AURANGZEB’S STEADFAST TRUST in Murshid Quli Khan was not misplaced. Through a series of ruthless measures, Murshid Quli swiftly fixed Bengal’s finances. As long as Aurangzeb was alive, Murshid Quli annually sent him one crore rupees from Bengal alone. To the aged Sultan’s eyes, Quli appeared like a Farishta, an angel sent down by Allah himself.
There was a critical reason why Aurangzeb held Murshid Quli in such high esteem.
For the past twenty years, the fanatical Mughal sultan had waged a series of mindless wars throughout Hindustan. These avoidable campaigns had naturally bankrupted the Mughal treasury to the extent that by 1700, Aurangzeb’s own royal family, court and army were on the edge of starvation. Salaries to all departments were overdue by three years. If that wasn’t enough, grain-dealers in faraway Dakkhan — the wasteful theatre of Aurangzeb’s obsessive preoccupation — had refused to give any more credit to this mighty padshah.
In this ruinous background, the assured, annual sum of one crore rupees from Bengal alone made Murshid Quli Khan indispensable to Aurangzeb. And he showered gushing praise on this talented Diwan. Here is a sample from a letter that he wrote to Murshid Quli in 1704:
One and the same man is diwan of Bengal and Bihar, and nazim and diwan of Orissa, with absolute authority. I myself have not the capacity for doing so much work; perhaps only a man chosen by God is gifted with the requisite ability.
On his part, Murshid Quli Khan fully exploited his indispensability in order to expand his personal power. He placed his loyalists in key positions by dislodging Azim-ud-din’s men. Acharya Jadunath Sarkar gives us a revealing tidbit on the matter:
[Quli’s] nominees were appointed to faujdaries setting aside the recommendations of the prince…[for example], Abdur Rahman was appointed as darogha of the nawwara; two news-writers Salimullah and Mohammad Khalil were dismissed on his complaint; and a posting to Orissa was cancelled.
And in January 1704, Quli did something that is ubiquitous in the Muslim history of India. He imported fourteen of his relatives from Iran, together with their families. After they reached Delhi, he wrote to Aurangzeb requesting him to award mansabs in Bengal to each man according to his ability. The request was readily granted.
This pervasive phenomenon of foreigners usurping lands in India in this criminal fashion merits an independent study. These lands were delivered to them free of cost. Typically, all such alien Muslims hailed from the lower strata in their native countries but once they migrated to India, they became akin to royalty in their own little isles of power here. It was unearned wealth that they generationally enjoyed by heartlessly fleecing the common, native citizens of India.
AURANGZEB DIED ON MARCH 3, 1707.
With it, Murshid Quli Khan’s fortunes drastically altered for the worse. Aurangzeb had not nominated a successor. He had made a will in vague terms directing his sons to divide the Mughal empire equally among themselves.
And so, in true Muslim tradition, a bloody war broke out among his sons.
On March 14, 1707, Aurangzeb’s third son, Muhammad Azam Shah declared himself as the emperor and occupied the throne. He lasted all of three months. Aurangzeb’s second son, Mirza Muhammad Mu'azzam marched against his younger brother and in the decisive Battle of Jajau, defeated and killed Azam Shah and his three sons on June 20, 1707.
Aurangzeb’s second son thus became the eighth Mughal emperor who awarded grandiose titles to himself: Padishah, Al-Sultan Al-Azam Bahadur Shah I.
The new sultan immediately began redistributing the goodies of office to his loyalists. His disgraced son, the selfsame Muhammad Azim-ud-din became the Subahdaar of Bengal and Bihar once again. He also got a pompous title: Azim-us-shan, meaning, “grand, illustrious, noble.”
This elevation was the precise chance that Azim-ud-din was awaiting. He was now free to inflict vengeful misery upon Murshid Quli Khan.
HE STRUCK THE FIRST BLOW on October 18, 1707. He elevated his loyalist, Ziaullah Khan as the new Diwan of the Bengal Subaah. Overnight, Murshid Quli Khan lost the very position that had powered his amazing success story.
The second blow landed exactly a month later. This time, Murshid Quli was deprived of the Subahdari of both Bengal and Odisha. Azim-us-shan appointed his own son, Farrukh Siyar to both posts. And so, Murshid Quli, the guardian, suddenly became the subordinate of his erstwhile ward.
The final blow landed on January 20, 1708. It was akin to a banishment. Murshid Quli Khan was summarily relocated to the Dakkhan, where he remained for two full years. Bengal was once more under the unchecked thraldom of Azim-us-shan, who reverted to his old racketerring ways.
But on January 20, 1710, Azim learned a bitter lesson of power politics — that an incompetent loyalist will ultimately ruin his master.
Ziaullah was not only a misfit as a Subahdaar but a weakling who couldn’t even discipline his own subordinates. The same naqdi mercenaries whom Murshid Quli had dismissed were now back in action. One fine day, they accosted Ziaullah — in a manner similar to their gherao of Murshid Quli — and in full public view, chased him on the streets of Murshidabad and chopped him into pieces.
Which is when Azim-us-shan realised the true extent of his folly. As before, he had permanently settled in Delhi and Agra so that he could be close to imperial power politics, scheming and plotting and awaiting his chance to capture the ultimate prize. Small wonder that an unsupervised Bengal had turned now into a royal disarray.
And so, Azim grudgingly recalled Murshid Quli Khan and reappointed him as the Diwan. Further, to make up for Quli’s ill-treatment, he conferred the high rank of teen-hazari zat (Lord of 3000 troops) and gave him the honour of kettledrums.
To be continued
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