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ever, he wai sensible that by himself he stood little 

 chance of succeeding in hit designs of rendering the 

 Decan mil. |.i-ml< nt, he cast his thoughts round for as- 

 sistance ; and on many accounts the Mahrattas seemed 

 to him best calculated to answer his object. 



The power and territories of the Mahrattas had been 

 gradually increasing. Enterprising and active, com- 

 manded by princes who in a high degree possessed 

 these characteristics of the nation, and surrounded by 

 weak and divided states, it is not to be wondered that 

 tin v succeeded in gradually extending their dominions, 

 and in striking awe into their neighbours. Early in 

 the reign of Mahomed Shah, they had imperiously de- 

 manded and received tribute from him, under the con- 

 dition that they would lay waste or seize the provinces 

 of Malwah and Ajmeer : and this tribute amounted to 

 one-fourth of the net revenue which he derived from 

 these provinces. As might have hjeen expected, how- 

 ever, they were not long satisfied with this tribute, for 

 they invaded and conquered the greatest part of Mal- 

 wah. A short time afterwards they seized upon the 

 other part, as well as upon the province of Ajmeer. 

 The Mahrattas, therefore, were by no means unwilling 

 to listen to the proposal of the Nizam ; but their object 

 was not so much to assist them, as to benefit themselves ; 

 and they hoped, during the disputes and wars between 

 him and the emperor, that they should be able still fur- 

 ther to extend Uieir territories. 



A. D. 1 738. In the year 1 7.S8, the Nizam, having arranged all his 

 The Nizam plans, and believing himself sufficiently powerful to 

 i '~ > ?*" carr y them into execution, came to court attended by a 

 large body of armed followers. He had already, by his 

 intrigues and bribes, procured a large party there ; but 

 on his arrival he found that the opposite party was too 

 strong for him. At the head of it was the commander 

 in chief of the army of the empire. The Nizam had 

 now gone too far to retreat, and as the Mahrattas, 

 though acting with him in the middle provinces, could 

 be of no use where support was chiefly wanted, he di- 

 rected his thoughts to another quarter. 



At this period Nadir Shah, the usnrper of the Per- 

 sian throne, had invaded the province of Candahar, and 

 was besieging the fortress of Candahar itself. This 

 province, which had long formed part of the Mogul 

 empire, at this time was held by an Afghan chief. The 

 siege lasted 18 months. After it was finished, Nadir 

 prepared to invade Cabul. The Nizam, informed of 

 these things, resolved to invite Nadir to invade Hin- 

 dostan. By some it is said, that it was in consequence 

 of this invitation alone, that Nadir entered Hindostan; 

 but according to others, while he was in Cabul, the 

 imprudence of Mahomed affronted the Persian ambas- 

 sador, and this afforded an immediate pretext for the 

 who invidei invasion of his master. However this may be, in the 

 "^tTSi >' ear ] 7 39 ' ^. a ' lir Shah entered into Hindostan. 



A kind of infatuation seems to have prevailed in the 

 Mogul councils. The army was not half assembled; 

 and Mahorned had marched only a day's journey from 

 Delhi into the plains of Carnaw), when Nadir, who had 

 by this time reduced Lahore, defeated him, with the 

 loss of Douran, the commander in chief of the army, 

 and his best and bravest minister. It appears that be- 

 fore this fatal battle, Nadir was so little confident of 

 success, that lie offered to evacuate the empire for 50 

 lacks of rupees. But the intrigues of the Nizam and 

 Ins party induced the emperor not only to refuse this 

 sum, but after the battle to throw himself on the cle- 

 mency of Nadir. The first consequence of the battle 

 was the reduction of Delhi. At first the strictest dis- 



Historr. 



A. D. 1739. 



Battle of 



cipline prevailed among the Persians ; no one was mo- 

 lested ; and the emperor, after having been kept a state ' 

 prisoner with his family for a few days, ^as permitted 

 to return quietly to his palace. But though this strict- 

 ness of discipline was maintained, and this moderation 

 shown with regard to the emperor, the conqueror was 

 intent on plunder, and the scene was soon changed. A 

 quarrel having arisen in the bazar of Delhi, one of those 

 engaged, suddenly called out that Nadir Shah was 

 dead, and that now was the time to free Delhi from 

 the Persians. A massacre instantly commenced ; and pi um i er ana 

 during the whole night, the city was a scene of con- massacre t 

 fusion and murder. The inhabitants, however, had Delhi, 

 soon ample and dreadful reason to repent of their pre- 

 cipitancy ; for at day-light Nadir gave orders for a ge- 

 neral massacre, without distinction of age or sex. The 

 carnage lasted from sun-rise till mid-day, when the 

 emperor and his nobles appeared before Nadir Shah, 

 and, for the sake of Mahomed, he was induced to pro- 

 nounce the words " I forgive." Instantly the carnage 

 stopped, but its effects continued; for many Hindoos 

 a", well as Moguls, in order to save their women from 

 pollution, had set fire to their houses, and burned their 

 families and effects. These fires spread, and the city 

 soon presented a most dreadful scene of ruins. The 

 dead bodies occasioned a pestilential disorder among 

 the comparatively few inhabitants that survived ; and, 

 as always is the case during the prevalence of any 

 dreadful calamity of this nature, every species of crime 

 and immorality was indulged in. In order to extort 

 confessions of treasure?, private murders were commit- 

 ted ; the ties of friendship and blood were forgotten. 

 The evil, however, was not yet at its height: famine 

 was added to pestilence, murder, and plunder; and 

 hundreds of persons, desperate, and hopeless of esca- 

 ping from such accumulated distress, and unable to 

 bear the sight of those whom they had loved and re- 

 spected, either falling under it, or what was worse in 

 their estimation, giving themselves up to the commis- 

 sion of every crime, put an end to their own lives. 



At length, after having had possession of Delhi for Nadirleaves 

 about six weeks. Nadir left it ; but he left it almost a Delhi 

 desert; for it is said, that 100,000 of its inhabitants 

 had been massacred by his troops, or destroyed by 

 fire, pestilence, or famine. A treaty had been conclu- 

 ded, by which he confirmed Mahomed on the throne of 

 all the provinces east of the Indus, reserving those to 

 the west for himself. He also married his son to a 

 grand-daughter of Aurengzebe. He carried with him with im- 

 three millions and a half sterling in money from the memeplun. 

 royal treasury ; one million and a half in plate ; fifteen lier - 

 millions in jewels ; the celebrated peacock throne va- 

 lued at a million ; other thrones of inferior value ; and 

 the canopy for the royal elephant, estimated at eleven 

 millions ; besides 500 elephants, a number of horses, 

 and the imperial camp equipage. A fine to the amoftnt 

 of five millions was exacted from the nobles and other 

 inhabitants ; so that, if to these sums be added the plun- 

 der of the soldiers, the estimate that 62 millions were 

 carried away, will not be deemed beyond the truth. 



No empire, after such devastation committed in its 

 capital, could soon have recovered its strength ; but 

 with respect to the Mogul empire, its restoration was 

 absolutely impossible. It was loosened from its foun- 

 dation ; and there were those on every side of it, who 

 were prepared to hasten its downfall. The departure t a t e O f fa 

 of Nadir left the Nizam in possession of the whole re- empire, 

 maining power of the empire ; but he preferred an in- 

 dependent kingdom in the Decan, to the government 



