1903.] 
W. Irvine —The Later Muahals. 
51 
not being hatched for their destruction. The Rajputanah campaign 
was the means of unmasking one of these schemes. Secret letters had 
been, as we have already mentioned, despatched to Rajah Ajit Singh, 
urging him to strenuous resistance, and inviting him, if he could, to 
make away with Husain ‘All Khan. These letters came into Husain 
‘Ali Khan’s possession and through them he acquired proof of Farrukh- 
siyar’s double-faced dealings. There are two stories of: the manner in 
which this happened. One, told by Warid, is that when Rajah Ajit 
Singh was hardpressed and saw no other way out of the danger, he 
sent in the original letters for the perusal of the Sayyad. Husain 
‘Al! Khan at once entered into negotiations for a peace, in order that 
he might return to Court without delay to defend his own and his 
brother’s interests. The other version is, that the Rajah made the 
letters over to his daughter when she started for Court, and that either 
on the journey or after her arrival at Dihli, when staying in the man¬ 
sion of the Sayyad, the documents were in some way got at and their 
contents ascertained. In the interval of Husain ‘All Khan’s absence, 
Qutb-ul-Mulk had found the greatest difficulty in maintaining his posi¬ 
tion at Court. All the power was in the hands of Mir Jumlah. Every 
day messages came from Farrukhsivar. couched in various forms, but 
all urging him to resign the office of wazir. Qutb-ul-Mulk now wrote 
letters to his brother enjoining him to return to Dihli with all possible 
speed. In response to these calls, Husain ‘All Khan, as we have seen, 
reached the capital again on the 5tb Rajab 1126 H. (16th July, 1714). 1 
For the next two or three months the breach between the Emperor 
and the minister, although far from closed, was not sensibly widened. 
The Sayyads, as was natural, looked on Farrukhslyar’s accession to the 
throne as the work of their hands, and resented the grant of any share 
of power to other persons. On the other hand, the small group of 
Farrukhslyar’s intimates, men who had known him from his childhood 
and stood on the most familiar terms with him, were aggrieved at their 
exclusion from a share in the spoil. They felt that they themselves 
were not strong enough to attack the Sayyads openly; and recourse to 
other nobles of wealth or experience would do no more than substitute 
one set of masters for another. Their plan, therefore, was to work upon 
the weak-minded Farrukhsiyar.” “ The Sayyads,” they said to him, 
“ look upon you as their creation, and think nothing of you or your 
“ power. They hold the two chief civil and military offices, their 
“ relations and friends have the principal other offices, and the most 
“ profitable land assignments ( jagirs ). Their power will go on increasing, 
“ until, should they enter on treasonable projects, there will be no one able 
1 Warid, fol. 150a, 1506, Seir I, 80-81, Seir text, 23. 
