A war for the succession commenced immediately among his four sons. The second took possession of the imperial treasures ; but he was opposed by his three bro thers, who agreed to divide the empire among them. A cattle was fought, in which the second son was killed. But on this success, only the youngest son was ready to carry into execution the agreement to divide the empire ; and as the other two brothers refused to coincide with him, ano ther war commenced, which ended in the death of the young est. Only the oldest and third brothers now remained ; and as the oldest was supported by an Omrah in high trust, a man of great talents and intrigue, he 'at last succeeded in gaming possession of the throne, after a third battle, in which his brother was slain, The low and disgusting vices ofJehaunder, who was now emperor, together with the pride of the Omrah, who had raised him to the throne, soon proved his destruction. The two brothers Scids Abdoola Khan, and All Khan, ori ginally soldiers of fortune, had raised themselves to govern ments in the eastern provinces, during the troubled times that succeeded the death of Aurengzebe. These two chiefs resolved to place Ferokshere, grandson of Bahau der Shah, and of course great grandson of Aurengzebe, on the Mogul throne ; and having raised a large army, they attacked and defeated Jehaunder near Agra, in the year 1712. The emperor was killed in this battle, and for some time the capital was deluged with the blood of his nobles. In order to secure the throne to Ferokshere, all who might aspire to it were branded with hot irons, and afterwards im prisoned. In the following year the Seiks again appeared in arms; and in 1716, they had become so formidable, that the emperor marched against them at the head of his grand army. But the particulars, or precise issue of the campaign, are not known.
The two chieftains who had raised the emperor to the throne, thinking themselves slighted on account of his fa vourites, imprisoned him after a reign of six years, in 1717, and placed one of the royal family, whom they released from confinement, in his stead ; him they, deposed and murdered, and also his brother. Thus in the space of ele ven years from the death of Aurengzebe, five princes of his line who had mounted the throne, and six others who had been competitors for it, had been disposed of. The Seids had the disposal of the seat of government, and nominally of the empire at large ; but an incurable anarchy had been introduced into all the provinces, the governors of which were strongly disposed not only to coincide with the Seids in their want of allegiance to the head of the empire, but even to dispute the power of the Seids themselves.
In the year 1720, Mahomed Shah, grandson of Bahau der Shah, who since the accession of Jehaunder Shah had been in confinement, was placed on the throne by the Seids. His first enterprise was against the Seids them selves. Warned by the fate of his predecessors, he was convinced, that till they were reduced to the rank of sub jects, he could not be emperor. As soon, therefore, as he had cautiously and gradually strengthened his own influ ence and power, he began to reduce theirs. But they had
been too long the virtual rulers of the empire to submit quietly ; and having numerous friends and partizans, they openly rebelled against their sovereign. A battle en sued, in which they were defeated, and their defeat was followed by the emperor's acquiring his full and legitimate power.
But, in consequence of the agitated and disturbed state of the empire, the distant parts of it, especially those which had been added to it recently, loosed their allegiance and dependance ; particularly the Decan, of which Nizam ul \loolk was viceroy. This ma* having been affronted by the Seids while they were in power, resolved to avenge himself upon the emperor. He accordingly remained al most constantly at the seat of his government ; and his mea sures while there created great suspicion and alarm. In order, if possible, either to tempt hint from his plans, or to get him into his power, the emperor invited him to court, and offered him the situation of vizier. But he was too enlightened and cautious, or too ambitious, to accept of this offer. As, however, he w as sensible that by himself he stood little chance of succeeding in his designs or tender ing the Decan independent, he cast his thoughts round for assistance ; and on many accounts the Mahrattas seemed to him best calculated to answer his object.
The power and territories of the Mahrattas had been gra dually increasing. Enterprising and active, commanded by princes who in a high degree possessed these charac teristics of the nation, and surrounded by weak and divided states, it is not to be wondered that they succeeded in gra dually extending- their dominions, and in striking awe intr. their neighbours. Early in the reign of Mahomed Shah, they had imperiously demanded and received tribute from him, under the condition that they would lay waste or seize the provinces of Malwah and Ajmeer ; and this tribute amounted to one-fourth of the net revenue which he derived front these provinces. As might have been expected, however, they were not long satisfied with this tribute, fa they invaded and conquered the greatest part of Malwah, A short time afterwards they seized upon the other part as well as upon the province of Ajmecr. The Mahrattas, therefore, were by no means unwilling to listen to the pro posal of the Nizam ; but their object was not so much to assist them as to benefit themselves ; and they hoped, dur ing the disputes and wars between him and the emperor, that they should be able still further to extend their ter ritories.
In the year 1738, the Nizam, having arranged all his plans, and believing himself sufficiently powerful to carry into nto execution, came to court attended by a large bo dy of armed followers. He had already, by his intrigues and bribes, procured a large party there ; but on his arrival he found that the opposite party was too strong for Min. At the head of it was the commander in chief of the army of the empire. The Nizam had now gone too far to re: treat ; and as the Mahrattas, though acting with him in the middle provinces, could be of no use where support was chiefly wanted, he directed his thoughts to another quar ter.