192 W. Irvine— Later Mughals (1707-1803). [No. 2, 
At the time appointed by the astrologers, near midnight of the 11th 
Za-l-qa‘dh 1124 H. (9th December, 1712), Jahandar Shah mounted his 
elephant and rode to his camp at Talab Kishn Das near Khizrabad, 
seven miles south of the city. The superstitious were cast down from 
the first by several accidents, which they treated as omens of coming 
evil. As the elephant bearing the imperial kettle-drums passed 
through the Dihli gate the ropes broke, the drums fell, and were dashed 
to pieces ; and a few days before this sinister event, the imperial umbrella, 
having caught on the branch of a tree, lost its fringe of pearls. In 
addition, from the time that Jahandar Shah set out for Agrah, there 
were continuous clouds and rain with cold wind night and day. The 
cold was sointense that to the native of India to put his head outside 
his tent was a hardship, his blood felt frozen in his veins, and his feet 
were hard as if made of stone. The mist was so thick that the country 
round could not be seen. It need hardly be added, at any rate those 
acquainted with the country will know well, that these outward 
circumstances produced the most depressing effect upon the troops. To 
add to the other bad omens, came the accidental destruction by fire, in 
spite of the rain and cloud, of some of the imperial tents. At Khizrabad 
they learnt that prince A‘zzu-d-din had reached Agrah on the 6th of the 
month (4th December, 1712). Farrukhsiyar was at the same time 
reported to be at Itawah, though he was then really at Makhanpur. ! 
On the 15th Zu-l-qa‘dh (15th December, 1712) a move of six or 
seven miles was made to Talpat. Here the puerile expedient was hit 
upon of writing long appeals for aid to Rajah Ajit Singh, Rahtor, of 
Jodhpur, and the other Rajput chieftains. There was no time left for 
any such help; the issue must be decided, one way or the other, long 
before any of the Rajputs could arrive upon the scene. On the 16th 
the camp was pitched at Faridabad, about sixteen miles south of the 
and Kokaltash Khan, see ante p. 160, Jani Khan, p. 163 note 1, Raji Mhd. Khan, p. 180 
note 2, Murtaza Khan p. 161, No 5, A‘zam Khan (Mhd. Mah), p. 160, Raza Quli Khan, 
p. 161, No. 7. Islam Khan was Mir Ahmad, grandson of Islam Khan, No. 1; he died 
in 1144 H., 1731-2, aged 77, Mu-l-u, II, 741, T-1-Mhdi. year 1144 H. Jan Nisar Khan, 
(Khwajah ‘Abdu-l-mukaram), d. Rabi‘ II 1131 H.(Feb. March 1719), aged about 
eighty, T-i-Mhdi, and Mu-l-u., 1.5387. Mukhtar Khan (S. Mhd. formerly Iftikhar 
Khan) received this, his father’s title, in 1119 H. (1708) when the latter was made 
Khan ‘Alam (d. 1121 H.); his sister married Bédar Bakht, son of A‘zam Shah, 
(see Mu-l-u, III, 655, for the father). M. K. died early in 1153 H. (1740), 
T-i-Mhdt. 
1 Naru-d-din, 98, 99; Khafi Khan, II, 700, 718. K. K. gives the date of starting 
as the middle of Zu-] Qa‘dh, 25th Azar of the Ilahi era. Itawah is 73 m. south- 
east of Agrah, Thornton, 305; Makhanpur, 34 m. north-west of Cawnpore, id. 
642. F 
