Najib ad-Dawlah

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Najib ad-Dawlah
Nawab
Mughal Army
Capture of Agra Fort
The Third Battle of Panipat, 13 January 1761, Najib ad-Dawlah and Shuja-ud-Daula, standing left to Ahmad Shah Durrani, shown on a brown horse, inflicting the largest number of fatalities in a single day reported in a classic formation battle between two armies.

Najib ad-Dawlah (

Ahmed Shah Abdali in 1757 in his attack on Delhi. He was also a House chief of Rohilkhand, and in the 1740s founded the city of Najibabad in Bijnor district, India. He was instrumental in winning the Third Battle of Panipat
.

He began his career in 1743 as an immigrant from Manri kohistan as a soldier. He was an employee of

Abdali. Later in his career he was known as Najib ad-Dawlah, Amir al-Umra, Shuja ad-Dawlah.[1] From 1757 to 1770, he was governor of Saharanpur, ruling over Dehradun. Many architectural relics of the period of Rohilla, the remains in Najibabad, were overseen by him, which he founded at the height of his career as a Mughal minister.[2]

Biography

Najib Khan belonged to the Umar Khel section of the

Pakhtuns at Bisharatnagar, near Rampur.[citation needed] In 1749, Ali Mohammed Khan, who had captured most of Rohilkhand by 1740, gave Najib Khan a northern portion,[5] where he established the present day town of Najibabad, a state of Najibabad
independent from other Rohilla tribes, and received the title, ‘Najib ad-Dawlah’.

Patthargarh fort outside Najibabad, built by Najib ad-Dawlah in 1755. 1814-15 painting.
Najibabad, c. 1784–94, the triple domed Jami Mosque and the entrance gate to the Rohilla palace

Imad-ul-Mulk appointed Najib ad- Dawlah as the governor of

Rohillas, and ruled the area for the next decade. His rule was known for its administration, and development of land resources, leading to widespread development and prosperity in the area, with emphasis on agriculture and irrigation. Many mango groves created during the area still exist today. Though after his death in 1770, the Maratha forces expelled the Rohillas from the Dun.[7]

Conflict with Marathas

Battle of Delhi (1757)

Mughal emperor was left with no actual power. Najib's religious precept, Mian Qutb Shah, who was not a rohilla by caste and was the ruler of Saharanpur, was in charge of the defence of the Red Fort of Delhi from the Marathas, while Najib commanded the artillery to stop the entry of the Marathas into the city.[8][9][10] His forces had to clash with the advancing Marathas in Delhi in the Battle of Delhi (1757). Delhi was captured by Marathas and he was allowed safe exit from Delhi.[11]

Third Battle of Panipat

In the

Pakhtuns increased in power. However, the Marathas recovered in a short duration of 10 years and under Mahadji Schinde recaptured Delhi in 1771, reinstalling the weakened Mughal emperor Shah Alam II to the throne, under Maratha suzerainty.[citation needed
]

After the war, he was made

Mir Bakshi of Mughal emperor.[13] He had to become ruler of Delhi state with empty treasury & territory confining to boundaries of Delhi city.[citation needed
]

Najib Khan was a

Safdarjung, when that minister occupied the country; but on the latter's disgrace had borne a part in the campaigns of Ghazi-ud-din. When the Vizier first conceived the project of attacking the government, he sent Najib in the command of a Mughal detachment to occupy the country, about Saharanpur, then known as the Bawani Mahal, which had formed the jagir of the Ex-Vazir Khan Khanan.[citation needed
]

This territory thus became in its turn separated from the Empire and continued for two generations in the family of Najib. He ruled the dwindled Empire for nine years, and died a peaceful death, leaving his charge in an improved and strengthened condition, ready for its lawful monarch.[citation needed]

Administrator of Delhi

Main article:
Capture of Agra Fort
Great Mogul
in (Green).

As the Administrator of

Jats and their leaders overran the Mughal garrison at Agra, plundering the city and looting the two silver gates to the entrance of the famous Taj Mahal in 1764.[14]

Death

After protecting Rohilkhand, Delhi and Agra for nearly ten years as regent of the Mughal Empire, he fell ill and died on 30 October 1770.[15]

Successor

After his death he was succeeded by his son

Pathargarh Fort
still exists.

Destruction of his tomb by the Marathas

His son

fort of Pathargarh was completely looted of horses, elephants, guns and other valuable things by the Marathas. This was done to avenge the deaths of Maratha warriors who fell in the battle of Delhi and Panipat. Marathas also destroyed the grave of Najib and scattered his bones.[18]

A few years later, in the subsequent

Lal Dhang. The District was ceded to the British by the Nawab of Awadh, Saadat Ali Khan II in 1801.[5]

In popular culture

See also

Further reading

☆ Azad Patan Qabayel by Allabakhash Yousafi. ☆ Yousafzai Sardar Awr Hukamraan, Prof.Bakhtiar, Arshad Publishers, Swabi, 2012.

References

  1. ^ History of Etawah Etawah Official website.
  2. ^ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Najibabad" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 19 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 156..
  3. ^ Hamid Afaq Qureshi · (2003). The Mughals, the English & the Rulers of Awadh, from 1722 A.D. to 1856 A.D.: A Kaleidoscopic Study. p. 51. He belonged to the Umar Khail Yusufzai tribe of the Afghans and was a resident of Manri.
  4. ^ Nuruddin Husain (1952). An Account of Najibuddaulah. p. LIII. in the year 1708 in the village of Manri about 25 kos from Peshawar.
  5. ^ a b History of Bijnor District The Imperial Gazetteer of India, 1909, v. 8, p. 194-195.
  6. ^
    ISBN 9788180903397
    Bharatiya Kala Prakashan
  7. ^ [1] p. 57
  8. ^ Jaswant Lal Mehta (2005). Advanced Study in the History of Modern India 1707-1813. p. 230.
  9. ^ Hari Ram Gupta (1999). History of the Sikhs. p. 339.
  10. ^ Hari Ram Gupta (1961). Marathas and Panipat. Panjab University. Qutb Shah Rohilla, Najib's religious precept
  11. ^ Advanced Study in the History of Modern India 1707-1813
  12. ^ Najibabad Tehsil & Town The Imperial Gazetteer of India, 1909, v. 18, p. 334.
  13. ^ History of Modern India, 1707 A. D. to 2000 A. D
  14. ^ "MANAS | UCLA Social Sciences Computing". Archived from the original on 6 October 1999.
  15. ^ Rule of Shah Alam, 1759-1806 The Imperial Gazetteer of India, 1909, v. 2, p. 411.
  16. ^ Altaf Ali Brelvi (1966). Life of Hafiz Rahmat Khan. p. 174.
  17. ^ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Bijnor" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 3 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 928.
  18. ISBN 9788185431529
    .
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