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{{short description|18th-century Nawab of Bengal}} | |||
] | |||
{{otheruses}} | |||
{{Use Indian English|date=June 2017}} | |||
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2017}} | |||
{{Infobox royalty | |||
| image = Mir Jafar (left) and Mir Miran (right).jpg | |||
| caption = Mir Jafar (left) and his eldest son, Mir Miran (right). | |||
| name = Mir Syed Jafar Ali Khan Bahadur | |||
| succession = ] | |||
| reign-type = 1st reign | |||
| reign = 2 July 1757 – {{nowrap|20 October 1760}} | |||
| predecessor = ] | |||
| successor = ] | |||
| reign-type1 = 2nd reign | |||
| reign1 = 25 July 1763 – {{nowrap|5 February 1765}} | |||
| predecessor1 = ] | |||
| successor1 = ] | |||
| full name = Syed Mir Muhammad Jafar Ali Khan Bahadaur | |||
| birth_place = ], ], ] | |||
| birth_date = 1691 | |||
| death_place = ], ], ] | |||
| death_date = {{death date and age|1765|02|05|1691|df=y}} | |||
| place of burial = ], ], India | |||
| father = Syed Ahmed Najafi (Mirza Mirak) | |||
| spouse = Shah Khanum (m. 1727, d. August 1779)<br />] (m. 1746, d. 10 January 1813)<br />Rahat-un-nisa Begum (] wife)<br />Babbu Begum (d. 1809) | |||
| issue = {{ubl|Sadiq Ali Khan Bahadur (Mir Miran) | |||
|] | |||
|] (Mir Phulwari) | |||
|] | |||
|] | |||
|Hadi Ali Khan Bahadur | |||
|Fatima Begum | |||
|Misri Begum | |||
|Roshan-un-nisa Begum (Nishani Begum) | |||
|Husaini Begum | |||
|2 more daughters}} | |||
| house = Najafi | |||
| religion = ]<ref>S. A. A. Rizvi, ''A Socio-Intellectual History of Isna Ashari Shi'is in India'', Vol. 2, pp. 45–47, Mar'ifat Publishing House, Canberra (1986).</ref><ref>K. K. Datta, ''Ali Vardi and His Times'', ch. 4, University of Calcutta Press, (1939)</ref><ref>Andreas Rieck, ''The Shias of Pakistan'', p. 3, Oxford University Press, (2015).</ref> | |||
}} | |||
'''Mir Jafar'''{{Efn|{{langx|hi|मीर जाफ़र}}; {{langx|fa|میر جعفر}}; {{langx|bn|মীর জাফর}}}} ({{circa|1691}} – 5 February 1765), was a commander-in-chief or military general who reigned as the first dependent ] of the ]. His reign has been considered by many historians as the start of the expansion of British control of the ] in ] and a key step in the eventual British domination of vast areas of pre-partition ]. He is best known for his betrayal of ] (], ], ], now ]) in the ] (] district, ], now ]). | |||
Mir Jafar served as the commander of the Bengali army under ], but betrayed him during the ] and ascended to the ] after the British victory in 1757. Mir Jafar received military support from the East India Company until 1760, when he failed to satisfy various British demands. In 1758, ] discovered that Jafar had made a treaty with the ] at ] through his agent ]. Dutch ] were also seen in the ]. Jafar's dispute with the British eventually led to the ]. British company official ] proposed that since Jafar was unable to cope with the difficulties, ], Jafar's son-in-law, should act as Deputy ]. In October 1760, the company forced him to abdicate in favor of Qasim. However, the East India Company eventually overthrew Qasim as well due to disputes over trade policies. 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 5 February 1765 and lies buried at the ] in ], ]. | |||
'''Syed Mir Muhammed Jafar Ali Khan''', or Mir Jafar (born ] – died ], ]) was a monarchical ruler (]) of ], ] and ]. He succeeded ]. His rule is widely (though somewhat inaccurately) considered the start of British rule in India. | |||
Due to his role in helping the ] colonize ], and the eventual downfall of the ], Mir Jafar is reviled in the Indian subcontinent as a traitor, especially among the ] in both ] and ]. | |||
== Early life == | |||
An ] by descent, (son of Sayyed Ahmad Najafi) Mir Jafar came to ] as a penniless adventurer. He took up a job in Nawab's army and slowly promoted himself. Nawab ] later gave him the hand of his half-sister (Shah Khanam) and seven thousand horses to command. | |||
==Early life and family== | |||
Mir Jafar's initial military career was not without glory. He rescued Ali Vardi Khan's nephew, the hapless Saulat Jung, from the clutches of Mirza Baqir at Katak. He played a prominent role in Ali Vardi Khan's many military campaigns, specially against the grandson of the earlier nawab, Murshid Quli Khan and the Marathas. | |||
