The Fall of the Moghul Empire of HindustanKeene, H. G. (Henry George)
History
The Fall of the Moghul Empire of Hindustan
Keene, H. G. (Henry George)
India -- History -- 18th century; Mogul Empire -- History
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 title of Zeb-un-Nissa "Ornament of her sex."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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