Lehal Library

167 The Indus to I.he Ganges Khan. The Rohilla had no hope of assistance from the Mughal couit which he had offended nor from his eastern neighbours, d1e Nawab Wazir of Oudh and the English. In desperation he offered the Malwais large sums of money and proposed an alliance to plunder the crown lands. The misldars agreed, and combined bands of Sikhs and Rohillas ]()(1tecl villages arotU1d the present site of New Delhi. In March 1776 the allies defeated the imperial forces near Muzaffarnagar. The whole of the Jumna• Gangctic Doab was now at their mercy. They consolidated their hold on the doab and again appeared at the gates of Delhi The Empero1· was cons1 raine<l LO receive the rebel Zabita Khan and forgive him his trespasses. Sikhs Against Najaf Khan. Defeat of the Rohillas Malwa Sikhs bealme the most sought-after mercenaries in lndia. The Nawab Wazir of Oudh. Lhe Mughals. and tht> Rohillas each offered them employment on generous terms. The Malwais, who had signed a pledge with Zabita Khan. resistc<l these tempting counteroffers for some time. Meanwhile. N~jaf Khan turned to the Marathas for assistance and all lhrough l 776 up to the summer of 1777, skirmishes cook plan,~ between roving bands of Sikhs and Rohilla horsemen. on the one side, and Mughal and Maratha cavalry, on the olher, along the b~nks of the Jumna. After the monsoon of ]777. Najaf Khan succeeded in isolating the Rohillas from tl1eir Sikh allks an<l thoroughly trounced them. Zabita Khan had no alternati\'e but to throw himself on the mercy of the Sikhs. He is said to han· undergone a nominal com·ersion co rhe Sikh faitl1 and became, as the saying of the times wem, 'half Sikh and half Rohilla'. 7 Sikh auempts to reinstate Zabita Khan in his possessions were frustrated by the energetic Najaf Khan. But in the summer of 1778, when Najaf Khan was away in Alwar, the Sikhs audaciously entered the capital and enjoyed the hospitality of Abdul 7 Ek g11111 kii do rflii . .:i.rllui s :1i1i Adhii Rollillii. He is said to have been baptized with the name Dharam Singh.