Mir Jafar was born in ] in 1691. His grandfather was Syed Husayn Tabatabaei, who migrated from ] in ] (then part of the ]) and settled in Delhi on 24 April 1675 after being invited by the Mughal emperor ].<ref>{{cite book|title=From Plassey to Pakistan: The Family History of Iskander Mirza, the First President of Pakistan|year=2002|author=Mirza, Humayun|publisher=]|isbn=9780761823490}}</ref> Tabatabaei married the emperor's niece and served as a ] in the Mughal court. Jafar's paternal aunt, Begum Sharfunnisa, was the wife of Nawab ] of Bengal.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Murshidabad Guide: A Brief Historical Survey of Murshidabad, from 1704 to 1969|page=27|author=Ali Khan, Syed Muhammad Reza|year=1975|publisher=Shaykh Pear Mohammed}}</ref> | |||
==Subedar of the Nawab of Bengal== | |||
However, Mir Jafar had higher ambitions. Arrogant in his position he took advantage of an Ali Vardi Khan weakened by a decade of fighting with Marathas to enter into a conspiracy with Ataullah (the faujdar of Rajmahal) to overthrow and murder the Nawab {{ref|ataullah}}. However, the conspiracy was unearthed and he was stripped of most of his powers. He returned to ], where he regained the trust of the Nawab's grandson, Siraj-Ud-Daulah, and slowly returned to power and prominence. | |||
In 1747 the ] led by ], began to raid, pillage and annex the territories of Alivardi Khan, the Nawab of Bengal. During the Maratha invasion of ], its ] Mir Jafar and Ataullah the ] of ] completely withdrew all forces until the arrival of Alivardi Khan and the ] at the ] where Raghoji I Bhonsle and his Maratha forces were completely routed. The enraged Alivardi Khan then dismissed the shamed Mir Jafar.<ref>{{cite book|last=Jaques|first=Tony|title=Dictionary of Battles and Sieges: A-E|year=2007|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3amnMPTPP5MC&q=maratha&pg=PA137|isbn=9780313335372}}</ref> | |||
== |
==Nawab of Bengal== | ||
] | |||
Soon after Ali Vardi Khan's natural death, ] became the ] at ]. On ascending the throne, he made the controversial decision of elevating a ] named ] as his supreme Diwan{{ref|mohanlal}}. This elevation of a Hindu to such a prominent position caused the established nobility, and in particular Mir Jafar, great offence. He was then the '']'' or head of the armed forces, second only to the Nawab, and the elevation of Mohanlal to a post above him was taken almost as a personal insult. He became determined to overthrow Siraj-Ud-Daulah and gain the Nawabi for himself. | |||
Mir Jafar was the principal general of ]'s successor, ], who led the Nawab's army to victory against the British on 19 June 1756.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dalrymple |first=William |author-link=William Dalrymple (historian) |title=The Anarchy : The East India Company, Corporate Violence, and the Pillage of an Empire |year=2019 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |page=103 |isbn=978-1-63557-433-3 |oclc=1119635897}}</ref> ] abandoned Fort William and fled with a small number of friends and principal persons, abandoning his compatriots to their fates.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Ghulam Husain Khan |first=Tabatabai |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1039333564 |title=Translation of the Siir Mutaqharin |date=2018 |publisher=Gale Ecco, Print Editions |isbn=978-1-379-39818-9 |location= |oclc=1039333564}}</ref> In spite of having led a successful attack against the Company, Jafar found himself sidelined by Siraj in favour of his rival, Raja Manikchand. A discontent Mir Jafar found support in others who opposed Siraj's tyrannical rule, from his brothers-in-arms from the Maratha Wars, to the powerful ].<ref name=":1" /> With nowhere else to turn, the plotters reached out to the ], who had regained and strengthened their position in the region under ] and ], hoping to use their military forces to their own ends. ] was the first to become aware of the mutterings of the disaffected nobles in Murshidabad, and sent his Armenian agent, Khwaja Petrus Aratoon, to investigate. The answer came back that Mir Jafar, in his position as the paymaster of the Bengal army, was prepared to siphon off significant amounts of money (2.5 crore rupees then, £325 million today) for help in the removal of the ].