cow-keepers, but he had been adopted and reared by an Afghan of the Rohilla clan. He entered the army as a common soldier; was promoted to the command of a small body of Afghan cavalry, with which he distinguished himself in the army of the Vizir; and obtained, as a reward, a grant of land, with an appointment to manage certain districts in Moradabad. By degrees he increased the number of Afghans in his pay, and by successive acquisitions extended the limits of his authority, till they comprehended the greater part of the territory thenceforward known by the name of Rohilcund (Rohilla-khand). The progress of this adventurer at length alarmed the Viceroy of Oude, upon whose representations the Emperor was induced to take the field against him. The Rohilla, unable to resist the imperial army, shut himself up in one of his fortresses; but, on receiving the promise of pardon from the Vizir, who, from opposition to the Viceroy of Oude, supported him underhand, he surrendered, and was appointed faujdar of Sirhind.

On the death of Nadir Shah, who was murdered in his tent near Mushed, in June 1747, Ahmed Abdallah, one of his generals, seized upon Afghanistan and the bordering provinces in India that had been ceded to his master by Mahomed Shah, and proclaimed himself King of the Afghans, under the title of Doordooraun (the Pearl of the Age).* Candahar, Caubul, and Lahore successively submitted to his arms, and he directed his ambitious views towards the capital of Hindostan. The Vizir advanced at the head of a

* The Dooraunee Afghans (the present ruling tribe) were formerly called Abdaullees, till Ahmed Shah, in consequence of a dream of a famous saint at Chumkunee, changed it to Dooraunee, and took himself the title of Shah Dooree Dooraun.-ELPHINSTONE, vol. ii. p. 114,

numerous army to repel the invasion, but, after several days skirmishing, was killed in his tent by a cannonball. On the following day, a still more disastrous accident occurred in the camp of the Afghans. A magazine of rockets and ammunition accidentally exploded, and killing a great number of people, spread through the army confusion and dismay; insomuch that Abdallah found it expedient to abandon his enterprise for the present, and marched back, unmolested, to Caubul. The Emperor just lived long enough to receive the welcome intelligence, and expired, his constitution exhausted by the use of opium, in the forty-ninth year of his age, and the thirtieth of his reign. He was succeeded, without opposition, by his son, Ahmed Shah. About a month afterwards, the Nizam-ul-Mulk, who had been offered the vizireet, died, at the advanced age of a hundred and four, leaving his government of the Deccan to be seized by his second son, Nazir Jung.

In the reign of Ahmed Shah, which lasted about six years, the entire dissolution of the Mogul empire may be said to have taken place. The last army that could be reckoned imperial, was defeated by the Afghan monarch in 1749, when Mooltan and Lahore became finally severed from the dominion of the Moguls. About the same time, an expedition was undertaken against one of the Rajpoot chiefs, who had seized upon certain districts of Ajmeer: this war, too, was ill-conducted, and ended in disgrace. In Allahabad, the dangerous expedient had been resorted to by the Vizir, of calling in the aid of the Mahrattas to repel the Rohilla Afghans; and a large portion of country was resigned to them as a reward for their services. In like manner, the Ameer-al-Omrah, Ghazi-ud-deen, the grandson of Nizam-ul-Mulk, was

induced to invite the co-operation of the Mahratta general, Holkar Mulhar, to clear the province of Agra of the Jaats. During the weak administration of Mahomed Shah, those mountaineers had extended their incursions to the very walls of Agra, and their chieftain first assumed the proud title of rajah. With Soorajee Mul, the present Jaat rajah, the Emperor was now induced to form an alliance, with a view to protect himself against the ambitious designs of his Ameer-al-Omrah. This step proved fatal to him. Ghazi-ud-deen marched to the capital, seized and blinded the Emperor, and bringing forth a son of the late Jehaundar Shah, raised him to the throne, with the title of Allumghire II.

