending round shot into the palace itself, some of which fell on the Diwan Khas.
Sindhia's conduct at this juncture has never been explained. He was himself at Gwalior, and his army under Lakwa Dada, shut up in the fort of Agra, was defending itself as well as it might against the forces under Ismail Beg. At the same time the author of the Tarikh-i-Mazafari a.s.sures us that Ambaji Inglia - one of Sindhia's most trusty lieutenants, arrived in Dehli with a small force, and that his arrival was the signal for a reconciliation between the Emperor's princ.i.p.al adherents and Gholam Kadir, who was then introduced to the presence, and invested with the dignity of Premier n.o.ble (Shah Alam himself binding upon his head the jewelled fillet called Dastar-u-Goshwara). It is probable that a compromise was effected, in which Gholam Kadir, by receiving the desired office at the hands of the Mahratta minister, was supposed to have acknowledged the supremacy of the latter. The whole story is perplexing. When cannonaded, the Pathan chief suddenly appears within the palace; when Sindhia's troops arrive, he receives the invest.i.ture that he was seeking in opposition to Sindhia; and at the moment of success he marches off to Aligarh. This latter movement is, however, accounted for by Francklin, who attributes it to the news of Prince Jawan Bakht being at hand with the forces of Himmat Bahadur, who had joined the cause of Ismail Beg. At all events, if Gholam Kadir owed this sudden improvement in his position to the good offices of the man whose garrison he had so lately chased from Dehli, he did not evince his grat.i.tude in a form that could have been expected; for he lost no time in marching against Sindhia's late conquest of Aligarh, which fort almost immediately fell into his hands. He then proceeded to join his forces to those of Ismail Beg, before Agra; and remained for some months a.s.sisting at the siege of that fort; these operations being subject to constant annoyance from the Jats, and from the troops of Sindhia, who finally crossed the Chambal at the end of the cold season of 1787, having received large reinforcements from the Deccan. Ismail Beg and Gholam Kadir immediately raised the siege of Agra, turned upon the advancing army, and an obstinate battle took place at Chaksana, eleven miles from Bhartpur, on the 24th April. The particulars of this action are not given by the native historian, whom I here follow, but they are detailed by Grant Duff, who probably had them from General de Boigne, who was present at the action, and with whom that writer had frequent conversations at Chamberi after the General's retirement to his native country. The Mahratta army was commanded by Rana Khan, a man who, having in the capacity of a water-carrier been the means of a.s.sisting Sindhia to escape from the carnage of Panipat in 1761, had been much protected by him; and being otherwise a man of merit, was now become one of the chief officers of the army. Besides M. de Boigne there was another French officer present, whose name is given by Duff as Listeneaux, perhaps a mistake for some such word as Lestonneaux.
John Hessing was also in this campaign, as may be gathered from the epitaph on his tomb, which is close to that of Sumroo at Agra. (See Appendix.) The Musalman leaders fought well, Gholam Kadir threw himself upon the infantry of the right wing, and broke them. Ismail Beg with all the impetuosity of his character vigorously attacked the battalions of M. de Boigne, but was received with sang froid and resolution. The Mahratta horse supported the infantry fairly, but were overmatched for such severe duty by the weight of the Moghul cavalry and their superior discipline. It is probable, however, that the infantry, formed and led by Europeans, would have been more than a match for all their attempts, had not three of the battalions deserted and joined the enemy, while the Jat cavalry failed to sustain the efforts of the remaining sepoys. The army of Rana Khan, under these circ.u.mstances, withdrew under cover of night to Bhartpur; and Ismail Beg renewed the siege of Agra, while Gholam Kadir moved northward in order to protect his own possessions from an incursion of the Sikhs, with which he was then just threatened.
While these transactions were going on to the south and south-east of the capital, the Emperor had been occupied by a campaign which he conducted personally in the west, and which might have given Sindhia much anxiety had it been directed by a more efficient leader. As events turned, this expedition is chiefly remarkable as being the last faint image of the once splendid operations of the great military monarchy of Akbar and of Aurangzeb.
At the end of 1787, and probably in consequence of Ismail Beg's attempts to secure the co-operation of the Rajputs, an emba.s.sy from Jodhpur had presented itself at the Court of Shah Alam, bearing a handsome nazar (gift of homage or respect) and a golden key. The envoy explained that he was instructed by his master Bijai Singh, the Rathor leader, to present this, the key of the Fort of Ajmir, in token of his wish that an Imperial army under his Majesty in person might march thither and take possession of that country; adding that Partab Sing, the Kachwaha Dhiraj of Jaipur joined in the application.
