Maharaja Beni Bahadur was an administrator, minister, soldier and househelp (in reverse chronology) in the courts of the Nawabs of Awadh from 1733 / 1734 to at least 1798 and at most 1814. He was most notable for his rapid rise to power, industry and charity. [1]
Beni was born to a Brahmin father, Khem Karan, who lived in Baiswara in the modern day Unnao district. His father practiced as a physician during 1732 - 1739 when Saadat Ali Khan I was the reigning Nawab. The family, facing poverty, had to migrate to Faizabad where Khem Karan was blinded and had to resort to begging for feeding his family. [2] Beni at the age of 10 would visit the house of Atma Ram Khatri (the Diwan of Saadat Ali Khan I), [3] who was a generous philanthropist. Guiding his father to the crowd of the poor gathered in the Diwan's house to receive charity, he would talk to the servants of the Diwan's son Ram Narain. Because of his personality, he found himself employment with them during the year 1733 / 1734. His being 10 years old at this point of time suggests he was born in 1723 / 1724. He was illiterate all his life. [4]
At the age of 15/16 in the year 1739 Beni became a trooper in Ram Narain's bodyguard on the recommendation of a Nautch girl who said he wasn't doing work fit for a Brahmin. [5] In 1748 Raja Ram Narain was sent by Safdar Jang to Awadh's frontier districts of Shahabad (Hardoi) and Shikohabad (Agra). Beni became the Raja's house manager and the title Prasad was suffixed to his name.
His arrangements for the marriage ceremonies of Ram Narain's youngest son Hridai Narayan at Lahore, and the generous donation of his few savings for the marriage of his poor friend's daughter earned him praise. [2] He was introduced to the Awadh Durbar (court) by now Diwan Ram Narain's son Maha Narain. He was the main administrator in the Diwan's office after the Narains' descent into debauchery. Once, the Nawab Shuja-ud-Daula required 3 lakh rupees which couldn't be arranged by the Diwan but Beni was able to. [1] Consequently, he was appointed Faujdar (magistrate) of Khairabad (Sitapur) on his request. There he reconciled with the scattered Mughal officers, increased crown territory and tax revenues. [6]
Beni's benefactors Ram Narain and Maha Narain were deposed and he was installed in their offices. He was given the title Bahadur when he was made the Diwan; Raja and later Maharaja when he became the Naib (deputy governor) of Awadh and Allahabad in the year 1759. [7] He was the only Hindu Naib during Shuja-ud-Daula's reign and perhaps the only Hindu Naib during the reign of all the Nawabs of Awadh. In 1758 Beni Bahadur removed Azam Shah the ruler of Azamgarh from power and installed Fazl Ali Khan in his place but later had to depose him too and send him to Ghazipur. [8]
Beni Bahadur was sent by Shuja-ud-Daula along with Raja Balwant Singh to prevent his brother Muhammad Quli Khan from crossing the Ganga and to imprison him. The 2 Rajas blocked the river near Ramnagar and imprisoned the Khan's group near Mughalsarai. When the Khan went to Shuja-ud-Daula to make peace his camp was destroyed by Beni Bahadur and the Raja. [9] When Shuja-ud-Daula went to join Ahmad Shah Abdali's camp for the Third Battle of Panipat, he chose Beni Bahadur to be the guardian and advisor to his son Asaf-ud-Daula who was the acting Nawab. [10]
He commanded the Awadh army against the raids in January 1761 led by the rebel Balbhadra Singh of Tiloi and Hindupat of Pratapgarh with other kings and the invading Maratha forces led by Gopal Ganesh Barve and Krishnanand Pant. [11] He along with Rai (later Diwan) Surat Singh, Mirza Najaf Khan and Isma'il Beg drove the Marathas back to their positions in Kora Jahanabad and Kara and temporarily exiled the rebel kings. [12] After the Maratha loss in the Third Battle of Panipat Beni Bahadur retook Kora and Kara. To reinstall Shah Alam II on the Mughal throne, Maratha help was necessary, so Kara was returned to the Marathas. [10] Kora was handed over by Beni Bahadur to Rup Singh Khichar, who lost all of it to the Marathas except for Ghazipur fort (near Fatehpur). [13]
In February 1764, Beni Bahadur along with Mir Qasim and Najaf Khan sieged Kalinjar Fort and succeeded in taking revenge by defeating Hindupat, the Raja of Bundelkhand. Hindupat had previously defeated Nawab Shuja-ud-Daula's army twice. [14] Determined to take up the cause of Mir Qasim against the English, the Nawab's army arrived at Daudnagar on 23 April prepared for battle. Beni Bahadur along with Mir Qasim was leading the advance guard. They were joined by the troops of Balwant Singh, Inayat Khan Rohilla (son of Hafiz Rahmat), René-Marie Madec, Walter Reinhardt Sombre (Samru) and Jean Baptiste Joseph Gentil. [15] The combatants totaled 40,000 [16] which forced Major John Carnac's comparatively smaller contingent to retreat.