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dalrymple |first=William |author-link=William Dalrymple (historian) |title=The Anarchy : The East India Company, Corporate Violence, and the Pillage of an Empire |year=2019 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |pages=119–120 |isbn=978-1-63557-433-3 |oclc=1119635897}}</ref> Watts wrote to Clive, who had himself observed that "he is a compound of everything that is bad, keeps company with none but his menial servants, and is universally hated and despised."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hill S |url=http://archive.org/details/dli.pahar.1676 |title=Bengal In 1756-57 Vol 2 |date=1905}}</ref> The military under Mir Jafar, Jagat Seths as the financiers, and Clive with the mercenary army (ignoring strict instructions from London) were ready to stage a coup against the Nawab.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dalrymple |first=William |author-link=William Dalrymple (historian) |title=The Anarchy : The East India Company, Corporate Violence, and the Pillage of an Empire |year=2019 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |pages=120– |isbn=978-1-63557-433-3 |oclc=1119635897}}</ref> | |||
Mir Jafar betrayed Siraj ud-Daulah to the British in the ].<ref name="Banglapedia">{{citation | |||
His opportunity came when Shiraj-Ud-Daulah was distracted in his campaign against the British. Siraj-Ud-Daulah's behaviour had alienated many of his nobles, and many lent a sympathetic ear. However, Siraj-Ud-Daulah returned victorious from Kolkata and discovered the conspiracy; he demoted Mir Jafar and appointed Mir Madan, who was loyal to the Nawab, the new ''bakshi''. Ghulam Husain says ''"Sirāju-d-daulah placing large batteries in front of Mīr Jafar’s palace was ready to blow him up, and ordered him to quit the City."'' There is some question here as to why Mir Jafar was not more severely reprimanded, but its probable that Siraj-Ud-Daulah was wary of going too far given Mir Jafar's influence and widespread dissatisfaction with his court at the time. | |||
|author=Mohammad Shah | |||
|chapter=Mir Jafar Ali Khan | |||
|chapter-url=http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Mir_Jafar_Ali_Khan | |||
|title=Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh |editor=Sirajul Islam and Ahmed A. Jamal |publisher=] |year=2012 |edition=Second}}</ref> After Siraj Ud Daulah's defeat and subsequent execution, Jafar achieved his long-pursued dream of gaining the throne, and was propped up by the East India company as a puppet Nawab. Jafar paid Rs. 17,700,000 as compensation for the attack on ] to the company and traders of the city. In addition, he gave bribes to the officials of the company. Robert Clive, for example, received over two million rupees, and William Watts received over one million.<ref>Modern India by Dr. Bipin Chendra, a publication of National council of Educational Research and Training</ref> | |||
Soon, however, he realized that company's expectations were boundless and tried to wriggle out from under them; this time with the help of the ]. However, the British defeated the Dutch at the ] in November 1759 and retaliated by forcing him to abdicate in favor of his son-in-law Mir Qasim. Qasim proved to be both able and independent-minded, although he soon came into dispute with the company over their refusal to pay taxes to Qasim. Mir Qasim formed an alliance to force the East India Company out of ]. The company soon went to war with him and his allies. The ] was fought on 22 October 1764 between the forces under the command of the East India Company led by ], and the combined armies of ] the Nawab of Bengal, ] the Nawab of Awadh, and the Mughal Emperor ]. With the defeat in Buxar, Mir Qasim was eventually overthrown. Mir Jafar managed to regain the good graces of the British; he was again installed Nawab in 1764 and held the position until his death in 1765. | |||
