Safdarjung's rebellion
Date10 May 1753
Location
Delhi
Result Mughal-Rohillas-Maratha alliance victory[1][2][3]
Belligerents
Oudh State
Kingdom of Bharatpur		 Mughal Empire
Rohilla Afghans
Maratha Empire
Commanders and leaders
Safdar Jung
Suraj Mal
Sayyid Salabat Khan Zulfiqar Jang		 Ahmad Shah Bahadur
Intizam-ud-Daulah
Imad-ul-Mulk
Najib ad-Dawlah
Antaji Mankeshwar

Safdarjung's rebellion took place on 10 March 1753.

Background

Since March 1753 Safdar and Intizam had been hostile with each other. The emperor did not have the power to control any of them. However the emperor and his mother eventually requested Safdar to retire to Oudh, Safdar tried to delay his leave but eventually on 26th March he exited Delhi but instead of leaving to Oudh, he camped outside Delhi with his army, unable to decide about whether he should betray the emperor or leave for his own state. Initially both sides refused to take hostile actions against each other and Safdar aimlessly wandered around Delhi. Safdar could not make up his mind to attack Delhi but the arrival of reinforcements under Surajmal and Salabat Khan made him confident to become the aggressor. Safdar thus encouraged the Jats to plunder Old Delhi.[4] On 9th May the Jats sacked Old Delhi, burning several areas. The civilians fled to New Delhi which was fortified, while the Jats plundered till the gates and were able to extract lakhs of rupees from the suburbs.[1] The emperor immediately dismissed Safdar Jang as the Wazir on 13 May and appointed in his place Intizam, with Imad as Mir Bakshi. Safdar Jang reacted by appointing a eunuch as emperor and proclaimed him as Akbar Ādilshāh. He also declared himslef as the Wazir and Sarbuland Khan as the Mir Bakshi.[1]

Battle

From 9th May to 4th June many skirmishes took place in which Safdar was winning, but on 2nd June the Rohillas under Najib Khan came to the emperors' aid. Safdar's major attack on the walls of Delhi on 5th also failed. From 5th June to 7th November, Safdar slowly suffered losses and was pushed back as far as Ballabgarh by the emperor's army. The biggest casualty for Safdar was the death of Rajendra Gossain through a musket shot. Safdar could not bear the loss of his favourite general and was heartbroken, refusing to personally enter the battlefield. The Jats and Qizilbashes from Safdar's side continued fighting the Marathas and Badakshis of the Imperial army. Safdar's men started getting demoralised by their leader's behaviour and started defecting to the emperor's side and many reinforcements from several states also came to the emperor's aid. Safdar was pushed back, and the Marathas took advantage and attacked Safdar's rear, plundering his camp. Surajmal also started negotiations with the wazir. The emperor, out of desperation, called Sawai Madho Singh of Jaipur to negotiate with all the warlords that had gathered in Delhi. Madho Singh's involvement resulted in a peace treaty between the emperor and Safdar. The emperor gifted Madho the fort and district of Ranthambore as a gift for acting as his peacemaker in the war. Safdar and all the other parties thus left the imperial capital, leaving the emperor in heavy debts, which ultimately led to his dethronement after six months.[1]

Aftermath

The emperor's army and his allies counted 80,000 in number. This at least cost him 24 lakhs/month and this huge army was kept standing in Delhi for seven months. This resulted in a debt of 1 crore 68 lakhs for the emperor. Apart from this, the Mughal army had not been paid for 2 years and the emperor, after selling his jewellery, could only raise two lakhs.[1]

Imad-ul-Mulk being the de facto ruler of Delhi called for help from the Marathas and instigated them to attack Jat territory.[5] The Marathas under Raghunath Rao and Mughals under Imad laid siege over the Kumher fort on 1 January 1754. Suraj Mal fought with bravery and gave strong resistance. The Marathas were unable to capture the Kumher fort and agreed to 30 lakhs as compensation. Imad and Raghunath Rao also took 2 crores from Surajmal which was supposed to be given to the emperor as Peshkash.[6][7]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Sarkar, Jadunath (2007). Fall of the Mughal Empire:vol one. Orient Black Swan. pp. 236–249. 22 miles south of Delhi, as far as Ballabgarh, was wrested by the emperor's men, and finally on 7th November Safdar Jang accepted defeat.
  2. ↑ The Army Quarterly and Defence Journal, Volume 114. West of England Press. 1984.
  3. ↑ Chopra, Prabha (1976). Delhi Gazetteer. The Unit. p. 1165.
  4. ↑ Hasan, Prof. M. (2002). HISTORY OF ISLAM (2 Vols. Set). Adam Publishers. ISBN 978-8-174-3-50190.
  5. ↑ Poonam Sagar (1993). Maratha Policy Towards Northern India. Meenakshi Prakashan. p. 380.
  6. ↑ Sarkar, Jadunath (2007). Fall of the Mughal Empire:vol one. Orient Black Swan. p. 326. Surajmal, too, professed the deepest sorrow for this issue of war and sent mourning robes for Malhar and Khande's son....the siege of Kumher dragged on for four months. At last in the middle of may, peace was made, Rupram, on behalf of his master, gave a written bond to pay the Marathas 30 lakhs by installments in three years. In addition to this, the two krores which had been previously imposed by Imad as peshkash due from the Jat rajah to the emperor, was now agreed to be paid to Imad and the Marathas instead. So the siege ended, Imad left the place on 18th May and Raghunath Rao on the 22nd, and both came to Mathura.
  7. ↑ Pratik gupta (2014). Maratha Generals and Personalities: A gist of great personalities of Marathas. Pratik gupta. p. 190.
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