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The Battle of Giria were two battles that took place in Giria, an insignificant census town in Bengal, although not well known, were very significant in the history of Bengal and like the Battle of Plassey, had far reaching consequences.[ citation needed ]
First Battle of Giria, 1740 | |||||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||||
Sarfaraz Khan, Nawab of Bengal | Alivardi Khan, Nazim of Azimabad (Patna), servant of the Nawab of Bengal | ||||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
Ghaus Khan Haji Lutfullah Sarfaraz Khan Alam Chand (betrayed Sarfaraz Khan in battle) | Alivardi Khan Nandalal Nawazish Muhammad Khan | ||||||||
Strength | |||||||||
5,000 | 5,000 |
Located at 24°31′N88°04′E / 24.52°N 88.07°E and within 10 km from Jangipur on NH-34 close to where the river Ganges enters Bangladesh on one side; and within 10 km in the Indian side of the Indo-Bangladesh border, Giria is located in the alluvial sediment plain if the river Padma, a distributory of the river Ganges and Bhagirathi. It falls in the modern day district of Murshidabad in the state of West Bengal, India.
Alivardi Khan the then Subahdar of Azimabad was not satisfied with the position of Governor and had always harboured ambitions of becoming the Nawab of Bengal and had real ambitions of deposing Sarfaraz Khan. He was willingly aided and abetted in this treacherous activity by his brother Haji Ahmed.
To effect this, he required an imperial commission directed to himself, empowering him to wrest the three provinces out of the hands of the present viceroy, Sarfaraz Khan. After having dispatched these letters, he gave out that he intended marching against the zamindars of Bhojpur, and under that pretence he mustered his troops, which he always kept in constant readiness. At the same time, he had the art to give Sarfaraz Khan public notice of his project, though he in reality waited ready to avail himself of the first opportunity to effect his true purpose.
Eventually, ten months after Nadir Shah's departure for Persia, and just thirteen months after Shuja-ud-Din Muhammad Khan's death, he received the imperial commission, drawn up in the style he had requested. Being now resolved on marching against Sarfaraz Khan, he wrote secretly to Jagat Seth Fateh Chand that on a certain day he would commence his march. In March 1740; Alivardi Khan, set out for Murshidabad, on the context of expedition to Bhojpur, and encamped at some distance from the city of Patna.
Alivardi Khan, in a message to Sarfaraz Khan, suggested that he was not marching on him but was arriving to pay homage to the Nawab. Initially satisfied, Sarfaraz Khan eventually decided to march on the head of his army and arrived at the town of Comrah on 9 April 1740. Alivardi, in the interim, secured the Teliagarhi pass and camped at Rajmahal. The Nawab's army was being led by a seasoned general, Ghaus Khan. Ray-Rayan, and Alam Chand also accompanied him. The rebel army was being led by Alivardi Khan with Nandalal and Nawazish Muhammad Khan as his deputies.
They opposing armies marched on to Giria (Battle of Giria), a village on the banks of the river Bhagirathi for a showdown on 26 April 1740.
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On the first of August, the Bengal Army crossed their way through the Bansli river and the following day was the start of the Second Battle of Giria against Mir Kasem's army. The battle was about a mile from the village of Giria. After his losses in Catwa, Mir Kasem was determined to fight a decisive battle and assembled his troops at Suti. This position was naturally strong and artificial as entrenchments covered the whole front. Mir Kasem had superior numbers and highly efficient troops than the English as their left flank was being met with heavy cavalry forces. This attack was headed by Mir Badr ud din who managed to drive the battalion into the Bansali river. This gap in the Bengal Army's formation left their 84th Regiment to be attacked from the front and back.
