1903.] W. Irvine— The Later Mugkals (1707-1803). 135 



Sayyads recoiled on his own head and led to his deposition and death. 

 The narrative extends to twenty-three carefully written sections. 



Undeterred by the failure of his plot to get Husain 'AH destroyed 

 by Daud Khan in 1715, a piece of treachery which the two Sayyad 

 brothers never forgot or forgave, Farrukhsiyar continued to intrigue 

 against them with every likely person he could think of. But as he was 

 at once suspicious and faithless he failed to rally anyone of any im- 

 portance to his side. It was probably by the emperor's orders that his 

 favourite Mir Jumlah ventured to return to Delhi in 1716, but, when 

 the wazlr Qutbu-1-mulk remonstrated, the emperor took fright and sent 

 peremptory orders to Mir Jumlah to withdraw to Lahor. Mir Jumlah'a 

 troops were then secretly encouraged to mutiny in the hope that they 

 might attack Qutbu-1-mulk, but as this plot too failed to take effect, the 

 emperor professed to be very angry with Mir Jumlah, deprived him 

 of all his titles and offices, and forced him to leave for Lahor at 

 once. 



It occurred to Farrukhsiyar that it had been a mistake to 

 remove all the old officials, who would have furnished a useful counter- 

 poise to the overwhelming influence of the Sayyads. In this view he 

 reappointed * Inayatullah Khan on his return from Makka diwan of the 

 Jcho'lesah and the tan and also governor of Kashmir. ' Inayatullah 's 

 attempts to reform the Treasury only annoyed the wazlr who was lazy 

 and slack, and the corrupt Hindu officials who were enriching them- 

 selves with his connivance. The new dlwdn made himself particularly 

 unpopular by reimposing the jazlyah and by reviving the rules of 'JLlam- 

 gir. In the same way other officials of the old school were appointed 

 to various positions of trust, but it was soon clear to the emperor 

 that they would be no sufficient counterpoise to the power of the 

 wazlr. 



Farrukhsiyar now changed his plans and made what was perhaps 

 the greatest mistake of his life. He chose a new favourite Muhammad 

 Murad, Kashmiri, I'tiqad Khan, whom he loaded with honours and 

 clung to as the right man for any desperate undertaking. The sudden 

 elevation of Murad gave offence to f riends and foes alike and was one 

 source of strength to the emperor, for Murad was a braggart and a 

 coward and afraid to take any steps against the wazlr. Under the 

 advice of I'tiqad Khan the emperor had recourse to Sarbuland Khan, 

 who did not consider it worth his while to attack Qutbu-1-Mulk unless 

 he became wazlr instead ; then to Ajit Singh, who at once went over 

 to the opposite side ; and then to Nizamu-1-mulk who suggested the re- 

 call of his cousin Muhammad Amin Khan. 



At last the patience of the Sayyad brothers gave way. Husain 'All 



