History of the Nawabs of Bengal/The Rise of the Nawabs

Chapter 1: The Rise of the Nawabs thumb|Flag of Bengal Murshid Quli Khan The Nawabs of Bengal first emerged when Murshid Quli Khan, the governor of Bengal (then under the suzerainty of the Mughal Empire) declared independence. His reign (1717-1727) of a whole decade marked the rise to prominence of the city of Murshidabad. Similar to the French fermiers general system, Quli Khan substituted the Mal Jasmani system for the Mughal Jagirdari system. He obtained security bonds from the ijardaars, or contractors, who subsequently gathered the land revenue. Although there were initially still a lot of jagirdars, the contractors—later referred to as zamindars—quickly drove them out.U. A. B. Razia Akter Banu https://books.google.com/books?id=XyzqATEDPSgC&pg=PA21 Islam in Bangladesh E. J. Brill 1992 978-90-04-09497-0 21 Quli Khan persisted in his practice of giving the Mughal Empire a portion of the money he earned. He took this action even while the empire was in collapse and the emperor had little authority because kingmakers now held all the power. He defended his action by claiming that without the money he gave, the Mughal Empire could not function. His true motivation, according to historian Chowdhury, was to demonstrate his allegiance to the Mughal Emperor so that he could govern the state as he saw fit. According to records, the Mughal emperor received 1 crore 30 lakh rupees in revenue each year. Revenue was paid out in kind in addition to cash. Using the soldiers and cavalry, Quli Khan himself would transport the money and other revenue sources to Bihar, where they were handed over to the Mughal collector. Shuja-ud-Din Muhammad Khan Shuja detested the high handed policies of Murshid Quli Khan and had them reversed (in totality) immediately. His detest was so extreme that he went to the extent of auctioning the household goods of Murshid Quli Khan to his arch enemies, the Hindu Zamindars. By this act he raised four million rupees. He had Nazir Ahmad and Murad Farrash, the employees of Murshid Quli Khan, who were notorious for their highhandedness, executed and confiscated their effects. He tore down most of the buildings constructed by Murshid Quli and had newer and bigger constructions done in their place. He allowed the growth and prosperity of his subordinates who respected and gave him fullest loyal services in return. Unlike Murshid Quli, he was not feared and never extracted loyalty but rather commanded the same. Sarfaraz Khan Known for being a moderate, deeply religious, and devout leader, he delegated management to his Nazims and Naib Nazims. His top priority was religious issues. Alivardi Khan, the Nazim of Azimabad (Patna), rose gradually as a result of this disregard for administrative issues. During the early years of his father Shuja-ud-Din Muhammad Khan's rule, Sarfaraz Khan served as the Diwan of Bengal before rising to the position of Nazim of Jahangir Nagar (Dhaka). However, Sarfaraz never called Dhaka home and instead gave his adviser Syed Galib Ali Khan control of the administration. During his rule, there was a steady increase in the power of senior court officials. Among them were Ray-Rayan, his father's Dewan Alam Chand, and his two other ministers, Jagat Seth and Haji Ahmed. The latter two were very skilled and powerful individuals who, along with Ray-Rayan, had complete control over activities throughout the later part of his rule. These were Mir Murtaza, Mardan Ali Khan, Haji Lutfullah, and others who were long-enraged with Haji Ahmed and disparaged his character everywhere while teasing him with their facial expressions. In order to express their animosity and contempt toward Haji Ahmed, these enraged noblemen drew caricatures of him, which ultimately caused Sarfaraz Khan to completely lose all respect for him. As a result, Haji Ahmed lost the position of Dewan, which he had occupied since the accession of Shuja-ud-Din Muhammad Khan, and Mir Murtaza was given it instead. In order to assign the military command of Rajmahal to his own son-in-law, Hassan Muhammad Khan, the viceroy also sought to deny it to Ataullah Khan, the Haji's son-in-law. References Back to Main Page