Paramount authority of

the Vizier.

CHAP. VIII. founder of the dynasty of the Nizams of Hyderabad. One day Zahra rebuked this grandee with insolent language from the howdah of her elephant. He made a sign to his followers. In one moment the woman was dragged from her elephant and soundly chastised. Chín Kulich Khan knew his danger. He was not on good terms with the Vizier, but hastened to pay him a visit. The Vizier at once dispatched a note to the Emperor declaring that he threw in his lot with Chín Kulich Khan. The note was just in time. Zahra was already in the seraglio, laying ashes on her head and rolling in the dust. Lál Khanwar was rousing the Emperor to avenge the insult. Jehandar Shah read the note and did nothing.

Shíah revolt in Bengal.

Murder of the Vizier.

The new Emperor was held in contempt and detestation by all good Muhammadans in Hindustan. Suddenly a storm began to gather in Bengal. A grandson of Bahadur Shah was living in Bengal; he is best indicated by his later title of Farrukh Siyar. Two Shíahs of great influence proclaimed Farrukh Siyar as Emperor. These two men were widely known as Sayyids or descendants of the Prophet. They were joined by hosts of Shíahs. An army pushed on towards Delhi with Farrukh Siyar and the two Sayyids at its head.

Zulfikar Khan was a tried general, but Jehandar Shah was an arrant coward. The Emperor and his Vizier took the field with a large army. Jehandar Shah was accompanied by his favourite dancing-girl. A battle began at Agra; and then Jehandar Shah fled back to Delhi with his low-born companion. Zulfikar Khan was helpless without the presence of the Emperor. His troops deserted in large numbers to Farrukh Siyar. So many grandees went over to Farrukh

Siyar, that Zulfikar Khan followed their example. But CHAP. VIII. Zulfikar Khan had excited the bitter enmity of Farrukh Siyar. He was admitted into the presence and kindly received. As he went out he was surrounded by the creatures of Farrukh Siyar, who exasperated him by their taunts and then stabbed him to death.

1712-20,

Farrukh Siyar went on to Delhi. Jehandar Shah Farrukh Siyar, was taken and executed. There was a horrible massacre of princes and grandees. After a while the public mind began to quiet down. Abdulla Khan, the elder of the two Sayyids, was made Vizier. Both he and his brother, Husain Ali Khan, exercised paramount influence at the court of Delhi.

two Sayyids.

There was soon a coolness between Farrukh Siyar Breach with the and the two Sayyids. The Emperor began to chafe under their control. He listened to the insinuations of Sunní grandees, especially to a man named Amír Jumla. He showed neither capacity nor resolution. He was willing to destroy the two Sayyids, but afraid to take action.

Jodhpur.

At last it was resolved to send Husain Ali Khan on war against an expedition against Marwar (Jodhpur). Ajít Singh, Raja of Marwar, had set the Moghul at defiance, pulled down mosques, built up pagodas, and driven out the Muhammadan Kázís and Mullahs whom Aurangzeb had quartered on his territories. Husain Ali Khan gladly accepted the command of the expedition. No sooner had he invaded Marwar than Raja Ajit Singh withdrew to the mountains, with all his family, treasure, and soldiery.

Jodhpur.

The Raja of Marwar must have been in some per- Submission of plexity. He dared not venture to cope with the Moghul army in the plains. At the same time he was receiving letters from Farrukh Siyar exhorting

CHAP. VIII. him to stand on his defence and crush the invader. He deemed it politic to come to terms with the invader. He promised obedience for the future, engaged to send his son to tender his submission to the Moghul general, and offered to send a daughter to the imperial seraglio.

Enforced peace,

Sayyids discover treachery.

Rupture and reconciliation.

Husain Ali Khan was burning for military glory. He would have refused to make terms with the Marwar Raja, but he was receiving letters of evil omen from his brother at Delhi. Abdulla Khan reported that mischief was brewing at court, and implored his brother to return to Delhi. Accordingly Husain Ali Khan made peace with Marwar.