Mir Jafar was left smarting under this new insult while Siraj-Ud-Daulah was busy with his campaign against the British. He now linked up with the rich banker ] and the former Diwan, Rai Durlabh and sent out feelers to the ]. On 1st May 1757, the ] Calcutta Council made a secret treaty with Mir Jafar, promising to place him on the throne of ]. ], the chief of the ] factory at conducted the conspiracy with remarkable diplomatic skill and secrecy. On 5 June 1757 he personally visited Mir Jafar and obtained his oath of allegiance. | |||
{{clear left}} | |||
===Bengal War=== | |||
Meanwhile, the British had recovered from initial setbacks against Siraj-Ud-Daulah, received reinforcements from Madras, and regrouped under ]. Siraj-Ud-Daulah was soon on the run, retreating to Murshidabad and attempting to win back the favour of Mir Jafar and obtain the backing of the considerable military force still under Jafar's command. Though no longer Bakshi, Mir Jafar retained a substantial number of foot soldiers and cavalry. Mir Jafar, it is recorded, was not particularly impressed by the promises of the notoriously cruel and unreliable Siraj-Ud-Daulah. He encouraged the British to continue their march towards Plassey. | |||
{{main|Treaty of Allahabad}} | |||
] ], reviewing the ]'s troops, painted in 1781.]] | |||
{{quote box|width=25%|quote=''"Some ill-designing people had turned his brain, and carried him to the eastern part of the Mughal Empire, which would be the cause of much trouble and ruin to our regimes."''|source='''Imad-ul-Mulk's''' letter to Mir Jafar, after the escape of the ] crown prince ].<ref>{{cite book |year=1852 |title=Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, Volume 13 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hehJAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA123 |publisher=University Press |pages=123–}}</ref>}} | |||
In 1760, after gaining control over ], ] and some parts of the ], the ] ] Ali Gauhar and his Mughal Army of 30,000 intended to overthrow Jafar, ] after they tried to capture or kill him by advancing towards ] and ] in 1759. But the conflict soon involved the increasingly assertive East India Company. The Mughals were led by Prince Ali Gauhar, who was accompanied by Muhammad Quli Khan, Hidayat Ali, Mir Afzal and Ghulam Husain Tabatabai. Their forces were reinforced by the forces of ] and ]. The Mughals were also joined by ] and two hundred Frenchmen and waged a campaign against the British during the ].<ref>{{cite book|last=O'Malley|first=L.S.S.|title=Bihar And Orissa District Gazetteers Patna|year=1924|publisher=Concept Publishing Company |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a-QaOP5nK-MC&q=jean+law&pg=PA29|isbn=9788172681210}}</ref> | |||
On the day of the ], Siraj-Ud-Daulah faced off against the British, apparently with overwhelming force, but at the critical time Mir Jafar's men stood watching passively while the soldiers of Siraj-Ud-Daula were decimated by the smaller but much better armed British forces. | |||
Although the ] were eventually defeated, the conflict between the British East India Company and the Mughal Empire would continue to linger and ended in a draw, which eventually culminated during the Battle of Buxar. | |||
==The Nawab Years== | |||
==Legacy== | |||
After ]’s defeat and subsequent execution, Mir Jafar achieved his long-pursued dream of gaining the throne, and was propped up by the British as puppet Nawab. Soon, however, he realised that British expectations were boundless and tried to wriggle out from under them; this time with the help of the Dutch. However, the British defeated the Dutch at Chinsurah and retaliated by forcing him to abdicate in favor of his son-in-law ]. However, Mir Qasim proved to be both able and independent, willing to live with but not bow to the British. The Company soon went to war with him, and he was eventually overthrown. Mir Jafar managed to worm his way back into the good graces of the British; he was again appointed Nawab in 1763 and held the position until his death at 1765. | |||
], by Francis Hayman.]] | |||