Major Adams would bring up reserves from Major Carnac, who was handling the right wing and managed to send reinforcements to them. The 84th freed themselves from Mir Badr ud din's cavalry troops and recovered their guns. With Mir Badr ud din getting wounded in battle and his troops weakened, Adams seized the opportunity and charged in for another attack. The exchange would result in a victory for Major Adams but at a heavy loss and the English were still pushed back. [1] [2]
Battle Giria, 1763 | |||||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||||
Mir Qasim, Nawab of Bengal | British East India Company, Mir Jafar |
The Battle of Plassey was a decisive victory of the British East India Company over the Nawab of Bengal and his French allies on 23 June 1757, under the leadership of Robert Clive. The victory was made possible by the defection of Mir Jafar, who was Nawab Siraj-ud-Daulah's commander in chief. The battle helped the British East India Company take control of Bengal. Over the next hundred years, they seized control of most of the rest of the Indian subcontinent, including Burma.
Siraj-ud-Daulah , was the last independent Nawab of Bengal, reigning from 1756 to 1757. The end of his reign marked the beginning of the rule of the East India Company over Bengal and later almost all of the Indian subcontinent.
Palashi or Plassey is a village on the east bank of Bhagirathi River, located approximately 50 kilometres north of the city of Krishnanagar in Kaliganj CD Block in the Nadia District of West Bengal, India. The nearest major town is Beldanga. It has its own two local gram panchayat.
The Nawab of Bengal was the hereditary ruler of Bengal Subah in Mughal India. In the early 18th-century, the Nawab of Bengal was the de facto independent ruler of the three regions of Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa which constitute the modern-day sovereign country of Bangladesh and the Indian states of West Bengal, Bihar and Orissa. They are often referred to as the Nawab of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa. The Nawabs were based in Murshidabad which was centrally located within Bengal, Bihar, and Odisha. Their chief, a former prime minister, became the first Nawab. The Nawabs continued to issue coins in the name of the Mughal Emperor, but for all practical purposes, the Nawabs governed as independent monarchs. Bengal continued to contribute the largest share of funds to the imperial treasury in Delhi. The Nawabs, backed by bankers such as the Jagat Seth, became the financial backbone of the Mughal court. During the 18th century, the Nawabs of Bengal were among the wealthiest rulers in the world.
Sayyid Mir Jafar Ali Khan Bahadur 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.
Mir Qasim was the Nawab of Bengal from 1760 to 1763. He was installed as Nawab with the support of the British East India Company, replacing Mir Jafar, his father-in-law, who had himself been supported earlier by the East India Company after his role in winning the Battle of Plassey for the British. However, Mir Jafar eventually ran into disputes with the East India Company and attempted to form an alliance with the Dutch East India Company instead. The British eventually defeated the Dutch at Chinsura and overthrew Mir Jafar, replacing him with Mir Qasim. Qasim later fell out with the British and fought against them at Buxar. His defeat has been suggested as a key reason in the British becoming the dominant power in large parts of North and East India.
Alivardi Khan was the Nawab of Bengal from 1740 to 1756. He toppled the Nasiri dynasty of Nawabs by defeating Sarfaraz Khan in 1740 and assumed power himself.
Sarfarāz Khān, born Mīrza Asadullāh, was a Nawab of Bengal. Sarfaraz Khan's maternal grandfather, Nawab Murshid Quli Khan of Bengal nominated him as the direct heir to him as there was no direct heir. After Murshid Quli's death in 1727, Sarfaraz ascended to the Masnad (throne) of the Nawab. Sarfaraz's father, Shuja-ud-Din Muhammad Khan, then the Subahdar of Orissa, getting to know it arrived at Murshidabad, the capital of the Nawabs of Bengal with a huge army. To avoid a conflict in the family the dowager Begum of the Nawab asked Shuja-ud-Din to ascend to the Masnad after Sarfaraz abdicated in favour of his father. However, circumstances led Shuja-ud-Din to nominate Sarfaraz as his heir and after Shuja-us-Din's death in 1739, Sarfaraz Khan again ascended to the Masnad as the Nawab of Bengal.
Shuja-ud-Din Muhammad Khan was the Nawab of Bengal. He married Zainab un-nisa Begum and Azmat un-nisa Begum, the daughters of Murshid Quli Khan by Nasiri Banu Begum. Shuja-ud-Din's third wife was Durdana Begum Sahiba. After the death of his father-in-law on 30 June 1727, he ascended to the Masnad (throne) of the Nawab.
Giria is a census town in the Raghunathganj II CD block in the Jangipur subdivision of the Murshidabad district in the state of West Bengal, India.
