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But ever since Ali Mohammad's wars with the late Vazir, Safdar Jang, the rulers of Audh had probably coveted the province, and the retreat of the Mahrattas and their occupation in domestic pursuits in the Deccan afforded just the occasion for which Shujaa-ud-daula was waiting.
Doubtless the French officers would be more serviceable in a war with England; and that contingency was probably never long absent from the thoughts of the native chiefs. With the exception of the Musalman Viceroys of Audh and the Deccan, every native power dreaded the advance of the English, and desired their destruction.
They called in the Turkish element against him, and contrived to alienate his countryman, Safdar Jang, who departed towards his Viceroyship of Audh; leaving the wretched remains of an Empire to ferment and crumble in its own way.
But these events will form the subject of a separate chapter. The Campaign of Panipat. THE Mahratta confederacy was in 1759 irresistible from the borders of Berar to the banks of the Ganges. On one side they were checked by the Nizam and Haidar, on the other by Shujaa-ud-daula, the young ruler of Audh. Between these limits they were practically paramount.
The Vazirship, which had been held by the deceased Kamr-ul-din was about the same time conferred upon Safdar Jang, who also succeeded his uncle as Viceroy or Nawab of Audh. Hence the title, afterwards so famous, of Nawab-Vazir.
What is certain is, that the British General received the title of Khan Dauran, which was considered the second in the Empire, and which implied perhaps a recognition of the claims of the Audh Nawab to be hereditary Vazir; while the British Government "waived all question of the Imperial prerogative and authority" in other words virtually reserved them to itself.
The Mirza was aided in this campaign by the force of 5,000 men, with artillery, contributed by the new Viceroy of Audh, as part of the peshkash, or fine for the investiture, and for the succession to the office of Vazir of the Empire, which had been held by his father, and which he desired to retain against the counter-claims of the Nizam and of other competitors.
It is, however, thus characterized by Macaulay: "The provinces which had been torn from the Mogul were made over to the government of Audh for about half a million sterling. The British having joined their forces to those of the Vazir-Viceroy Shujaa, accordingly marched to meet the invaders.
Francklin records, on the authority of one Said Raza Khan, that Zain-ul-Abidin found shelter with Sindhia immediately after the murder, which was effected in the very tent of the victim. 1785 The latter, at all events, immediately stepped into the dead man's shoes, leaving the title of Vazir to the Audh Viceroy; and contenting himself with the substance of authority.
Being on good terms with his old patrons, Dundi Khan Rohilla, and the Nawab of Audh, Shujaa-ud-daulah, and maintaining a constant understanding with Malhar Rao Holkar, whom we have seen deserting the cause of his countrymen, and thus exempted from their general ruin at Panipat, Najib-ud-daulah swayed the affairs of the dwindled empire with deserved credit and success.
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