310 
W. Irvine —The Later Mughals. 
[No. 4, 
arrived on the 10th Sha’ban 1130 H. (8th July, 1718), Muhammad 
Murad going out to meet him. His troops were paraded before the 
Emperor on the 21st of that month. 1 2 
Sarbuland Khan had come to Court with the anticipation that when 
the Sayyads had been successfully dealt with, he would receive as his 
reward the exalted office of ivazir. Full of zeal, he had started with 
seven to eight thousand well-armed horsemen and some artillery. As 
this force approached, it was the common belief that at last the Sayyads 
were to be effectually crushed, that at last the Emperor had come to a 
firm determination, having set up in Sarbuland Khan a sagacious and 
energetic rival fit to cope with them; that when Qutb-ul-mulk had been 
got rid of at Court, to dispose of Husain ‘All Khan would be a compara¬ 
tively easy matter. Sarbuland Khan was promoted to 7,000, 6,000 horse, 
with the titles of Mubariz-ul-mulk, Sarbuland Khan, Namwar Jang, 8 
and by promises of further reward he was induced to undertake the 
business. 
Qutb-ul-mulk had long been on his guard; he now redoubled his 
precautions. He never moved to darbdr without being escorted by three 
or four thousand horsemen. It was not long before, by chance, it came 
to Sarbuland Khan’s knowledge that, even if he carried the attempt to 
a successful issue, he might be rewarded liberally, but the office of wazlr 
was intended for another. He resolved to obtain confirmation of this 
from the Emperor’s own lips, although to do so demanded great care in 
the way the question was put. Accordingly he framed it in the follow¬ 
ing way: “ As Your Majesty has decided on the disgrace of these two 
brothers, you must have in your mind some one capable of bearing the 
burden of chief minister, an office of supreme importance.” The 
simple-minded Emperor replied: “For this post I have I‘tiqad Khan 
(i.e. Muhammad Murad) in my mind; and to speak the truth, there is no 
one better than him for it.” Sarbuland Khan, who in his hope of the 
wazlrship had been hitherto hot as flame, now grew cold as ice. The 
position suggests to the author of the Ma,asir-ul-umara the verse, “ I 
am in love, and the loved one desires another; Like the first of Shaw- 
wal called the Feast of Ramazan.” 3 Qutb-ul-mulk had already warned 
1 For the secret letter sent to Sarbnland Kh an by Amin-ud-din Khan with a 
shuqqah from the Emperor, see Dastur-ul-Inshd, p. 29. Mirza Muhammad, 379 
copy of Farmdn in Shiu Das, 19a, Kamwar Khan, 179-180. 
* Tarikh-i-Muhammadi (1154 H.) has Dilawar Jang ( ) instead of Namwar 
( )• 
2 Man ashiq , o ma’shiiq ba lidm-i-digaran ast; 
Chiin ghurrah-i-Shawivdl , ltih * Jd-i-Ramazdn ast, 
