arranged for the time through the instrumentality of the prince and by the return of Afrásyáb, who became reconciled to his late competitor. The three nobles were presented with khillats (dresses of honour) and Mirza Shaffi became Premier, under the title of Amir-ul-Umra, while Majad-ud-daulah reverted to his ancient post of Intendant of the Home Revenues. We pursue the prince's narrative. "It was at this period that much anxiety and melancholy intruding on the sacred mind of his Majesty, the Asylum of the World, and also on the breast of this loyal servant," their attention was turned towards the English alliance, which had been in abeyance for some years. On the 23rd of September, 1783, Mirza Shaffi, who had been to Agra, was shut out from the palace on his return, probably owing to Afrásyáb Khán's renewed desire to obtain the chief place in the State. On this the Mirza retired to Agra again, and naturally adopted a hostile attitude, an emissary was sent forth to treat with him, in the person of Mohamad Beg Hamadáni. took place in the open air in front of the main gate of the old Fort of Agra; and when the elephants, upon which the two noblemen were seated, drew near to each other, the Mirza held out his hand in greeting, when Mohamed Beg at once seized the opportunity, and pistolled him under the arm. It is asserted, indeed, by some that the actual crime was perpetrated by the attendant who occupied the back seat of the howdah; possibly Ismail Beg Khán, nephew of the Hamadáni. The meeting Afrásyáb, who had instigated this murder, profited by it, and succeeded to the post of his ambition, while the mind of the prince became still more anxious, and still more bent upon opening his case, if possible, in a personal interview with the English Governor. Meanwhile, the envoys of the latter were not less urgent on their employer to support the Emperor with an army. "The business of assisting the Sháh" -thus they wrote in December, 1783-" must go on if we wish to be secure in India, or regarded as a nation of faith and honour."* Mr. Hastings was not deaf to these considerations, and subsequent events proved their entire soundness. He desired to sustain the authority of the Empire, because he foresaw nothing from its dissolution but an alternative between Chaos and the Mahrattas; and, but for the opposition of his council in Calcutta, he would have interposed, and interposed after his fashion, with effect. Yet his not doing so was afterwards made the ground of one of the charges (No. 18) against him, and he was accused of having intrigued in the interest of Mádhoji Sindhia, the Patel. That Mr. Hastings, when overruled in his desire of anticipating Sindhia in Court influence at Dehli, preferred seeing the latter succeed, rather than the Empire should fall a prey to complete anarchy; that he "turned the circumstance to advantage" to use Grant Duff's phrase was neither contrary to sound statesmanship, nor to the particular views of the British Government, which was then occupied in completing the treaty of Salbai. Under this compact Central India was pacified, and the Carnatic protected from the encroachments of the notorious Haidar Ali Khán, and his son, the equally famous Tippu Sáhib. It is important here to observe that the Calcutta Gazettes of the day contain several notices of the progress of the Sikhs, and the feeble * Mill, Book VI. chap. i. opposition offered to them by the courtiers. All these things called for prompt action. 1784. On the 27th March, the British Governor arrived at Lucknow, and Jawan Bakht resolved to escape from the palace, and lay before him an account of Dehli politics, such as should induce him to interpose. The design being communicated to his maternal uncle, a body of Gujars,* from the prince's estate, was posted on the opposite bank of the river, and everything fixed for the 14th of April. About 8 P.M., having given out that he was indisposed, and on no account to be disturbed, the prince disguised himself, and, secretly departing from his chamber in the palace, passed from the roof of one building to the roof of another, until he reached the aqueduct which crossed the garden of the palace. The night was stormy, and the prince was suffering from fever, but he found a breach where the canal issued, by which he got to the rampart of the Salimgarh. Here he descended by means of a rope, and joined his friends on the river sands; and, with a considerable mixture of audacity and address, found means to elude the sentries and get across the river. One trait is worth preserving, as illustrative of the characteristic clemency of the house of Timur. "I believe," said the prince, in talking of this night's adventure to Mr. Hastings, "I ought to have killed the guide who showed me where to ford the river; but my conscience disapproved, and I let him go, preferring to trust myself to the care of Providence. In effect, the man justified my suspicions, for he instantly went to the nearest guard and * A tribe claiming to be descended from Rájput fathers, and long famous in Hindustan for their martial and predatory character. They are regarded by Elliot as Scythian immigrants. gave him information of my route, as I learned soon after; but I made such speed that my pursuers could not overtake me.' * His Highness reached Lucknow, where he impressed all who met him with a highly favourable opinion of his humanity, his intelligence, and his knowledge of affairs; but the only consolation he received, either from the Viceroy or from Mr. Hastings, hampered as the latter was by the opposition of his council, was the advice to turn to Mádhoji Sindhia. Captain Jonathan Scott (who was on Hastings' staff) says that the prince received an allowance of £40,000 a year from the British Government (Scott's Ferishta, vol. ii. 242.) In the meanwhile Mohamad Beg, who had returned to his old residence at Agra, continued to trouble the repose of the new minister Afrásyáb, so that he also turned to the redoubted Patel, and this successful soldier who had barely escaped four-and-twenty years before from the slaughter of Pánipat, now found himself master of the situation. The movements of the Mahratta chief began, indeed, to be all-important. They were thus noticed in the Calcutta Gazette for 18th April:-"We learn that Sindhia is going on a hunting party. . . . . We also learn that he will march towards Bundelkund." He marched in the direction, as it proved, of Agra.† He sent an envoy to Lucknow to treat with the Governor-General, and proceeded in person to Hindustan, proposing to meet the Emperor, who was on his way to dislodge Mohamad Beg from the fort of Agra. The Calcutta Gazette for May 10th says, "His * Appendix to Mr. Hastings's "Narrative." Majesty has signified by letters to the Governor-General and Sindhia that he will march towards Agra." The Emperor's desire to put himself into the hands of Sindhia was very much increased by the violent conduct of Afrásyáb towards one who, whatever his faults, had endeared himself, by long years' association, to the facile monarch. Majad-ud-daulah, the Finance Minister, having attempted to dissuade his Majesty from going to Agra, the haughty Moghul sent Najaf Kuli Khán with a sufficient force to Majad's house, and seizing him, with the whole of his property, kept him in close arrest, in which he continued for the most part till his death, in 1788.* On his arrival, Sindhia had an interview with Afrásyáb Khán, at which it was agreed to concert a combined attack upon Mohamad Beg forthwith. Three days after, the minister was assassinated, viz., 2nd November, 1784. The actual hand that struck this blow was that of Zain-ul-Abidin, brother of Mirza Shaffi, who, no doubt, was not unwilling to have an opportunity of punishing the supposed author of his uncle's murder; but there were not wanting those who, on the well-known maxim, cui bono, attributed the instigation to Sindhia. Francklin records, on the authority of one Said Raza Khán, that Zain-ul-Abidin found shelter with Sindhia immediately after the murder, which was effected in the very tent of the victim. Rajah Himmat Bahadur (the Gosain leader)† at once proceeded to Sindhia's tent, accompanied by the chief Moghul nobles, where all joined in congratulations and professions of service. * Francklin's "Shah Alum," p. 118. + These Gosains were a sect of fighting friars, much valued at this period. Vide inf. Note to p. 168. |