Alivardi Khan

Alivardi Khan
Shuja ul-Mulk (Hero of the country)
Hashim ud-Daula (Sword of the state)
Mahabat Jang (Horror in War)
Nawab of Bengal
Nawab of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa
Reign29 April 1740 – March 1751
PredecessorSarfaraz Khan
SuccessorHimself (as Nawab Nazim of Bengal and Bihar)
(Raghoji I in Orissa)
Nawab Nazim of Bengal and Bihar
ReignMarch 1751 – 9 April 1756
SuccessorSiraj ud-Daulah
Born1676
Deccan Plateau, Mughal Empire
Died9 April 1756(1756-04-09) (aged 79–80)
Murshidabad, Bengal, Mughal Empire
Burial
SpouseSharfunnesa
Issue
Names
Shuja ul-Mulk Hashim ud-Daula Mahabat Jang Mirza Muhammad Alivardi Khan
FatherMirza Muhammad Shah Quli Khan Madani
MotherA descendant of the Afshar tribe
ReligionShia Islam[1][2]

Alivardi Khan (1671 – 9 April 1756) was the fourth Nawab of Bengal from 1740 to 1756. He toppled the Nasiri dynasty of Nawabs by defeating Sarfaraz Khan in 1740 and assumed power himself.

During much of his reign Alivardi encountered frequent Maratha raids under Raghuji Bhonsle, culminating in the surrender of the province of Orissa in a peace settlement in 1751. He also faced separatist rebellions in Bihar as well as a revolt from his grandson Siraj ud-Daulah, though these were suppressed.

Alivardi spent the latter part of his reign rebuilding Bengal. He was a patron of the arts and resumed the policies of Murshid Quli Khan. He maintained a politically neutral stance with the European powers in the subcontinent and prevented any infighting amongst them in his dominions. He was succeeded by Siraj ud-Daulah in 1756.

  1. ^ Rizvi, Saiyid Athar Abbas (1986). A Socio-intellectual History of the Isnā 'Asharī Shī'īs in India: 16th to 19th century A.D. Vol. 2. Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers. pp. 46–47. OCLC 15406211. Ghulām Husayn Tabātabā'ī's account of 'Alīwardī's death reinforces the suggestion that he was a Shī'ī.
  2. ^ Rieck, Andreas (2016). The Shias of Pakistan: An Assertive and Beleaguered Minority. Oxford University Press. p. 3. ISBN 978-0-19-061320-4.