1879.1 W. Irvine — The Bangash Naivabs of FarrufclidMd. 151 



Itawah was threatened, marched to Kadir-Chauk on the Ganges. Here he 

 learned that Najib Khan, having been taken ill at Koil, had set out for 

 Najibabad. On his road he died at Hapar in the Meerut district. His 

 death occurred in the month of October, 1770. His eldest son, Zabita Khan, 

 proceeded with the Mahrattas towards Farrukhabad. 



Hafiz Eahmat Khan sent fifteen thousand horse and foot to the aid 

 of Ahmad Khan. On hearing that the Mahrattas were at Patiali, some 

 forty miles west of Farrukhabad, Hafiz Eahmat Khan marched in person 

 to Fathgarh and encamped on the east bank of the Ganges. A consul- 

 tation was then held with Ahmad Khan. A bridge of boats was construct- 

 ed, and the remainder of the army, about twenty thousand horse and foot, 

 crossed the Ganges and encamped between Fathgarh and Farrukhabad. 



Meanwhile Zabita Khan wrote to say that he was a prisoner in the 

 hands of the Mahrattas. Negotiations began for his release and the with- 

 drawal of the Mahrattas. The Mahrattas claimed Itawah and Shikohabad, 

 which had been long in their possession before they were handed over in 

 jdgir to Hafiz Eahmat Khan. During this period Najib Khan's army 

 arrived from Ghausgarh* and Najibabad.f Zabita Khan succeeded in 

 escaping during the night and, joining his troops, returned home. 



The war was now carried on by the Mahrattas alone. In several actions 

 they defeated the Afghans, who behaved badly. At length the Eohelas 

 were on the point of re-crossing the Ganges, when the Mahrattas broke up 

 their camp and marched for Itawah. 'Inayat Khan, son of Hafiz Eahmat 

 Khan, was then asked by his father to give up his jdgir of Itawah. He 

 refused and retired in disgust to Bareli. Donde Khan, however, relinquish- 

 ed his claim on Shikohabad. Orders were sent to Shekh Kabir to resign 

 the fort of Itawah to the Mahrattas. Shekh Kabir, who had in the interval 

 repulsed the Mahrattas several times, obtained honorable terms. He then 

 joined Hafiz Eahmat Khan at Farrukhabad, and all the Eohelas returned 

 to Bareli after an absence of eight months (October, 1770 — May, 1771)4 



At this time Sendhia entered the Nawab's territory and encamped at 

 Nabiganj, some twenty miles south of Farrukhabad. Bakhshi Fakhr-ud-daula 

 proposed to collect forty thousand men and attempt resistance. The Nawab, 

 who was old and blind, said he knew they would fight to the last man, but 

 the Bakhshi was the blind man's staff, and if the staff (which God forbid) 

 were broken, the blind man would be destroyed. He therefore desired that 

 a peace should be made as quickly as possible. The Bakhshi taking with 



* Between the towns of Thana Bhowan and Jalalabad in the west of the Mu- 

 zaffarnagar district. A mosque and a large well are all that is left to mark the site. 

 t In the Bijnor district. 

 X Life of Hafiz Eahmat Khan, pp. 89—93. 