It seems plain that principle and prudence should have combined to deter the Emperor from consenting to this invitation, whereby he took an active step of hostility towards Sindhia, his minister, and at this time perhaps his most powerful and best disposed supporter. But the dream of a Musalman restoration, even with Hindu aid, will always have a fascination for the sons of Islam; and the weak Shah Alam adopted the proposal with an alacrity such as he had not shown for many years. On the 5th of January, 1788, he marched from Dehli, accompanied by several of the princes and princesses of his family. From the fact of Mirza Akbar continuing to be regarded as heir apparent, and from some other considerations, it may be gathered that the last attempt of Jawan Bakht in the Emperor's favour, and its eventual defeat, must have already taken place; for such is the confused manner in which these events are related by my authorities - some leaving out one part, and some another, while the dates shine few and far, like stars in a stormy night - that the relative position of events is sometimes left entirely open to conjecture. But it is certain that the excellent prince whom we have heretofore encountered more than once, did about this time make his appearance at the capital, with a small contingent supplied him by the Viceroy of Audh, adding to his force such irregular troops as he was able to raise upon the way; and that on this occasion it was that he addressed to George III. of Britain the touching yet manly appeal from which I make the following extract: - "Notwithstanding the wholesome advice given from the throne to Sindhia, to conciliate the attachment of the ancient n.o.bility, and to extend protection to the distressed peasantry, that ungrateful chief, regardless of the royal will, has established himself in continued and unvaried opposition; until he, having by his oppressions exasperated the Rajas and Princes of the Empire, particularly the most ill.u.s.trious prince of Jainagar, Raja Partab Singh, as likewise the ruler of Jodhpur, both of whom are allied by blood to our family, these chiefs united to chastise the oppressor, gave him battle, and defeated him; but the machinations of the rebellious increased. On one side, Gholam Kadir Khan (son of the detested Afghan Zabita Khan) has raised the standard of rebellion. His example having encouraged others, the disturbance became so formidable as to penetrate even to the threshold of the Imperial palace; so that our august parent was compelled to make use of the most strenuous exertions."
This statement of the condition of the Empire is interesting, as being given by a contemporary writer in all respects the best able to judge. He concludes by an urgent appeal to the British monarch for a.s.sistance "to restore the royal authority, punish the rebellious and re-establish the house of Timur, and, by this kind interposition, to give repose to the people of G.o.d, and render his name renowned among the princes of the earth."
Among the pressing disturbances noted by the prince was undoubtedly the defection of Najaf Kuli Khan, whom we have lately seen combined with the Begam in the protection of the Emperor against the insults of Gholam Kadir, but who had since gone into open rebellion, upon an attempt made by the faction in temporary power to supplant him in his government by one Murad Beg. This Moghul officer having been put in charge of some part of the convert's territorial holding, the latter not unnaturally regarded the act as a menace to his whole power, waylaid the Moghul on his way to his new post, and put him in confinement at Rewari.
But the men who had given the advice which led to this misfortune did not stop there, but proceeded to strike at the prince himself, whom they accused to the Emperor of designs upon the throne. He obtained however the t.i.tular office of Governor of Agra, and seriously attempted, with the aid of Ismail Beg, to obtain possession of the fort and province. Foiled in this, and escaping narrowly an attempt upon his person by Gholam Kadir, he ultimately retired to the protection of the British at Benares, where he died a mortified and heartbroken man on the 31st May, in the eventful year 1788. It is not quite clear, from the records of these transactions, why the prince, experienced statesman as he was, attempted to ally himself to those Musalman malcontents rather than to the Mahratta Chief, whose ability and resources must have been well known to him. It must, however, be admitted that Sindhia was just then showing an inaction which was calculated to arouse Jawan Bakht's suspicions, and we can trace, in the letter quoted a short time back, signs of hostility in his mind against that wily politician. Idle as the speculation may now appear, it is difficult to refrain from a pa.s.sing thought on the manner in which his choice of a.s.sociates affected the fate not merely of his royal Father, but of Hindustan and the British power there. United with Sindhia he would in all probability have drawn off Gholam Kadir and changed the whole fortunes of the country. Dis aliter visum.
