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.

Hazarduari Palace

Coordinates: 24°11′11″N 88°16′08″E / 24.186409°N 88.268755°E / 24.186409; 88.268755

Hazarduari PalaceBengali: হাজারদুয়ারি, earlier known as the Bara Kothi, is located in the campus of Kila Nizamat in Murshidabad, in the Indian state of West Bengal. It was built in the nineteenth century by architect Duncan Macleod, under the reign of Nawab Nazim Humayun Jah of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa (1824–1838).

The foundation stone of the palace was laid on August 9, 1829, and that very day the construction work was started. William Cavendish was the then Governor-General. Now, Hazarduari Palace is the most conspicuous building in Murshidabad.

In 1985, the palace was handed over to the Archaeological Survey of India for better preservation.

Kila Nizamat

Kila Nizamat or Nizamat Kila (English: Nizamat Fort) was the site of the old fort of Murshidabad. It was located on the present site of the Hazarduari Palace, on the banks of the Bhagirathi River. The fort was demolished to build this grand palace.

Nizamat Imambara

Coordinates: 24°11′18″N 88°16′07″E / 24.188374°N 88.268623°E / 24.188374; 88.268623

The Nizamat Imambara is a Shia Muslim congregation hall in Murshidabad, India. The present Nizamat Imambara was built in 1847 AD by Nawab Nazim Mansur Ali Khan,. It was built after the old Imambara built by Nawab Siraj ud-Daulah was destroyed by the fires of 1842 and 1846. This Imambara is the largest one in India and Bengal.

Construction

Old Nizamat Imambara

The old Nizamat Imambara was built by Nawab Siraj ud-Daulah in the Nizamat Fort Area. He bought bricks and mortar, and laid the foundation of the building with his own hands. However, the old Imambara was primarily made up of wood. The plot where this Imambara had been built was dug to a depth of 6 feet. It was refilled with soil which was brought from Mecca so that the poor members of the Muslim community could have an experience of Hajj.

Destruction

The old Imambara which caught fire for the first time in 1842 and was partly destroyed. But it was completely destroyed by a fire on 23 December 1846. That day the Nawabs along with the Europeans threw a party to celebrate the weaning ceremony of five-year-old Hassan Ali Mirza. The Imambara caught fire at midnight due to the fireworks left off and was completely burnt down. Nothing survived except the old Madina Mosque.

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.

Ali Khan

Ali Khan may refer to: