Nawab of Bengal

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Location of modern Bengal (Bangladesh and West Bengal.)

The Nawabs of Bengal were the hereditary nazims or subadars (provincial governors) of the subah (province) of Bengal during the Mughal rule and the de-facto rulers of the province.

1 History
2 Nawabs of Murshidabad 1880-1969
3 References

[edit] History

Murshid Quli Khan was appointed as nazim of Bengal subah in 1717. He founded the hereditary Nawabi (the rule of the Nawabs) regime in Bengal.

[edit] Under the Mughal rule

Bengal subah was one of the wealthiest parts of the Mughal empire. As the Mughal empire began to decline, the Nawabs grew in power, although nominally sub-ordinate to the Mughal emperor. They yielded great power in their own right and ruled the subah as independent rulers for all practical purposes.

[edit] Under the British Rule

After the Nawab Siraj Ud Daulah (the last independent ruler of Bengal) was defeated by the British forces of Sir Robert Clive at the Palashi in 1757, Nawabs became puppet rulers dependent on the British power. The Nawab who replaced Siraj-ud-daula was Mir Jafar. He was personally led to the throne by Robert Clive after triumph of the British in battle. After the grant of Diwani of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa by the Mughal emperor Shah Alam II to the British East India Company in 1765, the Nawabs were deprived of any real power and finally in 1793, when the nizamat (governorship) was also taken away from them, they remained as the mere pensioners of the British East India Company. In 1880, Mansur Ali Khan, the last Nawab of Bengal was forced to relinquish his title. His son, Nawab Sayyid Hassan Ali Mirza Khan Bahadur, who succeeded him, was given the lesser title of Nawab of Murshidabad by the British. Hassan's descendants continued the title until 1969 when the last Nawab of the dynasty died; since then the title has been in dispute.