Murshid Quli Khan

Murshid Quli Khan
Nasir Jung
Ala ud-Daulah
Mutam ul-Mulk
Nawab Nazim
Ja'far Khan Bahadur Nasiri
1st Nawab of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa
Reign1717 – 30 June 1727
Coronation1717
PredecessorPosition established
SuccessorShuja-ud-Din Muhammad Khan
30th Subahdar of Bengal
Reign30 March 1712 - 1717
PredecessorAzim-ush-Shan
SuccessorPosition abolished
BadshahBahadur Shah I
Jahandar Shah
Farrukhsiyar
BornSurya Narayan Mishra
c. 1660
Deccan Plateau, Mughal Empire
Died30 June 1727(1727-06-30) (aged 66–67)
Murshidabad, Bengal
Burial
SpouseNasiri Banu Begum
Issue
  • Nawabzada Yahya Khan
  • Azmat un-Nisa Begum
  • Zaynab un-Nisa Begum
Names
Murshid Qulī Jaʿfar Khān Bahādur Nāṣirī
HouseNawabs of Bengal
DynastyNāṣirī
FatherHaji Shafi Isfahani (foster father)
ReligionShia Islam[1][2][3]
Other namesMohammad Hadi
Mirza Hadi
Ja'far Khan
Military career
Allegiance Mughal Empire[4]
Service/branchNawab of Bengal
RankNawab

Murshid Quli Khan (c. 1660 – 30 June 1727), also known as Mohammad Hadi and born as Surya Narayan Mishra, was the first Nawab of Bengal, serving from 1717 to 1727.

Born a Hindu in the Deccan Plateau c. 1670, Murshid Quli Khan was bought by Mughal noble Haji Shafi. After Shafi's death, he worked under the Divan of Vidarbha, during which time he piqued the attention of the then-emperor Aurangzeb, who sent him to Bengal as the divan c. 1700. However, he entered into a bloody conflict with the province's subahdar, Azim-us-Shan. After Aurangzeb's death in 1707, he was transferred to the Deccan Plateau by Azim-us-Shan's father the Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah I. However, he was brought back as deputy subahdar in 1710. In 1717, he was appointed as the Nawab Nazim of Murshidabad by Farrukhsiyar. During his reign, he changed the jagirdari system (land management) to the mal jasmani, which would later transform into the zamindari system. He also continued sending revenues from the state to the Mughal Empire. He received various titles from the Mughal emperors such as Kārtalab Khān, Murshid Quli Khān, Jafar Khān and Mutamin al-Mulk Ála' al-Dauläh Jafar Khān Nasiri Nasir Jang Bahadur successively. He built the Katra Masjid mosque at Murshidabad where he was buried under the staircase after his death on 30 June 1727. He was succeeded by his son-in-law Shuja ud Din Muhammad Khan.

  1. ^ Rizvi, Saiyid Athar Abbas (1986). A Socio-intellectual History of the Isnā ʼAsharī Shīʼīs in India: 16th to 19th century A.D. Vol. 2. Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers. pp. 45–47.
  2. ^ Rieck, Andreas (15 January 2016). The Shias of Pakistan: An Assertive and Beleaguered Minority. Oxford University Press. p. 3. ISBN 978-0-19-061320-4.
  3. ^ K. K. Datta, Ali Vardi and His Times, ch. 4, University of Calcutta Press, (1939)
  4. ^ Rai, R. History. FK Publications. p. 44. ISBN 9788187139690.

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