[Muhammad Sháh Emperor, 1721-1748.] Early in A.D. 1719, the emperor Farrûkhsiyar was deposed and put to death by the Sayads; and a prince named Rafíâ-ud-Daraját, a grandson of the emperor, was raised to the throne. Rafíâ-ud-Daraját was put to death by the Sayads after a reign of three months, and his brother Rafíâ-ud-daulah, who succeeded him, also died after a few days' reign. The Sayads then raised to the throne prince Raushan Akhtar with the title of Muhammad Sháh. [Mahárája Ajítsingh Forty-ninth Viceroy, 1719-1721.] After the murder of Farrûkhsiyar, the most powerful vassal in the neighbourhood of Delhi was Ajítsingh of Márwár. To win him to their side the Sayads granted him the viceroyalty of Gujarát, and Míhr Áli Khán was appointed to act for him until his arrival, while Muhammad Bahádur Bábi, son of Salábat Muhammad Khán Bábi, was placed in charge of the police of the district immediately round Áhmedábád. Shortly after, through the influence of the Mahárája Ajítsingh, Náhir Khán superseded Míhr Áli Khán as deputy viceroy. Náhir Khán was also appointed to the charge of Dholka Dohad and Petlád, and made superintendent of customs. About this time the head tax was repealed, and orders were issued that its levy in Gujarát should cease. [Píláji Gáikwár at Songad, 1719.] In the same year, A.D. 1719, Píláji Gáikwár marched on Surat with a large army and defeated the imperial troops commanded by Sayad Âkil and Muhammad Panáh, the latter commander being taken prisoner and forced to pay a heavy ransom. Píláji, finding Gujarát an easy prey, made frequent incursions, and taking Songad in the extreme south-east established himself there. Míhr Áli Khán, who had been acting for Náhir Khán, marched against and subdued the Kolis, who were committing piracy in the Mahi estuary. [Decay of Imperial Power, 1720.] From this year Mughal rule in Gujarát was doomed. Píláji Gáikwár was established at Songad, and in the anarchy that ensued, the great Gujarát houses of the Bábis and Jháloris, as well as the newly arrived Momín Khán, turned their thoughts to independence. Ajítsingh so hated Muhammadan rule that he secretly favoured the Maráthás, and strove to establish his own authority over such portions of Gujarát as bordered on Márwár. In after years, Sarbuland Khán made a vigorous attempt to reassert imperial dominion, but the seeds of dissolution were sown and efforts at recovery were vain.