The breakup of the centralized Mughal empire by 1750, led to creation of a large number of independent kingdoms in Northern, Central and Western India, as also North-Western India (now Pakistan) and parts of Afghanistan (all provinces of the former Mughal empire). Each of them were in conflict with their neighbor. These kingdoms bought weapons from the British and French East India companies to aid their wars. Bengal was one such kingdom. The British and French supported whichever princes ensured their trading interest. Jafar came to power with support of British East India Company. After the defeat of Sirajuddoula and later Mir Qasim the British strengthened their position in Bengal and in 1793 abolished the ''nizamat'' (referring to the Mughal suzerainty) and took complete control of the former Mughal province.<ref name="newagebd">{{cite news |last=Ahsan |first=Syed Badrul |date=31 October 2005 |title=Iskandar Mirza, Ayub Khan, and October 1958 |url=http://www.newagebd.com/2005/oct/31/edit.html |location=Dhaka |newspaper=New Age |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070819084546/http://newagebd.com/2005/oct/31/edit.html |archive-date=19 August 2007}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=31 January 1994 |first=Ruben |last=Banerjee |title=Descendant of Mir Jafar fights to erase stamp of treachery from family name |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/offtrack/story/19940131-descendant-of-mir-jafar-fights-to-erase-stamp-of-treachery-from-family-name-808768-1994-01-31 |access-date=2022-04-25 |website=India Today |language=en}}</ref> | |||
], ]]] | |||
History has not treated Mir Jafar kindly. Mir Jafar himself is generally regarded in the same manner as ] in ], ] in the ], and ] in ]. His memory is widely reviled by the people of ]; the word ‘''mirjafar''’ in ] and the phrase, simply, ''meer jafar'' in ] are now synonymous with traitor, used much as ''quisling'' is used in ]. | |||
], the notable poet of ], condemned Mir Jafar and ] as follows:<ref>{{cite magazine |title=In this Issue |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kmXVAAAAMAAJ&q=Mir+Jaffar%E2%80%93e%E2%80%93Bengal,+o+Mir+Sadiq%E2%80%93e%E2%80%93Deccan.+iqbal |magazine=The Pakistan Review |language=en |publisher=Ferozsons Ltd |date=October 1967 |volume=15 |issue=10 |page=2}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Ali |first=Mubarak |date=20 May 2022 |title=Why Mir Jafar and Mir Sadiq are vilified in Pakistan's political discourse |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1690133 |access-date=2023-01-23 |work=Dawn |language=en}}</ref> | |||
{{blockquote|{{lang|fa|{{Nastaliq|جافر از بنگال، و صادق از دکن<br>ننگِ آدم، ننگِ دین، ننگِ وطن}}}}}} | |||
Translation: | |||
{{blockquote|''Jafar of Bengal and Sadiq of the Deccan:<br>A stigma on humanity, on religion, and the country.''}} | |||
== See also == | |||
*] | |||
*] | |||
*] | |||
*] | |||
== |
==See also== | ||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* , Ghulam Husain Salim (translated from the Persian): viewable online at the Packard Humanities Institute | |||
* ] | |||
* The Banglapedia on Mir Jafar | |||
==Notes== | ==Notes== | ||
* {{note|mohanlal}}"Riyazu-s-salatin", Ghulam Husain Salim – a reference to the appointment of Mohanlal can be found | |||
* {{note|Ataullah}} "Seir Muaqherin", Ghulam Husain Tabatabai – a reference to the conspiracy can be found | |||
{{-}} | |||
== Footnotes == | |||
<references /> | |||
{{ |
{{Notelist}} | ||
{{succession box|title=]|before=]|after=]|years=-–1765}} | |||
== References == | |||
{{end box}} | |||
{{Reflist}} | |||
== Further reading == | |||
* {{Cite book |last= Humayun |first= Mirza |year= 2002 |title= From Plassey to Pakistan |location= ] |publisher= University Press of America; Revised edition (28 July 2002) |isbn= 0-7618-2349-2}} | |||
== External links == | |||
* , Ghulam Husain Salim (translated from the Persian): viewable online at the Packard Humanities Institute | |||
* in Banglapedia | |||
{{Bengal Zamindars}} | |||
{{Authority control}} | |||
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jafar, Mir}} | {{DEFAULTSORT:Jafar, Mir}} | ||
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Latest revision as of 18:11, 5 January 2025
18th-century Nawab of Bengal For other uses, see Mir Jafar (disambiguation).