Mehar un-Nisa Begum, better known as Ghaseti Begum, was the eldest daughter of Alivardi Khan, Nawab of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa during 1740–1758.
Motijhil, also known as Company's Lake due to its association with the East India Company, is a horse-shoe shaped lake in Murshidabad, West Bengal, India. It was created by Nawazish Muhammad Khan, the son-in-law of Nawab Alivardi Khan. He also constructed a precious palatial palace beside this lake which is called the Sang-i-Dalan which is also known as the Motijhil Palace. It is located at the bend of this lake. It was used as the residence of Nawazish and Ghaseti Begum, Nawazish's beloved wife. It is said that after Nawazish died, Ghaseti Begum lived here until Nawab Siraj ud-Daulah took over the palace and seized the residents' in 1756 AD. With this money he built a similar lake with a beautiful palace, Hirajheel, on the opposite side of the Hooghly River. The palace has a lofty gateway, a mosque known as the "Shahamat Jang" and the Kala Masjid and some other buildings which were all built by Nawazish. This palace was built in 1740. As far as etymology is concerned, the palace has been named so as it was built using black basalt pillars which were brought from the ruins of Gaur. Thus, it was given the name of Sang-i-Dalan or the Stone Palace. This palace was then decorated with different varieties of flower plants and precious marbles.
Jafarganj Cemetery is located in Murshidabad, West Bengal, India.
Khushbagh is the garden-cemetery of the Nawabs of Bengal, situated on the west bank of the Hooghly river, about a mile from its east bank, in the Murshidabad-Jiaganj CD block in Lalbag subdivision of Murshidabad district, West Bengal, India. Khushbagh hosts the graves of the Nawabs of Bengal of the Afshar dynasty and their family members; while Jafarganj Cemetery hosts the graves of the later Nawabs and their families, starting from Mir Jafar, who belonged to the Najafi dynasty. Khushbagh is the resting place of Nawab Siraj ud-Daulah, his wife Lutf-un-nisa, Nawab Alivardi Khan, and his mother, amongst others.
Zinzira Palace, also spelt Zinzira Palace, is a late 17th century Mughal-era palace in Keraniganj, Bangladesh on the southern banks of the Old Ganges or Buriganga River. It was built by Ibrahim Khan II, Bengal's last subedar before Aurangzeb's grandson Azim-ush-Shan took control of the region, as his recreation resort opposing the Bara Katra in the Chowk Bazar neighborhood of Old Dhaka on the other side of the river. The palace is known for the tragic imprisonment of the female members of the Bengal Nawab family following the Battle of Plassey (1757).
Amina Begum was a Bengali aristocrat from the Nawab family of Bengal and mother of Siraj ud-Daulah, the last independent Nawab of Bengal.
Zain ud-Din Ahmad Khan, also known as Mirza Muhammad Hashim, was an aristocrat from the Nawab of Bengal family and the father of Siraj ud-Daulah, the last independent Nawab of Bengal.
The Jagat Seth family was a wealthy merchant, banker and money lender family from Murshidabad in Bengal during the time of the Nawabs of Bengal.
Mīrzā Lutfullāh Khān Tabrīzī, also known as Murshid Qulī Khān II, was an 18th-century administrator who served under the Nawabs of Bengal as the Naib Nazim of Jahangirnagar (Dhaka) and Orissa respectively. Lutfullah was also a calligrapher, as well as an author in the Persian language under the pen name Sarshār.
Mirza Agha Muhammad Baqer was an aristocrat of the Mughal Empire and the Zamindar of Buzurg-Umedpur and Salimabad. In the Mughal period, these two parganas were spread over a large part of the greater Barisal region. Baker was the son-in-law of Murshid Quli Khan II, the Naib Nazim of Orissa under Nawab Sarfaraz Khan. Baqer had an important role in the conflict between Tabrizi and Alivardi Khan regarding the inheritance of Orissa's Naib Nazimate. He also founded the port marketplace of Bakerganj, which later became the headquarters of the Backergunge District. The legendary origin of the Bakarkhani bread is also attributed to him.