Muhammad Muradyab Khan
This article relies largely or entirely on a single source. (April 2018) |
Muhammad Muradyab Khan Kalhoro محمد مرادیاب خان ڪلهوڙو | |||||
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Sarbuland Khan Mian | |||||
2nd Nawab of Sindh | |||||
Reign | 1755–8 August 1757 | ||||
Predecessor | Noor Mohammad Kalhoro | ||||
Successor | Mian Ghulam Shah Kalhoro | ||||
Died | c. 1758 | ||||
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House | Kalhora dynasty | ||||
Father | Noor Mohammad Kalhoro | ||||
Religion | Sunni Islam |
Mian Muhammad Muradyab Khan Kalhoro (Sindhi: مياں محمد مرادیاب خان ڪلهوڙو) was a Kalhora noble. He was the 2nd Nawab of Sindh succeeding Noor Mohammad Kalhoro. He was given the Imperial title of Sarbuland Khan by the Mughal Emperor Muhammad Shah.[1][2]
Early life
Muhammad Muradyab Khan was the oldest son of
In 1732 (1145
After Nader Shah captured Kandahar in 1737 (1150 AH), he planned to go through Sindh on his way to India.[1] He had sent notice of this plan to Mian Nur Muhammad, who then sent Muhammad Muradyab to secure Thatta while he himself went to secure Ladkanah.[1] Muhammad Muradyab arrived at Thatta at the end of Zikaad, 1151 AH (1738 CE).[1] However, at the same time the Jam of Kakrala and the Rana of Dharajah brought armies to oppose him.[1] Eventually, Muhammad Muradyab's forces drove them off with artillery, then gave pursuit until they surrendered.[1]
At the beginning of
After Nader Shah was assassinated in 1747, Muradyab left
When Muradyab finally returned to Sindh in 1753,
Meanwhile, his younger brother Khudadad Khan had been the heir apparent during Muhammad Muradyab's absence, and now that Muhammad Muradyab was back, he had to resign that position; annoyed and embarrassed, Khudadad Khan ended up travelling to Hindustan.[1]
Accession as monarch
In 1755,
Muhammad Muradyab had originally accompanied his father on the way to Umarkot, but worried that he was going to be taken as a hostage again, he ended up leaving and going a different way.[1] Meanwhile, on the 12th of Safar, Mian Nur Muhammad died of quinsy at Jaisalmer.[1] The nobles immediately elected Muhammad Muradyab as the successor to his father and went to retrieve him.[1] He was officially enthroned on the 16th of Saffar, four days after his father's death.[1]
However, Ahmad Shah Abdali had other plans and appointed Ismail Khan Pini to be his deputy in Sindh.[1] Gidu Mal’s influence proved crucial here, as he insisted that the shah back Muradyab Khan instead.[2] In the end, Gidu Mal was able to sway Ahmad Shah into confirming Muhammad Muradyab Khan as ruler of Sindh, on the condition that an annual kharaj payment of 14 lakh rupees be made to Ahmad Shah.[2] Atur Khan was also to be given over as a hostage.[1] Ahmad Shah granted Muradyab the title "Nawab Sarbuland Khan" and sent Gidu Mal back to Umarkot with an official decree and robe of honour for Muradyab.[1] Upon receiving them, Muhammad Muradyab left to return to the capital at Khudabad.[1]
On the way to the capital, Muhammad Muradyab stopped at a plain near
Reign
Toward the end of the lunar year, Muhammad Muradyab decided to campaign against the Jam of Kakrala in the southern Indus Delta.[1] After several battles, the Kalhoro army was victorious, and the Jam was taken into confinement.[1] Muhammad Muradyab annexed the territories of Ochtah, Lanjari, Miran, and Kachah, and he built a fort at each one.[1] Kachah was selected as the “chief centre of stores”.[1]
Downfall
Several factors had contributed to make Muhammad Muradyab Khan unpopular with his subjects.[2] Political and economic instability were the main issues, and contemporary Dutch records also mention that many Sindhi traders complained to them about Muradyab Khan’s oppressive rule.[2] The contemporary historian Muhammad Azim attributes Muradyab’s downfall to his licentious behavior.[1] The fact that he had discontinued the Sufi tariqa of his predecessors also hurt his popularity.[2]
