Shuja-ud-Daula explained

Shuja-ud-Daula
Nawab of Oudh
Khan Bahadur
Asad Jang
Arsh Manzil
Succession:3rd Nawab of Awadh
Reign:5 October 1754 – 26 January 1775
Birth Date:19 January 1732
Predecessor:Safdar Jang
Successor:Asaf-ud-Daulah
Full Name:Jalal-ud-din Haider Abul Mansur Khan Shuja-ud-Daula
Burial Place:Gulab Bari, Faizabad
Spouse:Begum Amanat-uz Zahra Bano "Bahu Begum"
Mother:Sadh-ruh-nissa
Father:Safdar Jang
Birth Place:Mansion of Dara Shikoh, Delhi, Mughal Empire
Death Date:26 January 1775 (aged 43)
Death Place:Faizabad, Kingdom of Oudh (present-day Uttar Pradesh, India)
Issue:Asaf-ud-DaulahSaadat Ali Khan II
Royal House:Nishapuri Branch of the Kara Koyunlu

Shuja-ud-Daula (b. 1732 1, df=yes – d.) was the third Nawab of Oudh[1] and the Vizier of Delhi from 5 October 1754 to 26 January 1775.[2]

Early life

Shuja-ud-Daula was the son of the Mughal Grand Vizier Safdarjung chosen by Ahmad Shah Bahadur. Unlike his father Shuja-ud-Daula was known from an early age for his abilities to synthesize his subordinates, this skill would eventually cause him to emerge as the chosen Grand Vizier by Shah Alam II.

Shuja-ud-Daula is also known to have assisted the Alivardi Khan on various occasions when the territories of the Nawab of Bengal, were being ravaged by Raghoji I Bhonsle and his Marathas. Thus Shuja-ud-Daula is known to have been a very respected figure among the servicemen of Alivardi Khan.

Nawab of Awadh

After the death of his father the Mughal Grand Vizier Safdarjung in the year 1753, Shuja-ud-Daula was recognized as the next Nawab by the Mughal Emperor Ahmad Shah Bahadur.

Shuja-ud-Daula despised Imad-ul-Mulk, an ally of the Marathas of the Maratha Empire whose regime emerged after the Battle of Sikandarabad with the support of the Sadashivrao Bhau. Imad-ul-Mulk blinded Ahmad Shah Bahadur and placed Alamgir II on the Mughal imperial throne. Alamgir II and his son Prince Ali Gauhar, were often persecuted by Imad-ul-Mulk because they refused to abandon their peaceful terms with Ahmad Shah Durrani, they also demanded the resignation of Imad-ul-Mulk mainly due to his relations with the Marathas.[3]

Shuja-ud-Daulah's household cavalry was composed of the Sheikhzadi,[4] much of whom belonged to the Qidwai clan, who claimed descent from the Bani Israil.[5] Clan-groups such as the Sayyids of Bilgram, Kara-Manikpur, Sheikhs of Kakori, and the Sayyids of Barha served as court officers and soldiers.[6] The most vigilant of Shuja-ud-Daulah's commander, Naval Rai's troops were his contingent of the Barah Sayyids, while the Bilgramis were of the same stock.[7] [8] These clans had not taken any profession other than a soldier or an officer.[9] Shuja-ud-Daulah's father had maintained a contingent of 20,000 "Mughal" cavalry, who were mainly Hindustanis, many who were chiefly from the Jadibal district in Kashmir, who had imitated the Qizilbash in dress and spoke the Persian language.[10] [11] The state also saw a large migration of Kashmiri Shi'as to the Shi'a kingdom of Awadh, both to escape persecution and to secure courtly patronage.[12] This was especially the case with men from the district of Jadibal in Kashmir, who were all Shias, who looked to the state as the sword-arm of the Shi'as in India.

Grand Vizier of the Mughal Empire

Prince Ali Gauhar fled from Delhi when he realized a conspiracy that would eventually lead to the murder of the Mughal Emperor Alamgir II. Shuja-ud-Daula welcomed and protected Prince Ali Gauhar, who then declared himself Shah Alam II and officially recognized Shuja-ud-Daula as the Grand Vizier of the Mughal Empire. Together they challenged the usurper Shah Jahan III, who was placed on the Mughal imperial throne by Sadashivrao Bhau and his forces, which plundered much of the Mughal Empire.

Shah Alam II was then advised to lead an expedition that would attempt to retake the eastern regions of the Mughal Empire from Mir Jafar who was supported by the British East India Company. While Shuja-ud-Daula, Najib-ud-Daula and Mirza Jawan Bakht allied themselves with Ahmad Shah Durrani and assisted his forces during the Second Battle of Sikandarabad in the year 1760 and later led a Mughal Army of 43,000 during the Third Battle of Panipat.[13]

Third Battle of Panipat

After escaping from Delhi due to the murder of his father the Mughal Emperor Alamgir II, the young Prince Ali Gauhar was well received by Shuja-ud-Daula. The Nawab of Awadh and the newly appointed Mughal Grand Vizier Shuja-ud-Daula assured Prince Ali Gauhar that he and Najib-ud-Daula would initiate a struggle that would overthrow the Maratha Empire if Prince Ali Gauhar would lead what remained of the Mughal Army against the expanding British East India Company in Bengal.[14]

Shuja's decision about whom to join as an ally in the Third Battle of Panipat was one of the decisive factors that determined the outcome of the war as lack of food due to the Afghans cutting the supply lines of Marathas was one of the reasons that the Marathas could not sustain the day-long battle. Their forces were weak due to starvation and were also fighting facing the sun.