Mir Syed Jafar Ali Khan Bahadur | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mir Jafar (left) and his eldest son, Mir Miran (right). | |||||
Nawab Nazim of Bengal and Bihar | |||||
1st reign | 2 July 1757 – 20 October 1760 | ||||
Predecessor | Siraj ud-Daulah | ||||
Successor | Mir Qasim | ||||
2nd reign | 25 July 1763 – 5 February 1765 | ||||
Predecessor | Mir Qasim | ||||
Successor | Najimuddin Ali Khan | ||||
Born | 1691 Delhi, Delhi Subah, Mughal Empire | ||||
Died | 5 February 1765(1765-02-05) (aged 73–74) Namak Haram Deorhi, Bengal, British India | ||||
Burial | Jafarganj Cemetery, West Bengal, India | ||||
Spouse | Shah Khanum (m. 1727, d. August 1779) Munni Begum (m. 1746, d. 10 January 1813) Rahat-un-nisa Begum (Mut'ah wife) Babbu Begum (d. 1809) | ||||
Issue |
| ||||
| |||||
House | Najafi | ||||
Father | Syed Ahmed Najafi (Mirza Mirak) | ||||
Religion | Shia Islam |
Mir Jafar (c. 1691 – 5 February 1765), was a commander-in-chief or military general who reigned as the first dependent Nawab of Bengal of the British East India Company. His reign has been considered by many historians as the start of the expansion of British control of the Indian subcontinent in Indian history and a key step in the eventual British domination of vast areas of pre-partition India. He is best known for his betrayal of Nawab Siraj-ud-daulah (Nawab of Bengal, Murshidabad, Bengal, now West Bengal) in the Battle of Plassey (Nadia district, Bengal, now West Bengal).
Mir Jafar served as the commander of the Bengali army under Siraj ud-Daulah, but betrayed him during the Battle of Plassey and ascended to the masnad after the British victory in 1757. Mir Jafar received military support from the East India Company until 1760, when he failed to satisfy various British demands. In 1758, Robert Clive discovered that Jafar had made a treaty with the Dutch East India Company at Chinsurah through his agent Khoja Wajid. Dutch ships of the line were also seen in the River Hooghly. Jafar's dispute with the British eventually 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, the East India Company eventually overthrew Qasim as well due to disputes over trade policies. 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 5 February 1765 and lies buried at the Jafarganj Cemetery in Murshidabad, West Bengal.
Due to his role in helping the British colonize India, and the eventual downfall of the Mughal Empire, Mir Jafar is reviled in the Indian subcontinent as a traitor, especially among the Bengalis in both India and Bangladesh.
Early life and family
Mir Jafar was born in Delhi in 1691. His grandfather was Syed Husayn Tabatabaei, who migrated from Najaf in Iraq (then part of the Safavid Empire) and settled in Delhi on 24 April 1675 after being invited by the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb. Tabatabaei married the emperor's niece and served as a Qadi in the Mughal court. Jafar's paternal aunt, Begum Sharfunnisa, was the wife of Nawab Alivardi Khan of Bengal.
Subedar of the Nawab of Bengal
In 1747 the Maratha Empire led by Raghoji I Bhonsle, began to raid, pillage and annex the territories of Alivardi Khan, the Nawab of Bengal. During the Maratha invasion of Odisha, its subedar Mir Jafar and Ataullah the faujdar of Rajmahal completely withdrew all forces until the arrival of Alivardi Khan and the Mughal Army at the Battle of Burdwan where Raghoji I Bhonsle and his Maratha forces were completely routed. The enraged Alivardi Khan then dismissed the shamed Mir Jafar.
