At this period Nadir Shah, the usurper of the Persian throne, had invaded the province of Candahar, and was be sieging the fortress of Candahar itself. This province, which had long formed part of the Mogul empire, at this time was held by an Afghan chief. The siege lasted 1S months. After it was finished, Nadir prepared to invade Cabul. The Nizam, informed of these things, resolved to invite Nadir to invade Hindostan. By some it is said, that it was in consequence of this invitation alone, that Nadir entered Hindostan ; but according to others, while he was in Cabul, the imprudence of Mahomed affronted the Per sian ambassador, and this afforded an immediate pretext for the invasion of his master. However this may be, in the year 1739 Nadir Shah entered into Hindostan.
A kind of infatuation seems to have prevailed in the Mo gul councils. The army was not half assembled ; and Ma homed had marched only a day's journey from Delhi into the plains of Carnawl, when Nadir, who had by this time reduced Lahore, defeated him, with the loss of Douran, the commander in chief of the army, and his best and bra vest minister. It appears that before this fatal battle, Na dir was so little confident of success, that he offered to evacuate the empire for 50 lacks of rupees. But the in trigues of the Nizam and his party induced the emperor not only to refuse this sum, but after the battle to throw himself on the clemency of Nadir. t The first consequence of the battle was the reduction of Delhi. At first the strict est discipline prevailed among the Persians ; no one was molested ; and the emperor, after having been kept a state prisoner with his family for a few clays, was permitted to return quietly to his palace. But though this strictness of discipline was maintained, and this moderation shown with regard to the emperor, the conqueror was intent on plunder, and the scene was soon changed. A quarrel hav ing arisen in the bazar of Delhi, one of those engaged sud denly called out that Nadir Shah was dead, and that now was the time to free Delhi from the Persians. A massacre instantly commenced ; and during the whole night, the city was a scene of confusion and murder. The inhabitants, however, had soon ample and dreadful reason to repent of their precipitancy ; for at day-light Nadir gave orders for a general massacre, without distinction of age or sex. The
carnage lasted from sun-rise till mid-day, when the empe ror and his nobles appeared before Nadir Shah, and, for the sake of Mahomed, he was induced to pronounce the words " I forgive." Instantly the carnage stopped, but its effects continued ; fur many ilindoos as well as Moguls, in order to save their women from pollution, had set fire to their houses, and burned their families and effects. These tires spread, and the city soon presented a most dreadful scene of ruins. The dead bodies occasioned a pestilential disorder among the comparatively few inhabitants that sur vived ; and, as always is the case during the prevalence of any dreadful calamity of this nature, every species of crime and immorality was indulged in. In order to extort con fessions of treasures, private murders were committed ; the tics of friendship and blood were forgotten. The evil, however, was not yet at its height : famine was added to pestilence, murder, and plunder ; and hundreds of persons, desperate, and hopeless of escaping from such accumulat ed distress, and unable to bear the sight of those whom they had loved and respected either falling under it, or, what was worse in their estimation, giving themselves up to the commission of every crime, put an end to their own lives.
At length, after having had possession of Delhi for about six weeks, Nadir left it ; but he left it almost a desert ; for it is said, that 100,000 of its inhabitants had been mas sacred by his troops, or destroyed by fire, pestilence, or famine. A treaty had been concluded, by which he con firmed Mahomed on the throne of all the provinces east of the Indus, reserving those to the west for himself. He also married his son to a grand-daughter of Aurengzebe. He carried with him three millions and a half sterling in money from the royal treasury ; one million and a half in plate ; fifteen millions in jewels ; the celebrated peacock throne valued at a million; other thrones of inferior value ; and the canopy for the royal elephant, estimated at eleven millions; besides 500 elephants, a number of horses, and the imperial camp equipage. A fine to the amount of five millions was exacted from the nobles and other inhabitants ; so that, if to these sums be added the plunder of the sol diers, the estimate that 62 millions were carried away, will not be deemed beyond the truth.