INDIA. 



H-.U.-V. 



Ahmed de- 

 pend. 



Calif in 



and person were of use, as retaining a considerable de- 

 gree of veneration among the mass of the people, not 

 only in HindosUn proper, but also in the Decan ; so 

 that application was made to him to sanction and con- 

 firm all grants of lands, even in those districts in which 

 he retained no sovereignty, in order to reconcile the 

 transaction to popular opinion. Even to this day, the 

 coin throughout the whole district, known by the name 

 of the Mogul empire, is struck in the name of the no- 

 minal emperor. 



In the year 1753, the emperor Ahmed was deprived 

 of his eye-sight, and deposed by Gazi, the son of that 

 A. b. 1743. Gazi who had been his vizier. A little before his death, 

 the Mahrattas had been called in to assist in reducing 

 the Gauts, who being in possession of Agra, were 

 troublesome to the emperflr ; and the Mahrattas of 

 Berar established themselves in Orissa, by cession from 

 the Nabob of Bengal, who was* also compelled for 

 a short time to pay them a tribute for Bengal and 

 Bahar : on this tribute they long afterwards rested their 

 claims in these provinces. On the death of Ahmed, 

 Alumghire Alumghire his cousin was placed on the throne by 

 Gazi : the new emperor soon found that he was a slave 

 in the hands of this person, and in order to get rid of 

 him, he invited Abdalla, commonly called the Du- 

 rannee Shah, who was at this time in possession of 

 Lahore, to Delhi. He gladly accepted this invitation, 

 and laid that city under heavy contributions, not even 

 sparing the sep'u!chres of the dead. From Delhi he 

 proceeded against Aj*ra, but the Gauts repulsing him, 

 he returned towards Candahar in 1758. The situation 

 of the emperor was now most deplorable ; he could not 

 possibly retain the small remnant of an authority which 

 was left to him, without foreign assistance ; and yet if 

 he invited foreigners, they only defended him against 

 internal commotion and intrigue, for the purpose of 

 itate of the plundering him, and laying waste his territories. Thus 

 onpire. J,e was alternately treated by the Mahrattas and Ab- 

 dallah, according as he called in the one or the other 

 to his assistance. A little before he was murdered by 

 his vizier, Abdallah again visited Hindostan, when 

 Delhi was plundered and almost depopulated. At this 

 period his son Shah Allum was engaged in a fruitless 

 attempt to reduce the Bengal provinces. As soon as 

 he ascended the throne, he followed the example of 

 his father, and successively threw himself for assistance 

 on the Mahrattas, Necljeb Dowlah, a Iluhillah chief, 

 who commanded the Mogul army in the time of his 

 father, and Sujah Dowlah, another powerful chieftain : 

 by these, however, he was either not assisted, or^assisted 

 only to be still more plundered and insulted ; at length, 

 he was received under the protection of Mahomed 

 Kooti of Allahabad. This chief, in conjunction with 

 Balwant Singh, who had increased the Zemindary of 

 Benares, which he had received from his father, to the 

 size of a province, supplied him with an army : with 

 this he entered the Bengal provinces, where he was 

 joined by some Zemindars of Bahar, so that his force 

 altogether amounted to about 60,000 men. But his 

 troops were so ill disciplined and provided, that in the 

 year 1761 he deemed it prudent to surrender himself 

 to the British, who were then acting as allies of the 

 Nabob of Bengal. They however were not disposed 

 to connect their fortunes with his ; and he was again 

 obliged to put himself under the protection of Sujah 

 Dowlah. 



Abdallah, in the mean time, was by no means se- 

 cure in his possessions; for the Mahrattas, who, in 



Dreadful 



The empe- 

 ror murder 

 ed. 



Shah 



Allum, 



the midst of these confusions, had been daily gathering Hi-tcnr. 

 strength, and being engaged in every scene.of politics ''"V"-' 

 and warfare from Guzerat to Bengal, aijd from Lahore 

 to the Carnatic, resolved to attempt the expulsion of 

 Abdallah from Hindostan. Thus the principal powers 

 in it were arranged in two parties, the Hindoos and 

 Mahomedans, for the Gauts joined the Mahrattas, while 

 Sujah Dowlah, with the Rohillas, and other Mahome- 

 dan chiefs, joined Abdallah. The battle, which was to 

 determine whether the Hindoo government should be 

 restored or not throughout Hindostan, was fought on 

 the 7th of January 1761, on the plains of Paniput, al- Battle of 

 ready famous for having been the scene of a battle be- Panipm, 

 tween the Sultan Baber and the Patan emperor Ibra- A- D - 17C1 - 

 him in 1525. 



The combined Mahomedan army was commanded Mahometan 

 by Abdallah, and that of the Mahrattas by Sedasiva; arm y- 

 The former consisted altogether of -12,000 horse, and 

 38,000 foot, besides camels, and between 70 and 80 

 pieces of cannon ; these were the regular troops, but 

 the irregulars were more numerous. The Doorrannies 

 of Caubul, who were the strength of the army, amount- 

 ed to 29,000 ; they were all men of great bodily vi- 

 gour, and their horses, which were of the Turkish 

 breed, were very hardy. The regular troops of the 

 Mahratta army consisted of 55,000 horse, and 15,000 Mahiatta 

 foot, with 200 pieces of cannon, and camel pieces and arni y- 

 rockets without number. Besides the regular troops, 

 there were 15,000 pindaries or plunderers, and the fol- 

 lowers of the camp were nearly four times as numerous 

 as the regular troops. 



The strength of these armies was too nearly equal, 

 and the issue of the battle too momentous, not to ex- 

 cite in the generals of both parties great anxiety, and 

 to render them cautious and reserved about commen- 

 cing the engagement. Accordingly, they continued in 

 sight of each other from the 26th of October 1760, to 

 the 7th of January 1761. During this long interval, 

 many bloody skirmishes took place, which generally 

 terminated in favour of the Doorrannies. At last the 

 Mahratta army, being greatly straitened for provisions, 

 their chieftain resolved to quit his entrenchments and 

 give battle. The action continued from morning till 

 nearly noon, without any de'cisive success on either 

 side; but about this time the Mahrattas chieftain's 

 son, a youth about 17, being mortally wounded, the 

 fate of the battle was decided ; for after this event, the MahraUas 

 Mahrattas fled in all directions. The victors pursued, j e f eated 

 and gave no quarter in the heat of the pursuit. 



In the Mahratta camp, it is said that there were of 

 all descriptions, men, women, and children, about with n TeM \. 

 500,000, of whom the greatest part were either killed, f u l slaugh- 

 or taken prisoners ; and of those who escaped from the ter. 

 field of battle, many were destroyed by the Zemindars. 

 About 40,000 were made prisoners ; such as were taken 

 by the Doorrannies were mostly murdered afterwards 

 by them ; for this carnage in cool blood, they alleged 

 as an excuse, that when they left their own country, 

 they were requested by their mothers, sisters, and 

 wives, to kill some of the unbelievers on their account, 

 in order that they also might possess a merit in the 

 sight of the prophet. The commander- in-chief of the 

 Mahrattas is supposed to have been killed, either in 

 the battle or in the pursuit. This was the most im- 

 portant struggle that had taken place since the contests 

 between Aurengzebe's sons in the year 1707. 



After this very decisive battle, Abdallah with justice Abdallah 

 regarded himself as the uncontrolled master of Delhi; 



