Yar Mohammad Khan, Second Nawab Of Bhopal (1728-42)

For Dost Mohammad Khan, the rivalry between the Moghul Court and the Nizam placed him in an acute dilemma. The Nizam was strong and well armed. He passed through Bhopal on his way down to the Deccan with an impressive show of force. On the other hand Dost owed allegiance to Moghul court, and was also a personal friend of the Sayyed brothers . Threatened at the local level by Marhattas and Rajputs, Dost aligned with the Moghul court. 

He allowed his brother, Mir Ahmed, to fight alongside Dilawar Ali Khan who was set up by the Moghul court to ambush the Nizam on his way to Deccan. Dilawar lost the battle of Burhanpur in 1720, Mir Ahmed was killed and Bhopal earned Nizam’s hostility. Confronted by a common enemy, the Nizam and Peshwa Baji Rao joined in an alliance against the Moghul emperors. On 19 June 1720, the Moghul army was defeated in the Battle of Khandwa. Consequently, the Nizam went on defeat the Moghul surrogate, Mubariz Khan in the battle of Shakarkhelda in 1724. Peshwa Baji Rao fought in league with the Nizam against Moghul emperor’s forces. Nizam then returned to Bhopal to settle scores with Dost.

Initially, Dost fortified himself at Islamnagar, but then agreed to a truce with the Nizam. Dost ceded the Islamnagar fort, ten lakh rupees and his 14 year son and heir, Yar Mohammad Khan as hostage. Dost was appointed the Killedar (fort commander) and was reduced to running the state on behalf of Nizam. Dost spent rest of his life consolidating the administrative upkeep of Bhopal with his trusted Dewan (Chief Minister) Bijjey Ram. When Dost died in March 1728, Yar Mohammad Khan, then 18 years old was dispatched to Bhopal at the head of a 400-strong detachment from Nizam’s army. 

Yar Mohammad Khan found that his only surviving uncle, Sultan Mohammad Khan, backed by the Barru-Kat high command of Dost’s army, had installed his eight-year old half-brother, Sultan Mohammad Khan, as the Nawab. Yar’s supporters including the Nizam’s detachment led by Bijjey Ram routed Sultan’s henchmen. With the help of trusted Dewan Bijjey Ram, Yar Mohammad Khan established himself as the Second Nawab of Bhopal at the age of 18 on 30th August 1728.

MOHSIN BHOPALI

MOHSIN BHOPALI
(1932 – 2007)

Mohsin Bhopali was born at Sohagpur of district Hoshangabad. His father Haji Abdul Razzak was a postmaster at Bhopal. Mohsin sahab spent his childhood at Bhopal and was a student of Hamidia School. His ancestral house was at Chauki Talleya Retghat Bhopal area. Although he migrated to Pakistan with his father during 1947 partitions, he made Bhopal a part of his name. Second sher from his first book became a legend:

Nerangie Siyasatye Dauran To Dekhie,
Manzil Unhe Mili Jo Sharike Safar Na The

Mohsin Bhopali last came to Bhopal in the year 1985 to participate in a Indo-Pak mushaira. A program was organized in the MLB College during his visit. Bhopal-e prays that may Bhopal be blessed with more people like him.

Ek Muddat Ki Rafaqat Ka Ho Kuch To Inam,
Jate Jate Koi Iljam Lagate Jao

The Marhattas

The fourth and most vibrant claimants to power were the Marhattas, operating mainly from the southwest. Sivaji, the supreme guerilla, had severely undermined the last years of Auragazeb’s rule and had given the Marhattas a vision of power and supremacy over the whole of India. After Shivaji’s death, there was a brief decline but his daughter-in-law, Tara Bai, and grandson, Shahu, had again lit the flame of glory in the hearts of the Marhatta people. 

The Marhattas had their own warlord houses in the Scindia of Gwalior, the Holkar of Indore, the Bhonsle of Nagpur and the Gaekwad of Baroda who were frequently jostling for power among themselves. Fortunately, Shahu, who was recognized as the titular head of the Marhattas, found in his new Peshwa (main minister), Balaji Rao Vishwanath – a Koncan Brahmin - a man of unique foresight, ability and wisdom. Peswa Balaji Rao set about uniting the Marhattas and organizing their administration, army and finances in such a way that by 1715 the Marhatta resurgence became a reality.

All these four powers (Rajputs, Marhattas, Mughals and Nizam) took turns to claim sovereignty and periodically appointed governors to. However, except for occasional punitive raids against a particularly rebellious local feudal baron, they preferred to claim sovereignty by remote control.

