297Invasion of Nadir Shah and Burhan-ul-Mulk In 1739, on the eve of Nadir Shah’s invasion, Burhan-ul-Mulk’s obeisance to the centre was little more than formal and only to legitimize his moves to establish himself firmly in Awadh. But significantly enough a special letter with the emperor’s own signature (shuqqa) had to be sent to him inviting him to assist the emperor in the latter’s campaign against Nadir Shah. Moreover, Murid Khan, an important noble of the court was specially ordered to accompany the couriers to convey the emperor’s personal message to Burhan-ul-Mulk. In view of Burhanul-Mulk’s lack of concern for events at the imperial centre which did not affect Awadh the emperor perhaps feared he would be reluctant to come to the court.109
Burhan-ul-Mulk was invited on account of his military capability. It is, however, possible that the emperor considered Burhan-ul-Mulk as the best person to mediate between him and the Persian invader. It seems that Burhan-ul-Mulk, very probably on account of his Iranian origin, had been contacted by Nadir Shah to help his envoy explain the Persian morarch’s message to Muhammad Shah.110 It was also alleged that Burhan-ul-Mulk and Nizam-ul-Mulk, in order to humiliate Samsam-ud-Daulah at the hands of Nadir Shah, had written to Zakariya Khan the governor of the Punjab, not to resist the Persian invader.111 In
Page 20 of 52
298The Imperial Court, the New Subadars and the Region
(p.281) view of the evidence of Zakariya Khan’s stand against Nadir Shah, this cannot be accepted.112 But contemporary evidence, of whatever nature, reflects the new subadar’s alienation from the Mughal centre.
Samsam-ud-Daulah fully appreciated the disadvantages of the presence of Nizam-ul-Mulk and Burhan-ul-Mulk together at the court at this juncture. He, therefore, spared no effort in preventing the emperor from inviting Burhan-ul- Mulk to the court.113 On the other hand, it is not without significance that, according to some historians, Burhan-ul-Mulk was summoned at Nizam-ul- Mulk’s suggestion.114 However, Burhan-ul-Mulk came by slow marches up to Etawah, motivated, as it was rumoured, by a desire to see Samsam-ud-Daulah defeated before his arrival.115
What happened afterwards is known to us. We need not repeat the familiar story of the responsibility of Burhan-ul-Mulk or for that matter of Nizam-ul-Mulk for the humiliation of the Mughal Emperor in 1739. Who occupied the throne in Delhi was of little significance to the new subadar, provided he was allowed to rule his province with a free hand. But there is some evidence to indicate Burhan-ul-Mulk’s personal loyalty to the Mughal Emperor.116 This may be a naive attempt at portraying him as a superb example of the time-honoured value of being true to the salt and may in fact be apocryphal.
But significantly enough when he feared that Nadir Shah might stay in Delhi the new subadar revived his active interest in offices at the court. Burhan-ul-Mulk’s attempt to secure a high office at the court and his anguish over the appointment of Nizam-ul-Mulk as the (p.282) mir bakshi 117 can be seen as evidence of his belief in the possibility of the re-emergence of a strong centre.
Burhan-ul-Mulk’s successor, Safdar Jang obtained the governorship of Awadh virtually on account of heredity. In a measure, he acted more independently and took stronger steps to establish his authority firmly in the province. Yet, he could not afford to remain indifferent to the centre, even though his interest in court politics was merely to defend and augment his authority in Awadh.