This revolution occurred in the year 1753. The new Emperor might have been taught by the fate of his predecessor, what would be the probable consequence of his attempting to shake off the yoke of the minister to whom he owed his crown; but preferring a foreign protector to an overbearing subject, he invited the aid of the Dooraunee Shah, whom Ghaziud-deen had exasperated by an attempt on Lahore. For some weeks, Delhi was again at the mercy of a barbarian soldiery; and when Ahmed Abdullah retired, he left Nujeeb-ud-Dowlah, a Rohilla chief, who had been made Ameer-al-Omrah, as deputy guardian of the shadow of royalty. No sooner, however, had the Dooraunees made their retreat, than Ghazi-ud-deen returned, and besieged the Ameer and his imperial protegé in the capital. The former escaped to Rohilcund, where he was soon joined by the eldest son of Allumghire; but the Emperor again fell into the power of his vizir, who, in 1759, caused him to be assassinated.

Alee Gohur, who afterwards assumed the title of

Shah Allum II., may be considered as having nominally succeeded to the fallen empire of Delhi; although he was now a fugitive, without territory and without friends, save a few omrahs attached to his family. After passing through repeated vicissitudes, the detail of which belongs to the history of British India, he was enabled, in May 1771, to march from Allahabad, where he had for some years resided under British protection, at the head of 16,000 men; and by a treaty with the Mahrattas, on the 25th of December, he re-entered the capital of his ancestors. By this ill-advised step, he threw himself, in fact, into the hands of the Mahrattas, whose prisoner and instrument he thenceforth became, while he deprived himself of all the solid advantages he had derived from his alliance with the Bengal Government. A few years after, Ghoolam Khadir, a Rohilla chieftain, who had been made Ameer-al-Omrah, rebelled against the unhappy monarch, and deprived him of his eyes. In this state he fell into the power of Sindia, the Mahratta, who, in 1788, assisted by French officers, got possession of Delhi. He remained a state prisoner in his palace, in poverty and neglect,* when in 1803, Delhi was taken by the British army under General (Lord) Lake, and the Imperial Mogul became the pensioner of English merchants. By the arrangements now made, over the city of Delhi and a small portion of surrounding territory, a nominal sovereignty was

"It was during this period," we are told, "that most of the marble and inlaid ornaments of the palace were mutilated, since they were actually sold to buy bread for himself and his children." -HEBER'S Travels, vol. i. p. 567. Mr. Mill, however, zealously vindicates the conduct of the French officers who had the care of the Emperor's person, from the charge of inhumanity, although he seems to admit that he was found in extreme poverty.-MILL, vol, vi. p. 418.

reserved to the Emperor. The whole was, indeed, to remain under the charge of the British Resident; but the revenues were to be collected, and justice to be administered, in the name of the Mogul. Besides the produce of this territory, the sum of 90,000 rupees was to be issued from the treasury of the Resident for the expenses of the Imperial household.* In fact, his Majesty, Shah Allum, Emperor of Hindostan, as he was still styled by the Governor General, was reduced to the state of Lord Mayor of the city of Delhi.

In this shadowy royalty, the aged monarch was succeeded by his son Akbar, the present Emperor, now between sixty and seventy years of age;—“ a good-tempered, mild old man, of moderate talents, but polished and pleasing manners." Still, every inch an Emperor, he is said to have felt deeply wounded by the demand of Lord Hastings to sit in his presence.+ Still, when he holds his state, his officers proclaim his titles, "the Ornament of the World, the Asylum of Nations, King of Kings! the Emperor Akbar Shah! Just, fortunate, victorious!" He is all this by courtesy and heraldic right; for he is the very representative of Tamerlane and Baber, of Akbar and Aurungzebe; the living relic, the picturesque and not uninstructive memorial, of all the power, and wealth, and greatness once associated with the name of the GREAT MOGUL.

Mill, vol. vi. p. 482.

Heber, vol. i. p. 568.

END OF VOL. I.