The prince, who was known to the English as Jahandar Shah, is described as "an accomplished gentleman, irreproachable in his private character, constant, humane, and benevolent" (Francklin, p. 162). He was about forty at the time of his death which was caused by a fit, and is narrated in detail at p. 256 of the selections from the Calcutta Gazettes, in a manner somewhat more minute than that of Francklin, whose account (taken as usual from Raza Khan) appears inaccurate as well as incomplete.
Unattended therefore by this, his best and nearest friend, the poor old Emperor began his march to the westward. On the way it appeared well to take the opportunity of reducing Najaf Kuli, who, confident in his stronghold of Gokalgarh, would make no submission unless he were appointed premier. As we know that the Controller Manzur Ali, who was at present all-powerful, was in favour of the claims of Gholam Kadir, we may suppose that these terms were rejected with scorn, and the trenches were accordingly opened and the fort invested. The Emperor's army on this occasion consisted, according to Francklin, of some battalions of half-drilled infantry (called Najibs), the body guard, called the "Red Battalion," a very considerable body of Moghul horse, and three disciplined regiments which had been raised and drilled by the deceased Sumroo, and now with a detail of artillery and about two hundred European gunners, served under the well-known Begam; with these forces Shah Alam sate down before Gokalgarh. On the 5th April, 1788, the besieged made a vigorous sally, and charged close up to the tents of the Emperor. Such was the unprepared state of the royal camp, that the whole family were in imminent danger of being killed or captured; the imperial army was already in commotion, when, at this moment, three battalions of the Begam's Sepoys and a field piece dashed up, under the command of her chief officer Mr. Thomas. The infantry deployed with the gun in the centre, and threw in a brisk fire of musketry and grape, which checked the sortie, and gave the Imperialists time to form.
The Moghul horse lost their leader: on the other side the Chela (adopted son) of the chief was shot dead; Himmat Bahadur, at the head of his Gosains (a kind of fighting friars who were then beginning to be found useful as mercenaries), delivered a frantic charge, in which they lost 200 men; and Najaf Kuli was finally driven in with the loss of his field-guns. He soon after opened negotiations through the inevitable Manzur Ali; and, the Begam Sumroo joining in his favour, he was admitted to the presence and fully pardoned. In the same Darbar, the Begam was publicly thanked for her services, and proclaimed the Emperor's daughter, under the t.i.tle of Zeb-un-Nissa - "Ornament of her s.e.x."
The expedition, however, exhausted itself in this small triumph.
Whether from mistrust of the Rajputs, or from fear of Sindhia, who was just then hovering about Bhartpur, the Emperor was induced to turn back on the 15th April, and reached the capital by a forced march of twenty-four hours, accompanied by Himmat Bahadur. The Begam retired to Sirdhana, and Gholam Kadir and Ismail Beg parted, as we have already seen, after the indecisive action of Chaksana, a few days later. Though disappointed in their hopes of aid from Dehli, the Rajput chiefs fought on, and the tide of Sindhia's fortunes seemed to ebb apace. After the last-named fight he had fallen back upon Alwar, but only, to be encountered by Partab Singh, the Kachwaha prince, of Jaipur, who drove him back once more upon Agra. Here Ismail Beg met him again and chased him across the Chambal. Meanwhile Ambaji Inglia was prevented from rendering aid to his master by the persistence of the Rathors of Jodhpur, who put him to flight after an obstinate engagement. Thus cut off, Sindhia remained under the friendly protection of the Chambal until the month of June, when Rana Khan joined him with a fresh body of troops that he had received from the Deccan. Thus reinforced Sindhia once more marched to the relief of his gallant follower Lakwa Dada, who still held out in the Fort of Agra. The attack was made on this occasion from the eastward, near the famous ruins of Fatihpur-Sikri, and was met by Ismail Beg with one of his furious cavalry charges. De Boigne's infantry and artillery however repulsed him, before Gholam Kadir, who was returning to the Moghul's aid, had been able to cross his forces over the Jamna, or effect a junction. Ismail Beg, who was severely wounded, did not hesitate to plunge his horse into the stream, swollen and widened as it was by the melting of the Himalayan snows. The Mahrattas, satisfied with having raised the siege, did not pursue him, and the two Mohammadan chiefs once more united their forces at Firozabad. Francklin (who very seldom gives a date) says that this final battle took place on the 22nd August. He also states that Gholam Kadir had already joined Ismail Beg, but drew off on the approach of the Mahratta army.
