324 
W. Irvine —The hater Muahals. 
[No. 4, 
obeisance, as required by etiquette, Farrukhsiyar was now in a state 
of terror at the approach of Husain ‘All Khan, whose well-known 
violence of temper and vigour of purpose lie much dreaded. He and 
his advisers thought it prudent therefore to win over Qutb-ul-mulk, 
so that he might act as a peace-maker and not as an increaser of 
strife. Since, by this time Farrukhsiyar had abandoned all hope of 
destroying the Sayyads, success in this new project was looked on as 
far from impossible. But, as Yahya Khan says, he did not recollect the 
saying, “ After you have lost your sight what is the use of treat¬ 
ment P” 1 
Accordingly, on the 26th Muharram (18th December, 1718) Far¬ 
rukhsiyar embarked in his boat on the Jamnah and was taken to the 
wazir's door. Qutb-ul-mulk came out to meet him and bowed his head 
so as to touch the Emperor’s feet. Rich offerings were brought and 
presented. In return Farrukhsiyar took off the turban he was wearing 
and placed it on the minister’s head along with the costly jewels 
attached to it, adding a suit of clothes which he had himself worn. 2 
Breakfast was eaten and a siesta taken in the house before his return to 
the palace. On his departure, after the exchange of many vows and 
promises, Ratn Cand and some others received robes of honour. Kam- 
war Khan here justly quotes a line to the effect that such promises 
were as much to be relied on as the winds of heaven. 8 
The next day, the 27th, about midday, Qutb-ul-mulk appeared at 
the Audience, made the usual offerings, and was dismissed. That after¬ 
noon there was an outbreak among the troops, and it very nearly ended 
in an attack on Qutb-ul-mulk’s mansion. On one side were the 
artillery headed by Bika, Hazarl ; 4 on the other, the men of Rajah 
A jit Singh and of Cura, Jat. The fight lasted over three hours, many 
near the Masjid at Firuznbad, Asdr-us-sanadid, Chapter III., p., 47. It stands a few 
hundred paces to the south of the present city, (Thornton, 26). 
The second pillar is shown in the map of Dihli and its environs, made in 1808 
and prefixed to E. Thomas’ “ Chronicles of the Pathan Kings” (8vo, 1871). It is 
there named “ Shah Fakir’s lath. ” It stood on the old bank of the Jamnah, north 
of the new city, half-way between it and Wazirabad. This is, I presume, the same 
as the “ lath ” of the Kushak-i-shikar in the Asar, p. 8, chapter 3, and Carr Stephens, 
140. The second of these pillars is, in all probability, the one referred to in the 
text. As to the removal of these pillars to, and their re-erection at Dihli, see Shams- 
i-Siraj, ‘Afif, Tarzkh-i-Firuz Shdhz, Elliot, HI., 350, 351. 
1 Ba’d az khirabi-i-basdrat fibre sud na ddrad. Yahya Khan, fol. 124a, Kamwar 
Khan, 185, MIrza Muhammad, 417. 
* A mark of high favour, according to the Mughal ceremonial. 
8 Takiyah bar ( ahd-i-tu o bdd-i-sabd na awdn kard. 
4 Or Tika. A Kazan is equivalent to a captain of artillery. 
