Shortly before his death, Safdar Jang lost the favour of the Emperor Ahmad Khán owing to his share in the murder of a eunuch named Jawíd, of whom the queen-mother had been enamoured. He found himself superseded as Wazír of the Empire by Ghází-ud-dín (grandson of Nizám-ul-mulk, the successful rival of S'ádat Khán), who had been a protégé of his own. He retired to Oudh in disgust, and died in 1756. About all that is known of his internal policy is that he made a Hindú, Newal Rai, his minister, and that he commenced the construction of a bridge across the Gumti at Lucknow, which was completed by his grandson Asaf-ud-daulah. The mausoleum of Safdar Jang at Delhi, whither his remains were removed for interment, is well known as one of the finest works of the kind in India.
Shuja'-ud-daulah, his son and successor, had married in 1743 the Bahu Begam, a Persian lady, whose grandfather had been Aurangzfb's head cook, and whose wrongs were to be afterwards immortalised by the eloquence of Burke. His claim to the succession was disputed, but unsuccessfully, by his cousin Muhammad Kuli Khan, Governor of Allahabad, • who was supported by Ismail Khan, Kabuli, who had been the chief military adherent of Safdar Jang. The wretched nominal Emperor A'lamgi'r II. was at this time a vix'tual pri- soner in the hands of his tyrannical Wazi'r, Ghazi'-ud-di'n, and his son Ali Gohar, the Crown Prince, was a fugitive from Delhi, wandei-ing about India in search of support. In 1758 he joined Shuja'-ud-daulah and Muhammad Kuli Khan in an invasion of Bengal, where English influence had a year before been made paramount by the victory of Olive at Plassy, or, more correctly, Palasi. And now Shuja'-ud- daulah was guilty of what was probably the greatest crime of his life. He- treacherously lingered behind Muliammad Kuli and Ali Gohar, seized the fort of Allahabad, and on ' the return of his cousin to recover it, captured and put him to death. Ali Gohar, meanwhile, on receipt of a moderate sum from Olive, withdrew across the Karamnusa, a small river which served as a rubicon between Bengal and the upper provinces, and again fell into the hands of Shuja'-ud- daulah, In November 1759 the unhappy Alamgir was mur- 6
