Life of Ahmad — Page 20
AHMAD’S as FOREFATHERS as 20 sympathy towards the British Government. The reason for this was that they belonged to the ruling family at Delhi. When they saw, however, that the Mughal rule had lost its usefulness to the country and that India now needed a new power to regain its former glory, they set themselves whole-heartedly to support the British Government to the best of their ability, even at the sacrifice of their private sentiments and ambitions. Mirza Ghulam Murtaza was a great physician. He had studied medicine at Baghbanpura under R uh ullah and at Delhi under the Sha r if Khan family. He treated people free of charge, expecting nothing in return. He attended to rich and poor alike. Raja Tej a Singh of Batala once offered him a large amount of money and a Khilat with two villages, Shitabkot and Hasanpur, in return for his medical services. The two villages had once belonged to his ancestral estate, but he declined them, saying that it would be derogatory for him and his children to accept any fee. Maharaja Shair Singh once came to Kahnuwan on a hunting trip. Mirza Ghulam Murtaza was also with him. An attendant of the Maharaja caught a severe chill. Mirza Sahib cured him with an ordinary inexpensive prescription. Then Shair Singh himself caught a similar chill. The Mirza Sahib prescribed for him a very expensive medicine, upon which the Maharaja asked his reason for this differential treatment. The Mirza Sahib answered that he did not think the attendant was equal in status to the