190 W. Irvine — Later Mughals (1707-1803). [No. Z, 
flight from Kajwah. It was at once decided to march from the capital 
to meet the danger. Many thought it would be wiser to await the 
enemy at Tughlagabad, eight miles south of Shahjahanabad, or New 
Dihli. These views did not, however, prevail and a march to Agrah 
was resolved upon. Strenuous efforts were made to put matters into 
order and to collect an army. But during the preceding eleven months 
everything had been allowed to fall into confusion, and during the whole 
of this time the troops had not seen the sight of a com. An attempt 
was now made to pay them, and to provide the necessary matériel and 
equipage for a campaign. Most of the treasure, amassed in previous 
reigns and stored within the fort at Dihli, had been expended in 
frivolous festivities. As one writer complains, the money had been 
spent in lamps and oil for a weekly illumination of the fort and river 
banks. Meanwhile, the zamindars, taking advantage of the disputed 
succession, had evaded the payment of revenue, and the officials, 
uncertain of their future position, neglected to coerce them and made 
many excuses. 
Such small amount of money as there was in the treasury 
was soon spent. Gold vessels collected in the palace from the time 
of Akbar were next broken up and used, and such fragments of gold 
and silver as could be found in any of the imperial workshops were 
appropriated. Warid, the nistorian, saw the process with his own eyes. 
All jewelled articles were next taken, and then the jewels themselves ; 
after this, the clothes, carpets, and hangings were removed. As there 
was still a deficiency, the ceilings of the palace rooms, which were plated 
with gold, were broken up and distributed to the men. Nothing 
else now remaining, the store-houses were thrown open and the goods 
distributed in place of cash. A crowd assembled and no order was 
maintained. The soldiers took what they liked and paid no heed to the 
clerks. In a moment store-houses, full of goods which had been 
preserved from the time of the Emperor Babar, were emptied. Nothing 
was left. Still, in spite of all these efforts, the claims of many of the 
men were unsatisfied, and they were told to wait until Agrah was 
reached, when they would be paid from the treasure-house at that 
place. ? 
1 Khushhal Cand, 392 a, says that his father, Jiwan Ram, was then a clerk in 
the Khanséman’s (Lord Steward’s) office. In one week jewels, worth three krors 
and fifty lakhs of rupees, were distributed, among them a pot (matkah) of jasper 
studded with jewels, said to have belonged to Bhim, brother of Rajah Judishtar 
(Yudhisthira) and Arjun! It was 11 Shahjahani dira‘a (yards?) long and 7 dira‘a 
wide! Although the dimensions are so precisely stated, I need hardly say that they 
should be taken cum grano. 
@ Tjad, 82 b, 83 a; Warid, 140 a; Khushhal Cand, 392 a. 