The Rajputs

Continued from Previous post

The two remaining contenders for power, both Hindu, were the Rajputs and the Marhattas. The Rajputs operated mainly in Rajasthan and central India but were never sufficiently united to become an important unified force. The famous Rajput houses of Udaipur, Jodhpur, Jaipur and Mewar had, over the centuries, sent their weaker family members to preside over smaller principalities of Malwa. Thus, unlike the great houses of Rajputana, Malwa had seen the emergence of smaller Rajput states that the senior Rajput rulers aimed to rule by proxy. However the Rajput houses remained divided and in the process, failed to achieve their full potential in seizing the initiative from a decaying centre. Religious affinities seemed to count for little, as the Muslim Emperor or Nizam frequently sought and gained support from Hindu princes against the Rajputs and Marhattas. Among the short-lived alliances between the four major power blocs, the least frequent were those between the co-religionists, the Hindu Rajputs and Marhattas or the Muslim Emperor and Nizam.

Gadar, Gabbar and Naxalites

Police has recently busted a naxalite factory operated at the heart of Bhopal, on a tip-off from central intelligence agencies. The factory was being operated in the area since last seven years. Sometimes, the police takes there own time to get to the culprits, while at other times they are really fast. According another news the police charged a couple with the murder of their twelve-year-old son. The parents confessed to the crime, and were remanded to 45 days in jail, the body was found and the case was solved. However, after six months of his murder, the murdered Gabbar turned up in town. The government pleader argued that as the parents had confessed to the murder, so he could not be Gabbar. As for the parents who confessed to the murder of a son who was alive - "They broke three of my fingers with sticks," said the father. The parents were tortured in custody for a night and made to sign a confessional statement the next morning.

This is a document translated from National archives of Delhi dated between 19 May and 10 August 1857 by Mohammad Farooqui.

Collection 53

Notice to the Thanedar of Kashmiri Darwaza

There was a note from trader Bahauddin stating that Bahauddin’s shop as well as two houses of Prince Kamran Bahadur which fall in your area were searched without any basis and you even let it be stormed. Therefore it is being written to the Thanedar of Kashmiri Darwaza that until [someone’s guilt] is proved you should desist from raiding or looting anybody’s house. When and if you intend to raid somebody’s house you should immediately inform the [ Kotwali]. Until permission is granted by the Kotwali no raids should be conducted. If anybody complains to you [about anyone] then you should get him to swear under oath and keep him in the lock up. You will be acting against your interest if you act against [the rules]. In case of any doubt please contact the Kotwali right away.

It has been more than one hundred fifty (150) years, but little has changed

The Rajputs

Continued from Previous post

The two remaining contenders for power, both Hindu, were the Rajputs and the Marhattas. The Rajputs operated mainly in Rajasthan and central India but were never sufficiently united to become an important unified force. The famous Rajput houses of Udaipur, Jodhpur, Jaipur and Mewar had, over the centuries, sent their weaker family members to preside over smaller principalities of Malwa. Thus, unlike the great houses of Rajputana, Malwa had seen the emergence of smaller Rajput states that the senior Rajput rulers aimed to rule by proxy. 

However the Rajput houses remained divided and in the process, failed to achieve their full potential in seizing the initiative from a decaying centre. Religious affinities seemed to count for little, as the Muslim Emperor or Nizam frequently sought and gained support from Hindu princes against the Rajputs and Marhattas. Among the short-lived alliances between the four major power blocs, the least frequent were those between the co-religionists, the Hindu Rajputs and Marhattas or the Muslim Emperor and Nizam.

The Nizam Of Hyderabad

It is important to understand the power equations of the time when Dost Mohammad Khan established the Mirazi Khel dynasty in Bhopal. There were four major focal points of power in India during this period, the first of which, Mughal Empire has been examined in the previous post (this and this).

The second focal point of power was Chin-Qilich Khan, Asaf Jah, Nizam-ul_Mulk, whose family originated from Samarkand. Asaf Jah, was a loyal, upright and highly accomplished aide of Aurangzeb. Through dedicated service, he had been elevated to the highest rank in the administration as Nizam-ul-Mulk and had a significant force under him. In fact, Asaf Jah had combined closely with the Sayyed brothers to support Bahadur Shah's campaign for succession. As the Sayyed brother's influence grew, difference and suspicion developed between them and the Nizam. 

When Farukhsiyar ascended the throne, the Sayyeds managed to persuade the Emperor to post the Nizam to distant governates and conspired to have his force defeated in battle by opponents who were surreptitiously given support. The Nizam survived these treacherous stratagems and eventually decided, in disgust, to detach himself from the Mughal court. He removed himself to the south with the Emperor's firman of governorships of Malwa and the Deccan. It was an open secret, however, that the Nizam intended to set up his own independent state in the region. Thus by 1720, the two Muslim power blocks -the Moghul Court and the Nizam - were ranged against each other with only a veneer of cordiality between sovereign and governor.