Shuja was not very sure about whose side should he take before the Third Battle of Panipat. The Marathas were still further south then and it would have taken them considerable time to reach Shuja's province. In spite of this, his mother was of the opinion that he should join the Marathas as they had helped his father previously on numerous occasions. However, in the end, Shuja decided to join Ahmad Shah Durrani.

As the chosen Grand Vizier of the Mughal Empire, Shuja-ud-Daula commanded a sizeable army of Mughal Sepoy, who cut off the supplies of the Marathas and even defeated them in pitched confrontations during the Third Battle of Panipat and dispatched the Maratha leader Sadashivrao Bhau.

Abdali wrote to Shuja-ud-Daulah:

"It is now incontestably known that the addressee is a native of those parts, but that forsaking the conversation and manners of his native land, he has incorporated himself with the inhabitants of Hindustan. Whatever has come to pass, is altogether right. Whatever has been has been; the future will, by the favour of God, be fortunate.[15]

Battle of Buxar

Shuja is also known for his role in the Battle of Buxar, a battle that was no less definite in Indian history. He along with the forces of Mughal emperor Shah Alam II & Mir Qasim ruler of Bengal were defeated by the British forces in one of the key battles in the history of British East India company.

Allahabad Treaty

He again fought the British with the help of Marathas at Kara Jahanabad and was defeated. On 16 August 1765 AD he signed the Treaty of Allahabad, which said that Kora and Allahabad district would go to Company and the Company would get 5 million rupees from Awadh.[16] The British would be allowed free trade in Awadh and would help each other in case of war with other powers, which was a very shrewd political move by the Company.[17]

To pay for the protection of British forces and assistance in war, Awadh gave up first the fort of Chunar, then districts of Benaras, Ghazipur and finally Allahabad.[18]

Death and burial

Shuja-ud-Daula died on 26 January 1775 in Faizabad, the then capital of Awadh, and was buried in the same city. His burial place is a tomb and known as Gulab Bari (Rose Garden).

Personal life

According to historians, Shuja-ud-Daulah was nearly seven feet tall, with oiled moustaches that projected from his face like a pair of outstretched eagle’s wings, he was a man of immense physical strength. By 1763, he was past his prime, but still reputedly strong enough to cut off the head of a buffalo with a single swing of his sword, or lift up two of his officers, one in each hand. This was something that immediately struck the 18th-century, historian Ghulam Hussain Khan who regarded him as a slight liability, every bit as foolish as he was bold. Shuja, he wrote, ‘was equally proud and ignorant’.[19]

In popular culture

Further reading

Notes and References

  1. Book: Bhatia . O. P. Singh . History of India, from 1707 to 1856 . 1968 . Surjeet Book Depot . en.
  2. http://www.worldstatesmen.org/India_princes_A-J.html#Awadh Princely States of India
  3. Book: Srivastava . Ashirbadi Lal . Shuja-ud-daulah . 1945 . S.N. Sarkar . 2 August 2020 . en.
  4. Book: The state at war in South Asia . 73 . Pradeep Barua . 2005 . 0803213441 .
  5. Book: Lucknow, Fire of Grace:The Story of Its Revolution, Renaissance and the Aftermath . Amaresh Misra . 1998 . HarperCollins Publishers India . 9788172232887 .
  6. Book: Rulers_Townsmen_and_Bazaars . C.A. Bayly. 2012 .
  7. Book: Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal . Asiatic Society (Calcutta, India); Asiatic Society (Calcutta, India). 1832 .
  8. Book: The Cambridge History of IndiaVolume 4 . Henry Dodwell, Sir Richard Burn, Sir Wolseley Haig. Pennsylvania State University. 1957 .
  9. Book: Surya Narain Singh . 2003 . Mittal Publications. 9 .
  10. Book: Fall Of The Mughal Empire Vol. 1 . 254 . Sarkar, Jadunath . 1964. digitallibraryindia; JaiGyan.
  11. Book: textsThe First Two Nawabs Of Oudh (a Critical Study Based On Original Sources) Approved For The Degree Of Ph. D. In The University Fo Lucknow In 1932 . Srivastava, Ashirbadi Lal . 1933 .
  12. Book: Shi'ism in Kashmir:A History of Sunni-Shia Rivalry and Reconciliation . Hakim Sameer Hamdani . 2022 .
  13. Book: Mohan . Surendra . Awadh Under the Nawabs: Politics, Culture, and Communal Relations, 1722-1856 . 1997 . Manohar Publishers & Distributors . 978-81-7304-203-4 . en.
  14. Book: Imperial Gazetteer of India: Provincial Series. Shah Alam ii an shuja-ud-daula. . Superintendent of Government Printing . Cotton. James Sutherland. Burn. Sir Richard. Meyer. Sir William Stevenson. 1908.
  15. Book: Calendar of Persian Correspondence: Being Letters, Referring Mainly to Affairs in Bengal, which Passed Between Some of the Company's Servants and Indian Rulers and Notables . By India. Imperial Record Department. 1914 .
  16. [s:Treaty of Allahabad|Wikisource: Text of Allahabad Treaty]
  17. https://web.archive.org/web/20010901224326/http://www.indiancoins.8m.com/awadh/AwadhHist.html#Shujauddaula HISTORY OF AWADH (Oudh) a princely State of India by Hameed Akhtar Siddiqui
  18. http://www.lucknow.nic.in/Shuja.htm Shuja-ud-daula (1754–1775)
  19. Book: Dalrymple, William . The Anarchy . 10 September 2019 . Bloomsbury Publishing . 2019 . 978-1526618504 . 10 September 2019 . 16.