Page:History of India Vol 4.djvu/330

276 during an interview, of putting Muhammad Shafi Khan to death; and on this account, Afrasiyab Khan, who was one of Mirza Najaf Khan Bahadur's protégés, becoming alarmed, demanded succour of Mahaji Sindhia Bahadur. The latter had firmly resolved in his mind to repair to the sublime threshold, but had not yet fulfilled the duty of paying his respects, when, under the influence of Sindhia Bahadur's destiny, Afrasiyab Khan was killed by the hand of an assassin.

Sindhia Bahadur's army having overshadowed the metropolis by its arrival, he brought Muhammad Beg Khan Hamadani, after a siege, completely under his subjection, and in the year 1199 A.H. (1784 A.D.) traversed the streets of the metropolis. When he obtained the good fortune of saluting the threshold of his Majesty, the shadow of God, the Emperor Shah Alam, he was loaded with princely favours and distinguished by royal marks of regard, so that he became the chief of the supporters of government and his Majesty's most staunch and influential adherent.

As at the present auspicious period Madhu Rao, the Peshwa Sahib, pursues, in contradistinction to his uncle, the path of obedience to the monarch of Islam, and Mahaji Sindhia Bahadur is one of those who are constantly attached to the ever-triumphant train, it happens that the plant of this nation's prosperity has struck root firmly into the earth of good fortune, and their affairs flourish agreeably to their wishes.