Nawab of Bengal
Mir Jafar was the principal general of Alivardi Khan's successor, Siraj ud-Daulah, who led the Nawab's army to victory against the British on 19 June 1756. Governor Drake abandoned Fort William and fled with a small number of friends and principal persons, abandoning his compatriots to their fates. In spite of having led a successful attack against the Company, Jafar found himself sidelined by Siraj in favour of his rival, Raja Manikchand. A discontent Mir Jafar found support in others who opposed Siraj's tyrannical rule, from his brothers-in-arms from the Maratha Wars, to the powerful Jagat Seths. With nowhere else to turn, the plotters reached out to the Company, who had regained and strengthened their position in the region under Clive and Watson, hoping to use their military forces to their own ends. William Watts was the first to become aware of the mutterings of the disaffected nobles in Murshidabad, and sent his Armenian agent, Khwaja Petrus Aratoon, to investigate. The answer came back that Mir Jafar, in his position as the paymaster of the Bengal army, was prepared to siphon off significant amounts of money (2.5 crore rupees then, £325 million today) for help in the removal of the Nawab. Watts wrote to Clive, who had himself observed that "he is a compound of everything that is bad, keeps company with none but his menial servants, and is universally hated and despised." The military under Mir Jafar, Jagat Seths as the financiers, and Clive with the mercenary army (ignoring strict instructions from London) were ready to stage a coup against the Nawab.
Mir Jafar betrayed Siraj ud-Daulah to the British in the Battle of Plassey. After Siraj Ud Daulah's defeat and subsequent execution, Jafar achieved his long-pursued dream of gaining the throne, and was propped up by the East India company as a puppet Nawab. Jafar paid Rs. 17,700,000 as compensation for the attack on Calcutta to the company and traders of the city. In addition, he gave bribes to the officials of the company. Robert Clive, for example, received over two million rupees, and William Watts received over one million.
Soon, however, he realized that company's expectations were boundless and tried to wriggle out from under them; this time with the help of the Dutch. However, the British defeated the Dutch at the Battle of Chinsurah in November 1759 and retaliated by forcing him to abdicate in favor of his son-in-law Mir Qasim. Qasim proved to be both able and independent-minded, although he soon came into dispute with the company over their refusal to pay taxes to Qasim. Mir Qasim formed an alliance to force the East India Company out of East India. The company soon went to war with him and his allies. The Battle of Buxar was fought on 22 October 1764 between the forces under the command of the East India Company led by Hector Munro, and the combined armies of Mir Qasim the Nawab of Bengal, Shuja-ud-Daula the Nawab of Awadh, and the Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II. With the defeat in Buxar, Mir Qasim was eventually overthrown. Mir Jafar managed to regain the good graces of the British; he was again installed Nawab in 1764 and held the position until his death in 1765.
Bengal War
Main article: Treaty of AllahabadImad-ul-Mulk's letter to Mir Jafar, after the escape of the Mughal crown prince Ali Gauhar."Some ill-designing people had turned his brain, and carried him to the eastern part of the Mughal Empire, which would be the cause of much trouble and ruin to our regimes."
In 1760, after gaining control over Bihar, Odisha and some parts of the Bengal, the Mughal Crown Prince Ali Gauhar and his Mughal Army of 30,000 intended to overthrow Jafar, Imad-ul-Mulk after they tried to capture or kill him by advancing towards Awadh and Patna in 1759. But the conflict soon involved the increasingly assertive East India Company. The Mughals were led by Prince Ali Gauhar, who was accompanied by Muhammad Quli Khan, Hidayat Ali, Mir Afzal and Ghulam Husain Tabatabai. Their forces were reinforced by the forces of Shuja-ud-Daula and Najib-ud-Daula. The Mughals were also joined by Jean Law and two hundred Frenchmen and waged a campaign against the British during the Seven Years' War.
Although the French were eventually defeated, the conflict between the British East India Company and the Mughal Empire would continue to linger and ended in a draw, which eventually culminated during the Battle of Buxar.
Legacy
The breakup of the centralized Mughal empire by 1750, led to creation of a large number of independent kingdoms in Northern, Central and Western India, as also North-Western India (now Pakistan) and parts of Afghanistan (all provinces of the former Mughal empire). Each of them were in conflict with their neighbor. These kingdoms bought weapons from the British and French East India companies to aid their wars. Bengal was one such kingdom. The British and French supported whichever princes ensured their trading interest. Jafar came to power with support of British East India Company. After the defeat of Sirajuddoula and later Mir Qasim the British strengthened their position in Bengal and in 1793 abolished the nizamat (referring to the Mughal suzerainty) and took complete control of the former Mughal province.