At the Battle of Panch Pahari in Bihar on 3 May 1764 Beni Bahadur and Balwant Singh were on the right flank of Shuja-ud-Daula, opposite the Bengal Army's left flank. The two along with the Mughal Emperor and Mir Qasim were inactive. [17] [18] At the Battle of Buxar on 23 October 1764, the left flank commanded by Beni Bahadur consisted of the Sheikhs of Kakori and Lucknow under Sheikh Ghulam Qadir Khan. This flank was overwhelmed by the British right flank under Lieutenant Nichol and Captain Harper, Ghulam Qadir Khan was killed. [13] Beni Bahadur after entering the fight got confused and fled. [19]
On or before 28 October 1764, Shuja-ud-Daula and Beni Bahadur arrived in Bahadurpur. There, the Nawab wanted to fight the British once again by allying with the Rohilla and Maratha, but Beni Bahadur advised against this and the Nawab agreed. [19] He went to Varanasi to negotiate with Hector Munro who was representing the East India Company. Munro asked for Mir Qasim and the French officers in the Awadh army to be handed over. Munro pledged he would vacate the Awadhi territory occupied if his conditions were met. He promised the Subahdar rank to Beni Bahadur if he defected to the British. [20] Beni Bahadur then in a series of defections oscillated between being loyal to Shuja-ud-Daula and the British. [10]
When Beni Bahadur became aware of the British demand for the women/members in the Nawab's household as hostages, he knew the Nawab would never agree and returned to the Nawab's camp. [21] Beni Bahadur then committed multiple surprising lapses of duty:
The Nawab had secured Robert Clive's approval to punish disloyal officers under Company protection at a meeting in Chhapra. [23] The Nawab, unhappy with Beni Bahadur's frequently changing loyalties, action or lack of it and instigated by Salar Jang's advice captured Beni Bahadur at Khairabad (Sitapur) and confiscated his property. [5] He was imprisoned in Faizabad and blinded by iron nails on 2 March 1767 to prevent him from becoming powerful again lest the British help him. [23] The towns/villages of Ajgain, Jhalotar and Beniganj in modern day Uttar Pradesh were granted to him as Jagir in the year 1770. [24] He died during the reign of Nawab Saadat Ali Khan II (between 1798 - 1814). [25]
Political offices [25] | ||
---|---|---|
Preceded by Khwaja Tamkeen Khan | Naib of Awadh and Allahabad 1759 – February 1767 | Succeeded by Muhammad Elich Khan |
Preceded by Maha Narain Khatri | Diwan of Awadh and Allahabad 1759 – February 1767 | Succeeded by Raja Surat Singh |
Awadh, known in British historical texts as Avadh or Oudh, is a historical region in northern India, now constituting the northeastern portion of Uttar Pradesh. It is roughly synonymous with the ancient Kosala region of Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain scriptures.
Nawab is a royal title indicating a ruler, often of a South Asian state, in many ways comparable to the western title of Prince. The relationship of a Nawab to the Emperor of India has been compared to that of the Kings of Saxony to the German Emperor. In earlier times the title was ratified and bestowed by the reigning Mughal emperor to semi-autonomous Muslim rulers of subdivisions or princely states in the Indian subcontinent loyal to the Mughal Empire, for example the Nawabs of Bengal.
Rohilkhand is a region in the northwestern part of Uttar Pradesh, India, that is centered on the Bareilly and Moradabad divisions. It is part of the upper Ganges Plain, and is named after the Rohilla. The region was called Madhyadesh and Panchala in the Sanskrit epics Mahabharata and Ramayana. During the colonial era in India, the region was governed by the Royal House of Rampur.
Shuja-ud-Daula was the third Nawab of Oudh and the Vizier of Delhi from 5 October 1754 to 26 January 1775.
Wazir-ul-Mamalik-e-Hindustan Asaf Jah Jamat-ul-Mulk Shuja-ud-Daula Nawab Abul Mansur Khan Bahadur Safdar Jang Sipah Salar, better known as Safdar Jang, was the second Nawab of Kingdom of Awadh succeeding Saadat Ali Khan I in the year 1739. All future Nawabs of Awadh were patriarchal descendants of Safdar Jang. He was a major political figure at the imperial Mughal court during the declining years of the Mughal Empire.
Rohillas are a community of Pashtun heritage, historically found in Rohilkhand, a region in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. It forms the largest Pashtun diaspora community in India, and has given its name to the Rohilkhand region. The Rohilla military chiefs settled in this region of northern India in the 1720s, the first of whom was Ali Mohammed Khan.
Ahmad Shah Bahadur, also known as Mirza Ahmad Shah or Mujahid-ud-Din Ahmad Shah Ghazi, was the fourteenth Mughal emperor, born to Emperor Muhammad Shah. He succeeded his father to the throne in 1748, at the age of 22. When Ahmed Shah Bahadur came to power, the Mughal Empire started to decline. Furthermore, his administrative weakness eventually led to the rise of the usurping Imad-ul-Mulk.
Shah Alam II, also known by his birth name Ali Gohar, or Ali Gauhar, was the seventeenth Mughal emperor and the son of Alamgir II. Shah Alam II became the emperor of a crumbling Mughal Empire. His power was so depleted during his reign that it led to a saying in the Persian language, Sultanat-e-Shah Alam, Az Dilli ta Palam, meaning, 'The empire of Shah Alam is from Delhi to Palam', Palam being a suburb of Delhi.
The Battle of Buxar was fought between 22 and 23 October 1764, between the forces of the British East India Company, under the command of Major Hector Munro, and the combined armies of Balwant Singh, Maharaja of the Banaras State; Mir Qasim, Nawab of Bengal; Shuja-ud-Daula, Nawab of Awadh; and Shah Alam II, Emperor of the Mughal Empire.
Mir Syed Jafar Ali Khan Bahadur, more commonly known as just Mir Jafar, 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.
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The Nawab of Awadh or Nawab of Oudh was the title of the rulers of Kingdom of Awadh in northern India during the 18th and 19th centuries. The Nawabs of Awadh belonged to an Iranian dynasty of Sayyid origin from Nishapur, Iran. In 1724, Nawab Sa'adat Khan established the Kingdom of Awadh with their capital in Faizabad and Lucknow.
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