Shuja-ud-Daula

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Shuja-ud-Daula
Asaf-ud-Daulah
Bengal War
Battle of Buxar

Shuja-ud-Daula (b. (1732-01-19)19 January 1732 – d. (1775-01-26)26 January 1775) was the

Nawab of Oudh and the Vizier of Delhi from 5 October 1754 to 26 January 1775.[2]

Early life

Shuja-ud-Daula was the son of the

Grand Vizier by Shah Alam II
.

Shuja-ud-Daula is also known to have assisted the

Marathas. Thus Shuja-ud-Daula is known to have been a very respected figure among the servicemen of Alivardi Khan
.

Nawab of Awadh

Painting a portrait of Shuja ud-Daula and his ten sons
Shuja-ud-Daulah's camp, meeting with Colonel Carnac
Escort of Shah Alam II returning from the Treaty of Allahabad
Mahout of Shuja-ud-Daulah, 1772
Muharram Procession, Faizabad, 1722

After the death of his father the

Mughal Emperor Ahmad Shah Bahadur
.

Shuja-ud-Daula despised

Marathas.[3]

Shuja-ud-Daulah's household cavalry was composed of the Sheikhzadi,

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.

A portrait of Shuja ud-Daulah

Grand Vizier of the Mughal Empire

Prince Ali Gauhar fled from

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
.

Mughal Army of 43,000 during the Third Battle of Panipat.[13]

Third Battle of Panipat

Palace of Nawab Shuja-ud-Daula at Lucknow

After escaping from

British East India Company in Bengal.[14]

Shuja's decision about whom to join as an ally in 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.[citation needed
]

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

Marathas and even defeated them in pitched confrontations during the Third Battle of Panipat and dispatched the Maratha leader Sadashivrao Bhau.[citation needed
]

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

Allahabad.[18]

Death and burial

Gulab Bari, the tomb of Shuja-ud-Daula, in Faizabad.

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

References

  1. ^ Bhatia, O. P. Singh (1968). History of India, from 1707 to 1856. Surjeet Book Depot.
  2. ^ Princely States of India
  3. ^ Srivastava, Ashirbadi Lal (1945). Shuja-ud-daulah. S.N. Sarkar. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
  4. ISBN 0803213441
    .
  5. ISBN 9788172232887
    .
  6. ^ C.A. Bayly (2012). Rulers_Townsmen_and_Bazaars.
  7. ^ Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. Asiatic Society (Calcutta, India); Asiatic Society (Calcutta, India). 1832.
  8. ^ Henry Dodwell, Sir Richard Burn, Sir Wolseley Haig (1957). The Cambridge History of IndiaVolume 4. Pennsylvania State University.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  9. ^ Surya Narain Singh. Mittal Publications. 2003. p. 9.
  10. ^ Sarkar, Jadunath (1964). Fall Of The Mughal Empire Vol. 1. digitallibraryindia; JaiGyan. p. 254.
  11. ^ Srivastava, Ashirbadi Lal (1933). 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.
  12. ^ Hakim Sameer Hamdani (2022). Shi'ism in Kashmir:A History of Sunni-Shia Rivalry and Reconciliation.
  13. ISBN 978-81-7304-203-4
    .
  14. ^ Cotton, James Sutherland; Burn, Sir Richard; Meyer, Sir William Stevenson (1908). Imperial Gazetteer of India: Provincial Series. Superintendent of Government Printing. Shah Alam ii an shuja-ud-daula.
  15. ^ 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. ^ Wikisource: Text of Allahabad Treaty
  17. ^ HISTORY OF AWADH (Oudh) a princely State of India by Hameed Akhtar Siddiqui
  18. ^ Shuja-ud-daula (1754–1775)
  19. ISBN 978-1526618504.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link
    )

Further reading

  • Shuja-ud-Daulah – Vol. I, II (1754–1765) by Ashirbadi Lal Srivastava

External links

Preceded by
Abu´l Mansur Mohammad Moqim Khan
Subadar Nawab of Oudh

1754–1762 		Succeeded by
post abolished
Preceded by
new creation
Nawab Wazir al-Mamalik of Oudh

1762–1775 		Succeeded by
Asaf ad-Dowla Amani
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