Umra or Premier Noble. He is always understood to have been acting under the direction of Manzur Ali Khán, Controller of the Imperial Household, who thought to secure a valuable support for the cause of Islam by introducing the young Pathán chief into the administration. The Mahratta garrison was commanded by a son-in-law of the Patel, known in Musalman History as the Desmukh-which is interpreted "Collector of Land Revenue," and by a member of the Imperial Household, on whom, from some unexplained reason, had been bestowed the title of the great Aulia Saint Shah Nizám-ud-din, and who had lately been placed in charge of the Home Revenues, as stated above (p. 152.) These officers immediately opened fire from the guns on the riverside of the fort, and the young Rohilla replied from the opposite bank. At the same time, however, he did not fail to employ the usual Eastern application of war's sinews; and the Moghul soldiers of the small force being corrupted, the Mahrattas made but a feeble resistence. Gholám Kádir crossed the river, and the Imperial officers fled to the Ját Fort of Balamgarh, leaving their camp and private effects to the mercy of the victor.

It need hardly be observed that the firing on the palace was an act of gross disrespect, and, unless explained, of rebellion. Nor was the young chief blind to the importance of basing his proceedings on an appearance of regularity. He accordingly entered into a correspondence with the above mentioned Manzur Ali (a nominee, it may be remembered, of the late Mirza Najaf Khán). By the agency of this official, Gholám Kádir was introduced to the Diwán Khas, where he presented a Nazar of five gold mohurs, and was * Vide inf., p. 176, Note. + Vide sup. p. 106.

graciously received. He excused his apparent violence by attributing it to zeal for the service of his Majesty, formally applied for the patent of Amir-ul-Umra, and with professions of implicit obedience withdrew to cultivate the acquaintance of the courtiers, retiring at night to his own camp. Matters remained in this condition for two or three days, when Gholám Kádir, impatient perhaps at the non-occurrence of any circumstance which might advance his designs, re-entered the Palace with seventy or eighty troopers, and took up his abode in the quarters usually occupied by the Amirul-Umra.

Meanwhile, Begam Sumroo, who was with her forces operating against a fresh rising of the Cis-Satlaj Sikhs, hastened from Pánipat and presented herself in the palace. Awed by this loyal lady and her European officers, and finding the Moghul courtiers unwilling to enter into any combination against them, the baffled Rohilla retired across the river, and remained for some time quiet in his camp. Francklin, indeed, states that the cannonade was renewed immediately on Gholám Kádir's return to his camp; but it is more probable that, as stated above, this renewal did not occur until the arrival of Najaf Kuli Khán. The Emperor showed on this occasion some sparks of the temper of old time, before misfortune and sensual indulgence had demoralized his nature. He sent Moghul chiefs to keep an eye on the Páthan, while he increased his household troops by a levy of 6,000 horse, for the pay of whom he melted a quantity of his personal plate. He also despatched messengers to the converted Ráthor, Najaf Kuli Khán, who was on his estate at Rewari, urging his immediate attendance in Dehli.

Rewári is in what is now the district of Gurgaon,

and lies about fifty miles S.W. of Dehli. It is a country of mixed mountain and valley; the former being a table-land of primitive rocks, the latter the sandy meadow land on the right bank of the river Jamna. Here, in a district wrested by his former patron from the Játs,* Najaf Kuli had been employed in endeavours to subjugate the indigenous population of Mewátis, a race professing Islam like himself, but mixing it with many degrading superstitions, and resembling their neighbours the Minas of Rajputána and the Bhattis of Hariána in habits of vagrancy and lawlessness, which above half a century of British administration has even now failed to eradicate.

Najaf Kuli Khán obeyed the Imperial summons, and reached Dehli, where he encamped close to the Begam Sumroo, in front of the main gate of the Palace, on the 17th November, 1787. The general command of the Imperial troops was conferred upon the Emperor's second son, Mirza Akbar, who, since the flight of his elder brother, had been considered as heir apparent, and who now received a khillat of seven pieces. The son of a Hindu official, named Ram Rattan, was appointed the Prince's deputy (although he was by descent nothing but a modi or "chandler"); and a cannonade was opened on the camp of Gholám Kádir, who replied. by sending round shot into the palace itself, some of which fell on the Diwán Khas.

Sindhia's conduct at this juncture has never been explained. He was himself at Gwalior, and his army under Lakwa Dáda, shut up in the fort of Agra, was defending itself as well as it might against the forces under Ismail Beg. At the same time the author of the Tarikh-i-Mozafari assures us that Ambaji Inglia * Vide Chapi in fin.

-one of Sindhia's most trusty lieutenants, arrived in Dehli with a small force, and that his arrival was the signal for a reconciliation between the Emperor's principal adherents and Gholám Kádir, who was then introduced to the presence, and invested with the dignity of Premier Noble (Sháh Alam himself binding upon his head the jewelled fillet called Dastar-u-Goshwára). It is probable that a compromise was effected, in which Gholám Kádir, by receiving the desired office at the hands of the Mahratta minister, was supposed to have acknowledged the supremacy of the latter. The whole story is perplexing. When cannonaded, the Pathan chief suddenly appears within the palace; when Sindhia's troops arrive, he receives the investiture that he was seeking in opposition to Sindhia; and at the moment of success he marches off to Aligarh. This latter movement is, however, accounted for by Francklin, who attributes it to the news of Prince Jawan Bakht being at hand with the forces of Himmat Bahadur, who had joined the cause of Ismail Beg. At all events, if Gholám Kádir owed this sudden improvement in his position to the good offices of the man whose garrison he had so lately chased from Dehli, he did not evince his gratitude in a form that could have been expected; for he lost no time in marching against Sindhia's late conquest of Aligarh, which fort almost immediately fell into his hands. He then proceeded to join his forces to those of Ismail Beg, before Agra; and remained for some months assisting at the siege of that fort; these operations being subject to constant annoyance from the Játs, and from the troops of Sindhia, who finally crossed the Chambal at the end of the cold season of 1787, having received large reinforcements from the Deccan. Ismail Beg and Gholám

M

Kádir immediately raised the siege of Agra, turned upon the advancing army, and an obstinate battle took place at Chaksána, eleven miles from Bhartpur, on the 24th April. The particulars of this action are not given by the native historian, whom I here follow, but they are detailed by Grant Duff, who probably had them from General de Boigne, who was present at the action, and with whom that writer had frequent conversations at Chambéri after the General's retirement to his native country.t The Mahratta army was commanded by Rána Khán, a man who, having in the capacity of a water-carrier been the means of assisting Sindhia to escape from the carnage of Panipat in 1761, had been much protected by him; and being otherwise a man of merit, was now become one of the chief officers of the army. Besides M. de Boigne there was another French officer present, whose name is given by Duff as Listeneaux, perhaps a mistake for some such word as Lestonneaux. John Hessing was also in this campaign, as may be gathered from the epitaph on his tomb, which is close to that of Sumroo at Agra. (See Appendix.) The Musalman leaders fought well, Gholám Kádir threw himself upon the infantry of the right wing, and broke them. Ismail Beg with all the impetuosity of his character vigorously attacked the battalions of M. de Boigne, but was received with sang froid and resolution. The Mahratta horse supported the infantry fairly, but were overmatched for such severe duty by the weight of the Moghul cavalry and their superior discipline. It is probable, however, that the infantry, formed and led by Europeans, would have been more than a match for all their attempts, had not three of the battalions deserted * Tarikh-i-Mozafari. + Vol. iii. p. 19. Bombay Edition.