In any case, by 1757 Muhammad Muradyab had become fed up with the kharaj demands from Ahmad Shah Abdali, and he decided to leave Sindh and sail to Muscat.[2] In preparation, he began sending money and valuables oversea.[2] He then proposed that, on his way to the coast, he would loot the Jam of Kakrala’s territory.[1] This proposal was poorly received.[1] The Kalhoro nobles refused to break the treaty they had made at the end of the previous Kakrala campaign, and according to the Tuhfat-ul-Kiram of Alisher Kanei this was when they decided to support Ghulam Shah instead.[1]
So on the night before the 13th of Dhu’l al-Hijjah, 1170 AH (1757 CE), the nobles went to Muradyab’s residence and took him and his closest allies prisoner.[1] The next morning, they installed Ghulam Shah as ruler instead.[1]
Later life and death
Meanwhile, Atur Khan was able to convince Ahmad Shah Abdali (whose hostage he technically still was) to name him the ruler instead.[1] When the Kalhoro nobles heard that Atur Khan had a royal decree in his favour, they mostly decided that it would be best to submit to his authority, and they abandoned Ghulam Shah’s cause.[1] As a result, Ghulam Shah left with his army on the 25th of Saffar to retreat to the safety of the desert.[1] Atur Khan sent a letter that had Muradyab set free.[1]
Early in
Muhammad Muradyab Khan died sometime later during 1171 AH, before the end of Shawwal.[1]
Assessment and legacy
Muradyab Khan was an incompetent ruler who had little political knowledge and was unpopular with his subjects.[2] His short reign was marked by political and economic instability.[2] It is considered the beginning of the Later Kalhora period, a politically tumultuous time when Sindh was a client state of Afghanistan rather than the Mughal Empire.[2]
Several important developments took place during his rule.[2] He moved the capital twice, first to Muradabad in 1756 and then to Ahmedabad in 1757.[2] He sought out the Dutch East India Company as a trading partner to help strengthen the economy, which also led to the English getting involved around the same time.[2] Muradyab Khan was also the first Kalhora ruler to relinquish the role of Sufi pir, which ended the piri-muridi (master-disciple) relationship between ruler and subject that had existed under his predecessors.[2]
Contemporary historians did not have a favourable attitude towards Muhammad Muradyab Khan.[1] In the Fatehnama, which he wrote in 1783, Muhammad Azim described Muradyab as “neither brave nor experienced in manly exercise… night and day, he was engaged in pleasure parties and in enjoying the company of dancing girls and singers".[1] He also wrote that Muradyab’s officers did the same, and that this conduct was part of what contributed to his overthrow.[1]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au av aw ax Mirza Kalichbeg Fredunbeg (1902). History of Sind, Vol. 2: The Mussulman period from the Arab conquest to the beginning of the reign of the Kalhórahs. The reigns of the Kalhórahs and the Tálpurs down to the British conquest. Karachi: Commissioner's Press. pp. 147–8, 151–7, 302. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac Verma, Esha (2016). Sindh in Transition: From Mughal Rule to British Annexation, Early Eighteenth Century to 1843 (PDF). Victoria University of Wellington. pp. 65–7, 70–2, 75, 81, 84, 99. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
Sources
This article includes content derived from "History of Sind - translated from Persian books," by Mirza Kalichbeg Fredunbeg (1853–1929), published in Karachi in 1902 and now in the public domain. "A History of Sind-Vol II | Sindh | Genghis Khan". Scribd. Retrieved 2018-05-22.