The former statement is easily seen to be erroneous, as both the n.o.blemen in question were in a very different scene in August of that year. The latter is possible, but the weight of authorities, Mahratta and Musalman, is in favour of the account given above.
Francklin carelessly adds: - "Agra surrendered," the fact being that the gallant governor Lakwa Dada was a brother officer of Rana Khan's, and his relief had been the object of the battle.
About this time de Boigne retired from Sindhia's employ and went to Lucknow, where he entered into a business partnership with the famous Claude Martine, or Martin. Whether this step was caused by weariness, by doubts of ultimate success, or by hopes of more material advantage, is not known. But the immediate consequence that followed was, that the Patel went into cantonments at Mathra, and remained there watching events throughout the whole of that eventful autumn.
There is reason to believe that Gholam Kadir - whether from avarice, from ambition, from a desire to avenge some personal injury, or from a combination of any two or of the whole of these motives - had by this time formed a project, vague perhaps at first, of repeating the career of crime with which Ghazi-ud-din had startled Asia nearly thirty years before. Meantime he spoke Ismail fair, seeing in him a chief, worsted indeed for the moment, but a rallying-point for the Moghuls, on account as much of his proved valour as his high birth; one who would be alike useful as a friend, and dangerous as a foe. He accordingly explained, as best he could, his late defection, and persuaded the simple soldier to lose no time in collecting his scattered forces for an attack upon the capital. No sooner had the Beg left for this purpose, than Gholam Kadir also departed, and proceeding to Dehli renewed his hypocritical professions of loyalty through the instrumentality of Manzur Ali Khan.
He a.s.serted that Ismail Beg, who had arrived before him, and who now joined forces with him, was like himself actuated by the sole desire to save the Empire from the usurpations of the Mahratta chief; and, as far as the Beg was concerned, these professions were possibly not without foundation. At present the conduct of both leaders was perfectly respectful. In the meantime a small force was sent to Dehli by Sindhia and entered the palace, upon which the confederates, whose strength was not yet fully recruited, retired to their former encamping ground at Shahdara - the scene, it may be remembered, of Surajmal's fall in the days of Najib-ud-daulah. In this situation the confederates began to be straitened for provisions, for it was now the month of July, and the stock of winter crops, exhausted as were the agriculturists by years of suffering and uncertainty, was running low, whilst the lawless character of the young Pathan and his Rohillas was not such as to encourage the presence of many grain-dealers in their camp. Desertions began to take place, and Gholam Kadir prepared for the worst by sending off his heavy baggage to Ghausgarh. He and his companions renewed to the Emperor their messages of encouragement in the project of throwing off the yoke of Sindhia; but the Emperor, situated as he was, naturally returned for answer, "That his inclinations did not lie that way." Shah Alam was sustained in this firm line of conduct by the presence of the Mahratta troops under Himmat Bahadur, and by the ostensible support of Gul Mohammad, Badal Beg Khan, Sulaiman Beg, and other Moghul courtiers whom he believed to be faithful; and it seemed for the moment as if the confederates' cause was lost.
Thus pressed, these desperate men at length dropped all disguise and opened fire on the palace with all their heavy guns. The Emperor on this invited the aid of his Mahratta minister, who was now at Mathra, only a week's hard marching from the capital. It was Madhoji Sindhia's undoubted duty to have hastened to the relief of him whom he professed to serve; but it must be admitted that the instances he had already witnessed of Shah Alam's want of resolution and of good faith may have furnished the minister with some excuse for wishing to read him a severe lesson. He had also had sufficient taste of the fighting powers of the Musalmans to lead him to avoid a general engagement as long as possible, since every day would increase the probability of their quarrelling if left to themselves, while external attacks would only drive them to cohere.
Sindhia accordingly pursued a middle path. He sent to the Begam Sumroo, and urged her to hasten to the Emperor's a.s.sistance; but the prudent lady was not willing to undertake a task from which, with his vastly superior resources, she saw him shrink. He likewise sent a confidential Brahmin, who arrived on 10th July, and five days after, appeared a force of 2,000 horse under Rayaji, a relation of Sindhia's. The Ballamgarh Jats likewise contributed a small contingent.
