to conquer the states of Golconda and Hyderabad. The king of Golconda refused to surrender but the subahdar of Hyderabad, Rustam Dil Khan agreed to give his province to him. Envious of the progress of Ahsan Khan, Taqarrub Khan decided to suppress him. He joined hands with Sayyid Ahmed for the cause. He purposely misinterpreted the private meetings of Ahsan Khan, Saif Khan (the archery teacher of Kam Bakhsh), Arsan Khan, Ahmad Khan and Nasir Khan along with Rustam Dil Khan to discuss public business as finding a way to kill Kam Bakhsh. Taqarrub Khan said him that they would assassinate him "while on his way to the Friday prayer at the great mosque". He called Rustam Dil Khan for dinner, and while he came, the royal soldiers arrested him, and he was killed by crushing him under the feet of an elephant. Saif Khan's hands were amputated and Arshad Khan's tongue was cut off as punishment. In spite of his close mates warning him of Kam Bakhsh arresting him, Ahsan Khan paid no heed to it. But he was also put in custody and his goods were confiscated. In April 1708, Shah's envoy, Maktabar Khan came to his court. Taqarrub Khan said to him that his original intention was to dethrone him. So Kam Bakhsh, called him and his entourage in a feast, where he asked his men to execute them. Bahadur Shah marches to South After ascending the throne by defeating Muhammad Azam Shah at the battle of Jajau in 1707, Bahadur Shah I ascended the throne. In May 1708, Shah wrote a letter to Kam Bakhsh informing him of the happenings. Shah I thought that this incident would "be a warning" to him, so that he could not declare himself an independent sovereign. In that same month, he started his journey for the Tomb of Aurangzeb to pay respect to the departed emperor. In reply he wrote a letter thanking him "without either explaining or justifying it". When Shah reached Hyderabad on 28 June 1708, he received the news of Kam Bakhsh attacking Machhlibandar. Actually, there were thirty-two lakhs of treasure hidden in the fort which he wanted to seize for further campaigns. The subahdar of the province Jan Sipar Khan refused to hand over the money. Enraged by the refusal, he confiscated the property and ordered that four thousand men to be recruited for the attack.