303Abd-us-Samad Khan and the Neighbouring Provinces From the developments of this phase of the period of our study, it is evident that the governor of the Punjab aspired for control over almost the entire Indus region.144 From 1717 onwards, Inayatullah Khan with Mir Ahmad Khan as his naib was the governor of Kashmir. In 1720, in the wake of a serious civil disturbance Mumin Khan Najm-i Sani replaced Mir Ahmad Khan as the deputy governor and imperial orders were sent to the faujdars of the Punjab to deploy half their retainers in Kashmir to assist him in suppressing the rebels.145 We have no evidence of the faujdars’ response to the imperial orders. Mumin Khan, however, did not succeed in restoring peace in Kashmir. This was the best opportunity for Abd-us-Samad Khan to extend his control over the province of Kashmir. Subsequently, his son, Zakariya Khan replaced Inayatullah Khan as the governor of Kashmir.146
The extension of the power of Abd-us-Samad Khan into Kashmir seems to have been resented and also resisted by atleast Inayatullah Khan and his friends. As soon as Zakariya Khan returned from Kashmir, (p.292) Mumin Khan Najm-i Sani who was still in Kashmir, began to create difficulties, in collusion with the rioters, for the new deputy governor and the latter, unable to counter the threat, was forced to remain in his house. Then Abd-us-Samad Khan himself together
Page 26 of 52
304The Imperial Court, the New Subadars and the Region
with a strong detachment arrived in Kashmir and broke their strength by resuming their jagirs, their a’immas and their daily allowances (yaumiyas).147
Again, though Qamar-ud-Din Khan the wazir was Abd-us-Samad Khan’s friend at the court, Samsam-ud-Daulah, the mir bakhshi and the Koki group which had been in possession of real authority was by all accounts hostile to him. They believed that if the governorship of two contiguous provinces remained in Abdus-Samad’s hands it would mean die strengthening of an important element of the new subadari in the Punjab. Under the plea for the necessity of a strong man on the disturbed north-west frontiers,148 they managed to secure an order from the emperor for Abd-us-Samad Khan’s transfer to Kabul. A sum of Rs 10,00,000 was despatched to him to raise an army for Kabul. In addition, Rs 20,00,000 were promised to him on his arrival at Kabul. Later, the total amount (Rs 30,00,000) was paid to him even before his departure for Kabul. A number of imperial orders spreading over a period of six months are said to have been despatched to him. But Abd-us-Samad Khan did not pay any attention to these orders. It was about seven months after the order of his transfer that his letter was received at the court, stating his refusal to leave Lahore.149
Abd-us-Samad Khan’s defiance showed his strength and also signified, as in the case of Awadh, an important departure from the conventional pattern of the relations of the centre with the governor of the Punjab. However, he maintained rapport with the emperor by sending his son and also arzdashts to him, probably to explain his inability to go to Kabul.150 His refusal to comply with the imperial order could hardly (p.293) impair his position either in the province or at the court, for the wazir was always there to fight his case by exaggerating his difficulties. It was under these circumstances that Abd-us-Samad Khan managed to secure the governorship of Multan in 1726 while retaining the governorship of the Punjab and Kashmir for his son, Zakariya Khan who was now promoted to 7000/7000.151 It may be noted that he was reluctant to go to Multan without having been assured of his hold over the Punjab.152
But while Abd-us-Samad Khan’s close association with the wazir buttressed his position, it enmeshed him in court politics and sometimes threatened his authority in the province as well. Abd-us-Samad Khan had to face opposition not only from his rivals but also from the opponents of the wazir at the court. This is illustrated from the way he had to forego the governorship of Kashmir. It appears that Lutfullah Sadiq and his brothers who hailed from Panipat had also begun to aspire for the governorship of any of the north-west provinces on a permanent basis. Since 1721 Lutfullah Sadiq and his brother, Sher Afgan Khan had been governing the province of Multan alternately and one of their brothers, Diler Dil Khan was still the governor of Thatta.153 After 1726 when Abd-us- Samad Khan secured Multan, they combined with Amir Khan, an avowed enemy of the wazir. Subsequently, in 1731, Diler Dil Khan replaced Zakariya Khan as the governor of Kashmir, while Amir Khan secured the governorship of Thatta
Page 27 of 52
305The Imperial Court, the New Subadars and the Region
for himself with Diler Dil Khan’s son, Himmat Diler Khan as his naib. Since his strength in the region also meant the strength of the wazir as the leader of the faction he was associated with, the new subadar had to govern the province under certain constraints. Diler Dil Khan thus chose Abul-Barakat Khan, a native of Kashmir as his deputy and himself preferred to stay at Lahore at Amir Khan’s instance. This obviously imposed a check on the governor of the Punjab.154 After that till the end of our period, the province of Kashmir (p.294) was in the possession of one or the other associate of the rival of the wazir and thus of the governor of the Punjab as well.
However, Abd-us-Samad Khan’s rivals even in combination with the opponents of the wazir could not dispossess him from the governorship of Multan, notwithstanding their special endeavour to regain the province which they had held for over five years consecutively. Towards the end of his governorship, the unity of the Punjab and Multan seems to have been widely recognized. Even though there is no direct evidence for the emergence of this unity, there are strong grounds to believe that it was based on the Punjab’s close social and commercial links with the northern tracts of suba Multan, as well as with chakla Sirhind in the cis-Sutlej area. After the decline of imperial control over the region, therefore, it was perhaps generally appreciated that Multan and Sirhind had to be under the administrative jurisdiction of Lahore, if the Punjab, the buffer between the north-west borders and Delhi, was to function as an independent province. It is not unlikely that Lahore’s connections with the regions in the area also contributed to Diler Dil Khan’s decision to stay there and govern Thatta through his deputy, particularly when he too along with his brother, Lutfullah Sadiq aspired for control over the Indus basin. At any rate, by the time of Abd-us-Samad Khan’s death in 1738, the provinces of Multan and the Punjab had become one political unit. His son, Zakariya Khan who held the Punjab, therefore succeeded to the governorship of Multan on grounds of hereditary rights,155 while chakla Sirhind seems to have been in the faujdari of the wazir. Ali Muhammad Khan Rohilla deputized for the wazir in Sirhind for about five years after his ‘exile’ from the Moradabad-Bareilly region.