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formal submission to the emperor. He was then appointed the faujdar of chakla Sirhind while his office and dominion in Moradabad were divided between Safdar Jang’s associates.79

The Rohilla chief’s exile from Moradabad did not resolve the problem of the governor of Awadh. Although Safdar Jang managed to place his own men in the region, the faujdari (bil-isalat) remained under the wazir. In March 1748 after the wazir’s death, his son, Intizam-ud-Daulah inherited the faujdari. Ali Muhammad Khan, availing himself fully of the disturbed conditions in Sirhind, had returned and driven away Safdar Jang’s men from the region. The possibility of collusion between the Rohilla chief and Intizam-ud-Daulah against their common foe, Safdar Jang, could not be altogether ruled out. In September 1748, however, Ali Muhammad died, and Safdar Jang who was then the wazir of the empire was now free to carry out his plan. He managed (p.272) to appoint Qaim Khan as the faujdar of Moradabad and thus created a cleavage of distrust and suspicion between the Bangash chief on the one hand and Intizam-ud- Daulah and the Rohillas on the other.80

Ijara was a major source of strength for the Rohilla chief in sarkar Moradabad. It was through the ijara contract that the Rohillas came into contact with the wazir and his associates who held a large part of Moradabad in jagirs. When Safdar Jang himself became the wazir in 1748, he succeeded in large measure in striking at the base of the strength of the Afghans who were no less broken due to the sudden death of their leader, Ali Muhammad Khan. It was also the question of who held the jagirs in Moradabad which perhaps, partly, forced Safdar Jang to finally obtain the office of the wazir. For, as the wazir he expected to obtain in Moradabad the jagirs of the former wazir, namely, Qamar-ud-Din Khan and thus tried to prevent the presence of any other powerful noble in a region in the neighbourhood of Awadh.

Both Burhan-ul-Mulk and Safdar Jang regarded the possibility of a powerful chief on the borders of Awadh as a threat to their ambition. They fought, uprooted, allied with and made friendly overtures to all of them primarily to secure their own position, without any reference to the centre. This comes out more vividly from the details of their relations with the Marathas and the Bundelas. The Maratha Question Initially Burhan-ul-Mulk was more or less indifferent to the Maratha problem, because the Marathas did not threaten his authority in Awadh.81 In 1728 when the Marathas besieged Muhammad Khan Bangash at Jaipur, he supported the cause of their ally, Satarsal Bundela. But when the Bundela territory began to be used by the Marathas to strike at areas close to the borders of Awadh, Burhanul-Mulk desperately entered into correspondence with the wazir and Nizam-ul- Mulk. He was ready to check the Maratha advance to the north provided he was

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given the charge (p.273) of Agra and Malwa in addition to his existing governorship of Awadh.82 The wazir conceded to Burhan-ul-Mulk’s demands, as he (wazir) probably planned to weaken Samsam-ud-Daulah, the mir bakshi by taking the two provinces out of the control of the latter’s friend, Raja Jai Singh. Faced with the Maratha danger to his dominion, Burhan-ul-Mulk thus drew closer to the wazir, breaking away from Samsam-ud-Daulah, an erstwhile ally who was in favour of propitiating the peshwa.83

In 1736, the Marathas in cooperation with Hiredesa and Jagat Rai invaded the territory of Anirudh Singh, the Raja of Bhadawar. The raja offered stiff resistance, but eventually had to surrender. This was a direct challenge to the governor of Awadh, because the chief of Bhadawar was his political ally.84 Burhan-ul-Mulk therefore left his province and marched in the direction of Agra. This was exclusively at his own discretion and was done with a view to safeguarding his own interests.85 At Jalesar, he inflicted a severe defeat upon the Marathas under Malhar Rao Holkar, Pilaji Jadav and Vithoji Bule.86 In view of the constant defeats of the Mughal army at the hands of the Marathas, the victory was of great significance. Samsam-ud-Daulah was alarmed. The position of the ‘hawks’ at the court was substantially strengthened and it seemed likely (p.274) that Burhan-ul-Mulk’s plea for the subadari of Agra and Malwa would be conceded. But Jai Singh and Samsam-ud-Daulah would have never let anyone else control Agra. On the borders of Jai Singh’s ancestral territory lay Agra where the Jats had recently emerged as a potential threat to the raja. Jai Singh and Samsam-ud-Daulah’s moves ended in the withdrawal of Burhan-ul-Mulk to his own province.87 Before his withdrawal, however, he concluded, through his envoy Ram Narain, a treaty with the Marathas on terms that ensured the safety of Awadh.88

Burhan-ul-Mulk had marched with a two-fold objective; to assist the Raja of Bhadawar and to show his power so that he could acquire the governorship of Agra and Malwa. His victory over Holkar and Jadav had unmistakably demonstrated his armed strength. His plan of proceeding into the Bhadawar country to assist Anirudh Singh was thwarted by court intrigues. And it was not easy to go much beyond the Yamuna where Baji Rao was preparing to avenge the defeat. It was no longer possible for him to obtain both Agra and Malwa or even one of these provinces. Nothing could have indicated the strength of the Marathas more than the recommendation to the emperor by Jai Singh the governor for the appointment of Baji Rao as the deputy governor of Malwa.89 It is in this light that the terms of the treaty contracted by Burhan-ul-Mulk with the Marathas will have to be viewed. Treaties contracted by governors independently—without the emperor’s consent—were not (p.275) uncommon in this period. Nizam-ul-Mulk, for example, had entered into more than one such agreement with the Marathas.

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The treaty seems to have effectively influenced the pattern of relations between the Marathas and the governor of Awadh. There is no evidence of any further direct clash between the Marathas and Burhan-ul-Mulk, even though he was apparently involved in some campaigns of the Mughal nobles against them.90

Burhan-ul-Mulk came back to Awadh after signing a treaty of peace with the Marathas and without making a serious bid to obtain Malwa or Agra. The wazir perhaps did not appreciate it, since he still pleaded for total confrontation against the Marathas and he had also intended Burhan-ul-Mulk to interfere in Agra or Malwa to the disadvantage of his (wazir’s) foes, Samsam-ud-Daulah and Jai Singh. But in his break with Samsam-ud-Daulah or the revival of his association with the Mughal group, Burhan-ul-Mulk had little regard for its effect on various factions at the court.