NOTE. - The following account of de Boigne's early career is from Captain Duff, who knew him at Chamberi, about the year 1825:-
After describing his adventures as a youthful soldier of fortune, first as an ensign in the French army, and then in the Russian service in the Levant, whence he reached Cairo, and finally got to India by what is now called the Overland Route, - the writer proceeds to state that M. de Boigne was appointed an ensign in the 6th Native Battalion under the Presidency of Madras, from whence he, not long after, proceeded to Calcutta, bearing letters of recommendation to Mr. Hastings, the Governor-General. He was then permitted to join Major Browne's Emba.s.sy to Dehli (in 1784, vide sup.), when he took the opportunity of visiting Sindhia's camp, on the invitation of Mr. Anderson, the British resident.
Gohad being at this time besieged by Sindhia (who had treated de Boigne very scurvily), the latter communicated a plan for its relief to a Mr. Sangster, who commanded 1,000 sepoys and a train of artillery in the service of the Gohad Rana. The scheme broke down, because the Rana could not or would not advance the required sum of money.
De Boigne next made overtures to the Raja of Jaipur, and was commissioned by him to raise two battalions; but Mr. Hastings having meanwhile recalled him to Calcutta, the Raja was induced to alter his intentions. De Boigne finally entered the service of his original enemy, Madhoji Sindhia, on an allowance of Rs. 1,000 a month for himself, and eight all round for each of his men. To the privates he gave five and a half, and paid the officers proportionately from the balance. M. de Boigne gradually got European officers of all nations into his corps. Mr. Sangster, from the service of the Rana of Gohad, joined him, and became superintendent of his cannon foundry.
Some account of the further proceedings of General de Boigne will appear in the succeeding pages: and some notes regarding the close of his life will be found in the Appendix. Though moving in an obscure scene he was one of the great personages of the World's Drama; and much of the small amount of the civil and military organization upon which the British administration in Hindustan was ultimately founded is due to his industry, skill, and valour.
CHAPTER VI.
A.D. 1788.
Defection of Moghuls - Confederates obtain possession of Palace - Emperor deposed - Palace plundered - Gholam Kadir in the Palace - Emperor blinded - Approach of Mahrattas - Apprehensions of Spoiler - The Moharram - Explosion in Palace - Flight to Meerut - Probable Intentions - Capture of Gholam Kadir - His Punishment - Excuse for his Deeds - Sindhia's Measures - Future nature of Narrative - Poetical Lament - Col. Francklin.
ALARMED by these various portents, Gholam Kadir lost no time in summoning all his adherents from Ghausgarh, stimulating their zeal with the promise of plunder. At the same time he deputed Ismail Beg across the river to practice upon the fidelity of the garrison; and such was the Beg's influence that the Moghul portion of the Imperial troops joined him immediately, and left the unfortunate Emperor to be protected exclusively by unbelievers, under the general direction of the Gosain leader, Himmat Bahadur. This mercenary, not perhaps having his heart in the cause, terrified by the threats of the Pathan, and (it is possible) tampered with by traitors about the emperor's person, soon withdrew; and the confederate chiefs at once crossed the river, and took possession of the city.
The Emperor now became seriously anxious, and, after a consultation with his attendants, resolved on deputing Manzur Ali to seek a personal explanation with Gholam Kadir and Ismail Beg.
It has always been customary to tax this official with the responsibility of this measure, and of the appalling results which followed; but it does not appear absolutely necessary to impute his conduct to complicity with the more criminal part of Gholam Kadir's designs; and his subsequent fate is perhaps some sort of argument in his favour. But, be this as it may, he went to the chiefs by order of the Emperor, and demanded, "What were their intentions?" In the usual style of Eastern manners they replied, "These slaves are merely in attendance for the purpose of presenting their duty in person to his Majesty." "Be it so,"
said the Controller; and his acquiescence seems to have been unavoidable. "But," he added, "you surely need not bring your army into the palace: come with a small retinue, lest the Governor should shut the gates in your faces." Upon this advice the two n.o.blemen acted, and entered the Am Khas on the forenoon of the following day (18th of July) with some half hundred men-at-arms. Each received a khilat of seven pieces, together with a sword and other presents; Gholam Kadir also receiving a richly-jewelled shield. They then returned to their respective residences in the town, where Ismail Beg spent the rest of the day in making arrangements in order to preserve the safety and confidence of the inhabitants. Next day, he removed his quarters permanently to the house formerly occupied by Mohammad Shah's Vazir, Kammar-ud-din Khan; and his men were quartered a couple of miles south of the city, in and about the celebrated monumental tomb of the ancient Saint, Shah Nizam-ud-din. Gholam Kadir's men were nearer the palace, where the present Native Infantry cantonment is, in Dariaoganj; while his officers occupied the vast premises formerly belonging successively to the Ministers Ghazi-ud-din and Mirza Najaf, outside of the Cabul Gate. The ostensible state of Dehli politics was now this; Gholam Kadir was Premier (an office he swore upon the Koran faithfully to discharge), vice Madhoji Sindhia, dismissed; and the combined armies were the troops of the Empire, commanded by Ismail Beg.
