MUHAMMAD AZIM-UD-DIN hired a band of assassins known as naqdi, who were notorious as fearsome cavaliers. He brainwashed them into demanding from Muhammad Hādi their salary arrears, which had been overdue for nearly three years. What these hot-headed naqdis didn’t know was the fact that a lion’s share of their arrears had been pocketed by Azim-ud-din himself.
Azim-ud-din’s plan was simple. The naqdis were to approach Hādi as a gang, provoke a quarrel with him and then murder him. A date was fixed accordingly.
Unaware of this plot, Muhmmad Hādi rode out on the streets of Dhaka to mark his daily attendance at Azim-ud-din’s court. Which is when Abdul Wahid, the leader of the naqdis confronted him. The next moment, his whole gang surrounded Hādi and began clamouring in violence-laden tones to settle their dues on the spot. What the naqdis didn’t know was that Hādi always travelled with an armed escort, which now came to his rescue. Without flinching, Hādi faced the bloodthirsty mob of naqdis headon and charged through it, not stopping till he reached Azim-ud-din’s durbar. There, he openly accused him of plotting his murder and challenged Azim to a public duel on the spot. Gripping his belt-dagger, Hādi thundered, “You must be ashamed of backstabbing me like this. Refrain from such actions, or if you’re man enough, here’s my life and here’s yours. Let the sword decide who lives!”
Muhammad Azim-ud-din was thoroughly unnerved and in that perilous moment, another reality dawned on him: Hādi was Aurangzeb’s chosen man. Azim-ud-din shuddered at the consequences of any further misstep, and immediately climbed down from his throne and tried to placate Diwan Hādi. Then he summoned Abdul Wahid and reprimanded him severely.
Muhammad Hādi cooled down but was not fooled by Azim-ud-din’s sham reconciliation. He returned to his office, inspected the account books and ordered his Bakshi to settle the arrears of the naqdis immediately. Once that was done, he summarily dismissed the whole unit from service. The same day, he wrote up a detailed report of the whole incident in the wāqiyā (official newsletter) and dispatched it Aurangzeb.
A few days later, Muhammad Hādi moved his official residence to a town named Makhsudabad, about 335 kilometres from Dhaka. It was the only way to stay safe from the scheming Azim-ud-din.
Makhsudabad was also more centrally located, affording him to access and manage the whole Bengal Subah more effectively. After this, he physically transferred his whole bureaucracy to this town along with the agents of rich traders and zamindars. In yet another astute move, Hādi also relocated the prominent bankers of Dhaka. Now, no one could travel out of Makhsudabad without Hādi’s explicit orders.
Meanwhile, Azim-ud-din’s troubles mounted when he received a dreadful missive from Aurangzeb: “You are hereby warned not to trouble the Diwan any further…even if a hair of his head were injured, due retribution for it will be extracted from you.”
Around the same time, another letter reached Muhammad Hādi, who was personally reassured by the Sultan: “The nazim [i.e., Azim-ud-din] and other officers appointed to the subah will behave more gently (to you) than before, otherwise they would be reprimanded.”
EVEN AS AZIM-UD-DIN’s woes multiplied, Muhammad Hādi’s star shone brighter with each day. Barely two years into his tenure, his portfolio swelled. Aurangzeb appointed him as the Faujdaar of Hooghly, Sylhet, Makhsudabad, Midnapore, Burdwan: all these places have today become Jihadi hell-holes. He combined in himself the powers of a District Magistrate and criminal judge. This level of sweeping power was truly unprecedented in the history of Mughal governors.
The year 1702-03 was a decisive pivot in Hādi’s long career. Askar Khan, the Subahdaar of Odisha died and his position was awarded to Azim-ud-din. Which is when Muhammad Hādi decided to show him who was the real boss out here.
Within fifteen days, Aurangzeb overturned Azim-ud-din’s appointment and gave the Subah of Odisha to Hādi. Not stopping at that, he transferred Azim-ud-din to Bihar along with half of his troops. Another insult followed. Aurangzeb ordered Azim-ud-din to station his son, Farrukh Siyar in Bengal as its deputy governor. An even greater humiliation followed. Aurangzeb declared Muhammad Hādi as Siyar’s guardian henceforth.
As the new Subahdaar of Bihar, Azim-ud-din made Patna its capital and renamed it as Azimabad following the megalomaniacal precedent of Muslim rulers renaming ancient places after their own name.
Muhammad Hādi was also no exception to this. On December 23, 1702, Muhammad Hādi was honoured with the title of Murshid Quli Khan by Aurangzeb. The word Murshid in Arabic means “a guide or teacher who shows the correct path of Islam.” It was also quite an apt title given to the former Muhammad Hādi, as we shall see.
Almost immediately, the newly-minted Murshid Quli Khan spotted an opportunity to further climb the power-ladder. Accordingly, as the undisputed lord of Bengal and Odisha, he renamed Makhsudabad after himself. Aurangzeb gladly gave him permission to do so.
The city is still known as Murshidabad.
To be continued
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