Capture of Delhi (1788)

01Ghulam Qadir in the Red Fort

Ghulam Qadir was the grandson of Najib-ud-Daula and had been raised as a captive at the Mughal court. In July 1788 he entered the Red Fort with his Rohillas, deposed Shah Alam II and set up a puppet, Bidar Bakht. For weeks he tore the palace apart looking for hidden treasure. Princes and princesses were starved and beaten. On 10 August 1788 he blinded the old emperor with his own hands.

02The Marathas come back

Fresh from the victory at Agra, Mahadji sent Rane Khan and Ali Bahadur north. As they closed on Delhi in early October, Ghulam Qadir loaded his plunder and slipped away toward Meerut, leaving the palace in flames behind him. The Marathas entered the city and put Shah Alam back on the throne. Ghulam Qadir was hunted down and caught in December. On Mahadji’s orders, at the emperor’s request, he was put to death near Mathura on 3 March 1789.

Dynasty · 1731–1948 CEScindias (Shinde) of GwaliorRanoji Shinde rose as a commander under Bajirao I and was given northern Malwa. His son Mahadji, who survived Panipat, became the master of Delhi and the most powerful Indian ruler of the 1780s; the house later ruled Gwalior until 1948.Read →