1904.] 
William Irvine —The Later Muakals. 
53 
ground. Instigated by bis sorrow for their early death and by regret 
at his own vanished prospects, is it to be wondered at that he lost his 
judgment, and too readily believed that his young masters had been 
made away with? He was ready to accept any assertion, however im¬ 
probable it might be, about the two Sayyads. The only overt act he can 
adduce is the substitution of the physician, ‘Ulwl Khan, for Malidi- 
Quli Khan, as head of the royal kitchen. Then in a later entry, 20th 
Shawwal (4th September), he insists that the attack of diarrhoea from 
which the young emperor suffered, was due to the Sayyads’ “ cunning 
devices.” Finally, on the 28th Shawwal (12th September), when 
Masih-uz-zaman, ‘Abdullah Khan, and other physicians were called to 
the emperor’s bedside, Karawar Khan can only say that “ they took 
counsel for his departure.” These vague accusations cannot for a 
moment be entertained. To refute them it is enough to remember how 
much the Sayyads were interested in keeping the prince alive, if they 
could. They could in no way benefit by such gratuitous iniquity as the 
poisoning of an inoffensive prince, with whom they had no quarrel, and 
from whom they could anticipate no injury. The truth is that Rafl’-ud- 
daulah was not only of a weak constitution, but was addicted to 
opium. This fact sufficiently accounts for his succumbing under an 
attack of the kind from which he was suffering, as that disease when 
once set up in an opium-eater is almost incurable. His death occurred 
in camp at Bidyapur on the 4th or 5th Zu’l Qa‘dah 1131 H. (17th or 
18th September, 1719) 1 2 but the fact was concealed until the arrival 
from Dihll of some other prince to be his successor. A week or more 
before his death the Sayyads’ nephew, Grhulam ‘All Khan, and other 
nobles had been despatched in all haste to Dihli for that purpose. 8 
According to one author, various stories more or less absurd were 
in circulation about the early death of these two emperors. Some said 
that the Sayyads, having found the two youths devoid of learning, 
deficient in knowledge of men, 3 and wanting in valour, became con¬ 
vinced that they were useless as sovereigns, and h^d therefore removed 
them by poison., Again, others hinted that by reading the stars it was 
found that these princes were doomed to misfortune, and the Sayyads 
1 IQiiishhal Cand, Berlin Ms. 495, fol. 996a, says it was the 7th, and quotes the 
verse :— 
Haftam zi Qa'dah az in kuhnah-dair 
Kard sue b agh -i-Jchapdn ‘azam-i-sair. 
“ On the 7th of Zi Qa‘dah from this old tavern 
“ For the silent grove he resolved to set out.” 
2 Tdr^kh-i-muzaffari, p. 166. 
5 Qiydfat-shindsi , literally, “ physiognomy.” 
