Nawabs of Bengal and Murshidabad

Nawabs of Bengal (full title, the Nawab Nizam of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa) were the rulers of the then provinces of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa. Between 1717 and 1765, they served as the rulers of the subah (or province) of Bengal. However, they were subordinate to the Mughal Empire.

Bengal

After the Independence of Bangladesh, the term "Bengal" incorporates to delineate the ethno-linguistic region of Bengal which including but not limited is all districts within the People's Republic of Bangladesh, as well as eastern India (commonly known as West Bengal) along with the Indian states of Assam, Bihar, Odisha, Sikkim, and Jharkhand. During the first partition of Bengal in the early 19th century a new province, Eastern Bengal (then part of the Dominion of Pakistan) and was created as a Lieutenant-Governorship along with Assaam.

History before the Nawabs' rule

Mughal Empire

Mir Jafar

Mir Jafar Ali Khan Bahadur (c. 1691–February 5, 1765) was the first Nawab of Bengal with support from British East India Company. He was the second son of Sayyid Ahmad Najafi. His rule is widely considered the start of British imperialism in India and was a key step in the eventual British domination of vast areas of the subcontinent. By the defeat of Siraj ud-Daulah in the Battle of Plassey, Mir Jafar became the Nawab in 1757 with military support from the British East India Company. However, Jafar failed to satisfy constant British demands for money. In 1758, Robert Clive discovered that through his agent Khoja Wajid, Jafar had made a treaty with the Dutch at Chinsurah. Dutch ships of war were also seen in the River Hooghly. Circumstances led to the Battle of Chinsurah. British company official Henry Vansittart proposed that since Jafar was unable to cope with the difficulties, Mir Qasim, Jafar's son-in-law, should act as Deputy Subahdar. In October 1760, the company forced him to abdicate in favor of Qasim. However, Qasim's independent spirit and plan to force the East India company out of his dominion led to his overthrow, and Jafar was restored as the Nawab in 1763 with the support of the company. Mir Qasim however refused to accept this and went to war against the company. Jafar ruled until his death on January 17, 1765 and lies buried at the Jafarganj Cemetery in Murshidabad, West Bengal, India.

Murshid Quli Khan

Murshid Quli Khan, also known as Mohammad Hadi was the first Nawab of Bengal, serving in the post from 1717 to 30 June 1727.

Born as a Hindu Brahmin in the Deccan Plateau in c. 1670, Quli Khan was bought by Mughal noble Haji Shafi. After his death, he worked under the Divan of Vidarbha, during which he got the attention of 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, he was transferred to the Deccan Plateau by Azim-us-Shan's father and the then Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah I in 1707. But 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 with the mal jasmani which would later transform into zamindari system. He also continued sending revenues from the state to the Mughal empire. He built the Katra Masjid at Murshidabad where he was buried under the steps of stairs when he died on 30 June 1727. He was succeeded by his grandson Sarfaraz Khan.

Bengal

Bengal /bɛŋˈɡɔːl/ (Bengali: বাংলা  Bangla  /baŋla/ or বঙ্গ Bônggo /bɔŋɡo/) is a geographical and ethno-linguistic region in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent, at the apex of the Bay of Bengal and dominated by the fertile Ganges delta. The Bengal region was politically divided in the 1947 Partition of India based on religion: predominantly Hindu West Bengal became a province (now a state) of India, while predominantly Muslim East Bengal became a province of Pakistan and later gained independence as Bangladesh. Some regions of the historical kingdoms of Bengal are now part of Nepal and the neighbouring Indian states of Assam, Tripura, Bihar, Meghalaya, Manipur, Jharkhand, and Odisha. The Bengali people (বাঙালি Bangali), who speak the Bengali language (বাংলা Bangla), which is Indo-Aryan, natively inhabit the region, alongside dozens of indigenous ethnic groups who speak minority languages of the Tibeto-Burman, Austroasiatic, and Dravidian families.

Bengal is one of the most densely populated regions on Earth, with an estimated population of 250 million people and a population density exceeding 900 people per square kilometre. Most of the Bengal region lies in the low-lying Ganges Delta, the world's largest river delta. In the southern part of the delta lies the Sundarbans, the world's largest mangrove forest and home of the Bengal tiger. In the coastal southeast lies Cox's Bazar, the world's longest beach with a length of more than 100 km (62 mi). While most of the region is rural and agrarian, it includes two megacities: Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) and Dhaka (formerly Dacca).

Murshidabad

Murshidabad (Pron: ˈmʊəʃɪdəˌbɑ:d/bæd or ˈmɜ:ʃɪdəˌ) is a city in Murshidabad district of West Bengal state in India. The city of Murshidabad is located on the southern bank of the Bhagirathi, a tributary of the Ganges River.

Geography

The District Of Murshidabad has an area of 2143 sq. m. It is divided into two nearly equal portions by the Bhagirathi, the ancient channel of the Ganges. The tract to the west, known as the Rarh, consists of hard clay and nodular limestone. The general level is high, but interspersed with marshes and seamed by hill torrents. The Bagri or eastern half belongs to alluvial plains of eastern Bengal. There are few permanent swamps; but the whole country is low-lying, and liable to annual inundation. In the north-west are a few small detached hillocks, said to be of basaltic formation.

History

Murshidabad was a town and district of British India, in the Bengal Presidency. In the Mughal period it was the capital of Bengal. The town of Murshidabad is on the left bank of the Bhāgirathi-Hooghly or main sacred channel of the Ganges.