Page:Haidar Ali and Tipu Sultan.djvu/23

Rh the fortune of Haidar and his son was closely interwoven. On the death of Aurangzeb in 1707, the supremacy of the Great Mughals virtually terminated, as, owing to the incompetence of his successors, enemies rose up on every side, while the Imperial deputies in Southern India either made themselves independent, or succumbed to the superior force of Maráthás and Patháns. Foremost among those who set aside the royal authority was the Nizám, who claimed descent from Abú Bakr, while among his remote ancestors were Muhammad Bahá-ud-dín Baghdádi, who founded the order of the Nakshbandi Darveshes, and Shekh Sháhab-ud-dín Sohrwádi, a celebrated Sufi or mystic. The family settled, it is stated, at Samána, now in the State of Patiála in the Punjab, and one of its members, Ábid Khán, was killed at Golconda while fighting in the ranks of the Imperial army. His son, Ghazí or Shaháb-ud-dín, was appointed governor of Gujarát, and the latter's son, Kamar-ud-dín, Cháin Kalij Khán, was in 1713 nominated Nizám-ul-mulk, or Viceroy of the Deccan, with a nominal control over all the royal possessions in Southern India. The pedigree on the next page shows the descent.