Husain Ali Khan returned to Delhi with the daughter of the Raja. On the way he treated the future bride of the Emperor as his own adopted daughter. He found that she had certain papers intrusted to her by her father. Of course he was soon master of their contents. He discovered that Farrukh Siyar had urged the Raja to destroy him.

Husain Ali Khan wanted to be Viceroy of the Dekhan; not that he meant to go there, but only that he might appoint a deputy and profit by the revenue. This did not suit Farrukh Siyar; there was nothing he wanted so much as to send Husain Ali Khan to a distance from his brother the Vizier. Under such circumstances the breach grew wider between the Emperor and the two Sayyids. The two brothers began to fortify their palaces and enlist troops. At last a reconciliation was effected by the mother of the Emperor. Amír Jumla, the prime enemy of the Sayyids, was sent to Patna to be Viceroy of Bihar; whilst Husain Ali Khan was sent to Aurangabad to be Viceroy of the Dekhan.

About this time Farrukh Siyar celebrated his marriage with the Marwar princess. culty in such marriages had been

CHAP. VIII.

marriage.

The religious diffi- Rajput
easily overcome by

the tolerant Akbar, and was no obstacle to the present union. When the Rajpút bride entered the seraglio, she repeated the formula of the Muham

madan faith, and received a Muhammadan name.

Nothing further was required.

Amír Jumla went off to Bihar, and Husain Ali More treachery. Khan went off to the Dekhan; but still there was treachery. Dáúd Khan, the Afghan, was governor of Guzerat. He received from Delhi public instructions to obey the orders of Husain Ali Khan, and private instructions to destroy him; and if he succeeded in defeating and slaughtering Husain Ali Khan, he was to be appointed to the vacant post of Viceroy of the Dekhan as his reward.

warned.

Husain Ali Khan had no fears on his own account. Emperor He was only anxious for the welfare of his brother Abdulla. Before he left the court, he solemnly warned the Emperor that if anything happened to his brother the Vizier, he would be at Delhi within twenty days.

the Mahrattas.

Dáúd Khan was lying in wait for the new Viceroy Dáúd Khan and of the Dekhan. He had a strong force of Afghans; he had also a body of Mahratta horse. He had made some concessions to the Mahrattas as regards chout he had also scattered Moghul titles and commands among Mahratta generals.

of Daud Khan.

Husain Ali Khan soon found that Dáúd Khan was Defeat and death not a subordinate commander, but a hostile and dangerous rival. The battle was one of life and death, for, whatever might be the result, the Dekhan was to be the reward of the conqueror. Dáúd Khan's Mah

CHAP. VIII. rattas did nothing; they galloped about the plain at the beginning of the fight, and then looked on like unconcerned spectators. Dáúd Khan made great play with his Afghans. He pressed on towards his rival, but was shot dead by a bullet in the moment of victory. Husain Ali Khan was consequently the conqueror. The Mahratta commanders changed sides after Mahratta fashion. They made their submission to the conqueror; whilst their followers plundered Dáúd Khan's camp, and then rode off with the spoil.

Emperor mortified.

Sunnís and
Shíahs.

News of the victory of Husain Ali Khan soon reached Delhi. The Emperor could not hide his mortification. He complained in the presence of the Vizier that Dáúd Khan had been shamefully put to death. Abdulla Khan resented the affront. "Had my brother," he said, "been murdered by this Afghan savage, his death would have been more welcome to your Majesty."

Husain Ali Khan went on to Aurangabad to settle the affairs of his new viceroyalty. Meanwhile there were fierce disputes at Delhi between Sunnís and Shíahs. The question of whether the four Khalifs were the rightful successors of the Prophet, or whether Ali was the direct successor, was not only a war of words, but of swords. Shíah singers were accustomed at Delhi to chant the praises of Muhammad, and of Ali as the first of the twelve Imáms, without any reference to the three Khalifs-Abubakr, Omar, and Othman. A Sunní saint from the provinces was aghast at this enormity. He admitted that Ali was a good man and the fourth Khalif, but denied that he was the heir to the Prophet; he was only the husband of Fatima, the daughter of the Prophet. On this point the Sunní saint preached some vigorous sermons in the chief