Muhammad Iqbal, the notable poet of Indian subcontinent, condemned Mir Jafar and Mir Sadiq as follows:
جافر از بنگال، و صادق از دکن
ننگِ آدم، ننگِ دین، ننگِ وطن
Translation:
Jafar of Bengal and Sadiq of the Deccan:
A stigma on humanity, on religion, and the country.
See also
Notes
- "Riyazu-s-salatin", Ghulam Husain Salim – a reference to the appointment of Mohanlal can be found here
- "Seir Muaqherin", Ghulam Husain Tabatabai – a reference to the conspiracy can be found here
Footnotes
References
- S. A. A. Rizvi, A Socio-Intellectual History of Isna Ashari Shi'is in India, Vol. 2, pp. 45–47, Mar'ifat Publishing House, Canberra (1986).
- K. K. Datta, Ali Vardi and His Times, ch. 4, University of Calcutta Press, (1939)
- Andreas Rieck, The Shias of Pakistan, p. 3, Oxford University Press, (2015).
- Mirza, Humayun (2002). From Plassey to Pakistan: The Family History of Iskander Mirza, the First President of Pakistan. University Press of America. ISBN 9780761823490.
- Ali Khan, Syed Muhammad Reza (1975). The Murshidabad Guide: A Brief Historical Survey of Murshidabad, from 1704 to 1969. Shaykh Pear Mohammed. p. 27.
- Jaques, Tony (2007). Dictionary of Battles and Sieges: A-E. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 9780313335372.
- Dalrymple, William (2019). The Anarchy : The East India Company, Corporate Violence, and the Pillage of an Empire. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 103. ISBN 978-1-63557-433-3. OCLC 1119635897.
- ^ Ghulam Husain Khan, Tabatabai (2018). Translation of the Siir Mutaqharin. : Gale Ecco, Print Editions. ISBN 978-1-379-39818-9. OCLC 1039333564.
- Dalrymple, William (2019). The Anarchy : The East India Company, Corporate Violence, and the Pillage of an Empire. Bloomsbury Publishing. pp. 119–120. ISBN 978-1-63557-433-3. OCLC 1119635897.
- Hill S (1905). Bengal In 1756-57 Vol 2.
- Dalrymple, William (2019). The Anarchy : The East India Company, Corporate Violence, and the Pillage of an Empire. Bloomsbury Publishing. pp. 120–. ISBN 978-1-63557-433-3. OCLC 1119635897.
- Mohammad Shah (2012), "Mir Jafar Ali Khan", in Sirajul Islam and Ahmed A. Jamal (ed.), Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.), Asiatic Society of Bangladesh
- Modern India by Dr. Bipin Chendra, a publication of National council of Educational Research and Training
- Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, Volume 13. University Press. 1852. pp. 123–.
- O'Malley, L.S.S. (1924). Bihar And Orissa District Gazetteers Patna. Concept Publishing Company. ISBN 9788172681210.
- Ahsan, Syed Badrul (31 October 2005). "Iskandar Mirza, Ayub Khan, and October 1958". New Age. Dhaka. Archived from the original on 19 August 2007.
- Banerjee, Ruben (31 January 1994). "Descendant of Mir Jafar fights to erase stamp of treachery from family name". India Today. Retrieved 25 April 2022.
- "In this Issue". The Pakistan Review. Vol. 15, no. 10. Ferozsons Ltd. October 1967. p. 2.
- Ali, Mubarak (20 May 2022). "Why Mir Jafar and Mir Sadiq are vilified in Pakistan's political discourse". Dawn. Retrieved 23 January 2023.
Further reading
- Humayun, Mirza (2002). From Plassey to Pakistan. Washington D.C.: University Press of America; Revised edition (28 July 2002). ISBN 0-7618-2349-2.
External links
- "Riyazu-s-salatin", A History of Bengal, Ghulam Husain Salim (translated from the Persian): viewable online at the Packard Humanities Institute
- Mir Jafar Ali Khan in Banglapedia