Under these circ.u.mstances Gholam Kadir did not want a pretext, and at seven in the morning of Friday, the 29th July, he returned to the palace, where he had an interview with the Emperor in the Diwan Khas. Francklin is at fault again here; making his second interview one with that which occurred more than a week before.
Citing the authority of Ismail Beg, who stood by, he represented that the army was prepared to march on Mathra, and to chase the Mahrattas from Hindustan; but that they first demanded a settlement of their arrears, for which the Imperial treasury was alone responsible, and alone sufficient.
This harangue, at its conclusion, was warmly echoed by the Controller, by his Deputy, and by Ramrattan Modi. On the other side. Lalla Sital Das, the Treasurer, who was at once summoned, declared that, whatever might be the responsibility of the Treasury for an army in whose raising it had had no share, and by whose service it had not hitherto at all profited, at least that its chests contained no means for meeting the claims. He boldly urged that the claims should be resisted at all hazards.
Gholam Kadir replied by an a.s.sumed fit of ungoverned anger, and producing an intercepted letter from Shah Alam, calling upon Sindhia for help, ordered the Emperor to be disarmed, together with his personal guard, and removed into close arrest; and then, taking from the privacy of the Salim Garh a poor secluded son of the late Emperor Ahmad Shah, set him on his throne, hailed him Emperor, under the t.i.tle of Bedar Bakht, and made all the courtiers and officials do him homage. It is but just to record, in favour of one whose memory has been much blackened, that Manzur Ali, the Controller, appears on this occasion to have acted with sense, if not spirit. When Bedar Bakht was first brought forward, Shah Alam was still upon the throne, and, when ordered to descend, began to make some show of resistance. Gholam Kadir was drawing his sword to cut him down, when the Controller interposed; advising the Emperor to bow to compulsion, and retire peacefully to his apartments. For three days and nights the Emperor and his family remained in close confinement, without food or comfort of any sort; while Gholam Kadir persuaded Ismail Beg to return to his camp, and devoted himself to wholesale plunder during the absence of his a.s.sociate. The latter's suspicions were at length aroused, and he soon after sent an agent to remind Gholam Kadir that he and his men had received nothing of what it had been agreed to pay them. But the faithless Pathan repudiated every kind of agreement, and proceeded to defend the palace and apply all that it contained to his own use.
Ismail Beg, now sensible of his folly, lost no time in sending for the heads of the civic community, whom he exhorted to provide for their own protection; at the same time strictly charging his own lieutenants to exert themselves to the very utmost should the Pathans attempt to plunder. For the present, Gholam Kadir's attention was too much taken up with the pillage of the Imperial family to allow of his doing much in the way of a systematic sack of the town. Dissatisfied with the jewellery realised from the new Emperor, to whom the duty of despoiling the Begams was at first confided, he conceived the notion that Shah Alam, as the head of the family, was probably, nay, certainly, the possessor of an exclusive knowledge regarding the place of a vast secret h.o.a.rd. All the crimes and horrors that ensued are attributable to the action of this monomania. On the 29th, he made the new t.i.tular, Bedar Bakht, inflict corporal chastis.e.m.e.nt upon his venerable predecessor. On the 30th, a similar outrage was committed upon several of the ladies of Shah Alam's family, who filled the beautiful buildings with their shrieks of alarm and lamentation. On the 31st, the ruffian thought he had secured enough to justify his attempting to reconcile Ismail Beg and his men by sending them a donative of five lakhs of rupees. The result of this seems to have been that a combined, though tolerably humane and orderly attempt was made to levy contributions from the Hindu bankers of the city.
On the 1st of August a fresh attempt was made to wrest the supposed secret from the Shah, who once more denied all knowledge of it, employing the strongest figure of denial. "If," said the helpless old man, "you think I have any concealed treasures, they must be within me. Rip open my bowels, and satisfy yourself." The tormentor then tried cajolery and promises, but they were equally futile. "G.o.d protect you, who has laid me aside," said the fallen Monarch. "I am contented with my fate."