1748. CHAPTER IV. A.D. 1748-54. Ahmad Shah — The Rohillas — Ghazi-ud-din the younger — Perplexities of the Emperor — Alamgir II. placed on the throne. SELDOM has a reign begun under fairer auspices than did that of Ahmad Shah. The Emperor was in the flower of his age; his immediate associates were men distinguished for their courage and skill; the Nizam was a bar to the Mahrattas in the Deccan, and the tide of northern invasion had ebbed out of sight. There is, however, a fatal element of uncertainty in all systems of government which depend for their success merely upon personal qualities. The first sign of this precarious tenure of greatness was afforded by the death of the aged Nizam Chin Kulich, Viceroy of the Deccan, which took place immediately after that of the late Emperor. The eldest son of the old Nizam contended with the nephew of the deceased Saadat — whose name was Mansur, but who is better known by his title of Safdar Jang — for the Premiership, or office of Vazir, and his next brother Nasir Jang held the Lieutenancy of the Deccan. The command in Rajputan, just then much disturbed, devolved at first on a Persian nobleman who had been his Bakhshi, or Paymaster of the Forces, and also Amir-ul-Umra, or Premier Peer. His disaster and disgrace were not far off, as will be seen presently. The office of Plenipotentiary was for the time in abeyance. The Vazirship, which had been held by the deceased Kamr-ul-din was about the same time conferred upon Safdar Jang, who also succeeded his uncle as Viceroy or Nawab of Audh. Hence the title, afterwards so famous, of Nawab-Vazir. Having made these dispositions, the Emperor followed the hereditary bent of his natural disposition, and left the provinces to fare as best they might, while he enjoyed the pleasures to which his opportunities invited him. The business of state fell very much into the hands of a eunuch named Jawid Khan, who had long been the favourite of the Emperor's mother, a Hindu danseuse named Udham Bai, who is known in history as the Kudsiya Begam. The remains of her villa are to be seen in a garden still bearing her name, on the Jamna side a little beyond the Kashmir Gate of New Dehli. For a time these two had all at their command; and the lady at least appears to have made a beneficent use of her term of prosperity. Meanwhile, the two great dependencies of the Empire, Rohilkand and the Panjab, become the theatre of bloody contests. The Rohillas routed the Imperial army commanded by the Vazir in person, and though Safdar Jung wiped off this stain, it was only by undergoing the still deeper disgrace of encouraging the Hindu powers to prey upon the growing weakness of the Empire.